DI vs Mic up

[XLayaR]

Hey all, wanna ask this age old question and hope you guys can shed some light on the subject.

I'm wondering what you home studio enthusiasts have to say on this matter and I stress the word HOME STUDIO, cos most of us know that we can't possibly mic up a 4x12 cab and not expect the neighbors to come a knocking.

Oh btw quick question, its possible to DI an amp head direct into the interface right?

 

[Kimmi]

for me whether its home studio or studio,i still think when it comes to guitar/bass running into effects. I would say mic up.i mic up a 10 watt yamaha amp,it still sounds great! haha

but..if you like how it sounds whether you di or mic..then it don matter.

though,if its just guitar/bass no effects,imo,di alone does well too.have a compressor and it sounds good too.

guitar/bass -> no effects-> compressor pedal/rack->di->interface

 

[Dale]

I've tried DI my Marshall mini stack amp head to the interface and record. it sounded ok but i dont know, there's still something that does not satisfy me. Cuz when i use the same settings on the amp normally, the sound would be different. i cant get the sound that im hearing. like for example im just playing the guitar, the settings i have on the amp would sound nice...but when i plug the amp head to the interface and record with the exact same settings, the sound comes out different. I dont know why its like that. I havent tried mic-ing yet. So i cant give feedback on that.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

Oh btw quick question, its possible to DI an amp head direct into the interface right?

you need an amphead with line out and a speaker cab simulator before connecting to the audio interface for recording.

with di, go with amp simulator before connecting to audio interface to record into computer.

for a decent sounding guitar recording using di, the amp simulator(be it hardware like line 6 pod, roland cosm or software, NI guitar rig, wave gtr, ik multimedia amplitude etc) is necessary.

miking up if possible, still have to deal with mic type, placement, ambient surrounding. While its fun, it can take up lotsa time and effort as well.

imho, none is better. Both have its own pros and cons. End of the day, geetarers will have to choose one, based on their preferences, budget, ease of setting up, constant result of sound etc

Another thing to note, while most of our heros when recording, have the chance to blast amp and get good sound. That doesnt mean with technology advancement nowadays, we can get a decent result from just guitar and softwares, without the amp. Other then amplifers, the context of music written/recorded prolly play a big part in delivering a good over sound balance as well.

 

[XLayaR]

So lets say I'm using the POD Live.

Does it go

Guitar->Rig(which includes the pod live)-> amp head-> line out to pod live-> DI box->interface.

correct?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

never try the pod live before, but i dont think you can use it as effect into amp and from the amphead line out back into the pod live and out to the audio interface.

The di box wont be needed in the chain if the pod live is in used for recording. POD live inside got lotsa things that make recording convenient/sort out different impedance thingy with different devices.

basically the pod live will act as your effect pedals, preamp/amp and audio interface. But on how to set those thing, best is still go thru manual and check on their forum.

 

[l0u5y]

yes u can. As long ur amphead got a line out. it won't sound as good coz its di. In real world, the guitar sound u hear goes thru the amphead and the speaker, and the environment. Thats how u hear wat u hear. But u go straight thru amphead den into ur interface means u bypassing the speaker and the sound of the environment. Thats why mic up will sound "better". it sounds better coz u are used to that sound. What u can do is get a cabinet emulator like audio ease cabinet, den it will sound much better. i dun tink u shud go thru ur amphead den go into another guitar amp simulator, coz like that means u going thru 2 amps.

 

[gutturalpiss]

The awesomeness comes from (1) the cab/speakers and (2) head. If you manage to hammer this somewhere in your brain, the chain becomes easier. You will then realise that pure DI is just noise from the tone-aware perspective. Just the head, coupled with some capacitors and resistors. W T F? Exactly.

And also, (3) the room acoustics. A 4x12 array with the gain pumped up beyond 12 will shake the entire room/house, and all this energy contributes a huge part to the tone. It's the factor that makes it "thick".

So yes, you don't have the luxury of miking such beasts.

A guitar amp sim sw/hw, based on impulse responses, beats a 30-watter machiam like water. Why? Get this right. IRs are accurate reproductions of the characteristics of the room, head, cab and mic. And by accurate, I mean to the bit (duh?). This is where digital overpowers analogue by a milestone. I know GR 3's IRs are pretty comparable to the biggest combo amps, even when you do just 1 layer.

And please, don't use an amp sim hw like the pod and plug it in to your Roland 30 hoping it'll "beefen up". It won't - it totally ruins the purpose. Use cab simulation or not, you're miking the small thing in the end and not capturing the true output of the pod.

ReValver/Peavey's MK II (not sure about III) and IK's AmpliTube don't have that many amazing IR-based presets, but with MK II you can easily load up a solid IR file (freely distributed by awesome people) and do just 2 layers for that awesome chugga chugga.

For more awesomeness, join the fun @ www.guitarampmodeling.com

 

[Destructos]

+1 to amp sims.

Here's an option. You connect your guitar to the DI and have it record straight to disk.
Use your DI's parallel out and connect to your efx/stompbox and then amp.
Your amp may have a "Line out" at the back (never connect anything to the "speaker" jack except speakers please. ONLY SPEAKERS). Take that line out and connect to your recording interface's second recording channel.

Record both channels at once. Good thing about having a totally clean signal is that you can link the 2 tracks and edit them as one (in protools at least). The clean signal makes it very easy to spot the strum attacks, cut and paste to sound seamless.
Your first channel, which is clean, can then go into a full amp sim, like Amplitube as stated by gutturalpiss. Set to whatever settings sounds best.
Your second channel can act as a "preamp" sound and go into another amp sim with the settings set to "clean" or a simple cab sim. I think in amplitube 2, you can turn off the preamp section and leave the cab sim on.

You'll be surprised how big you can sound if you can spend the time.
Experiment around and have fun.

 

[xployd]

possible, yes. Actually there're a few options

1) amp head (provided u got a line out) --> mixer > DAW

2) guitar - DI box - mixer - DAW - mixing onboard with amp simulators

3) guitar - line6 pod/live - tube amp (i use this a lot) - mixer - DAW

here's a quick result from option 3 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0qHzKYIGX0


watever it is, dont try to limit urself to one technique. try all of the above or watever else concoction u can come out with. the whole things is supposed to be fun, even know it might sound crap. heh!

 

[xployd]

oh btw, the old 'mic up the amp' triumphs over DI inserts are quite rubbish, in my opinion. cos in the recording world, as long as it sounds good (to you), nothing else matters. Im saying this cos once you start recording digitally, thing gets cut into 44.1, 48, 192 etc etc watever, all your 'analog warmth' gets chucked into the rubbish bin anyway. Besides, all the threadstarter wants to know is how to get his lines into an editing session, in a bedroom environment at that. So there u go.

 

[xployd]

I've tried DI my Marshall mini stack amp head to the interface and record. it sounded ok but i dont know, there's still something that does not satisfy me. Cuz when i use the same settings on the amp normally, the sound would be different. i cant get the sound that im hearing. like for example im just playing the guitar, the settings i have on the amp would sound nice...but when i plug the amp head to the interface and record with the exact same settings, the sound comes out different. I dont know why its like that. I havent tried mic-ing yet. So i cant give feedback on that.

hey, man. Its possible cos an amp cone is different from a monitor speaker cone. So i think something's got to give. You cant replicate 100% of what u hear playing live through a stack and what u hear from the monitors. Well maybe u can, but usually what i get from mine are subtle tone differences which initially annoys me but after some time, its not even a big deal anymore.