Preamp advice - Do I even need one?

[-Loco-]

RIGHT! finally

Posted a couple of clips here are the settings.

Ibanez RG8527 with blackouts through TS9DX.
Mesa Trip rec slave out into pod X3 input - everything in gearbox turned off.

Amp settings: Orange channel modern mode, Output 4, Presence 6,Master 3,Gain 7.5,Bass 5,Mids 6.5,Treb 6.5ish(a touch more than the mids)


I used le pou's le cab for the impulses and the settings for both of the tracks are the metaltastic 57 3 impulse and the awesometime s-preshigh impulse with both cabinets switched on (i.e track in stereo)
I used the low pass and high pass functions within le cab

High pass is 100hz
Low pass is 11khz

Both clips have 2 tracks ( 1 panned hard left and right each)


links:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/970663/MetaltasticClip1.mp3

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/970663/AwesometimeClip1.mp3

I cant get rid of some hissing even with the filters on. To me the one with the metaltastic impulse sounds better because there's more definition. If you want more clips with drums or w/e to use as some sort of reference I can do that. Thanks all.

 

[-Loco-]

oh and I forgot to say TS9DX settings:
Drive near enough 0, level at 6, tone at 7, mode TS9.

There was no post-processing done to these clips

 

[lolzgreg]

The metaltasticclip is a lot better for your particular amp settings. It doesn't sound bad. I think you should do it to drums and bass and play a little cleaner. That way we can really judge it.

 

[-Loco-]

im trying to achieve the same kind of sound that a lot of the other users have managed to achieve using the s-preshigh impulse but it seems to be going nowhere. Any advice on adjustments to my settings in the metaltasticclip? I'm going for a djenty kind of sound. i'd really like to know how i can minimize that awful hissing on top of it/grit.

 

[Metaltastic]

HOLY SHIT, I'm amazed at how much the one through my impulse sounds EXACTLY like a Rectifier! Damn, I've never heard any part-ITB (certainly not full ITB ) tone come close to this, but I guess it really goes to show the design of the power amp on modern mode makes all preamps except the modern Rectifier pre sound super fizzy (most power amps supply negative feedback to suppress the fizz, but modern mode on the Dual Rec doesn't supply any negative feedback; rather, the signal coming from the preamp is low-passed before the power amp!)

And I really like it btw dude!

 

[-Loco-]

ITB??

Haha i'm glad YOU like it. Nah I agree the one with your impulse sounds a lot better. I've started re-tracking the whole song (i did the first ver with my pod) i've used both your impulse and s-preshigh one but dropped some volume on the s-preshigh one and it actually sounds okay but i think i'm gonna drop s-preshigh completely cause its quite muddy.

Can i ask why you made an impulse and never bothered to use it?

Also any tips for shaping that tone coming from the impulse to make it set in a mix nice and thick?

I tried your tip of doing 2 tracks of bass and High/Low passing each one then adding grit to the High passed one - works like a fuckin' charm! so impressed with it.

Appreciatin'

 

[Metaltastic]

I made the impulse for my own scratch tracks with Wagner MkII (later SoloC, then 8505), whenever the Rectifier was involved I always ran it through my mic'ed up Recto cab :Smokedev: As for shaping the tone after the impulse, I can't really say, I think your efforts would be put to better use tweaking your preamp!

And ITB = In the box (meaning, something digitally simulated, in this case the impulse being the cabsim)

 

[-Loco-]

tweaking as in tone settings on the amp or manually tweaking as in on a worktop with lots of tools?! haha

Do you think this might influence you to use impulses for some of your tracks now?

 

[Metaltastic]

Tweak as in turning the knobs smartass And since I've sold my Rectifier, I certainly won't be able to use it with impulses for awhile, but when I finally get a Roadster, then we shall see!

 

[-Loco-]

COOL! i low passed that track at 11k but as you can still hear it's pretty fizzy - do you think thats just the impulse or should i lower my treb and pres slightly. Also did you design the impulse for modern mode on orange and red channels?

 

[Metaltastic]

Well I created it with my 2 ch. in modern mode, and on the 3 ch. models modern mode on the orange and red channels is identical except for the presence knob being a lot more aggressive on the red channel (this info is from the manual). And yeah, that 6k fizz is the reason I sold my 2 ch. Dual actually; it's hard for me to really give too much tone feedback when a) it's just a guitar tone, not in a mix, and b) it's tuned so low, but I would hesitantly say it's sounding pretty close to as good as it can get IMO; maybe play around with the treble and/or presence (what settings did you use?), but be careful, as it took me awhile to realize that turning them down still doesn't eliminate the 6k fizz, but rather creates a weird "hole" in the frequencies they control (~3k for the treble pot, ~4k for the presence) FWIW, I always put a pretty narrow 2.5-3 dB cut (Q of like .20) at ~6k on all my recorded tracks!

EDIT: Whoops, you posted the settings, durr Though could you maybe put them in o'clock format? Since there are no numbers on the Recto knobs, "5" doesn't really mean much

 

[-Loco-]

yeah man, I was originally going to post them in that format but since i saw most guys just the other scale i did it that way. I'll try your dip at 6k and see where it gets me.

Amp settings: Orange channel modern mode, Output 10, Presence 12,Master 9,Gain between 1 and 2,Bass 11,Mids between 12 and 1,Treb between 12 and 1(a touch more than the mids).


Maybe this means the recto tone just isnt what im after!

 

[Metaltastic]

Possibly, but don't rule it out until you get it in a mix, and also, I feel it's very likely that the 3 ch. and Roadster/Road King Rectifiers don't have as much of that fizz as the 2 ch. models (and it could be due to slightly different power amp designs), so you could always mic up your cab and make some impulses!

 

[Pot]

The metaltasticclip is a lot better for your particular amp settings. It doesn't sound bad. I think you should do it to drums and bass and play a little cleaner. That way we can really judge it.

the second one sound very buried in comparison
i like the first one
u need to fish with the eq to notch the unwanted freq out: boost for ex 7k a couple a db´s with a narrow Q and sweep around for ugly freq that stand out and once u think u found them do the inverse and notchém out cutting from 2 to 4 db´s

 

[Metaltastic]

Yep, that's how I always figure out where to cut - boost first, sweep around, and find which frequency accentuates the sound you wanna get rid off, then cut there! (and I too don't like going more than 4 dB's, just starts to sound...weird, I dunno, like there's a bit of a hole there, just very unnatural IMO)

 

[-Loco-]

Is impulse creation not a pretty complex process and pointless if you dont have decent sound isolation? Yeah i try and use that tip more often now but i'm focussing more on cutting that shit out at the amp rather than with loads of e.q. I ideally dont want to touch more than 1 band in an E.Q to get the guitars sounding good.

 

[Metaltastic]

It's all about striking a balance dude, committing yourself to either extreme (only eq'ing on the amp, only eq'ing the recorded track) seems kinda silly, and thus why I'm not advocating particularly extreme cuts And impulse creation is neither complex nor pointless without decent sound isolation, so maybe give this a read to learn more!

 

[exzem]

What string gauge are you using? From your tone it sounds like your using too thin strings for that low tuning (unless your after that sludgy type of sound). I'd say put on a heavier string set, this has more impact on the tone than any tweeking/EQ:ing can do.

 

[Metaltastic]

Also, why the hell are you using your pod as an interface, rather than your Saffire?

 

[-Loco-]

to exzem: yeah man i know where you're coming from but i love that type of sound i think its a 52 or 50 but thats the way i like it, i dont like tension in my lower strings as much.

to marcus:
dude we've been over this i made the post about my interface not working in boot camp..i've been trying to sell it for weeks so i can get the profire2626 which DOES work! Meanwhile i have to use the pod but I dont know if that pre-amp is gonna have as much of an impact.Oh and lots of love for that impulse thread i'm really tempted now! where about did you sit your mic for that impulse btw?