Trademark 60 direct out

  • Thread starter Thread starter julz
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julz

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I've got a Tech 21 Trademark 60 which has a direct out. I bought an XLR-mono cable to try and record some stuff onto my PC via my soundcard. The levels I was getting were very low. I was wondering if i would need some sort of preamp for this setup to work. Any advice/tips on how XLR cables work will help too coz I'm completely new at this. Cheers.
 
Have you tried the 1/4 inch out, to see what this does? I'm guessing you need a preamp to use the XLR. It says the 1/4 inch out can double as a direct if no XLR is available, so you might try that. Best bet is to get a preamp, as you will probably want one in the near future anyway, as you know how it goes when you have fun, and always want new gear.
 
Dogman said:
Have you tried the 1/4 inch out, to see what this does? I'm guessing you need a preamp to use the XLR. It says the 1/4 inch out can double as a direct if no XLR is available, so you might try that. Best bet is to get a preamp, as you will probably want one in the near future anyway, as you know how it goes when you have fun, and always want new gear.
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The thing about the 1/4" out is that it mutes the speaker which isn't ideal but I'll give that a go. The level straight from my guitar into the soundcard is louder than the level from the XLR.. I was wondering if there could be a problem with the XLR cable...?

With regards to a preamp.. will buying one of those small mixers do the job? Thanks.
 
I'm guessing you need a preamp to use the XLR.
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Now why would a guitar amp offer a direct out that was at mic level? That makes no sense whatsoever.

The problem is probably that the soundcard has a consumer level input and the XLR out is probably pro level.

How are you connecting the XLR to the souncard?
 
The XLR to mono cable is going to halve you signal strength. XLR carries a "balanced" signal. The signal from the amp/mic is split in 2 and carried by 2 of the three connectors while the third serves as ground. It's called "balanced" because the 2 signals are exactly OPPOSITE of one another (+1V on one would be -1V on the other) to cancel out noise. The mono cable probably only carries one of these signals and you'll lose 1/2 of the original signal.
 
AlChuck said:
Now why would a guitar amp offer a direct out that was at mic level? That makes no sense whatsoever.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking.. I've recorded with a Line 6 POD before into the same souncard and got decent enough levels. Also it doesn't make any sense that passive guitar pickups have a higher level than what I'm getting from the direct out. I'm using an XLR to mono cable to connect the amp to the soundcard.

It makes sense that the signal is low coz of how XLR cables work. I'm not very keen on splashing out cash on a preamp or mixer, so is there another way around this? Also is there any way a faulty XLR-mono cable could be the cause of this problem?

Thanks for all your help.
 
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