Best Amp Settings For Recording - Page 2

newbieguitarmaker · #16 01-09-2009, 03:38 PM

I need a good mic pre so you think the BlueTube would be good with my i5? Also is this the same thing just in one channel?
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=16

Oh forgot to ask if you knew if I could just use this since I rather have a box that also interfaces too since I want to sell my Lexicon Lambda for its weak preamp
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=53

zar7 · #17 01-09-2009, 03:48 PM

You may want to consider building a doghouse for your rig then. You can build one for a few hundred and crank it to the sun without getting a call from the landlord.
Amptone.com has a couple tutorials...
http://www.amptone.com/g234.htm

Another alternative would be a tiny tube combo amp like that little thing Satriani is offering through Peavey.

I have had successful results with a 57 as well. It also helps to put a condenser about 15 foot back in the room to pick up the developed sound, helps give your final sound a little more depth and helps round it out.

Drew · #18 01-09-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbieguitarmaker

I need a good mic pre so you think the BlueTube would be good with my i5? Also is this the same thing just in one channel?
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=16

Oh forgot to ask if you knew if I could just use this since I rather have a box that also interfaces too since I want to sell my Lexicon Lambda for its weak preamp
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=53

Eh, I can't say I'm too familiar with the Lexicon stuff, so you might want to ask for other opinions. Really, it comes down to the AD/DA converters. If the ones in the Lexicon are excellent but the pre just isn't that good, then an external preamp might be a good idea. If they're only average, then maybe the Presonus would be a better option.

From personal experience, I can say the Presonus Firepod pres and converters are decent enough. They're not "pro" audio fidelity by any means, but they're good enough to get excellent results with if you know what you're doing, and I for one don't have $10-20k to spend on professional-caliber pres and converters.

I can also tell you from personal experience that, prior to getting a Firepod, I was using a M-Audio Firewire 410. The preamps weren't really spectacular, but they were serviceable enough. However, when I bought the Bluetube, while on individual tracks the difference was pretty subtle, everything seemed to sound "nicer" together in a mix for some reason. Again though, bigger picture the Presonus stuff is pretty budget, so don't expect it to be a silver bullet and immediately turn you into Bob Rock (minus that whole "making Metallica suck" thing).

Drew · #19 01-09-2009, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zar7

You may want to consider building a doghouse for your rig then. You can build one for a few hundred and crank it to the sun without getting a call from the landlord.
Amptone.com has a couple tutorials...
http://www.amptone.com/g234.htm

Another alternative would be a tiny tube combo amp like that little thing Satriani is offering through Peavey.

I have had successful results with a 57 as well. It also helps to put a condenser about 15 foot back in the room to pick up the developed sound, helps give your final sound a little more depth and helps round it out.

If that was directed to me - eh, honestly? Screw my neighbors.

My roommates are pretty tolerant of volume since I don't really abuse it much, there's a floor between me and the downstairs neighbors, and I'm not too concerned about the rest of the block. With the hot plate I can get it up loud enough to get the sort of poweramp compression that makes the Recto such an amazing amp without getting comically loud, and for small doses I'm ok with subjecting my neighbors to that. They haven't said anything yet, anyway.

Besides, when I sit down to start tracking in earnest, I'm planning on doing it at my parents' place, way out in western Mass, in the middle of nowhere where volume is NOT a concern, lol.

newbieguitarmaker · #20 01-09-2009, 04:58 PM

^^^ My neighbors are 100x louder than I am so I never have those worries haha

rty13ibz98 · #21 01-17-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbieguitarmaker

I need a good mic pre so you think the BlueTube would be good with my i5? Also is this the same thing just in one channel?
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=16

Oh forgot to ask if you knew if I could just use this since I rather have a box that also interfaces too since I want to sell my Lexicon Lambda for its weak preamp
http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=53

if your budget will allow, i would definitely steer clear of the bluetube. not a bad pre, but not a great pre either. for about double of one, you could get the fmr audio RNP. 2 really good channels for less than $500. has a d.i. for use just like the bluetube, but will sound ten times better! i have had a tubepre, which is the single channel. whereas it doesn't sound bad, can't touch my higher end pres(not that it is supposed to, but that's another thread entirely). if you JUST need a preamp with no d.i., look into the rane ms-1b. single channel mic only preamp that has marvelous reviews online. $150 new. it's not pretty like the presonus, but will definitely outperform it.
as far as the pres in the lexicon, just bypass them: leave the gain knob all the way down and use the preamp signal from the outboard gear to get your levels up. i use a presonus firestudio with 2 digimax d8's to give me 24 channels in. all of which are the class a xmax pres. of those i use none of them. i have excellent preamps for my front end and do not use the onboard pres, i just use them for conversion.
bte, good choice having the i5. i used to think the sm57 was god until i got one. now i have 4 i5's and 2 sm57's.

rich