Using a V amp to record.. Need some help

[tenorbass]

Sorry to make another recording topic But I just got a V amp and I would like to find the best way to do this. My sound card only lets me do Mono so I will upgrade that so I can do one guitar track going left and one going right in Cool Edit pro. When I do it now It just boosts the signal . But this is what the back of the V amp looks like



I am gonna use the analog output left. But how should I run that to my PC. I want the best sound possible. Should I get something that is a guitar cable 1/4 going into the Vamp then a 1/8 plug direct into the mic port in my sound card? I used a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter to plug my distortion unit in and it sounded like anus. It wasn't really my sound card I think it was the adapter not going direct.

Help is needed. Thanks all

[Metastasis]

Sounds like you need a soundcard with balanced/unbalanced anaLOG 1/4 inputs. An external usb soundcard might work for you, like this:

http://uk.shopping.com/xPO-M-Audio-M...Fast-Track-Pro
I suggest this for further reading:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards...ome_studio.htm

[tenorbass]

Would this improve the sound alot? What cables would I need to do this? Will this also let me record in stereo?

[Metastasis]

Yes, it would improve the sound a great deal. Using a quarter inch to 16th inch adapter is unbalanced, has no signal boost and it does not have any volume and monitoring control (not to mention the lack of good A to D conversion).

And what do you mean by recording in stereo? You can record a stereo track, but that is usually only meant for recording with certain stereo effects, like chorus or synth stuff. What you probably want, though, is a dual rhythm guitar sound that is hard panned left and right. For this you'll have to record seperate mono tracks and adjust the panning accordingly in whatever editing softeware you're using.

[tenorbass]

Well I am not really having probelms with my guitar tone its just my soundcard records in mono. All the sound plays in the right speaker only. I would like to have track 1 in Cool edit pro be my drums and pan it at O. I would have tracks 2 and 3 be my guitar. I would pan 2 all the way to the left and 3 all the way to the right so they come out of the left and right speaker. Mybe I am doing something wrong in CEP? Is their something special I have to do to get my guitar tracks go threw the different speakers.

Edit- even when I connect my guitar with the 1/8 to1/4 into my sound card it still only plays thru the right speaker! Do I need a new soundcard? Is it the 1/8 to 1/4 thats doing it?

[Antæos]

That's because your guitar signal *is* mono, man. You can't really change that. You can sort of bypass the whole quadruple tracking thing by hooking your guitar up to two different amps and mic'ing them both, panning one mic left and the other right, and then record one guitar track, but that's not really viable in a home studio situation like your own.

[tenorbass]

The problem is that my guitar is only coming out of one speaker man. Is it that my soundcard is mono? I just whant to pan it to the left speaker and right in CEP. The problem is my soundcard I think. I know alot of people that can do this with no problems.

[Metastasis]

There's really no way around it... if you want to record guitars at home, you're going to need either an external usb or firewire sound card (which is what I reccomend for you, if you want to save money) or an internal sound card with 1/4" inputs.

[tenorbass]

I am thinking of getting the firewire sound card. This will let me pan the one track to the right and one to the left in CEP? Could you link me to some nice firewire sound cards. What cables will I need? Also, how will this connect to my Pc?

[Antæos]

The signal is only coming out of one speaker because it's mono. :P

You can open Wavelab, create a stereo file, track one guitar track and then copy it into both channels, but that will leave you with dual mono and not true stereo. You can't get around having to track several times.

[tenorbass]

Or I could just get a new sterio sound card. Open up CEP click R on tracks 2 and 3. Pan track 2 all the way to the left and 3 all the way to the right.

Edit- Found this gem http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD442 I think it should work out great.

[cp101]

Or when tracking just set whatever program you're using to record one channel as two.

[Metastasis]

Also, keep in mind that you won't be able to pan stereo tracks - that's probably why you only hear it in one speaker/phone...is it a stereo track, but with a wave only showing on one side? You need to set each channel to mono (mono left or mono right) if you want to make adjustments to the panning.

[tenorbass]

First this sound card is stereo right?http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD442
So when I plug my guitar into the 1/4 input my guitar will come out of both speakers? I am gonna try my line 6 distortion pod its like a regular effect unit. So when I make a multi track in CEP I will hit R on track one and track two. Pan them to opposite sides will this make the guitar come threw both speakers OR should I just pan track 1 at 0 then hit R and it will come out of both?

My gear will be my 7 string ibanez and the distortion pod into the sound card. How would you track this in CEP if my way of doing it doesnt seem right to you?

[kw_y03]

i use a line6 interface and it goes straight into my comp..i would go for an external x-tracks recorder tho.. they are much easier to workwith at home

[ruonitb]

what line6 interface do you use? :)

[kw_y03]

Originally Posted by ruonitb

what line6 interface do you use? :)

toneport baby it was around 170$

the program it comes with doesn't allow you to do advance editing.. but you can always export the track and edit it somewhere else.

[Necro Nick]

i just read this thread right now and i'm high and it's cool we have v-amp users talkin about sound cards..just a stoner moment

[ontogeny]

i had a vamp for a few years, and when i recorded it with i would do a stereo track and pan the guitar hard right and hard left. It came out pretty good www.myspace.com/ontogenyband
This direct with the vamp and mic'd

[ChAAPY]

Originally Posted by ontogeny

i had a vamp for a few years, and when i recorded it with i would do a stereo track and pan the guitar hard right and hard left. It came out pretty good www.myspace.com/ontogenyband
This direct with the vamp and mic'd

what was mic'd if you recorded it direct? you still have your solo settings? they sound sweet.

[Metastasis]

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

what was mic'd if you recorded it direct? you still have your solo settings? they sound sweet.

He recorded a mic'd cab and direct signal at once and mixed them (I'm assuming).

[Necro Nick]

When I recorded my demo I used a SM57, Samson C03, and lined out the head direct into the mixer

[Actioff09]

I have a 1300W mono sub amp that used to be in my car, at the moment i have a leased vehicle and it just sits in my room with my 2 12" subs without being used. All i need is some kind of HEAVY DUTY 120v-to-12v adapter that i could plug into the wall to power the amp and plug the RCA into my hometheater reciever. Problem is, what kind of materials am i looking at getting to achieve this?

EDIT: I do still have the 0-gage power cables