Recording guitar issues?

[realpolitik]

Yeah, so I've been trying to record my friend's guitar recently and I'm getting an amazingly shitty sound. It sounds like there's a phone-esque filter on it.

Previously I recorded line-in to my e-mu 1820M and got a shitty sound, and even after I got my live mic (an Audix OM5) and tried recording, an equally shitty sound, even though it sounds great for vocals.

I've heard that the SM57 is good for micing guitar cabs, but is there some kind of alternative? Is there some reason I'm getting shitty quality line in to my soundcard dock?

Just fyi he's using a Valvetronix Vox head/cab.

If anyone can point me in the right direction that'd be ace.

<33

[MaliceX]

Perhaps adjust line-in levels and EQ settings if necessary. Line-in tends to have a noise floor on the bottom amp ends, as well as the sound card, most cards tend to put its own EQ on top of line-in playback.

Other than that, is this directly connected or through an ASIO mixer?

[realpolitik]

There's actually a lot of noise when recording linein guitar as opposed to my synth.

As far as I know the audio signal is first routed through this, but all its settings seem to be neutral, no added eq.

[Darangen]

Do you have a sound sample we could listen to?

It could be a number of things.

- If you're getting a shitty sound, it could just be the settings on the guitar amp. Make sure you have good tone before recording, it's a nightmare to try and fix after recording.

- Where are you putting the mic? Generally, you want it about 6-9 inches away from the main speaker, pointing at the speaker. If you have it somewhere like in the middle of 2 or more speakers (you mentioned a cab) you're not going to pick up the original sound too well.

The fact you're getting an equally bad line-in sound leads me to think it's really the guitar/amp settings. So make sure the amp sounds good first. Generally, a flat eq is the way to go, it makes it easier to eq it in a mix because you don't have to compensate for the eq settings you recorded into it.

What kind of guitar part is it? Distorted? Clean? If you're recording a distorted guitar, try recording a clean sound and see if the problem is still there.

[suzumebachi]

Are you going directly from your amp to your soundcard? Because that's generally a good way to make stuff sound like ass. Most amps sound like tits on a walrus when run directly. When you bypass the cabinet, generally all you get is a nasty mess of distorted guitar signal. If you plan on doing this, I'd recommend getting a DI box with a cab sim.

If you're using a mic, why are you using line-in? Do you have a preamp? The 1820m has two XLR inputs on the front of the breakout box. Are those what you're using?

[realpolitik]

link to sample here.

I recorded line-in to one of my dock's XLR inputs.

[SnappleMan]

6-9 inches? What the hell? When you mic a cab, the mic should be right up on the cab. It's up to you to decide how many speakers you want to mic, I'd use one mic for every two speakers, so 2 mics for a 4x12 cab. Then you have to decide how you're gonna position the mics. Traditionally, you can put the mic right in the center of the speaker or to the side of the speaker.

[suzumebachi]

link to sample here.

I recorded line-in to one of my dock's XLR inputs.

You're misusing the term line-in. A line-in signal is already at line-level (like TV or CD player outputs). Microphones are not line-level, and must be first amplified to achieve proper volume.

And you didn't answer the question as to whether you're going direct or micing. But since you say XLR, I'm going to assume it's miced. Are you using a preamp? What do you have the gain set to on the dock? Do you have the phantom power on?

[realpolitik]

No no no, it's like this. I recorded that with an instrument cable, the 1820m's inputs can handle both 1/4" cables and XLR. the sound is more or less the same from the mic.