mic or input for recording guitar?
- Thread starter badegg
- Start date
matttheaxe
New member
I LOVE the idea of going line in. No noise, more control.
But...
I have tried over and over with all kinds of tweaking and plug ins. You simlply cannot get the signal to sound like its coming out of an amp. (IMO)
A good ear will notice that right away. I did a recording and tweaked it to death and yet people still noticed the "sterile" sound.
Went back, mic'd it back up and it sounded much better. You just have to play around with mic placement quite a bit.
Good luck.
But...
I have tried over and over with all kinds of tweaking and plug ins. You simlply cannot get the signal to sound like its coming out of an amp. (IMO)
A good ear will notice that right away. I did a recording and tweaked it to death and yet people still noticed the "sterile" sound.
Went back, mic'd it back up and it sounded much better. You just have to play around with mic placement quite a bit.
Good luck.
Have to agree that when it comes to guitars a mic'd amp is going to sound 'better' than going direct in to your machine.
The reason for this is, apparently, a guitar amp is designed to do a certain amount of processing to the signal (something with the higher frequencies, i think?) which is lost when going direct in to a mixer/interface. So going direct in never sounds like a an electric guitar should because you missed the all important amp processing.
The bass is a different story though. You can go direct in and get good results. I think you'd need a DI box between your bass and the mixer/interface though unless you have a hi-z input on it. Some people, myself included, like to go DI and mic their bass amp when recording so you end up with 2 tracks which you can blend - a good clean signal and a mic'd track that you can use to get some of the amp/room sound.
Hope that helps?!
The reason for this is, apparently, a guitar amp is designed to do a certain amount of processing to the signal (something with the higher frequencies, i think?) which is lost when going direct in to a mixer/interface. So going direct in never sounds like a an electric guitar should because you missed the all important amp processing.
The bass is a different story though. You can go direct in and get good results. I think you'd need a DI box between your bass and the mixer/interface though unless you have a hi-z input on it. Some people, myself included, like to go DI and mic their bass amp when recording so you end up with 2 tracks which you can blend - a good clean signal and a mic'd track that you can use to get some of the amp/room sound.
Hope that helps?!
bozmillar
New member
a big depends.
If you have a good amp and a good mic and you know how to set it up to sound good, then you should be able to get a good sound out of your amp. If you have good software and you know how to set it up to sound good, then you should be able to get a good sound from direct in.
It all depends on what kind of sound you can get out of each setup. I use direct in because I like that it's easy, quiet, and I actually prefer the sound in many instances.
If you have a good amp and a good mic and you know how to set it up to sound good, then you should be able to get a good sound out of your amp. If you have good software and you know how to set it up to sound good, then you should be able to get a good sound from direct in.
It all depends on what kind of sound you can get out of each setup. I use direct in because I like that it's easy, quiet, and I actually prefer the sound in many instances.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
What Bozmillar says there is important as he is going against the recording fraternity status quo.......Yeah, beware lopsided rules/opinions. Every person has their preferences at different times. It doesn't follow that the only good guitar sound is that of an amp mic'd. It's one way of getting a good sound out of an electric guitar. A very effective way. A superb way. Incidentally, my fave way. But not the only way. Ultimately, you'll have to try different things and see if your ears are cool with it. Some of my DI'd sounds with guitar have been OK. Some of them have been abysmal !
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bozmillar
New member
I think it's more like this:
poorly miced amp < amp sim < well miced amp < well setup amp sim < great sounding amp set up and miced well < etc...
cavedog101
Well-known member
Either way is using a specific set of tools for a purpose.
If you like what you're hearing then it is good.
To get a more realistic guitar sound from DI, I have found that having a DI that has iron in the path will get you a far more realistic guitar amped sound than not. I have a couple of custom built DI's that operate on phantom power and have transformers. Using these with just a stomp box is really quite eyeopening to the possibilities. I also have several passive boxes and the difference is incredible.
Does this mean that I only recommend this? No. I still love mic'ng up a great sounding amp and guitar combo and moving the mic to that sweet spot and pressing the red button.
As for bass, I very rarely mic a cabinet. Usually only when I am doing a bass overdub. I like recording drums and bass live with maybe a DI'd guitar as a guide track, or a keyboard or a scratch vocal. I want to capture the groove of whatever style of music it is. It makes things much more cohesive in the later stages of the recording process.
If you like what you're hearing then it is good.
To get a more realistic guitar sound from DI, I have found that having a DI that has iron in the path will get you a far more realistic guitar amped sound than not. I have a couple of custom built DI's that operate on phantom power and have transformers. Using these with just a stomp box is really quite eyeopening to the possibilities. I also have several passive boxes and the difference is incredible.
Does this mean that I only recommend this? No. I still love mic'ng up a great sounding amp and guitar combo and moving the mic to that sweet spot and pressing the red button.
As for bass, I very rarely mic a cabinet. Usually only when I am doing a bass overdub. I like recording drums and bass live with maybe a DI'd guitar as a guide track, or a keyboard or a scratch vocal. I want to capture the groove of whatever style of music it is. It makes things much more cohesive in the later stages of the recording process.
Todzilla
New member
I won't quibble, since you and I are generally of the same mindset. I get many folks pushing me toward amp sims, which I've historically rejected. Why? because I have gear good enough to allow me to do great live amp recordings. That said, it's a lot harder to mic amps well than to scroll and choose amp sim presets.
bozmillar
New member
If I could imagine an ideal setup for recording guitars, I'd have a hybrid system. I'd have a wall of amps and a patch bay where I could route any amp to any cabinet or just record the direct output from the amp and use a cab sim. I'd also be able to route digital effects and distortions out to the physical amps and cabs so that I could get any combination of real and/or digital effects.
Then I sit back and reallize that I actually suck at playing the guitar and how useless that would all be for me.
In short, use what you think sounds better. It's really as simple as that.
Then I sit back and reallize that I actually suck at playing the guitar and how useless that would all be for me.
In short, use what you think sounds better. It's really as simple as that.