Recording Direct Our From Back Of Amp Vs. Micing The Speaker: Which Is Better?

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Mike Freze

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Hi, Everyone!

I need some advice. I can record my electric guitar (or bass) in real time through my amplifier, then send the signal via a 1/4" cable from the back of my amp (line out) into my line input on my audio interface and then to my computer to record a track in a given project.

I can also plug my guitar into my amp and mic the speaker, plug the mic XLR line into my audio interface, and get the recording that way as well.

Which is a better way to record in terms of sound qulaity, minimal noise, etc.? Will either way sound about the same after I adjust my amp settings (lows, mids, highs, perhaps reverb or distortions) before I record live through my software recording program? (I use Cubase LE but I guess it doesn't matter what program you use).

Mike Freze
 
Do it.
Really. :)

Of cource it will sound different. Consider you're not getting the speaker -a huge natural filter -in both tone and dynamics, plus a dozen variations from moving any single mic around.
Out the back'- no room effect, or room noises for that mater.

If it were bass, I'd lean about 60-40% to go direct. But guitar?
 
Thank You. Can You Shed A Bit More Info?

Thanks, mixsit!

OK, the recorded sound would be different going direct out from the amp to your interface vs. micing the speaker when you record. How though is it different? Will guitar effects not come through by direct recording where it will when you mic the speaker? Is it better to direct record so no extraneous sounds leak into the mic when recording? Someone once told me to do this (clean direct record), then play back the recorded track through the amp again and THEN mic it to tweak whatever sounds you want as a new and final track you record one last time.

Mike Freze
 
What you're talking about is reamping - you need an interface that can send a fairly hot signal, but it's worth a try, I guess... If you're doing that, record your DI tracks straight into your interface, not through your amp. The idea is to capture the performance as it leaves your guitar, so you can later on amp it up and tweak it to taste, and separate capturing the performance from capturing the tone. I've never been a fan, but some guys swear by it - it's all how you're comfortable working.

Really, you're looking at two radically different approaches here. Unless you have some sort of speaker/mic emulation plugin or your amp has speaker emulation on its line out, and a very good one at that, then hands down the mic is going to sound way better. Guitar speakers aren't anywhere close to full frequency so your sound is being filtered there, and the mic further filters things as well. Going direct, you lose all that and what you get is super edgy, buzzy distortion.

Mic leaking isn't really an issue when close-micing an electric guitar amp at any sort of volume. An amp is pretty loud, when picked up from less than 2" away - everything else gets pretty drowned out.
 
Thanks, Drew!!

Far out, Drew! Great advice that I can understand.

I suppose I will go with the micing the speaker instead of direct injection and experiment with that. By the way: How do you feel about micing midi instruments (electric keyboard, drum machine) by sending those signals through your amp, micing the speaker for recording, and recordong the midi right at the beginning as an adio track through the line input on your interface? In other words, don't use the midi cables and record midi instruments as midi tracks via your interface: keep it audio to begin with. Do you think this sound will be far superior to midi tracks recorded and then trying to add soft synths later to get a desired sound that compares to the quality of good amps, speakers, and micsw to record with?

Mike Freze
 
Mike Freze said:
Far out, Drew! Great advice that I can understand.

I suppose I will go with the micing the speaker instead of direct injection and experiment with that. By the way: How do you feel about micing midi instruments (electric keyboard, drum machine) by sending those signals through your amp, micing the speaker for recording, and recordong the midi right at the beginning as an adio track through the line input on your interface? In other words, don't use the midi cables and record midi instruments as midi tracks via your interface: keep it audio to begin with. Do you think this sound will be far superior to midi tracks recorded and then trying to add soft synths later to get a desired sound that compares to the quality of good amps, speakers, and micsw to record with?

Mike Freze
Click to expand...

Never tried it - I work almost exclusively with "real" instruments, as I'm a guitarist and bassist and prefer to get synth sounds by manipulating the living hell out of guitar sounds.

Don't be afraid to experiment with reamping, but for simplicity and results, if you take the time to do it right, a mic'd amp is tough to beat.
 
guitar amps are designed to be played thru a speaker and often, are designed with a specific speaker in mind or they might have a speaker voiced to fit the amp. So they're a complete unit and it's gonna sound better in general to use a mic in the speaker.
Guitar amps AREN'T designed for keyboards and, in fact, will often not really be able to handle the wide freq ranges and dynamics of a keyboard.
Whether it'll sound better recorded as audio or MIDI will have a lot to do with your soundcard that would be producing the sound instead of the keyboards' sound module.
But I wouldn't mic a keyboard in a guitar amp to record it as audio ...... I'd simply use the line outs of the keyboard.
 
Mike Freze said:
Far out, Drew! Great advice that I can understand.

I suppose I will go with the micing the speaker instead of direct injection and experiment with that. By the way: How do you feel about micing midi instruments (electric keyboard, drum machine) by sending those signals through your amp, micing the speaker for recording, and recordong the midi right at the beginning as an adio track through the line input on your interface? In other words, don't use the midi cables and record midi instruments as midi tracks via your interface: keep it audio to begin with. Do you think this sound will be far superior to midi tracks recorded and then trying to add soft synths later to get a desired sound that compares to the quality of good amps, speakers, and micsw to record with?

Mike Freze
Click to expand...

Never tried it - I work almost exclusively with "real" instruments, as I'm a guitarist and bassist and prefer to get synth sounds by manipulating the living hell out of guitar sounds.

Don't be afraid to experiment with reamping - like I said, some guys love the flexibility it provides, but for simplicity and results, if you take the time to do it right, a mic'd amp is tough to beat.
 
Mike Freze said:
Which is a better way to record in terms of sound qulaity, minimal noise, etc.?
Click to expand...

Neither is better. Each delivers a different sound. You pick the one that delivers the particular sound you want to use.
 
Mike Freze said:
Far out, Drew! Great advice that I can understand.

I suppose I will go with the micing the speaker instead of direct injection and experiment with that.
Click to expand...

I think Drew spelled it out quite nicely, and I'm glad to see you're going to try the micing approach, but I'd suggest you take it a step further and actually do an A/B between mic and direct just for learning purposes.

It often seems almost taboo on this board to speak in absolutes about what kinds of approaches are better ("use your ears", "it depends on the situation", etc. etc.) but this is one topic where I have no qualms whatsoever in saying that the amp/mic method is clearly superior (assuming, of course, that you have an amp that you like the sound of, and a decent mic). I'm sure I'll get my head bit off for saying this, but if you give it a try I'm quite confident you'll agree.
 
I know that for guys who have never tried something...there is a certain amount of apprehension about what to do when there are several options...but you know, the most simplest answer is to just try out all the options you have.
That is the best way to learn. You have to actually hear the different options in order to truly understand/learn what makes them different…
…and no amount of forum chatter can help you actually hear the differences...
…only trying them can. :)
 
Mic'ing is way better than the direct outs form an amp/cabinet In my opinion.
Here are some tips for micing a guitar cab
Guitar mic tips
Cj
 
Think outside the box. Try everything you need to to get your "tone". Somethings will work some won't.

Piano, played in the mid range ran through your amp and then miced might sound quite nice if you keep down the distortion.

Hammond B3 organ mode on a keyboard played on a mic'd guitar amp can sound wild (Think smoke on the water).

Bands in the past have used guitar amps as a poor man's PA for vocals. Try using both the line out and micing the cabinet.

Try running your Bass through your amp and then use the line out. If you try to mic the speaker for bass it probably won't have enough low end. But give it a shot.

Have fun twiddling the knobs on your AMP. Do what your ears tell you is good.

Racherik
 
Racherik said:
If you try to mic the speaker for bass it probably won't have enough low end. But give it a shot.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprized. The bass knob on the amp more than takes care of the low end. I like to experiment with different methods but I really do like to mic the bass amp.
 
Same here Grim!
It's the sound that the player is wanting to achieve .... why take a Di source?






:cool:
 
moresound said:
Same here Grim!
It's the sound that the player is wanting to achieve .... why take a Di source?
Click to expand...

Yep ...... the closest thing to what the player is setting his amp to sound like is coming out of the speaker since that's what he uses as a reference to set his tone by. So you want to get that.
 
OP, are you referring to Clean, Mild distortion, Heavy Rock distortion or Hi-Gain?

This matters.
 
Just A Few More Questions

Hey, thanks everyone for all the great insights! I'm happy to hear that a lot of people love to mic amp speakers to get that great, rich, live feel to their recordings right from the start.

Why use MIDI (soft synths or virtual instruments) if you have good quality external hardware equipment and good mics? Outside of extra editing capabilities, can those sounds ever really duplicate the great sounds of audio recordings using great amps, speakers, good mics, and quality instruments?

One final thing: why is it ever good to record "clean" direct instruments to add effects later on after the recording with soft synths? Even though you can't get rid of effects if you do it this way, won't the original hardware effects you put on your instruments at the time or the recording sound so much better than what you could add afterwards with "fake" synthesized sounds?

Mike Freze
 
well maybe, but what if you decide you don't want the effect at all? Or want a different effect or want its' level way different?
 
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