rectifier / sansamp tone test

[Fragle]

hey there,

........

EDIT: new files:

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_neu.mp3
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_neu_nodrums.mp3

........




inspired by lasse's mt2 thread (actually, the sansamp blend clips in there ^^) i decided on doing my own (and first btw!) lil tone test for you all.

i bounced a number of files so you can see in detail what was going on.

guitars were quad tracked.
one pair was reamped through the sansamp psa-1
the other pair was actually a fake rectifier moreso than a real one - it's the line6 hd147 recto model, through a framus 212 cab v30 loaded, miced fredman style (my first try at this technique btw!) using a sm57 on axis and a sm58 with the pop filter unscrewed off axis.
drums were just a basic SSD3.0 patch, cracky metal kit iirc.
there's no bass in there, as i don't own one (yet), and fake bass sucks ass, so i just didn't put any in there.

there wasn't a whole lot of post processing going on, just hp on the tracks as well as the guitar group. i also cut some mids in the sm58 tracks (around 700hz ish) as they were really honky, and also shaved another db or so off (again around 700hz) on the guitar bus.
also a slight (1,5db maybe) boost in the low mids on the sansamp track.

so, here's the files:

test mix:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_mix.mp3
just guitars:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_gtrs.mp3
"recitifer" pair only:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_recto.mp3
psa only:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_psa.mp3
and all guitars w/o any post processing at all:
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1296348/test/test_nofx.mp3


hope you enjoy this! any comments will be greatly appreciated!
once again this is my very first "rate my tone" style thread ever, and also my first try at the fredman technique

 

[Lasse Lammert]

cool, will give this a listen later

 

[Fragle]

well, since these obviously suck i wonder what i can do to improve my tones

the sansamp seems to sound pretty much like well, a sansamp. lasses psa1 tone seems to sound pretty similar too...

the "recto" tone however is the one thats lacking, i guess....any idea what is especially wrong?

it's kinda hard to me to judge a to-be-reamped tone....maybe i'm just accustoming to a not so great tone too quickly.
any ideas how to improve this?

 

[Lasse Lammert]

couldn't give it a listen yet....got trouble downloading with my main mac atm, and downloading with the macbook and then transferring via pendrive is a PITA

 

[Teddyboy]

Downloading now, I will post later. One question about Psa1... Did you record it direct or with a power amp,through a cab?

 

[paladin shredder]

i think thats definately a usable tone (once they are combined), but it really has this nasally 1k frequency that is obnoxious.

try cutting 1k about -6 db

 

[Fragle]

Downloading now, I will post later. One question about Psa1... Did you record it direct or with a power amp,through a cab?

just direct through the fireface.

but i got to try it through an amp+cab soon - maybe that's the secret behind andy classen's guitar tone (think dew scented impact, most belphegor etc).

as of right now it always sounds to me as if the sansamp adds some bite yet at the same time takes away from the tightness, it's just too fuzzy sounding, unless it's way undergained.

it slays for bass though

 

[Teddyboy]

I've tried recording direct with a friend's Psa1 and I got good results only when I used impulses (because I couldn't mic a cab). It sounded kind of "fake", "digital" etc without impulses. I feel the same way for your clips too. I haven't used it for direct bass tones (without cab or impulse) but the clips I've heard were really good. Unfortunately,I haven't found a way to sound good for recording directly guitars too. I hope you or Lasse or whoever find the way and share your secret with us!

 

[Lasse Lammert]

I've tried recording direct with a friend's Psa1 and I got good results only when I used impulses (because I couldn't mic a cab). It sounded kind of "fake", "digital" etc without impulses. I feel the same way for your clips too. I haven't used it for direct bass tones (without cab or impulse) but the clips I've heard were really good. Unfortunately,I haven't found a way to sound good for recording directly guitars too. I hope you or Lasse or whoever find the way and share your secret with us!

well, it DOES sound artifical when used direct....
but that could in some cases just be what the mix needs (see Tägtgren etc)

 

[Fragle]

alright guys, thanks for the comments!

i updated the first post with two new files...i reamped again, striving for a better tone.

would you say this is better than the first one? and if so, would you call it usable for a real mix??

this one had again the same fake recto/psa combo, but with the recto sound way more like one lol....ditched the fredman thing, and single miced with a sm57 only. it's a pretty bright tone this time (I'll render the recto files alone if anyone's interested)
with the sansamp i dialed in a less fizzy and darker tone this time. it didn't sound quite as nice/nasty (depending on how you'd see it) alone, but blended better imho.
i noticed that keeping the high eq knob below 12 oclock REALLY helps with taming the sizzle and fizz....the guitars seem much more compact this way. most of the high end you'll hear in those clips actually comes from the recto!

there was a bit more post processing going on this time....the sansamp had some dips in the center/lower midrange to tame the squeaky pick noises, so did the rectifier (only one around 1k on this one i think). other than that just HP/LP.
if i really used this in a mix i'd probably use a multiband comp on it too, but i left it off for this test...

well, please check it out, and tell me if i'm improving!

 

[Fragle]

anyone?