Another home recording question...

Myrddin

Just looking for some input here guys if you would be so kind

Basically Im looking to record electric guitar to pc. I want to use the line out from my amp preferably, so I can retain "some" of the tone Im hearing. When I connect from the amp to my pcs' line in socket...I get the guitar sound coming through, but it sounds like there is about a .25 second delay from what I play to what I hear. Presumably I need a proper interface (usb 2.0)??

Also, the guitar sound from amp to pc sounds kind of, artificial. Its hard to describe, but its like the pc is further processing the sound or something...would a proper guitar interface more or less give me what I hear from my amp (obviously excluding any difference the amp speaker/enclosure makes)?

Finally, further down the line Id like to visually record my playing & sync it with my audio recording for youtube purposes. Is windows movie maker a good option for this? Or are there better options available?

landsleaving

You'll need an interface to deal with that delay. There's no other way around it as far as I know. If you're just recording guitar and vocals you could get an m-audio fast track.

If you want a better, more true sound from your amp, try using a condenser mic and recording through that, rather than direct from the line out fo the amp. Your interface will need phantom power (not sure if the m-audio has that)

You might also consider some software like amplitube for your computer, which I find improves the sound you get a lot, makes it more natural. Almost to the point where you could forget the amp and just go guitar>usb interface directly, then from the interface to a cab or headphones for monitoring

Adyx

EnterNow wrote: »

Just looking for some input here guys if you would be so kind

Basically Im looking to record electric guitar to pc. I want to use the line out from my amp preferably, so I can retain "some" of the tone Im hearing. When I connect from the amp to my pcs' line in socket...I get the guitar sound coming through, but it sounds like there is about a .25 second delay from what I play to what I hear. Presumably I need a proper interface (usb 2.0)??

Also, the guitar sound from amp to pc sounds kind of, artificial. Its hard to describe, but its like the pc is further processing the sound or something...would a proper guitar interface more or less give me what I hear from my amp (obviously excluding any difference the amp speaker/enclosure makes)?

Finally, further down the line Id like to visually record my playing & sync it with my audio recording for youtube purposes. Is windows movie maker a good option for this? Or are there better options available?

What program are you using to record and what kind of soundcard do you have? If you can you should use the ASIO driver. Ideally though a dedicated interface is the way to go.

Myrddin

I appreciate the responses guys, cheers. Ill start doing some homework on interfaces so, starting with the m-track. How much am I likely to spend on a relatively good quality condenser mic?

@Adyx - I havet recorded anything yet, simply because of the lag Im getting while playing...so I havnt even got as far as the recording part. Im using the on-board sound from my motherboard, so I was surprised there was any delay.

landsleaving

I use one of these and it sounds absolutely perfect to my ears. I'm sure it isn't studio quality or anyhting, but it picks up vocals and instruments really well, and has great clarity.

These are about half the price and are generally pretty well reviewed. I was going to get one until I spotted the Se on adverts at a great price. Second hand is the way to go on these.

Just make sure your interface has phantom power or a condenser mic won't work. I'd definitely go for a large diaphragam condenser, since you can record pretty much anything on it, unlike a dynamic or simple instrument mic. You can also get some good effects with different mic placing, which a dynamic mic can't do. I've used mine on electric guitar through an amp, electric played unplugged, acoustic, violin, vocals and some percussion (not actual drums though) It performed very well in all cases. Do make sure to buy a pop filter for vocals as well.

Myrddin

Great info landsleaving, cheers man. Also +1 on the used gear, I think its the only way to go these days. You seem to know a good bit about mics/recording...if I was to pick your aural brain a bit here & ask your opinion on the below video...would you reckon its recorded via mic or direct? I know its prob impossible to tell but maybe a more trained ear than my own would be a better judge...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV86vHn38VI

landsleaving

Listened to it and just couldn't tell. I'd guess it's direct, but it looks like he's got some pedals (or a twitchy leg), so maybe he's got an overdrive in the signal chain.

It's a fairly big sound on the lead guitar, but I'm not convinced it's totally natural, so I'd hazard a guess at him using an interface and amplitube or something similar, with a tube amp sound, and a bit of reverb. Then again, he could have a marshall stack hidden in a corner of that room and youtube just gives it a digital taint.

So in sum...

Myrddin

landsleaving wrote: »

Listened to it and just couldn't tell. I'd guess it's direct, but it looks like he's got some pedals (or a twitchy leg), so maybe he's got an overdrive in the signal chain.

It's a fairly big sound on the lead guitar, but I'm not convinced it's totally natural, so I'd hazard a guess at him using an interface and amplitube or something similar, with a tube amp sound, and a bit of reverb. Then again, he could have a marshall stack hidden in a corner of that room and youtube just gives it a digital taint.

So in sum...

He does have pedals of some sort, although he is not entirely forthcoming about his equiptment. He claims its just the guitar and the amp (clean + distortion). I have Id say 85/90% of his tone, the only differnces being pickup related I think, but having the exact same amp as him I can say for sure its not the amps natural sound.

I think the cheapest route to go would be the interface/amplitube and see am I happy with the results. If not, its condensor city

Great advice, thanks again.

PMI

goto www.asio4all.com and use that as your driver it should eliminate any latency probs on most inbuilt soundcards etc.. so saving you some money up front

get the buffer/samples down to about 64-80ish and you should sound pretty direct

You wont get any tone from your amp being direct really as all the valves etc.. are for the output stage so you need to run a palmer speaker sim to go direct

GOod luck

landsleaving

EnterNow wrote: »

He does have pedals of some sort, although he is not entirely forthcoming about his equiptment. He claims its just the guitar and the amp (clean + distortion). I have Id say 85/90% of his tone, the only differnces being pickup related I think, but having the exact same amp as him I can say for sure its not the amps natural sound.

I think the cheapest route to go would be the interface/amplitube and see am I happy with the results. If not, its condensor city

Great advice, thanks again.

At a guess he does some compression after recording through his DAW, that would explain the slightly less than accurate tone.

Make you sure use the 10 day trial of amplitube, it's not too cheap so give it a good look over before you go for it. In fact you could even plug your guitar direct into the computer now with no interface, mute it and play unplugged so the latency doesn't throw you off, then listen back to a recording and go through all the amp models and effects. That would save you buying anything before you know what exactly you want/need.