Done to death.. Please help :(

Melb_shredder

Melb_shredder

Orpheus: Melodic Death
Mar 9, 2008
2,852
1
36
Melbourne
Hey guys! I need your advice! After sending Ermz some D.I's I did with my countryman --> presonus firebox, his immediate reaction was pretty underwhelmed by what came out of it... Now, we plan to track DI at my place for my bands album, because we just don't have enough money to pay for studio time for bass/ guit/ keys etc... We can just do those at home easy peasy and take our time with the right gear..

But I digress... What is my major issue here? Preamp or Converters... Because I'm happy to replace either if it means good DI tracks.. we really can't shit this one out and are willing to save and put some money into something that can be resuded on future release etc, so some new preamp maybe?


Suggestions would be SINCERELY appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris and Orpheus
 
Good question. My DIs just lack something so I'll be listen closely to this post.

I'm pretty sure your about to get hassled to post some clips.
 
Did you check the guitar? Maybe your battery is about to die (if you use active PUs) or there´s something wrong with the electronics.
 
Shit... I didn't consider the battery either! Could be a VERY realistic problem there.. But again, the presonus :(

Would it be worth my while to buy a good mic pre and run it through the Presonus line input??


Cheers! Some suggestions on rectifying this issue are very much appreciated!
 
Hmm, what kind of guitar is it (wood, PUs...)? What kind of inst. cable do you use? Maybe it's too long - compare the sound using a good short one (e.g. patch cable - just to test if there is any improvement). How about the distance between PU and strings? I assume you used new strings?

Good luck!
 
Jackson sls3, mahogany, neck thru body, Duncan blackouts haha! I will try replacing the battery first :)

but do you guys believe that a good quality pre makes a huge difference to di's etc? There's the huge which di thread, but what about the pres you put th through???

Cheers
 
Yes, the pre makes a huge difference. We have already established on here in the past that the Presonus Fireboxes sound absolutely terrible. Undistinct, unclear low mids, just stuffy with no open top end. That unit has to be ditched entirely if you hope to make something truly album quality. To illustrate the situation further - I've recently had some PODxt DIs that have sounded better.
 
DI signal shouldn't need a mic pre...it's already at line level so you shouldn't need to amplify it further...? I'd check cables, batteries etc., or maybe you have an impedance mis match? Converters seems unlikely but maybe...Better converters certainly wouln't hurt but that shouldn't be a huge obvious issue.
 
editol makes a fair point. If your active Blackouts are giving the interface a healthy signal (at around -12dB or so) then you should be okay going straight from the DI into a line input. But I would still recommend that the line input not be one on a Presonus box. The cheapest units I've found that still maintain decent conversion are RME.
 
Uh, DI's typically reduce instrument level to mic level. The only DI I can think of that this isn't true for is the avalon. The type 85 reduces the signal by 10dB and instrument level is already much lower than line level, active pups or not. You may get away w/o a pre but it is certainly a compromise.
 
Before you get caught up in these semantic details, check the important things first. New strings, fresh battery, guitar that doesn't just inherently sound like shit, and most importantly play the guitar like a man and hit the strings properly. If none of these are the culprit then start worrying about new converters and preamps but I'll be honest, no converter out there is going to be the difference between awful and great sounding DIs... The preamp might be the issue but I still recommend starting at the beginning of the signal chain...
 
AdamWathan said:
If none of these are the culprit then start worrying about new converters and preamps but I'll be honest, no converter out there is going to be the difference between awful and great sounding DIs...
Click to expand...

This.

Ok so shit conversion can make things sound a little crapper than normal. They don't result in massive high end cut unless they're broken in some way. Shit mic pres are shit yes, but again, i haven't come across any standard prosumer gear that has pres so bad that they actually cut loads of high end out.
Batteries is the number one thing to check and new-ish strings are also vital.

maybe there's an impedance problem somewhere. Unlikely if everythings plugged in where it's supposed to be but give it a little thought
 
I've been working with a presonus firepod, and found that with guitars, they need a boost before they hit it. I've been using a 4 channel headphones amp to get that slight boost, and it works fine.
 
egan. said:
Uh, DI's typically reduce instrument level to mic level. The only DI I can think of that this isn't true for is the avalon. The type 85 reduces the signal by 10dB and instrument level is already much lower than line level, active pups or not. You may get away w/o a pre but it is certainly a compromise.
Click to expand...

Good call thanks for that, my DI has a variable output level so I didn't think of this.
 
Melb_shredder said:
Cheers for all the help guys! I will get new batts and see where we go from there :)
the rme stuff seems like a good option too :)
Click to expand...

You have been avoiding all questions about guitar strings so far. This seems to imply you don't think that much about strings at all. So once again, are the strings NEW?

Fuck all the pres and converters in the world. If your strings aren't new, don't expect any sparkling high-end sound on your DIs :) Then comes the playing, the cables and battery and finally any other gear in the chain such as pres or converters.
 
Erkan said:
You have been avoiding all questions about guitar strings so far. This seems to imply you don't think that much about strings at all. So once again, are the strings NEW?

Fuck all the pres and converters in the world. If your strings aren't new, don't expect any sparkling high-end sound on your DIs :) Then comes the playing, the cables and battery and finally any other gear in the chain such as pres or converters.
Click to expand...

No need to make assumptions, I must have looked over those questions because the string ARE new... So I didn't address the issue... So moving on
 
I guess Another question while we are on the topic!!! Thoughts on the rme multiface is it? Or the fireface, would this be a good upgrade on all accounts over the firebox and help create Album quality di? Cheers
 
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