Re-Amping? What is it?

[metalhead28]

I don't know of any amps that would accept a line level signal....maybe if you used an effects loop return. But then you lose the pre-amp.....
And if you want to use a DI box it needs to be of the passive variety. I think a dedicated Re-Amp box like the "Re-Amp" (duh) or the Radial X-Amp are much better seing as they have an adjustable level and things like that. I personally use the Radial box and get nice results. And yes, you would just hook the passive box up in reverse....not sure if you will have noise problems like someone mentioned above.....might work better with some boxes than others, I don't know about that. I suggest picking up a dedicated box if you want to do it seriously.

 

[detuned6]

I use my boss NS-2 pedal for this. It has two ouputs, one to the amp the other direct to the mic preamp, then I throw amplitube on it after recording.

 

[easychair]

While I was aware of what re-amping was and thought it sounded like something that would be cool to experiment with someday, I never really thought about this step before. It makes sense though that you could fry your amp if you sent it a line-level signal. My amp thanks you in advance!

Are there amps out there that have "line in" inputs to allow for this?

-Jeff

You won't fry your amp, it will just distort if the signal is too hot. Guitar amps can handle pretty hot signals, though. Instruments can hit line level pretty easy, active ones can hit up to +15db. You don't even need a box, if your gear has unbalanced outs and your cable run is short enough to prevent noise. People plug keyboards and drum machines into guitar amps all the time. One of the big reasons to use a box when reamping is to convert from balanced to unbalanced.

About using a DI in reverse, there is no problem with it, just something to be aware of.

A passive DI used the regular way

balances the signal
changes impedance
cuts signal level

due to the transformer and the things we hook to the DI.

A DI in reverse will unbalance a signal and increase the signal strength. It also lets you use a low-noise balanced run for most of the way, just like it does in regular use.

If you have a problem with distortion using a single DI in reverse no matter how much you turn down your signal, the DI is bumping up your signal too much, and either your amp input or the DI transformer is overloading and distorting. Prestomation, by knowledge or chance, has hit on one solution, to use two DIs. The first, used the regular way, knocks the line signal down, and the second, in reverse, brings it back up. Another solution is to use the pad on the passive DI if you use only one. The pad on DIs is usually on the outputs, and in reverse it will be on the inputs, padding down your hot signal before it hits the transformer, where it gets bumped up.