Problem with recording guitar in Sonar 8

  • Thread starter Thread starter brunoafh
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brunoafh

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Hey, I'm new to this forum and I was hoping someone would be willing to help me out. I've been trying to record guitar on Sonar 8 Producer Edition. I have an old amplifer, a Marshall Valvestate VS102R. It has line out in the back, and I'm trying to record that way. I'm using a standard amp cable, and on my computer end I'm using an adapter to plug into my mic port.

When I record something, it begins to slowly sounds worse. It actually sounds like a wah pedal is slowly getting worked in or something. As seconds pass, the quality becomes progressively worse pretty much. I don't know what the problem is, and I don't know where to start to fix it. I've recorded on with Sonar before and have never had this problem, both via mic and the way I described above. Could the amp being so old have anything to do with it? Maybe the cable I'm using is shoddy? I'm willing to buy a new amp, but I'm hoping it might just be some adjustment I can make to how I am recording, or some options/preferences on my computer or Sonar. Can anyone assist me with this?
 
I may be wrong but i think you'll need an audio interface.If you're trying to record directly into the sound card by going mic or line in on the computer it may be conflicting somehow with the analog to digital convertors.

When i first set out to record on the pc i tried going into the computer's sound card by mic in on the computer.I was using Audacity as my recording program.My guitar kept coming out sounding like it had a flanger effect on it and it got progressively worse as it was going too.

Once i got an interface it no longer happened.Either way folks have been recording using the computer's soundcards for years so it could be a driver issue or many other things set inncorrectly.We'll need more info to get you going in the right direction.
 
I can record a line signal directly to the soundcard with Sonar. No problem.
I might think the amp is suspect. Try using the line out signal going into another amp and playing a while. If the signal is strong & clear, then it's not the amp.
I would suggest NOT doing that anyway. The tone will be thin and shrill. The celestions smooth that out.
Look up most any post on that subject. Most would agree.
 
matttheaxe said:
I can record a line signal directly to the soundcard with Sonar. No problem.
I might think the amp is suspect. Try using the line out signal going into another amp and playing a while. If the signal is strong & clear, then it's not the amp.
I would suggest NOT doing that anyway. The tone will be thin and shrill. The celestions smooth that out.
Look up most any post on that subject. Most would agree.
Click to expand...

What i found strange with the issue i was having is that it only did it with my guitar.I used to record on my portable 8 track and line into the computer's soundcard to mix down and burn a file to discI never had any problems.This was way before i bought an interface.

I lined in a tape deck to convert some old cassetes to cd using audacity and everything worked fine.When i miced my amp and tried recording tracks to audacity i got the flange effect everytime.I tried line and mic inputs.I had to use a mini 1/8 inch mono adapter also so maybe somewhere the signal got screwed.

I agree with matttheaxe.Recording you're amp this way will sound awful and there's better ways to do it.Not to mention most computer soundcards are not idea for recording and give less than spectacular results.
 
if you are going to throw money down on a new amp and your current amp sounds good then why not just get an interface or usb mic. at least this way you will get the sound of the whole amp instead of just the line out.
 
I ended up getting an audio interface and this fixed my problem. Thanks!
 
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