A beginner's lament...

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sonic931

New member
Hi all, I'm new to this forum and the world of
P.C. Home Recording.Although I have been playing
music for a living for longer than I care to
recount,I am quite lost when it comes to the
basics of recording.Although I believe the question
has already been asked,I'll ask it again:I am
suffering from a very weak,wimpy guitar signal.
As I have just started,all I have to work with
is a Shure 57 plugged directly into my soundcard
(a Riptide S.B.clone)and stuck in front of an amp.
Is there any way(aside from investing in a mic-pre-amp)
or a better soundcard for that matter,of boosting
the signal?I could just turn the amp up,but the
neighbours and my wife would not be impressed.
Any tips you could offer would be very helpful.
Thanx for your time!
 
ok, theres a couple options. Lets dispense with the fact that your soundcard sucks. Ok, now, there may be 2 different inputs.. a line in and a mic in... the mic may have a little bitty preamp in it, but it will sound like crap. try that and see if you like it. Second... if you have a line out on your amp, you could run that into your line in on your soundcard... that would be ok.

Now, creative solutions.. in case those dont work...

do you have a home stereo? If you do, and you have a PHONO input, it should have a "pretty" transparent pre amp in it, you might try wiring your mic to that, and a line out from your stereo to your sound card.

If you have mega balls, you could run the speaker out from your amp into your soundcard.. START AT LOW VOLUME!!! and barely edge it up till you get the signal you want. YOU HAVE A GREAT RISK OF TRASHING YOUR SHIT THIS WAY. but it is do-able.

uhh.. thats all I can think up right now.
good luck.
and dont try that speaker out thing unless you know what your doing :)

xoxoxo
 
I think the mic into the phono input would sound pretty crappy with all that RIAA eq curve on it :eek:

cheers
john
 
I agree with Camn except for the phono input and speaker out options. Try a tube pre-amp for the SM57 as well.

Mark
 
Reply

Thanx for the input guys.
It seems that at the very least
I may have to break down and buy a tube
pre-amp.
 
Hmm...

If you say the only way you can get a good sound out of your stuff is to turn up your amp - Then Why not turn it up?

If you live in a house (Which I think you do) - Build a wood box to enclose the amp with foam on the inside - Cut a hole out of it to put the mic in - Place the box in the basement and run cables upstairs... I think you'd probably be happier with that sound then trying to find a pre-amp that fits your taste...

???

just a thought...


bry
Riverdog Productions
http://www.members.home.com/bkriverdog
bkriverdog@home.com
 
Just about any preamp should be head and shoulders above the one's in your sound-card. You don't have to spend a lot of bucks to get a big improvement in that department.

I'm also with Riverdog... the thing that makes a mic'ed amp sound cool is that you're moving real air. If the amp is too low, the speakers won't move as much air and it'll sound wimpier.

Layering multiple tracks might beef it up, too. Combine all the above and you'll be good to go.
 
No offense against camn, because it may work for him...but DON'T EVER RUN A SPEAKER OUT INTO A LINE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not even worth the risk, and you'll end up spending more to fix what you trashed than to just get a pre-amp. Don't wanna step on anyones toes, but that is a huge NO NO.
 
Reply

Hi Rockin' Robert, dont worry I'm not
that brave...
I appreciate everyones comments and am still
mulling things over.I am thinking about a mic
pre-amp or perhaps a small mixer.
The thing is, I know a guy with a pro-studio,
so really, I only need to be able to get
reasonable sound,not spectacular.I will be
looking at my little home recording venture
as a "sketch-pad", and an interesting diversion.
If I want to get real serious well then I can
hook up with my friend.As always any and all
suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
 
guess what...i've been wondering that question for 2 years..let me guess a weak guitar or instrument signal is just layed back and mushy..i just might have a crazy idea that did wonders and put me on the right track...if your going directly to your soundcard its fine ..its easy if you bought a mixer (preamped)cus you can just plug your mic jack into without having to keep going in back of the machine..try this go into your recording options where you select line in and make sure the balanced is panned all the way to the left same as the mixer when recording..what happens is when its panned to the right no sound is recording.when balanced in the middle your only getting kinda like half of the sound. when you pan to the right theres no sound..
 
reply

Hi J.J.
I'm not sure I understand you.
Do you mean the recording options dialog
under Windows?If I go straight into the
back of the card without using a pre-amp
or a mixer I would use the mic input not
the line in.Would your idea still apply?
Sorry,I'm not quite sure what you mean...
 
plug the stereo cable into line in..thats right recording options in windows..balanced to the left..
 
robert, robert... you've probly never even tried it. Wuss.

xoxox
 
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