Reamping Woes

[blueax]

Hey there, I know there are probably a few threads on this already but I can't seem to find one with the right answer to my question or one with my specific setup... so!

I have been trying to reamp recently compared to just normal putting a mic up in front of the cab and recording. I have seen a few with a similar problem somewhat-- basically I'm plugging guitars into my API A2D (which is spdif into a firepod), recording the DI track with a level peaking high enough, and then running that track as a mono track out from one of the Firepod outputs to my X-amp, and running that into my Mesa Boogie Mark IV.

The problem is I'm still getting somewhat of a weak signal, AND it sounds somewhat dull compared to if I plug in to the amp normally... I assume this can happen somewhat, but it seems like too much to be normal. I feel like I have seen people saying they use their trim knob on their reamp box, but I have mine all the way up and still its not quite right. I have to crank the amp far more than it seems and it's still not there all the way.

I'm using Cubase 4-- I have a 1/4" to XLR adapater on one side of the cable with the Firepod (XLR cable), running that to the X-Amp and then a guitar cable to the amp from that. I also get a lot of ground loop hum so I engage the ground lift on the x-amp.

What could possibly be the problem in the situation? Something I'm looking over? Are the Firepod output volumes not high enough or something?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can try to get some clips on here later tonight if that'd help.

 

[lolzgreg]

I'm not sure if this affects it, but is the main level knob on your firepod on full on the front?

What is the level of the DI's output from your master bus?

 

[darthjujuu]

i don't know of a solution to the problem but I want to point out that it's important not to try and overcompensate by recording hotter DI's. you wanna aim for around -3 or -4 tops.

 

[Scott C.]

one thing to possibly check it to make sure that the xlr to 1/4 inch is a balanced trs cable

 

[Uladyne]

Its been ages since I've tried to reamp anything, but I remember having a similar problem with my home-made reamp box, though I believe the problem in my situation was due to my reamp box being passive.

I would lower the gain on the DI signal to keep it from clipping, forgetting that a guitar signal normally isn't attenuated like this before hitting the amp. So I think my problem was due to never compensating for this attenuation on the way back to the amp. The problem with my interface in this situation, is that it doesn't seem to be able to boost the level on the line outs beyond what the signal originally was on the way in, so I couldn't get the level back to a normal guitar level signal, so my reamps were always a bit weak.

The next time I'm able to experiment with reamping though, I think I'm going to try boosting the signal with my seymour duncan pickup booster pedal, as sort of a makeshift gain knob for my passive reamp box. Hopefully it works decently.

Sorry if this didnt help at all.

 

[darthjujuu]

yea it sounds like you're going unbalanced somewhere along the way. the only unbalanced cable should be the instrument cable going from the reamp box to the amp.... right?

 

[colynomial]

Definately balanced/unbalance problem- I did the same thing when I first got my reamp box and it drove me nuts for a year until I realized I needed to get at TRS to XLR cable; not just 1/4" to XLR.

You need this:

Not this:

Notice the diference between the quater inch connectors. Balanced TRS has two separation "lines" (hence Tip-Ring-Sleeve) while unbalanced has only one.

 

[blueax]

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies. I have experimented some more, tried choosing a different output from the Firepod... instead of 7, 1 (kind of confusing as to why, has to do with Cubase's studio settings and the way the Firepod outputs work). I was comparing and it seems like now I was getting a pretty accurate reproduction between guitar straight in and actually reamping... not sure if it was changing the output or something else I did in the meantime...

I am actually using this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/America...o-1-4--Male-Stereo-Adapter-339525-i1129384.gc on one end of a microphone cable (to connect to the back of the Firepod), does this seem like it would be acceptable? What I am kind of wondering now is, is it normal to have the trim all the way up on the x-amp in order to get the correct signal? Feel like I've seen other people saying they have to cut it back and I'm trying to imagine how I would even have a hotter signal (since I am aiming for around -5 to -3 on the DI tracks). Also, is it normal to get a crazy amount of ground loop hum in my amp? Turning on the ground lift helps but now I just wanna make sure I do have everything hooked up correctly so I'm not missing out on anything (signal or otherwise).

Thanks again.