Need Help Setting Up D.I. Issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter Daveez1970
  • Start date Start date
D

Daveez1970

New member
Hi Guys
I need help setting up a new home studio.
I have a line 6 guitar amp which I am connecting via DI into my mixer. This in turn is going from the main outputs left and right into the back of my PC via Line In.
The speakers I have are powered and are coming out of the PC.

The problem is that although the PC music is coming through clearly, there is an echo/delay when I play my guitar through the mixer and it sounds terrible.
When I go to record the sound, the guitar sounds fine. I am very new to all this so I am using Audacity.

There are no echo effects on my mixer and the Line In settings are set to "no effects" on the PC.
I wanted to run through DI so I don't wake the neighbours and I can connect a headphone to the powered speakers you see.
Otherwise I would just mic up the front speaker of my guitar amp with a condenser mic.

Am I doing it all wrong here.
I appreciate your help
Mart
 
Well.........we probably will need a bit more info regarding your setup.......but it sounds like you're experiencing what's called "Audio Latency"...............which is caused by a difference between real-time playing / input and the time it takes your equipment to process that real-time playing / input. Start by looking up the BILLIONS of articles on the web which deal with "PC audio latency". I'd link a few here but I'm low on time. Trust me........you'll find a lot of info. It's not overly complicated and will help you to decide how to proceed. I take it you've never done any DAW recording before with the equipment you have? No problem........if that's the case......everyone here will relate for sure. So........tell us about your mixer and the specs of your PC to start with. By the way......when you plug headphones into your mixers phone outs......do you hear your playing in real-time without delay?

Oh...by the way.........this website has tons of posts about this subject.
 
Do you just want to play, not record? Connect the headphones to the mixer and leave the PC out of the loop.

If you want to record there may be some routing tricks you have to do, along with the right audio settings in the PC. But if you get yourself a decent audio interface it will be a lot easier to record (once you get up the steep part of the learning curve), and latency will be minimized.
 
I will post the specs on here in the morning. Many thanks for your help.:)
 
Please be specific on what equipment you are using - which Line 6 amp? What DI? What mixer? What software (DAW)? Are you trying to record or just play live? Assume you want to record, as otherwise you could leave everything but your amp out of the signal chain.
Read the sticky threads at the top of this forum about computer recording and using mixers - the 'echo' you are hearing is your original signal plus the computer output (with latency). A proper audio interface would allow direct monitoring of the input signal. The soundcard in your computer (that's what's converting the analog signal from your mixer to digital) has about $0.69 worth of components and is not made for audio recording.
 
"What software (DAW)? "
He is using Audacity Mike.
Sad to say this seems to be yet another problem of not realizing that computer soundcards are simply not up to anything much better than Skype and games bleeps.

Sure, if you plug the OUTPUT of most modern computers these days into a decent playback system the sound very good but for recording and low latency they are crap.

N very B! This also applies to almost any "Sound Blaster" type, PCI/PCIe cards you can buy. Again, super REPRO quality but not up to recording/play along use.

The solution is simple but a bit expensive, buy an Audio Interface. Check the sticky. Oh! and forget Audacity. Fine editor and other simple duties, not so for music making. The Reaper is your friend here.

Dave.
 
Oh, I missed the Audacity reference. Still not sure what he's using both a DI and a mixer for ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top