Valve amp into PC sound card

  • Thread starter Thread starter Webz
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Webz

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Hi there and thanks for such a great forum.

I've been meaning to take the line out of my combo valve amp direct into the PC soundcard for HD recording for quite a while now. Apparently you're supposed to get a preamp signal according to the amp's manufacturer (Marshall)

I do get it as well as decent levels with my current cabling.
The only problem is simple. Noise!

I get a continuous sizzle or frying sound coming in even without my guitar plugged in.
Just wanted to ask if anyone knows a way around this or of any simple equipment that might fix it. I don't hear the sizzle on the amps speaker cone only through the PC soundcard.

The card isn't that bad its supposed to be a Soundstorm with ASIO drivers.
I've heard of using a DI box between the two but apparently DI boxes aren't all safe to use with valve amps.

Any clues much appreciated.
 
Webz said:
Just wanted to ask if anyone knows a way around this or of any simple equipment that might fix it.
Click to expand...

A mic and a preamp will probably fix this issue. :p

I've not seen this issue before. I own 2 Marshalls. Both have line outs that are pretty much noise free. They're hybrids though.

Couple of questions

What model is it?
How old are the tubes? Could it be that they need replacing?
 
legionserial said:
A mic and a preamp will probably fix this issue. :p

I've not seen this issue before. I own 2 Marshalls. One has a standard line out, which sounds like ass, but is relatively noise free. The other has a simulated line out, which sounds less like ass, but not assless enough, and is also relatively noise free.
Click to expand...

I believe the technical terms for those 2 types of line outs would be "total ass" and "half assed"
 
Hey thanks for the replies.
It's an old JCM900 combo and yes the tubes are pretty old.
They don't crackle when I play so much but I do wonder if you have a point.
Do old tubes make the line out noisy?

Funny is I don't get noise out of the speaker. It's silent.
It even plays fine on its own if you ignore single coil hum which
I also have to deal with Arghh

Also found some red DI boxes for guitar online.
Wonder if they would make a difference?
As for the assness of the line outs the direct out sounds ok while compensated seems to refuse to output much without a desk.

You can always emulate the speakers and power amp with some VST software?
Problem is the hiss that doesn't want to go anywhere blah
 
What you need is an actual recording interface instead of using the onboard soundcard. Don't waste money on a DI box because it will not fix your problem.
 
try swapping out the pre-amp tubes one by one if you extra tubes to see if the hissing problem goes away. might be a pre-amp tube fixing to fail or a power tube drifting and fixing to fail.
 
drumslinger said:
try swapping out the pre-amp tubes one by one if you extra tubes to see if the hissing problem goes away. might be a pre-amp tube fixing to fail or a power tube drifting and fixing to fail.
Click to expand...

He stated that the amp sounded fine and did not make noise through the speaker. So the problem isn't the tubes.
 
Thanks guys.
I spent the day noise hunting and alas I got some improvement.
The amp by itself really isn't THAT noisy I realised specially since I checked the AC cable.
It's not that there's nice outlets here in Africa anyway. Its only a home setup.

The same doesn't hold true for the guitar cable or the single coils.
That's where the noise really is coming in.
Plugging the guitar straight in get the single coil HUM.

Any case thanks for the tips I think the old tubes are not much of a problem yet
would love to have this amp redone someday.
Now thinking seriously about EMG pickups blah
 
use this.

pdi09-big.jpg


JAMS Audio - Nashville, TN


it's what i use.
works perfect.
 
My guess is that 'sizzle' and noise are just the joys of feeding an unbalanced, high impedance signal into your sound card. It's not the noise that drove me bananas so much as the bloody latency. I believe that's why God invented interfaces. Yes, they are glorified sound cards in their own right, but they have preamps built in that convert impedance.
 
My Marshall has a d.i., but it sounds like ass.

Is a microphone out of the question? Even when I had just an 8 bit soundblaster, I had much better luck miking the marshal with a Shure Unisphere straight into the card.
 
I have a Marshall Superbass MkII - from the pretty much preline out days of the late 70s.
I get a good sound by
a) using a tubecube which is a brick/attenuator which allows me to crank it up for a saturated fat sound &
b) mic the speaker.
 
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