Direct Recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter williamnot1
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williamnot1

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Hey.

I've decided to not bother with the hassle of mic'ing my cabinet and would prefer to go direct. Would it work if I were to simply go:

Guitar -> Amp Head -> Mixing Board

or would anyone suggest I be using a cabinet emulator inbetween the amp head and the mixing board? I've not played around with any cabinet emulators so I'm a bit concerened if they will mess with the tone I've made on my amp head.

Any help would be appreciated.

-will!
 
You don't really say what brand/model amp you have. You may get more informative replies if you list your equipment.
 
Understand that the tone you're hearing from the cab is not going to sound anything like what you get from a line out from the head.

I'm not saying don't try it, just giving you a heads up. ;)
 
Yup, your speakers in the cab make a lot of the sound so what you hear di'd verses your cab will be different. Try it. You may like it. I tend to lean toward micing. It takes more time but I like the sound better. I have had good results from di but I'd say it depends on the tune I'm doing and the sound I'm looking for. Your ears will tell you....
my 2c
 
williamnot1 said:
Hey.

Any help would be appreciated.

-will!
Click to expand...

First, don't go out the speaker out without a direct box. Also, don't go out the speaker out without a speaker hooked in the path if it's tube for sure. Second, I wouldn't even go out the line out without a direct box with a cab emulator (like Behringers Ultra-G, which I think is great). Third, surprisingly, you'd most likely benefit by just getting something like a behringer v-tone thing (they have several - a rack mount, a pod-like one, and a small sansamp clone). The sansamp clone is like 30 bucks. It will likely sound just as good if not better than your head for direct. I'm out.
 
Johnny A records direct out of his Marshall head. I think the clean sounds are nice but the distorted tones are really fizzy.
 
GreenDank said:
First, don't go out the speaker out without a direct box. Also, don't go out the speaker out without a speaker hooked in the path if it's tube for sure. Second, I wouldn't even go out the line out without a direct box with a cab emulator (like Behringers Ultra-G, which I think is great). Third, surprisingly, you'd most likely benefit by just getting something like a behringer v-tone thing (they have several - a rack mount, a pod-like one, and a small sansamp clone). The sansamp clone is like 30 bucks. It will likely sound just as good if not better than your head for direct. I'm out.
Click to expand...

How about, don't ever go from the speaker out to anything but a speaker!!!!
;)
If you have a line-out on the amp, you don't necessarily need a DI box to use that.
 
If you are going to use your amp, it is really worth it only if you are micing it.

If you are going to record direct, forget the amp.

Your amp and speaker sound the way they do because of a gadzillion factors, not the least being the speaker cabinet construction, the speaker cone material, the winding of the driver, the electrical interaction between the amp and the speaker, and what not. Heck, the temperature and humidity of the room can change the tone! :)

In this day and age, cabinet/amp emulators can get you within an inch of the real thing, if you know what I mean, and will be far less hassle. Some of the emus even have USB/firewire outputs that bypass the need for a soundcard on your PC!

Seriously - if you are thinking direct, check out thingies like the Behringer V-Amp (low end) or the Line6 PODxt Pro (high end) and their ilk. I know some guitarists who actually dump their stacks and play direct into the Front of House PA using some of these. :)
 
dinorocker said:
If you are going to use your amp, it is really worth it only if you are micing it.

If you are going to record direct, forget the amp.

Your amp and speaker sound the way they do because of a gadzillion factors, not the least being the speaker cabinet construction, the speaker cone material, the winding of the driver, the electrical interaction between the amp and the speaker, and what not. Heck, the temperature and humidity of the room can change the tone! :)

In this day and age, cabinet/amp emulators can get you within an inch of the real thing, if you know what I mean, and will be far less hassle. Some of the emus even have USB/firewire outputs that bypass the need for a soundcard on your PC!

Seriously - if you are thinking direct, check out thingies like the Behringer V-Amp (low end) or the Line6 PODxt Pro (high end) and their ilk. I know some guitarists who actually dump their stacks and play direct into the Front of House PA using some of these. :)
Click to expand...

I agree with that! I'd say at least 99% of the time, any decent digital modeler will give you better results than a DI from an amp.
 
The most notable question that has been left out is:

What is the difference in setting up a mic in front of a cabinet, running the cable to your preamp/board/soundcard and setting up your head and running a cable to <insert item here> and running a cable from that into your board/soundcard? I'm not talking soundwise or quality wise, I'm talking the physical act of doing it. I fail to see why one is a "hassle" and the other isn't.

Having said that, metalhead's advice is dead on. If "emulators" were so fantastic, we wouldn't need to have this conversation would we? :D
 
metalhead28 said:
I agree with that! I'd say at least 99% of the time, any decent digital modeler will give you better results than a DI from an amp.
Click to expand...


That's been my experience without question. Everything I've tried and everything I've heard going direct sounds like ass/
 
If you're recording at home and you want to go direct, why not consider a line6, GT8 and others like it and find one that designed for that kind of stuff. That way your home results will increase greatly.
 
Creamyapples1 said:
The most notable question that has been left out is:

What is the difference in setting up a mic in front of a cabinet, running the cable to your preamp/board/soundcard and setting up your head and running a cable to <insert item here> and running a cable from that into your board/soundcard? I'm not talking soundwise or quality wise, I'm talking the physical act of doing it. I fail to see why one is a "hassle" and the other isn't.

Having said that, metalhead's advice is dead on. If "emulators" were so fantastic, we wouldn't need to have this conversation would we? :D
Click to expand...


I guess that the hassle lies in two factors; the fact that setting up the mic in front of the cabinet can take a while because you want to find that sweet spot; the fact that (in my experience recording distorted guitars) recording has to be done at a fairly loud volume and that can be a hassle if your studio isn't soundproof.

Carlos
 
carlosguardia said:
I guess that the hassle lies in two factors; the fact that setting up the mic in front of the cabinet can take a while because you want to find that sweet spot; the fact that (in my experience recording distorted guitars) recording has to be done at a fairly loud volume and that can be a hassle if your studio isn't soundproof.

Carlos
Click to expand...


Especially if your room isn't treated direct is going to be much better from a home standpoint.
 
you could record something direct then later play the track back thru an amp and mic it up to get a muchhh fuller sound
 
williamnot1 said:
Hey.

I've decided to not bother with the hassle of mic'ing my cabinet and would prefer to go direct. Would it work if I were to simply go:

Guitar -> Amp Head -> Mixing Board

or would anyone suggest I be using a cabinet emulator inbetween the amp head and the mixing board? I've not played around with any cabinet emulators so I'm a bit concerened if they will mess with the tone I've made on my amp head.

Any help would be appreciated.

-will!
Click to expand...

I use a device called The Junction made by palmer which goes between amp head & speaker & allows you to take a DI out from the poweramp rather than from the preamp & I've scrapped the mic sounds on occasion & just gone with junction. If you like to crank the amp a bit then you can attenuate it down by 15 & 30db with no loss in tone

BTW it's an XLR out from the junction
 
Direct Recording.

Direct recording or micing amps or what ever really is in the ear of the musician doing the recording. I've heard people get AWESOME results with very limited equipment. My 16 yr. old son has been recording for about a yr now. He uses an
old DG-Stomp for ALL his electric guitar tones, a Yamaha DD-55 pad for his drum
sounds,a Micro Korg Synth for a keys, a old Takamine for acoustic and all this is recorded on an old version Guitar Tracks Pro 2. He writes, records an plays ALL the instruments on his songs. I think for what he has at his disposal he gets some decent sounds out of what he has. Here's a link to his songs.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=453803
 
YIKES

lil' bugger :D

what' the future got for your son I wonder

cripes I'd love to play drums on his stuff, especially Old Mexico Road

fuckin' awesome
 
metalhead28 said:
If you have a line-out on the amp, you don't necessarily need a DI box to use that.
Click to expand...

True dat. I just wouldn't do it without an emulator of some sort.
 
The emulated line outs on marshall tube amps sound very nice imho
 
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