Sound Quality problem

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Grandpa

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I have a behringer ub1202 mixer and a maya 44 (or something like that, I'm just borrowing it)

I mic up my guitar amp with an sm57. The sound I get from the amp is fine, the sound I get when I listen on the mixer is fine. But the sound that gets recorded is much worse than the one I get from the mixer. It sounds thin and lifeless. My palm-muted chugga-chugga riffs sounds nothing like it did on the mixer.

Is really the soundcard so bad? The friend I'm borrowing it from has no problems with it. And I normally have a Terratec EWX 24/96 card, but that sounded even worse.

Please help me. What can be the problem?

I have a integrated soundcard on my mainboard too, but it's been uninstalled.
 
You will find that moving that mic around will give you different sounds. Get someone to move the mic around while you listen and see if you find anything you like before you go buy any new gear. make sure to try a little off axis from the speakers also. also back the mic off of the speaker a little.
 
as I said, the sound I get into my mixer is fine (I listen with my headphones)
 
no need to be sorry, I appreciate every advice that's in good intention. :)
 
what software are you using? and at what bit depth and sampling rate?



xoo
 
Are you sending the guitar signal out of the mixer through a line input on the soundcard, or a mic input (if it even has one -- not familiar with the Maya's features)?

Do you have the levels set properly?

Are you recording a mono track or a stereo track?
 
Gotta echo Camm. What software are you using? What bit depth and sampling rate? You're not saving as an MP3 or any such thing are you?
 
I'm using Cubase SX at 16/44100

I use the line in's (L/R) on the soundcard. The levels are correct, it never clips on my mixer, or in the software. Recording mono tracks.
 
What about other things you record, are they thin and lifeless too?(Drums Vocals Keyboard, etc.)

Do you playback the sound from the computer through the tape-in of the mixer?

And are you listening to the playback through the same setup that you hear everything fine through when you listen to it live on the mixer?

You need to be able to troubleshoot out/eliminate your playback as a source of the problem.

If it is going in ok, then it should be coming out ok, since you are recording digitally, at CD quality.

Another possibility is if you are recording two tracks ("stereo") in of the guitar, and somehow the phase of one is flipped going in, it would cause the playback to sound very thin, because of the cancellation. This could be on playback or on the way in, actually.

Just some ideas.
:)
 
Just thinking here... bear with me... you say, "I use the line in's (L/R) on the soundcard... recording mono tracks."

Is it possible that you are somehow routing the guitar equally into both the soundcard's L and R input, instead of panning the guitar signal hard left or hard right at the mixer so that the whole thing is on either the L or R input? If not, you would be getting essentially 50% of your total signal out of one side while not using the other side at all. That might account for a level problem when none is apparent.

Your use of "thin and lifeless," though, sounds like more than a volume issue. It cries "phase problem." Is it possible the guitar is routed out of the mixer 50% on the left and 50% on the right, and that there's a phase mismatch, and the L and R are being summed in creating your mono track? That would certainly suck the life out of it.

Note also that if your speakers are out of phase, a similar effect will occur. Easy to check with a known commercial CD for reference...
 
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