Bias Amp: Is anyone tweaking anything really different?
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@tannhauser ? for you....My set up: guitar into focusrite > pc > amp sim > out to box > to my ear. Friend gave me a "gender bender" cable which allowed me to run the signal as line. I did not hear any difference sound wise.
Would a DI box alter the signal at all in regards to tone? Or is it doing the same things as that cable?
Hope that makes sense. These lagers next to me do. Thx - Dave
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As long as that Focusrite has its own DI AND you aren't clipping it, which sometimes can happen with the onboard Focusrite DI's, it should be fine. You should post a clip of what you are getting. The way that video is mic'd honestly, in a mix you should be getting a much clearer tone than that.
As to the Apogee vs Focusrite thing, I can say that the scarlett series tests better (flatter frequency response, less cramping near aliasing, even less noise) than the older Apogee ADA8000 converters, and TONS of killer sounding albums were done on the ADA8K's. It's not the rock I'd be looking for tone under, though the dollar justification placebo effect may make you happier with the sound of an apogee if you spend the extra money for it, just be aware its not actually anything to do with the sound in that case.
I'm not sure which gender bender cable that would be, if its some sort of DI or something. But, you shouldn't be running line levels into DI's and shouldn't be running guitar level stuff into line inputs. I remember a lot of utility cables and connectors, like DB-25 female to female adapters for running DA-88 signals long distance, but I'm not sure which one that would be for a guitar
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Cool....yes I can run the guitar as an instrument and keep civilized levels in the green. Will be spending time with it this week so will post something interesting (get a sound clip as well). Thx!
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Would one of these help tone: http://www.countryman.com/type-85-direct-box/ or perhaps a pre-amp: http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-Sunday-Driver
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When you say 'out to box', what do you mean?
As for speakers and headphones, all of them sound different, but a guitar speaker in front of you driven by a tube amp has a unique sonic profile. Years ago someone told me that a guitar power amp is designed to 'overshoot' the sound source, which is why they're so loud (or perhaps loud-seeming). Even solid state audio CRT TVs have a similar profile - loud seeming without having to be loud, and a round projection.
In my limited experience, studio monitors aren't just flat, they have no life in them. And they will highlight any treble content. Which is why I play through my PC 2.1 set.
Post some recordings, though. Also, have you tried any patches from Tonecloud?
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@dc42 it won't be significantly, or audibly better than the DI on a scarlett. People will swear up and down that that isn't the case, but ABX tests say otherwise.
However, IF your guitar is loud enough to overload the scarlett DI, the Countryman might might might be able to handle the level better (likely through turning down the mic preamp gain). Its one of the units in my pic
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@tannhauser said in Bias Amp: Is anyone tweaking anything really different?:
When you say 'out to box', what do you mean?
Back to the Focusrite.
If anything these posts and replies have lead to some quality research (sites, forums, and vids). Good way to kill time and learn something as well.
Thanks for your replies!
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Though he is certainly a polarizing figure in the pro audio community, here is a bit from the rational side. http://ethanwiner.com/audiophoolery.html
And not to see that magical thinking doesn't get results as well. Many times in my life I've had to setup a studio for pseudo science or magical belief based reasons for people who most certainly get results, but it wasn't in any way caused by their 200 dollar per foot speaker cables, or magical A/C cables (though if you told them they weren;t there, the results may actually have turned out badly)
There is plenty of room for improvement of gear and such, but much of the front end electronics we have now is so close to ideal that moving a mic a mm or a degree will have much more effect
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Expounding on that and my comment about mic-ing phenomenon : most guitarists who've solely/mostly played out an amp are used to hearing an stereo-ambient off-axis version - versus a stereo-direct off-axis mic version out any audiophile type of speaker.
I rarely play through cabs, but have for twenty years stood or sat down right in front of them, to hear how they really sound - though of course audio quality is determined by distance from source, and loudness.
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Dudes and dudettes....put one of these in front of my focusrite box. Set it for an impedance "clean up" and ran through all my amp sims (setting the connection as a line). Dialed in levels and definitely brought them to life. Pretty interesting....the JTM 45 in BIAS sounds much fuller (instead of a thin - tinny tone). Feeling better about things. Running the sound through my monitors and again it is nice.
http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-Sunday-Driver
Good read....
http://blog.lehle.com/2017/10/25/computers-always-sound-so-digital/
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There's quite a lot of word salad in there, and while most will happily specify exactly to the ohm, what impedance the devices are operating at, they just say some impedance, and some impedance times 4
"the guitar signal is amplified, with absolutely no modification, at the input impedance of a guitar amp,"
Wait what?
Looks to be a JFET DI, like the Countryman, so if you like what it does, that's pretty good!
Focusrite DI inputs typically have around a 10k input impedance, similar to many active DI's that are used to seeing hot or active pickups, or acoustic pickups.
Jensen transformers (used in gear like the RADIAL DI's among 4 quadrillion DIY studio designs) are somewhere like 140k
Countryman, like a lot of onboard channel strip style DI's are around 1meg!
I know which one I'd want to use if I were doing a split and using also the DI's thru mirror output of the input, but if its the only thing going in? Doesn't seem so critical unless its lower gain pickups, in which case, the higher impedance stuff might do better
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My initial reaction is being pleased which is good as I have been struggling to find my way with the sims. Not disappointed really just I know the tone could be improved.
I do play other than my Les Paul lower output pick ups (more vintage sounding tones). That obviously could produce a thinner sound. Off topic I do believe these sims capture the metal sound quite well and some nights want to just chug with some hot pick ups. Maybe one of these days will have to get me an appropriate guitar for that genre and just let it rip.
Thx for the support.