Direct Out Recording from Amp Question

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DaJMan

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I am new to this site, just did a search for home recording on Google and this came up.

I want to experiment with mixing a mic'd amp tone with that same amp's direct tone. My question is what kind of cable do I need to use?

My audio interface is a Line 6 UX2 so I'm assuming I would connect to the LINE IN, but does it matter if I use an instrument cable or speaker cable (or other)?

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome!

Try usin' your search button on here,...
There are a ton of posts on this.
I'm sure you'll find the answer you're lookin' for.
Either that, or someone will help you eventually.
There are some really good people on here, willing to help.
 
DaJMan said:
I am new to this site, just did a search for home recording on Google and this came up.

I want to experiment with mixing a mic'd amp tone with that same amp's direct tone. My question is what kind of cable do I need to use?

My audio interface is a Line 6 UX2 so I'm assuming I would connect to the LINE IN, but does it matter if I use an instrument cable or speaker cable (or other)?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Depending on what type of amp you have, you may have different types of outputs. If your amp has multiple outputs, then just take a 1/4 inch from one output to a 1/4 in on your interface and also mic the speaker and run the mic into a separate channel on your interface. If your amp only has one output you will need a splitter to split the signal so you can have a signal still go to your speaker while you also run a 1/4 inch to your interface all from the same jack. If you have a combo amp that only has a headphone output and when you plug into the headphone out it bypasses the speaker, then your only option is to record two separate tracks: one mic'd and one direct.

You should use instrument cables when doing all this, except when going from the amp to the speaker.
 
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guitarplayr82 said:
If your amp only has one output you will need a splitter to split the signal so you can have a signal still go to your speaker while you also run a 1/4 inch to your interface all from the same jack.
Click to expand...

Depending on the amp and the nature of the output, doing this could potentially be quite dangerous, or at least damage some of your gear.

DaJMan....What is the amp, what outputs does it have?
 
Sometimes I do this with my bass amp. On it, the line out is a male XLR so I just connect a mic lead from it to my recorder. I would've thought the tone would be the same as the miked one, but no. The mic definitely colours the tone.
 
DaJMan said:
My audio interface is a Line 6 UX2 so I'm assuming I would connect to the LINE IN, but does it matter if I use an instrument cable or speaker cable (or other)?
Click to expand...

What's your amp?

If it has a Line Out, then you can use an instrument cable (or, depending on the connection, possibly an XLR) to send from the amp to your Line6. Ditto with a headphone out.

If all you have is a second Speaker Out, well, I probably wouldn't try this, at least not without some sort of speaker load.

EDIT - also, don't be surprised if it doesn't sound that great. Most emulated outs aren't spectacular, and if it's not speaker-emulated, it's going to sound like fizzy garbage. Additionally you'll likely run into phase issues; I'd imagine the line out signal would arrive at your board a few milliseconds before the one that is sent to the speaker, where it's transformed into soundwaves, which then travel and hit the diaphram of a microphone, where it's reconverted into an electrical signal and sent into your mic preamp. At a bare minimum I'd expect to have to adjust the offset of the mic'd signal ever so slightly forward to phase-align with the DI.

A better question here might be, what are you trying to accomplish with a DI that you're not getting just from the mic?
 
grimtraveller said:
Sometimes I do this with my bass amp. On it, the line out is a male XLR so I just connect a mic lead from it to my recorder. I would've thought the tone would be the same as the miked one, but no. The mic definitely colours the tone.
Click to expand...
Well, the speakers color the tone first, then the mic has a crack at it.
 
DaJMan said:
My audio interface is a Line 6 UX2 so I'm assuming I would connect to the LINE IN, but does it matter if I use an instrument cable or speaker cable (or other)?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
A speaker cable should be used only between a power amp and a speaker. Never use an instrument cable as a speaker cable.

Also, never connect a speaker output to a line input.

Instrument and line level connections use instrument cables.
 
Farview said:
Well, the speakers color the tone first, then the mic has a crack at it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I didn't put that across well ! I was surprized that the line out tone was different to the miked one.
 
Wow, thanks for all the responses. I will admit I didn't see there was a newb forum or else I would have posted there. Anyways...

My amp is just a Vypyr 30. I play mostly metal so it's great for me and my small apartment bedroom. I hooked up the direct out last night and didn't think it sounded that great. I was just trying to see what it could sound like mixed with my mic'd track I'd already recorded. But this situation did provide me with a second question:

I hooked up the amp directly to my soundcard (through the line in) and through the UX2 line in. I think I noticed a slight downgrade in the sound quality (on the low end) coming through the UX2 comparied to the soundcard. Unfortunately, with the soundcard there was a small bit of latency coming through. So I guess my question about this is: Is there an expected sound quality difference between the two direct line-level connections?

All in all, it looks like I will be sticking with the SM57 method.
 
DaJMan said:
I hooked up the amp directly to my soundcard (through the line in) and through the UX2 line in. I think I noticed a slight downgrade in the sound quality (on the low end) coming through the UX2 comparied to the soundcard. Unfortunately, with the soundcard there was a small bit of latency coming through. So I guess my question about this is: Is there an expected sound quality difference between the two direct line-level connections?
Click to expand...

The soundcard should usually deliver worse quality than any interface. It could just be an EQ setting you are hearing on the UX2 that you might want to change. Or it could even be the color the preamps in both soundcards give to your sound.
 
what if you go at it from the other end? Use a DI box. Most of them have an out put that will let you run an unaffected signal to an amp. So you go guitar ->DI ->Interface and at the same time you go guitar -(through DI)>AMP ->MIC -> Interface.

Again, you may end up with phase issues, but if your recording to computer (which I assume you are) they shouldn't be that hard to fix. Now you get your DI signal, and an amp signal, using gear that was designed for it and your DI sound won't suck ass (or at least not as much ass.)


-Cheers

PS if anyone knows the technical name of this "unaffected output" on a DI box I would love to be educated.
 
Farview said:
A DI box will have . . . a thru.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I thought maybe that was what it was, but I wasn't sure. Thanks.

Has anyone run a DI as well as micing an AMP using the THRU? Does it creat phase issues?
 
Yes, there are phase issues due to the timing of the signals being different. It takes more time for the signal to go through the amp, come out of the speaker, hit the mic and get to the computer than it does for the direct signal to just get to the computer.

In the computer it is pretty easy to just move the direct signal later or the amp signal earlier to line them up. If you record yourself plugging the guitar in, that will give you a spike that you can use to line the tracks up. You only have to do that once, because the timing difference will be the same for that setup in every song. Just jot down how many ms or frames you need to offset the track.
 
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