Playback problem, DI's, ampsims

[Downtuned]

hi everyone, im new here but this forum seems to be a godsent for people like me struggling with recording. I'd like to ask about a problem and was wondering if anyone else has experienced it!

I've been using ampsims like Nick Crows 8505, Dirthead and the Lepou collection for about a month now and after much experimentation with impulses I've found some sounds that I like. Now, these tones sound great when I plug my guitar into my interface and play 'live' through the computer, but when I lay down my DI's into the DAW and play them back the quality seems to drop and it becomes quite digital and fizzy/crackly. It's the same tone alright but doesn't sound as clean and real as the tone I get when I just play my guitar.

I've tried on a few DAW's like Reaper and Cubase and I tried upping the samplerate because I thought the DI's might not be being captured properly but it didn't make much difference and I don't understand how if the computer can process the signal well enough when I'm playing it then why doesn't it capture it the same way? For the record I usually use 44.1KHz 24bit and I Tried all the higher ones up to 96.

I'm very confused and quite frustrated that I'm hearing what I like but can't get it down and if anyone can shed some light on this it would be great. ta!

 

[FIXXXER]

do the signals have the same level when you play/track and listen back?
differences in volume can make things sound better or worse.
in general i made the experience that playing something
always sounds better then just listening to it, especially when the volume differs.

do you have any processing on the tracks?

cheers
S.

 

[Downtuned]

hi thanks for the reply. i have the guitars grouped to a stereo bus with high and low passes but that's it. I don't generally compress heavy guitars or EQ them past the amp settings because I like to try and get a good tone at the source so there's not any real sort of processing on the tracks.

The DI waveform does look like it's jumping up and down quite extremely, especially in mutes but I just assumed DI waveforms looked like that so I guessed the levels were fine. I hope that's what you meant :S I'm not an engineer or anything, just a dude in his room making tunes!

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

Maybe sounds stupid, but have you checked all of your cables for bad connections? If you have actual crackle, it could explain it.
If you've been through a couple of DAW, tried different sample rates and resolutions and it's still not working, I'd maybe think it's coming from your hardware. Or maybe somehow when you just plug and play you don't notice the same crackling as when you're just sitting there and listening to it.
Maybe a short clip would help us put our finger on the problem.

Cheers

 

[Downtuned]

hi Simon, I checked my cables and they all seem fine. Like I say my tone sounds fine when I just play my guitar through the computer into the DAW, it's when I lay down my DI's and play them back that it seem to go wrong. It's not crackly as in pops or electrical crackle, I maybe shouldn't have used that word, it just goes a bit fizzier and papery compared to the nice 'jud jud' sound I get before and loses all the weight.

I would post a clip but I'm at work now and I can't record down how good the tones sounds live for a comparison anyway because it will just go fizzy.

Could it maybe be that my DI signal is too hot? I do like to push it slightly to get a strong signal.

It may very well be that I am being very picky but I can definitely hear a difference!

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

Could it maybe be that my DI signal is too hot? I do like to push it slightly to get a strong signal.

It may very well be that I am being very picky but I can definitely hear a difference!

Well, I'd say if you suspect your signal is too hot, it probably is.
On the dBfs scale (digital scale, the one that appears in your DAW), I usually try to not go in the yellow region at all, except maybe just a little bit when doing low E power chords. That way, it gives you WAY more headroom for post processing and mastering.
The best thing to do is to record at these levels and turn up your monitor's volume if it's not loud enough for you to be comfortable recording. It'll save you a lot of trouble in the long run, everyone here will probably say the same.
Just out of curiosity, what combinaison of DI/pick ups are you using?
Oh, and by the way, welcome aboard!

 

[Downtuned]

Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here! I'm just using stock Schecter pickups (7string) into a passive DI box. I usually use a toneport but I have a loan of my friends maudio projectmix atm . I know the pickups aren't the best but I do get a good tone out them, just sucks that I can't lay them down. But thanks for the help, you've all been great and I'll try and watch my levels when I get home and I'll report back if there is any difference.

 

[FIXXXER]

hi thanks for the reply. i have the guitars grouped to a stereo bus with high and low passes but that's it. I don't generally compress heavy guitars or EQ them past the amp settings because I like to try and get a good tone at the source so there's not any real sort of processing on the tracks.

The DI waveform does look like it's jumping up and down quite extremely, especially in mutes but I just assumed DI waveforms looked like that so I guessed the levels were fine. I hope that's what you meant :S I'm not an engineer or anything, just a dude in his room making tunes!

yeah, it's pretty normal if the wavform does not look "even"
a hi/locut can make very much to the sound.

i doubt it's a bad connection because when you play something
you monitor it the same way as you play it back.
a bad cable, connection etc. would make everything sound bad.

just try how it sounds without any processing and at the same volume!

cheers
S.