5150 Tone Test - Too bright?

[Ice Man]

Okay, so the skinny is: My monitoring environment makes things way too bright and such is reflecting in my guitar tone translation. Anything I record that seems "right" winds up being way to dark and muddy and needs merciless EQ. It's even scared me away from micing too close to the speaker cone! So, today, I'm trying to change all that with your help. Now, have I gone too far and made it overly bright? Help me out!

Only thing done to it is C4 for the low-mids. That and it's clipping.


Updated:
http://www.sneapforum.celtiaproductions.co.uk/Iceman/5150Test.mp3

 

[AudioPhile777]

I would say, yes... a bit too bright... but then again... laptop speakers arent that great...

 

[Ice Man]

I would say, yes... a bit too bright... but then again... laptop speakers arent that great...

Yeah, it seems a bit too present now. I'm just trying to find a better starting point for raw guitars because trusting my ears in an untreated, skewed listening environment has yielded me some dark and muddy results! I'd say this versus other attempts is night and day for me, at least.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Yeah, it seems a bit too present now. I'm just trying to find a better starting point for raw guitars because trusting my ears in an untreated, skewed listening environment has yielded me some dark and muddy results! I'd say this versus other attempts is night and day for me, at least.

What i've done, other than post here... which has worked wonders... is burn it and play it in as many different players as you can... then once you get it to where it sounds how you want on other systems, you can make a mental note of how bright things should sound in relation to your monitors

 

[Ola Englund]

What i've done, other than post here... which has worked wonders... is burn it and play it in as many different players as you can... then once you get it to where it sounds how you want on other systems, you can make a mental note of how bright things should sound in relation to your monitors

+1 on this tip... I bring all my mixes to my car, the car I'm driving at work, other stereosystems and what not... Makes a more balanced mix.

 

[Nebulous]

When capturing good sounds, it is improtant for the instrument to sound good without a mic infront of it. Yes, that was too bright, I'd say you'd be able to tell that by playing the amp in the room.
It takes some time to get use to it, but you really have to concentrate on the sound in the room and play with the settings until you really understand what each knob does in relation to another, and how they interact to create sounds you like. Then once you know how the amp works, you can decide on a setting and put a mic on it. Then it's also a matter of finding the nicest millimeter of speaker to put the mic infront of.

 

[Ice Man]

When capturing good sounds, it is improtant for the instrument to sound good without a mic infront of it. Yes, that was too bright, I'd say you'd be able to tell that by playing the amp in the room.
It takes some time to get use to it, but you really have to concentrate on the sound in the room and play with the settings until you really understand what each knob does in relation to another, and how they interact to create sounds you like. Then once you know how the amp works, you can decide on a setting and put a mic on it. Then it's also a matter of finding the nicest millimeter of speaker to put the mic infront of.

True. Right now I'm in the balancing act of what sounds good in the room vs what sounds good in the mic. Generally what sounds good in the room is too gainy and boomy for a mic so close, so I'm dealing with that.

I've updated the clip. The mic was moved a little farther from the center of the cone, added some lows and took out some highs/presence. Does it sit a little better? It sounds a bit undergained, but still...

 

[Nebulous]

I can't remember what your old clip sounds like anymore haha, so I'll just go off the new one fresh.
I'd say it's still too bright. In a wierd way, I'd almost say you could turn down every EQ knob haha. Definately bring down the highs abit and the lows and mids a smidge.

 

[ochants76]

Maybe turn up the resonance some also.

 

[scorpio01169]

What i've done, other than post here... which has worked wonders... is burn it and play it in as many different players as you can... then once you get it to where it sounds how you want on other systems, you can make a mental note of how bright things should sound in relation to your monitors

i use rewritables for that very reason...got tired of cd's all over the place with the same samples on them...lol

 

[Ice Man]

I can't remember what your old clip sounds like anymore haha, so I'll just go off the new one fresh.
I'd say it's still too bright. In a wierd way, I'd almost say you could turn down every EQ knob haha. Definately bring down the highs abit and the lows and mids a smidge.

Weird! In o'clock terms the settings were as follows:

Boosted rhythm channel with crunch and bright engaged:
Gain: 10:00
Low: Noon
Mids: 2:00
High: 11:30
Res: 10:30
Pres: 11:30

The mic position was aimed at the crease of the dustcap, maybe a half inch from the cloth. Funny that even with pretty tame settings, it's still coming off funky, but thanks for listening again! Back to the tweaking board!

Daniel

 

[Nebulous]

Hm, maybe give the bright switch a rest and use the knob to dial them in?

It's hard to know what to say beyond what I've already said since I don't own the amp, though I have worked with one, and my JSX is pretty similar.

 

[ochants76]

What kind of speakers does your cab have?

 

[azzxaa]

?!?! low: noon?! crank that shit up man! at least at 5.! mids zero or max 3 and pull down gain and high
If you hvae a tubescreamer u cna have the low at 5 but if not..maybe you could try having it at 2-3

I did som fast recording this is how I get at this point in my living room hehe only 2 mics and a mbox
http://www.onemotionband.com/5150test.mp3
I filter everything from 10K and up but thats because my marshall cab makes some fizz...

 

[Ice Man]

What kind of speakers does your cab have?

A v30 was mic'd.

 

[Ice Man]

?!?! low: noon?! crank that shit up man! at least at 5.! mids zero or max 3 and pull down gain and high
If you hvae a tubescreamer u cna have the low at 5 but if not..maybe you could try having it at 2-3

I did som fast recording this is how I get at this point in my living room hehe only 2 mics and a mbox
http://www.onemotionband.com/5150test.mp3
I filter everything from 10K and up but thats because my marshall cab makes some fizz...

I'm still tweaking, although I don't think I could ever have the mids that low! I'm a mid lover. I'm also bit cautious on the lows because the head has so much low end and the mic being that close certainly picks up some proximity effect. A little more lows couldn't hurt, though!

 

[Nebulous]

?!?! low: noon?! crank that shit up man! at least at 5.! mids zero or max 3 and pull down gain and high
If you hvae a tubescreamer u cna have the low at 5 but if not..maybe you could try having it at 2-3

I did som fast recording this is how I get at this point in my living room hehe only 2 mics and a mbox
http://www.onemotionband.com/5150test.mp3
I filter everything from 10K and up but thats because my marshall cab makes some fizz...

Haha, nice dude!