Recording with XLR out on Markbass CMD121 (noisy)

dyuaru · #1 05-11-2008, 05:39 PM

I'm a beginner who's just starting out in the recording world and recently bought myself a Lexicon Omega recording interface to get myself started. Well I've tried recording direct into the interface and haven't been getting too great a sound so I've been looking to try some other methods. I found out recently that if there was I could record using the XLR out on my amp and having that go into the interface so I tried that with my Markbass CMD121 combo.

Markbass says that their amps have "a balanced XLR out, unbalanced tuner out so you can tune as you play without passing your signal through pedals." So I connected the Tuner out into my interface and recorded.

Here's my problem. I'm getting the tone and sound I want(mainly cause what I've been looking for is emulating the sound from my rig), but there's a mess of static and the recording isn't clean at all. Here's the recording.
http://encodable.com/cgi-bin/filechu...&file=test.wav

My question is, is there's a way to get a clean recording using the xlr/tuner out on my markbass? Or is there something wrong with my amp?

PS: This problem doesn't mean anything but I'm recording using a mogami cord and using a musicman stingray.

Thanks,
Phil

scotch · #2 05-12-2008, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyuaru

I'm a beginner who's just starting out in the recording world and recently bought myself a Lexicon Omega recording interface to get myself started. Well I've tried recording direct into the interface and haven't been getting too great a sound so I've been looking to try some other methods. I found out recently that if there was I could record using the XLR out on my amp and having that go into the interface so I tried that with my Markbass CMD121 combo.

Markbass says that their amps have "a balanced XLR out, unbalanced tuner out so you can tune as you play without passing your signal through pedals." So I connected the Tuner out into my interface and recorded.

Here's my problem. I'm getting the tone and sound I want(mainly cause what I've been looking for is emulating the sound from my rig), but there's a mess of static and the recording isn't clean at all. Here's the recording.
http://encodable.com/cgi-bin/filechu...&file=test.wav

My question is, is there's a way to get a clean recording using the xlr/tuner out on my markbass? Or is there something wrong with my amp?

PS: This problem doesn't mean anything but I'm recording using a mogami cord and using a musicman stingray.

Thanks,
Phil

Your problem may be that you are using the "Tuner" (most likely 1/4" jack) output instead of the "Line Out". The tuner output would be unbalanced and as such, more susceptible to rfi & emi noise interference. The "Line Out" (most likely an xlr connection) is what you want to use. It uses a balanced signal to help reduce noise and interference.

***note, I assume your amp has separate tuner & line outputs. I'm not familiar with your specific amp, but they should be different connector/jacks.

dyuaru · #3 05-12-2008, 06:47 PM

Thanks for the reply. Yeah that's probably the problem since I was looking for an XLR out and couldn't find one but there is a Line Out. It uses a different type of cable than the typical instrument cable and I don't have one and am not familiar with which type of cable would work.

Would something like this work?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ble?sku=336972
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ble?sku=336122
Would it be the male or the female?

Thanks.

scotch · #4 05-12-2008, 07:26 PM

I take it your combo amp has a 1/4" balanced line out? It is important to know whether the output is balanced (tip-ring-sleeve) or unbalanced (tip-sleeve).

Basically, you want to properly match the two devices you are connecting - your Lexicon interface and the preamp section of your Markbass amp. Does your Markbass amp not have an xlr out?

scotch · #5 05-12-2008, 07:30 PM

If your Markbass only has a 1/4" balanced (trs) output, I would probably just get a 1/4" trs to male xlr cable.

dyuaru · #6 05-12-2008, 08:10 PM

I'm not really sure cause the markbass site says that it does but I don't see an output labeled specifically XLR Out.

I have one labeled line out though. I'm not really informed about stuff like this so here's a couple pictures. It's pretty bad quality but I hope that the outs are still recognizable.

If you can't tell it has the three prongs for the line out.

Thanks for the help.

scotch · #7 05-12-2008, 08:24 PM

Allright... should be easy!

The "Line Out" is a male xlr output (the 3 pins sticking out).

All you need is a standard male to female xlr cable (also known as a mic cable). Plug it straight in to your interface & you're done!

You must have been using the tuner out into your interface. It sometimes works, but it isn't ideal. Go get yourself a mic cable & you should be good to go.

dyuaru · #8 05-12-2008, 08:26 PM

So this one would work right?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...XLR?sku=338010

And yeah before I was using an instrument cable into the tuner out and plugging it into my interface.

scotch · #9 05-12-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyuaru

So this one would work right?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...XLR?sku=338010

And yeah before I was using an instrument cable into the tuner out and plugging it into my interface.

That's all you need.

Good luck!

projectMalamute · #10 05-12-2008, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyuaru

So this one would work right?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...XLR?sku=338010

And yeah before I was using an instrument cable into the tuner out and plugging it into my interface.

For the love of god don't pay 50 bucks for a 15 foot cable.

That's crazy insane dumb.

Canare star quad is like 50 cents a foot from redco.

Plugs another 5 bucks.

I bet that Bayou cables guy will beat that price by a few hundred percent if you don't want to spend 10 minutes with a soldering iron.

edit:

just checked, not quite a few hundred percent. The Musicians Friend price is about 260% the price of a functionally identical cable from Bayou. Over 400% the price of the parts from Redco.

Fancy looking guitar store cabling is a scam.

stranger0 · #11 05-12-2008, 10:49 PM

Your tuner out should not touch your signal chain for the DI. It's 2 seperate things.

That or if you want it part of your chain, plug your bass into your tuner and then to your input of your LMII. (Not sure why anyone actually does that really)

hunta · #12 05-13-2008, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projectMalamute

For the love of god don't pay 50 bucks for a 15 foot cable.

That's crazy insane dumb.

I think that's worth repeating.

scotch · #13 05-13-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunta

I think that's worth repeating.

I'm with you guys on this, but since the op didn't even know what an xlr connector looked like - I thought that I'd save the dissertation on over-priced cabling for later.

DocBop · #14 05-13-2008, 08:35 AM

Has any mentioned that amp is a Line Out, so is the OP plugging it into a Line In or a Mic input. If being plugged into a mic in would explain the noise.

scotch · #15 05-13-2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBop

Has any mentioned that amp is a Line Out, so is the OP plugging it into a Line In or a Mic input. If being plugged into a mic in would explain the noise.

Good point!

Most desktop audio interfaces have a mic input pad to cope with line levels these days, but I think the op's noise problem was that he was using the "tuner" output from his amp into the instrument input of his interface. It seems to me that this should have worked for him, but perhaps the Markbass' tuner out isn't a very good signal....

dyuaru · #16 05-13-2008, 12:56 PM

Thanks for the replies guys.

And yeah before I was just using an instrument cable to connect the tuner out to the instrument input on my interface. Probably wasn't too great idea but it was all I had so I thought I'd try it out.

I'll definitely get the line out cable though since that seems to be the logical way of recording using my amp. So any recommendations on a microphone cable that'll last and doesn't cost too much (~$30)?

projectMalamute · #17 05-13-2008, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyuaru

Thanks for the replies guys.

And yeah before I was just using an instrument cable to connect the tuner out to the instrument input on my interface. Probably wasn't too great idea but it was all I had so I thought I'd try it out.

I'll definitely get the line out cable though since that seems to be the logical way of recording using my amp. So any recommendations on a microphone cable that'll last and doesn't cost too much (~$30)?

I make my own, lately using Canare star quad and Switchcraft plugs. A fifteen foot cable comes out to just over 12 bucks this way, parts from Redco. Bayou cables came out to about 20 bucks for the same thing, made to order.

http://www.redco.com/

http://www.bayoucables.com/

Fetzu · #18 05-13-2008, 04:30 PM

Though I have used Bayou Cables and will continue to, for my desktop recording I just grabbed this. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ble?sku=331174
So far no problems, I'm happy.

stranger0 · #19 05-13-2008, 11:17 PM

The sky is the limit on cables, honestly I don't think it really makes that much of a difference, heck I'd say head to your local music store and see if you can buy a used XLR. You can luck out with perfectly fine cables at a cheaper price.

I will add this though, the longer the cable the more latency, try to stick with as short as you can get away with.

projectMalamute · #20 05-14-2008, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stranger0

I will add this though, the longer the cable the more latency, try to stick with as short as you can get away with.

I hope this is a joke.

That signal is moving through the cable at a good fraction of the speed of light, somewhere in the neighborhood of 180,000 km/sec. You could use a cable several miles long and not have latency problems.