Direct vs. micing a guitar amp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Reilley
  • Start date Start date
Hmm..
well I will agree that there is something lacking from the guitar but perhaps for those like me who have trouble recording guitars correctly and need a temporary fix, this might be a good answer if you want to start learning how to mix and master while you save up for a good mic for the guitar amps..

althought, the drums in that little cover are from a really low-quality drum kit and could definately be affecting the whole "sterility" of the track.. so maybe with real drums and a real bass and vocals, the listener wouldnt pick up on the guitar tracks.

I am going to test this, Ill record my band using the line6 for the guitars but I will mic the drums and do everything else like normal and see how it comes out. :D Thanks to everyone for listening,
 
darkecho said:
Hmm..
well I will agree that there is something lacking from the guitar but perhaps for those like me who have trouble recording guitars correctly and need a temporary fix, this might be a good answer if you want to start learning how to mix and master while you save up for a good mic for the guitar amps..

althought, the drums in that little cover are from a really low-quality drum kit and could definately be affecting the whole "sterility" of the track.. so maybe with real drums and a real bass and vocals, the listener wouldnt pick up on the guitar tracks.

I am going to test this, Ill record my band using the line6 for the guitars but I will mic the drums and do everything else like normal and see how it comes out. :D Thanks to everyone for listening,
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I would always encourage that you get the best guitar tone you can. If using a modeler is the best you can do then go for it.
 
darkecho said:
Hmm..
well I will agree that there is something lacking from the guitar but perhaps for those like me who have trouble recording guitars correctly and need a temporary fix, this might be a good answer if you want to start learning how to mix and master while you save up for a good mic for the guitar amps..
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There's no need to save up for an expensive mic. You are going to be hard pressed to record a better sound than you can with a SM57 which is available for under $!00.
 
The "mic the amp" people far outnumber the "modeler" people. I'd like to point out that no one can tell if the tone they hear is from a modeler or not. If they say they can, they lie. For the vast home recording population, having 12 vintage tube amps at your disposal is just not an option. What is great is having the ability to simulate an AC-30, Buddah, Plexi or Fender Twin at the touch of a button. With the Pod XT line, you not only have control over the amp models that you use but also over the amount of room sound that you'd hear at different mic distances. If you wanted to, you could turn off the cabinent emulator and mic a real cabinent with a 421 or 57.

When money is a factor, and you need to track guitars, you need an amp modeler. For those whose mixing console costs more than a new BMW, obtaining the real amp/cabinent combo that they want isn't a problem.
 
SuicideNote said:
The "mic the amp" people far outnumber the "modeler" people. I'd like to point out that no one can tell if the tone they hear is from a modeler or not. If they say they can, they lie. For the vast home recording population, having 12 vintage tube amps at your disposal is just not an option. What is great is having the ability to simulate an AC-30, Buddah, Plexi or Fender Twin at the touch of a button. With the Pod XT line, you not only have control over the amp models that you use but also over the amount of room sound that you'd hear at different mic distances. If you wanted to, you could turn off the cabinent emulator and mic a real cabinent with a 421 or 57.

When money is a factor, and you need to track guitars, you need an amp modeler. For those whose mixing console costs more than a new BMW, obtaining the real amp/cabinent combo that they want isn't a problem.
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Hi SN,
hopefully, without sounding like a little snot, with 'some' cash, (I am old!!), I have at my disposal 2 very nice old amps (a nice 'lil old '83 Marshall and a beautiful old Fender amp (one my dad bought and played some 40years ago? 6L6GC valves) that smells fantastic after 30 minutes of operation) , I also have a lovely 2 X 12 transistor Marshall that can really shred, when needed.

Now my point......I'll still be staying with the DI system for the majority of my recordings for all of the other great reasons you pointed out!! And I will keep my great amps for my kids, when they do the 'live' thing!!
Kindest Regards got out to you!
Superspit.
 
SuicideNote said:
The "mic the amp" people far outnumber the "modeler" people. I'd like to point out that no one can tell if the tone they hear is from a modeler or not.
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The reason the "modeler" is outnumbered can be explained in one word, reality. Place the 2 samples side by side and you can tell the difference. Of course, if you are going to squash the recording and turn it into an 128 kbps mp3, who cares?
 
Suicide, I'm new at this, so I searched "POD xt. " Will the $300 model do the job? Does the more expensive one just have more features, and are the basic sounds the same?

Thanks very much.
 
Reilley said:
Suicide, I'm new at this, so I searched "POD xt. " Will the $300 model do the job? Does the more expensive one just have more features, and are the basic sounds the same?

Thanks very much.
Click to expand...

There are 3 diffferent versions of the Line 6 Podxt. The bean regular Podxt, the Podxt Live floorboard and the Podxt Pro. They all have the same tones and amp models and all sound fantastic/the same. The XT pro has more features for the studio professional like guitar reamping and digital IO.

You have to consider what you'd be using it for. If for the studio only, then I'd go for the Podxt, if you have lots of money and like sweet rack units, the Podxt Pro really fits the bill. If you are going to play shows with your unit, then you might want to consider the XT Live. I have both the Podxt AND the Podxt live. There are expansion packs that you can optionally purchase for your Pod that give you even more tone options. I have the Metal Shop and FX upgrades. All are worth the money.

The thing that sells me 100% on the Line 6 Podxt products is that they have up-to-date software and the updates get released frequently. Not only do they fix bugs if there are any, but they give you even more amp models to choose from with each software upgrade. I can't say enough. www.line6.com
 
SuicideNote said:
The "mic the amp" people far outnumber the "modeler" people. I'd like to point out that no one can tell if the tone they hear is from a modeler or not. If they say they can, they lie.
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How in the world can you claim to know how everyone's ears hear something? Are you stupid? You must have extremely poor hearing or you're really trying to convince yourself that your modeler is as good as the real thing.
 
Honestly, I think that its just that modelers sound so much better than what we are used to hearing which is why people think they dont sound as good :D

In "REALITY" I would say that a modeler is more capable of reproducing what you hear from your real amplifier because when you use a mic, thats just one more step in between the real source and your recording media, if you go directly from the source to media without a biased diaphram inbetween, there is much less (none?!) of the original signal to be lost...

all you have to do is make sure that the amp modeler is faking the circuitry right and there should be ablsolutely no reason not to use one!

I agree my tone didnt sound that good, its a little fuzzy/not clear, but I am sure that If i had done any EQ, it might sound a good deal better, and maybe the old beat up POD we were using isnt as good as the current ones/doesnt have the newest updates.
 
darkecho said:
Honestly, I think that its just that modelers sound so much better than what we are used to hearing which is why people think they dont sound as good :D

In "REALITY" I would say that a modeler is more capable of reproducing what you hear from your real amplifier because when you use a mic, thats just one more step in between the real source and your recording media, if you go directly from the source to media without a biased diaphram inbetween, there is much less (none?!) of the original signal to be lost...

all you have to do is make sure that the amp modeler is faking the circuitry right and there should be ablsolutely no reason not to use one!

I agree my tone didnt sound that good, its a little fuzzy/not clear, but I am sure that If i had done any EQ, it might sound a good deal better, and maybe the old beat up POD we were using isnt as good as the current ones/doesnt have the newest updates.
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Just keep trying to convince yourself.
 
:p Maybe not yet, but the modelers will have their time soon.. its just a matter of time and technology. Pretty soon amp modelers will sound so authentic that no body will ever go back to micing, it will be like the typewriter....

then guitar will evolve and a whole new generation of sound capabilities will be born.
 
darkecho said:
:p Maybe not yet, but the modelers will have their time soon.. its just a matter of time and technology. Pretty soon amp modelers will sound so authentic that no body will ever go back to micing, it will be like the typewriter....

then guitar will evolve and a whole new generation of sound capabilities will be born.
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That's possible, but not yet.
 
Thanks, SuicideNote.

BTW, I'm thinking studio, the basic unit should do.

...and while I'm at it, I'll go out on a limb and guess that there are some people who can get a very good sound from a miced amp OR a modeller, if they wished, and other folks who can't get a really good sound from either one.
 
darkecho said:
Honestly, I think that its just that modelers sound so much better than what we are used to hearing which is why people think they dont sound as good :D

In "REALITY" I would say that a modeler is more capable of reproducing what you hear from your real amplifier because when you use a mic, thats just one more step in between the real source and your recording media, if you go directly from the source to media without a biased diaphram inbetween, there is much less (none?!) of the original signal to be lost...

all you have to do is make sure that the amp modeler is faking the circuitry right and there should be ablsolutely no reason not to use one!

I agree my tone didnt sound that good, its a little fuzzy/not clear, but I am sure that If i had done any EQ, it might sound a good deal better, and maybe the old beat up POD we were using isnt as good as the current ones/doesnt have the newest updates.
Click to expand...

Bwahahahahahaha
 
There's a school of thought that an electric guitar is half an instrument, and the amp is the other half. For example, there is no true "Les Paul" sound, since a Les Paul through a Super Reverb is rather different than a Les Paul through a Marshall Jubilee. There is no "pure" Les Paul sound which you can get from a modeller, since the instrument was designed to be played through an amplifier, and only through an amplifier. Modellers imitate amps.
 
why the bad rep man? (no name left from the gutless prick), I really don't understand how that works... :confused:

anyways.....
Regards,
Superspit.
 
superspit said:
why the bad rep man? (no name left from the gutless prick), I really don't understand how that works... :confused:

anyways.....
Regards,
Superspit.
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Don't worry about it. Children sometimes don't know how to play well with others. ;)
 
^^^ Great clips! Those guitars sound pretty real to me.

jonnyc said:
How in the world can you claim to know how everyone's ears hear something? Are you stupid? You must have extremely poor hearing or you're really trying to convince yourself that your modeler is as good as the real thing.
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Have you used a Podxt? If not, then you shouldn't comment in this thread. If you have, then I'll just say it's just a matter of preference and cash.
 
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