my tone

[ddbINC.]

how come when i record..my guitar sounds like shit!!!!??

it sounds great until i send it into my cpu

it comes out sounding fuzzy...and flat.

im recording from a PodXT directly into my lin-in port on my sound card.

it sounds terrible:

if anyone can help with this. I would greatly appreciate it

 

[LocusLarsen]

Propably need a better sound card.

 

[ddbINC.]

what would you reccomend..

i dont want to spend more than $200

 

[plexi]

what would you reccomend..

i dont want to spend more than $200

M-Audio Audiophile 24/96, best sub$200 soundcard I`ve heard.

Amund

 

[Toad Rush]

why don't you use the PODxt's USB to record direct into the computer? It's digital out and really good quality.

 

[ddbINC.]

using podXT's usb recording, would require me updating my podXT

which at the moment, requires for me to plug my podXT into the computer through a MIDI port, which....

i dont own a midi cable, nor does my sound card have a midi port

 

[eyeslikefire]

Do you have a small mixer and a decent microphone?
Your best bet is to mic it.

 

[Toad Rush]

does your soundcard have a joystick port? if so you can get a joystick -> midi cable...just a thought tho

 

[tvaillan]

I can't seem to download the tune. Did you move it?

what's your sampling rate?

did you put any pc effects on it?

are your recording levels high enough to actually get some good dynamic range? (If you're signal is barely getting into the PC and you compensate for it by using a software limitter or simply by boosting the gain, you'll find that it'll sound like crap)

Did you fall into the trap of having really low mids? Tends to sound worst recorded. Take the mids down afterwards (if you must)

That's it .. check your levels, make sure you're almost at 0db when playing your hardest and that your sampling rate is at least 44KHz.

 

[Toad Rush]

Well from what i heard is that it's just got massive noise/hiss from his Line in, in which a new soundcard or USB will cure with no problem.

 

[cstockdale]

Two words: Gain staging.
what is your audio chain? YOu want to push the clipping envelope at each stage of the chain WITHOUT clipping. I don't know the POD, but have a J-station, so make sure that the volume/level is hot on the unit...what are you plugged into next? If you are going straight into a soundblaster card, yeah, you are going to get sh*t sound. If you go through a mixer first, you can improve it by making sure the level coming out of the mixer is as hot as you can get it without clipping. Take the channel you are plugged into, turn it up as high as it will go without clip, then use the aux-out and take that level as high as it will go without clipping, then at the soundcard, if it is a SB card, use the windows mixer and make that signal as hot as possible.

Also, do a search here and on other recording sites for "Gain Staging": it is a critical step in getting the best sound you can. And yeah, ditch the SOundblaster. I use a J-station for recording, into a Behringer Eurorack mixer, into an Audiophile 2496 card, into Sonar 2.2 XL, it sounds great.

 

[tvaillan]

line noise ey??

How close was he to his computer monitor when recording??

- Make sure you're 15 feet from your equipment. (Especially the monitor. shut it off if you can't afford 15 feet)

- Ensure the power cables going to your equipment are running perpendicular to any cheap audio cable.

- Gold plated connectors on your cables (these are suprisignly affordable at Radio Shack)

- Brand new cables ... and not ratty old thing that the dog chewed up?

- Using your sound card control software, make sure that all your other inputs are muted to avoid noise from leaking in to the encoders.

- Again, make sure you're getting a decent level into the CPU instead of boosting the volume after the fact.


Tristan

Sir, step away from the computer monitor.

 

[AlChuck]

eyeslikefire wrote:

Do you have a small mixer and a decent microphone?
Your best bet is to mic it.

Mic a POD? Talk about defeating the whole reason for the POD's existence...

I think the others are on the right track -- your input gain must not be high enough. I have read that the POD's output is a bit on the low side.

 

[charger]

Take it to the shop where you bought it, and they will do the upgrade for you. Then use the USB. It's by far the best way to go if you don't have a nice soundcard.

 

[eyeslikefire]

eyeslikefire wrote:


Mic a POD? Talk about defeating the whole reason for the POD's existence...

Jezz, Chuck...
Can't a guy have a brain fart in peace????
Sorry,... After I re-read it I noticed the stupidity of my reply.
Unfortunately that was after the 360 minute time limit for editing your post.

My bad.

 

[KaBudokan]

Oh man... that really hurt to listen to.

I would check a few things. I don't have a POD, but have a Yamaha DG Stomp, which I use for direct recording. If I recorded a sound like that, these are the first things I would check:

Do you have speaker simulator turned on? It sounds like you are recording direct w/o the speaker emulation. Very harsh highs, etc.

Is the sample rate you are recording at the same as the rate coming out of the unit? On my Yamaha, the sample rate on the SPDIF is 48k. If I record at 44k, I get a lot of harshness and artifacts added to the sound. I assume you are probably not using an SPDIF out or anything, but that sound is similar to what happens when I record at the wrong sample rate.

 

[AlChuck]

eyeslikefire,

No problem, I brain-fart all the time so I understand.