Preparing your tracks for reamping: A Guide
- Thread starter Glenn Fricker
- Start date
Gnash
Lefty
Yeah, I'm running the X-AMP as well. Wonderful piece of gear.
Here's some reviews on the X-AMP:
http://www.radialeng.com/di-xamp-reviews.htm
For those of you who are wondering about reamping, it's pretty simple stuff:
Send your recorded DI track to a discrete mono ouput on your soundcard. Set the level on that channel to 0. Run the line level out to your amp, place your reamp box before the amp. Set your reamp box's level to 0. Then plug in your pedals or whatever & plug in your amp & go. It's that simple. If you need a quieter signal for a cleaner tone, you can pull back the reamp box's trim control, as it's best to make the adjustment there instead of in the DAW.
When I'm doing reamping, I think of the send levels & trim control as "volume pots" on a guitar. Well, that's the analogy I keep telling myself, anyway & it works. Seriously, it's just idiot proof.
I'm only speaking for using the X-AMP, which is an active box. The Redeye & Cubinerti might be slightly different, I'm not sure: I've never used them.
Of course the real challenge when reamping isn't so much how to hook things up, it's where to place the mics, what type of technique, what type of amp, cabinet, pedals, etc, etc, etc, that we all obsess over constantly.
I've put a good eight years into learning how to mic a guitar amp & just about went insane learing how to do the "Fredman Technique." Fortunately, some of you guys really dig the sounds I'm getting & want those sounds for your own projects. Hence the prepping guide.
-0z-
Here's some reviews on the X-AMP:
http://www.radialeng.com/di-xamp-reviews.htm
For those of you who are wondering about reamping, it's pretty simple stuff:
Send your recorded DI track to a discrete mono ouput on your soundcard. Set the level on that channel to 0. Run the line level out to your amp, place your reamp box before the amp. Set your reamp box's level to 0. Then plug in your pedals or whatever & plug in your amp & go. It's that simple. If you need a quieter signal for a cleaner tone, you can pull back the reamp box's trim control, as it's best to make the adjustment there instead of in the DAW.
When I'm doing reamping, I think of the send levels & trim control as "volume pots" on a guitar. Well, that's the analogy I keep telling myself, anyway & it works. Seriously, it's just idiot proof.
I'm only speaking for using the X-AMP, which is an active box. The Redeye & Cubinerti might be slightly different, I'm not sure: I've never used them.
Of course the real challenge when reamping isn't so much how to hook things up, it's where to place the mics, what type of technique, what type of amp, cabinet, pedals, etc, etc, etc, that we all obsess over constantly.
I've put a good eight years into learning how to mic a guitar amp & just about went insane learing how to do the "Fredman Technique." Fortunately, some of you guys really dig the sounds I'm getting & want those sounds for your own projects. Hence the prepping guide.
-0z-
Gnash
Lefty
I'm checking out the Countryman, Greyskull. It's on Audiohammer's (Chimaira, trivium) gearlist, so that, and the specs on this thread have convinced me for my passive pup gits.
slinky_
Member
I wonder why people always compare the reamp and x-amp, forgetting the actual Radial equivalent for the Reamp, the Radial ProRMP. It´s passive like Reamp.
From the Radial ProRMP faq:
Q: What is the difference between the Reamp™ and the ProRMP?
A: The ProRMP is essentially the same as the Reamp™. It has a specially designed transformer on the inside that does the impedance transfer and a volume control to set the desired level. Both sound great! Because we produc large quantities, the ProRMP is slightly more affordable.
From the Radial ProRMP faq:
Q: What is the difference between the Reamp™ and the ProRMP?
A: The ProRMP is essentially the same as the Reamp™. It has a specially designed transformer on the inside that does the impedance transfer and a volume control to set the desired level. Both sound great! Because we produc large quantities, the ProRMP is slightly more affordable.
GuitarHack
Krank it UP!
From Radial website on the X-Amp:
"Up until the X-Amp, pretty much all re-amping devices have been passive, transformer-based. These generally work well but do have limitations: Because the same transformer is used to both convert the balanced line level to an unbalanced signal while changing the impedance, one is required to employ workable compromise to get an acceptable tone. Because varying the output level is required to properly match the amplifiers input level, a potentiometer is required. Since a potentiometer is in fact a variable resistor, changing the level will introduce a load variation, which will inevitably impact the tone. This is not to say that the tone will be bad, it just means that finding the sweet spot may be compromised"
Here is the block diagram of the ProRMP:
http://www.radialeng.com/images/prormp-block-diagram.gif so changing the Level Pot affects the load on the Transformer.
Here is the block diagram of the X-amp:
http://www.radialeng.com/images/xamp-block-dgm.gif In this case a transformer is only used for Isolation and the conversion is done discretely. Shouldn't this be cheaper since there is not such a need for a high spec transformer to do the matching?
I am confused, I read too much. 
slinky_
Member
Yeah. My point was just that the original Reamp and ProRMP are in the very end the same. I bet X-amp is great!
FWIW, I think the X-Amp is fantastic. Like I said before, it's pretty much idiot-proof, so yeah, it gets a lot of use in my studio! :zombie:
GuitarHack
Krank it UP!
Slinky, I understood your point. I was just pointing out the differences between the 2 radial boxes. I have no clue if one is better than the other, just researching.
Oz, Idiot-proof suits me, I think I am sold.
I was just pointing out the differences between the 2 radial boxes. I have no clue if one is better than the other, just researching. Oz, Idiot-proof suits me, I think I am sold.
So.....if you had a EMG81 + Firepod.......go directly into the the Firepod, no DI.
1000000/(10000+1000000)*100=99%
But, if you have a Duncan JB + Firepod.....
1000000/(16400+1000000)*100=98%
So it looks like the Firepod will handle the dry track pretty easily.
But for output this is all I have right now,
----FirePod TRS Output Impedance: 51 Ohms------>
--ROLLS DI DB25 Output imp. 600 ohms\Input Impedance 50K ohms--
so does the numbers add up ok for me on the output side of it?? Or would maybe a samson DI be better for the Firepod on outputing to an amp???
Mutant
I hate that supercow !
True
Samson DI is active so you can't use it in reverse instead of proper reamp device.
Some people at various message boards are recommending passive DIs in reverse but on the Reamp site FAQ it says that it is not a perfect solution:
http://www.reamp.com/faq.html#6
Like with all other (possibly money motivated) advices - of course you should take it with a grain of salt.
passive DI's in reverse were historically used by most prior to the introduction of dedicated reamp boxes.
fistula
Producer/Mixing Engineer
- Jul 18, 2006
- 516
- 1
- 18
just bought X-Amp and got one problem...
on maximum level the sound it quieter than the guitar when i play
the recorded maximum level is -4..-3 - so where the problem could be?
(i tried it with other DI tracks from this forum - the same thing)
and one more question - when im recording with di->preamp - which input level should i choose on my Delta 44: -10 or +4
i found that i can get better results with -10...
on maximum level the sound it quieter than the guitar when i play
the recorded maximum level is -4..-3 - so where the problem could be?
(i tried it with other DI tracks from this forum - the same thing)
and one more question - when im recording with di->preamp - which input level should i choose on my Delta 44: -10 or +4
i found that i can get better results with -10...
I'd say make sure your output is at +4, anyway. Double check that & see if that's what's causing your volume problem.
-0z-
-0z-
You might want to try playing with the send level on your DAW. Are you sure you're sending a mono track to the X-AMP? If you're only sending 1/2 of a stereo signal, you won't be getting the proper level. Make sure your send is panned hard to one side & the X-Amp is hooked up to that output. I ran into somehting similar when I got mine.
