Humble, yet tailored advice needed

lowregister · #1 09-05-2009, 04:55 PM

Hey all,

It's overwhelming trying to find out all that I can from searching and reading so I'm hoping to describe my situation for recording needs and you guys can recommend a good DI box

I play through an Ampeg Ba115 that has a balanced XLR output

1)First the stupid question-The XLR signal is 2nd to last in the wiring such that all of my pedals and settings on the pre-amp will be sent out the XLR and then the actual 15'' speaker? I just want to make sure everything comes out the way I want of the XLR

Continuing. My guitarist has a simple 15watt Marshal amp that has an emulated line out 1/4'' jack

We would like to buy a DI box to record directly into my PC laptop, I already have the software needed

2) What DI boxes can you recommend, we can spend up to $175 and we don't need the box to do any EQ or effects and such.

3)The DI box would have to have inputs for both 1/4'' and my XLR...OR are there converter plugs such that I can plug a 1/4'' into an XLR coupler?

Thanks for all your help. I'd be totally lost without you.

Charling · #2 09-05-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowregister

Hey all,

It's overwhelming trying to find out all that I can from searching and reading so I'm hoping to describe my situation for recording needs and you guys can recommend a good DI box

I play through an Ampeg Ba115 that has a balanced XLR output

1)First the stupid question-The XLR signal is 2nd to last in the wiring such that all of my pedals and settings on the pre-amp will be sent out the XLR and then the actual 15'' speaker? I just want to make sure everything comes out the way I want of the XLR

by xlr i guess you mean the xlr output on your amp? yeah the xlr should be a complete output of all your previous settings including any effects on the way into the amp. some amp DI's (like on my amp) have a button for pre/post eq, as in some of the settings of my amp will NOT come out of the DI output, thats worth checking for your particular model. If it doesnt have a switch I would assume then it will be post everything APART from the power amp of course. the power amp goes to the speakers and no-where else!

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowregister

Continuing. My guitarist has a simple 15watt Marshal amp that has an emulated line out 1/4'' jack

We would like to buy a DI box to record directly into my PC laptop, I already have the software needed

2) What DI boxes can you recommend, we can spend up to $175 and we don't need the box to do any EQ or effects and such.

3)The DI box would have to have inputs for both 1/4'' and my XLR...OR are there converter plugs such that I can plug a 1/4'' into an XLR coupler?

which brings me to my next point, I think you have the term DI confused, a DI will not get sound into your computer! it is a box (or circuit) which converts an instrument signal into a 'form' where you can put it straight into a desk/pre amp etc. it also balances the signal, ie it turns it into a more robust form of audio signal which is better at resisting interference, ie noise and hums.

wiki DI box, it will help!

what you are after is an audio interface, and there are hundreds out there, just look for one which has at least one mic pre (for the xlr/di output of your amp) and one line input (for the 1/4" out of your guitarists amp).

aside from that its just research, no one can tell you which to buy, beyond the basics of what you need, though I'm sure there will be people who put in there suggestions. I havent been in the market for an interface at the cost you are looking for for a while so I'm not the one to suggest a particular model too you!

check the stickies as well!

bikeplate · #3 09-05-2009, 07:03 PM

HI

Radial JDI

Rob

kai_ski · #4 09-05-2009, 07:08 PM

Yeah, you need an audio interface to send the signal to your computer.

Once you have the AI setup, I would bypass your amp, sending your instrument & effects signal directly to the audio interface.

A DI box, such as the Radial JDI referenced by Rob, for recording purposes, generally replaces your amp in the signal chain before sending the signal to the recording interface be it a sound board, additional outboard gear, or a usb audio interface.

lowregister · #5 09-05-2009, 10:01 PM

Alright, I've learned a lot in the last hour. I had a feeling I'd get my wires crossed.

anyway, since searching around I'm at this crossroad

http://www.zzounds.com/item--LEXALPHA

http://www.zzounds.com/item--TASUS144

so these are two different ones, one being price, and the other with MIDI input features. Can you guys offer a little commentary on each relative to each other?

The idea I had to record our stuff was to get two mics and record us playing in stereo, then go back and individually do our parts while listening to the first track. Once that's done, then erase the first stereo track. So, I'm guessing i can use the two LINE IN (L & R) jacks to do that first track.

Thanks again, you have been invaluable.

kai_ski · #6 09-06-2009, 02:29 AM

I haven't used either of those units. Personally I've only used digidesign (protools.) So I'll let others comment on the interfaces, but I think you can get used mbox2's with software around $250 - $300 and that would be a worthwhile investment for your project.

You could play together and record a 'scratch' track, but I would suggest running the bass direct into one channel, and micing only the guitar cab using the second channel. (You can define the balance (L/R) of the tracks in your recording software.) Then the bass won't bleed into the guitar mix, and you won't end up having to do a bunch of overdubs. You can mix the two isolated tracks and be done with it.

If you are going to do drums as well record the drum track first, with just the bass (direct). Then overdub guitars and vocals.

Use a metronome, and be prepared to hear a lot about your playing that you haven't heard before. Tape is like a camera, it reveals everything about your music... good and bad.

Charling · #7 09-06-2009, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowregister

Alright, I've learned a lot in the last hour. I had a feeling I'd get my wires crossed.

anyway, since searching around I'm at this crossroad

http://www.zzounds.com/item--LEXALPHA

http://www.zzounds.com/item--TASUS144

so these are two different ones, one being price, and the other with MIDI input features. Can you guys offer a little commentary on each relative to each other?

The idea I had to record our stuff was to get two mics and record us playing in stereo, then go back and individually do our parts while listening to the first track. Once that's done, then erase the first stereo track. So, I'm guessing i can use the two LINE IN (L & R) jacks to do that first track.

Thanks again, you have been invaluable.

yeah your idea of doing a 'guide' take is sound, may be a little tricky for the drummer to play along to himself so it might be worth playing a guide guitar, vox and bass track to a click, then when the drummer plays his parts he just hears the rest of the band and a click. that may yeild better results but your main idea is sound!

BUT, you would use the MIC in's not the LINE ins. mics have a very small signal output and need to go into a mic input (ie into a mic preamp) if you go into the LINE ins you will get barely any signal and it will sound a bit rubbish!

Brent Nussey · #8 09-06-2009, 08:27 AM

The Tascam is a well regarded unit in it's price range.

Charling is right, if you want to record a guide track with 2 mics, you want to plug them into the mic preamps, the lexicon seems to have only one, and the Tascam two. I know it's a little more money for you to spend, but the Lexicon unit is a really bare-bones interface, where the Tascam will take care of anything you need, unless you need to start recording more than 2 channels of audio at once. A friend of mine had the old version of the Tascam (I think it was called the US-122) for a portable interface, and it was great.

Good luck.

lowregister · #9 09-06-2009, 12:40 PM

Ok, so I have pretty much decided to go with the Tascam, down the road it will pay off.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--TASUS144

Going back to my original post though, my bass amp has a balanced XLR output on it, so can I plug that into one of the MIC spots on the Tascam?

I'm still just trying to figure out how all of this will work, especially with that little switch that says mic/line--Guitar. It says that's for the two analog line IN's in the middle to switch high impedance for a guitar.

I hope I still have your attention. The end of this is near! As always, many thanks

kai_ski · #10 09-06-2009, 01:02 PM

You can use the balanced XLR out to go direct to the audio interface. It should say on the amp whether the XLR out is line level or mic level, and that's what you select on the tascam. I would expect it to be line level.

You can get a lot of helpful information here but another good resource for recording related questions is gearslutz.com

Here's an example of a search I did for "Tascam 144".

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/searc...rchid=21840610