Hi,
I've been researching a lot recently and reading up on these forums in a quest for at least decent tone. Right now I'm running an Epiphone Les Paul with passive pickups through a 1/2" to 1/4" converter then into the line-in jack on my Macbook. I've read enough at this point to realize this is definitely sub-optimal and that I need to get some sort of 'interface' to record through.
I took my best take at the intro to holy diver and compared the DI with one already up on this forum (Marcus's I think?) and the difference is night and day (take a listen to the attached file). Keep in mind my playing isn't nearly as tight as it should be, but looking strictly at the tone there is still a world of difference. Is this solely due to me using the line-in instead of an interface? Or do I really need active pickups to get that kind of tone, or is it because I have a low-end guitar?
Assuming I need an audio interface, I've looked at a few options already. I was originally thinking about a Pod but after more research I figured that I could get at least as good (if not better) tone using the latest VST ampsims and impulses out there. Is this true? Perhaps someone could recommend one to me. I don't want to spend more than $200-ish, I only need one input (or two, see below question) for my guitar and USB is preferable to firewire but either is okay. Keep in mind that I'm not going to be able to really detect more subtle quality improvements (yet) so I don't really need anything fancy that will only provide a slightly more noticeable improvement.
Link to my DI files: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=977181 (under holydiverdi1)
I read that I need a high-impedance input to record guitars with otherwise there is a mismatch and tone suffers. However, I also read that active pickups such as the 81 are low impedance. Even though I have passives right now I may eventually want to get some EMGs and I don't want to have to purchase a new interface.
Also, I have a wah pedal (cry baby) but I can't really get the tone I want out of it (I really dig how Mike Amott uses it), the sweep doesn't feel right to me, it's too quick or drastic (a bit hard to explain). I don't know if this problem is due to my crappy signal chain already or not. Also, since I don't have a real amp or other real pedals, I'd rather be able to control a virtual wah so I can play with its location in the signal chain (I read that having it pre/post distortion has a big impact on the effect?). I was looking at something like the IK Stealth Pedal (http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...80403&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=302193562) because it combines an audio interface with an expression pedal. Anyone have any positive or negative feedback on this?
Lots of questions here, (and I have tons more for future posts
) thanks for any input you guys can give me.
I've been researching a lot recently and reading up on these forums in a quest for at least decent tone. Right now I'm running an Epiphone Les Paul with passive pickups through a 1/2" to 1/4" converter then into the line-in jack on my Macbook. I've read enough at this point to realize this is definitely sub-optimal and that I need to get some sort of 'interface' to record through.
I took my best take at the intro to holy diver and compared the DI with one already up on this forum (Marcus's I think?) and the difference is night and day (take a listen to the attached file). Keep in mind my playing isn't nearly as tight as it should be, but looking strictly at the tone there is still a world of difference. Is this solely due to me using the line-in instead of an interface? Or do I really need active pickups to get that kind of tone, or is it because I have a low-end guitar?
Assuming I need an audio interface, I've looked at a few options already. I was originally thinking about a Pod but after more research I figured that I could get at least as good (if not better) tone using the latest VST ampsims and impulses out there. Is this true? Perhaps someone could recommend one to me. I don't want to spend more than $200-ish, I only need one input (or two, see below question) for my guitar and USB is preferable to firewire but either is okay. Keep in mind that I'm not going to be able to really detect more subtle quality improvements (yet) so I don't really need anything fancy that will only provide a slightly more noticeable improvement.
Link to my DI files: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=977181 (under holydiverdi1)
I read that I need a high-impedance input to record guitars with otherwise there is a mismatch and tone suffers. However, I also read that active pickups such as the 81 are low impedance. Even though I have passives right now I may eventually want to get some EMGs and I don't want to have to purchase a new interface.
Also, I have a wah pedal (cry baby) but I can't really get the tone I want out of it (I really dig how Mike Amott uses it), the sweep doesn't feel right to me, it's too quick or drastic (a bit hard to explain). I don't know if this problem is due to my crappy signal chain already or not. Also, since I don't have a real amp or other real pedals, I'd rather be able to control a virtual wah so I can play with its location in the signal chain (I read that having it pre/post distortion has a big impact on the effect?). I was looking at something like the IK Stealth Pedal (http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...80403&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=302193562) because it combines an audio interface with an expression pedal. Anyone have any positive or negative feedback on this?
Lots of questions here, (and I have tons more for future posts
) thanks for any input you guys can give me.
