i may need to check this out. i like boss pedals so far… but these look wortwhile too.
@Enders - Do you use any at the moment Mate? How do you use them?
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Anyway - Could be an Achilles Heel in here somewhere Guys.
Got my pedal today. Tried it with an Amp / Guitar. Class. Really great sounding pedal.
Hooked a line from the SC through the Pedal, back in. Problem. Signal too hot. Its an impedance thing. Thats why you need a DI Box or whatever to bring the strength of the signal UP to what the Soundcard (lots of soundcards have this built in) or Mixing Desk can take.
This is the problem.
Taking it out of the Computer - You then need something that will lower the signal from the Computer, back down to lo impedance guitar level (which is what the pedal is designed to be used to…), if you want to send anything through the pedal.
Its called a Reamp Box. Cheapest one of these boxes looks to be around €70. Cnut. Hahaha!!
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-amp[/url]
UNLESS I’m missing something, which I cant be sure that I am… but I think it needs further investigation. Everything that I’ve looked up on the net says this. SO what can ya do?
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Mussi / Lads - How are you hooking your pedals in? Its Unit+Pedal-into Soundcard?
Do you ever try running stuff out of the computer, through the pedal, back in?
I’ve asked some “Recording Studio People” how they do it:
As it is - Level coming out from Soundcard is too high… +10db.
Reamp box if you need to change the impedance of the signal to go into an amp.
Its output is a 1/4" mono jack, which goes into the amp as “Guitar Volume”.
Reamp box to run stuff through an Amp.
Reamp box to run stuff through fx pedals (then back in).
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If you want to run through a mic pre/unit/channel strip/compressor etc… you can lower the signal level to mic level either by:
1. Decreasing level before the converter -or- 2. Using an Inline XLR Pad.
XLR is the plug fitting that you get on your Mic Lead. Something like this:
[url]http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioMicrophonePadwithPhaseInverter.html[/url]
They also seem to be called Inline Attenuators.
keep reading. theres more to it.
I don’t go out of my computer and back in. I only really use it for the 303 I go straight into my soundcard. I use a effect chain in ableton with compression etc
There is a littl bit of noise but nothing too bad.
To be honest I’ve never processed soft synth/effects externally. Only hardware I’ll process externally. Might give it ago though
Interesting Post on Facebook from a Guy - Rasmus Faber - about reamping/resampling & sending stuff out of the computer.
[url]http://en-gb.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=444061138979[/url]
He mentioned using a DJ Mixer… or the FX in it. Which got me thinking & looking at the crappy piece of Sh!t that I’ve got in the corner of the room. Tried running a clap through it, into the “line” & used it like a volume knob basically… lowering the higher signal from the computer. It works.
Stuck a cable in the headphone socket into a distortion pedal & then back into the front of my soundcard. Happy days. Far more controlled. There was a bit of hum… but I put a noise gate on it & chopped out the bits I needed. Totally different sound than the original clap. I dont think you could use it on everything… but its gonna be nice on some things.
If you have a Mixer… you should try picking up a pedal & a couple of cables. Much cheaper than a reamp box! 
Its funny… cos I found this old volume box that my Dad made about 15years ago for my Band … and was going to try it in the same way. It was in the Shed… and has definitely seen better days. Think it must have been stood on a bit too hard LOL
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[quote]Its always nice to share some experiences on studio stuff, so I thought I share with you some techniques to spice up your computer sounds. Hope you’ll enjoy!
I’m gonna go right ahead and assume you’re making mostly electronic music, and also assume that you stay mostly within the comfort zone of your DAW, perhaps for the exception of recording a voice or an instrument every once in a while.
I find this seems to be how most people go about producing music, dance music in particular.
If you’re recording other types of music, you might be more experienced with the use of outboard (external) gear, but hopefully you could still find a handy tip or two here.
Since I drift quite a lot between the two worlds, producing both dance but also a lot of acoustic music, I have some advice I thought I’d share with you.
We all use software synths, and as they get better, more and more people get rid of their hardware and do everything in the box. This is all fine, and by large a good development I think. However, having everything conveniently in the box has some downsides. I’ll address one of those issues here, which has to do with the sound of software synths.
Wether its one of the cheap or one of the high-end soft-synths available, synths played through the sequenser of the DAW all are perfect, in the sense that they lack all the irregularities which we have grown to like from close to a century’s worth of analogue recordings.
If the synth parts are also timing and velocity quantized they run a great risk of sounding sterile. They sound “right”, but they lack life and soul.
Re-amping is one of many ways to give life to the sounds coming from your computer, in ways from very subtle to extreme. It also gives the opportunity to shape the sound in creative ways which is simply not possible to do digitally.
This is also a great way to get sounds which sounds unique, which can be especially useful if you feel like using a famous preset from one of your synths, but dont wanna be caught sounding like everyone else.
Often re-amped sounds, even with ever so subtle changes to the sound, will sit better in the mix. There might be several reasons for this, added harmonics, voltage irregularities between the left and right channels are two possible factors.
I use re-amping as the term for when we take sounds from the computer out in the “real” world, and then back into the computer. Some might use the term for only those cases where an actual amplifier is involved, but I’ve chosen to use the term with a wider definition.
I’m talking mostly of synth sounds here, as I find that to be what is mostly in need of re-amping. But all these tips are applicable for all sounds. Drums for example is a great subject of re-amping, again, very useful if you happened to want to use a very recognizable drum sample or loop.
There are two groups of methods in how to do this. One is by running your sounds out into one or many pieces of gear, could be a preamp, guitar stomp box, an old stereo, a mixing desk, etc etc, and then record that signal straight back into the DAW.
Method number two involves actually letting the sounds move some air, meaning to play the sound through some form of speaker, and then record that sound with a microphone.
There are a few methods not covered, such as using an outboard studio mixing desk. I figured if you have access to such equipment you probably know how to use it well. Still, even if you are a very experienced pro, you might have fun with going back to some of of the more guerilla style methods described below.
I’ll describe what is needed for each technique, but a minimum requirement is a stereo input, and a stereo output, from your computer. It is also important that you can listen to what you’re actually recording, wether through your software, or directly through the soundcard.
Ok, here we go!
1: Use what you got
This is probably the easiest, and most accessible method, which can yield some nice, and unexpected results. There are probably a few things in your house or studio already, which have both an input and an output. It could be a home stereo system, dj-mixer, or even some sort of small portable player. Try to simply route the output of the soundcard to the input of your equipment, and then route the output of your equipment back to the computer’s/soundcard’s input. Now start messing with the sound! Does the home stereo have a loudness button, bass/treble control, or other controls, just try them out. Find a sound you like, and then record it back in. Dont hear much difference? Record it anyway, and then later when you’re mixing, compare it with the original sound, see if you notice any difference.
If you have a dj mixer, try using the internal effects, EQ, etc etc.
You can also try to mess up the sound completely, record it back in, and then blending the new sound with the original sound to taste.
2. A pre-amp
If you have an external preamp to record vocals or instrument, you can do some great things with it. Even better if you have two pre-amps, or a dual-channel one.
Same procedure and routing as above. If the pre-amp has an EQ, you can use it for some really nice results, but even if it doesnt, you can still use it. Especially if its vintage (wether its actually old, or a new vintage model build) it will add color to the sound. This color often depends on how “hot” you run the preamp, meaning how much gain the pre-amp runs on internally. If the pre-amp has both input and output gain, try turning the output gain all the way down, then crank the input volume all the way up, then slowly turn the output volume back up to get some sound. You should be able to get some distortion, which can be more or less subtle and desirable. Experiment with those two controls.
Always when playing with extreme gain settings, always be really careful not to damage your gear!
If you have only one mono channel pre-amp, but the source sound is in stereo, you can use it to get a mono sound back into the computer, and blend it with original sound.
Or, if you’re ambitious, you could run each channel (left and right) one at a time.
A side note: soft synth sounds, especially presets, tends to have “too much” stereo width (which can make them hard to fit in a mix), so getting a sound or two in mono rarely hurts. You can make them wider using reverb later anyway.
I should also add that generally, you’d want to re-amp your sounds dry (no effects like reverb or delay) to have the flexibility left to change those effects later. However, thats by no means a rule. If you’re sure you got the sound you want, you can always try to print (record) the effects as well.
3. Compressors, DI-boxes, and other studio gear.
If you’re into production a bit more seriously, you might want to invest in some hardware gear to help spice up your mixes, not just for re-amping, but for your production in general. These days, there are so many computer emulations of hardware gear, and some are really great. However, hardware still sounds different, even just for the way you actually use them when twisting the knobs with your hands directly, rather than using a mouse on a screen. So if you’re serious about production it could definitely be worth investing in a good sounding hardware unit.
For the purpose of re-amping, lot of these gear can give some great results. Hardware compressors can obviously do great things to your productions in general, for re-amping though, a bit of caution is adviced, to make sure you dont lose your intended dynamics in the process. It is recommended to re-amp through a compressor before you automate volume within the DAW, or before you do your ducking-against-the-kick-routine, that way you can be a lot more creative when shaping the sound, and dont have to worry about messing up your arrangement.
DI-boxes are used for getting the right impedance and a balanced signal from a bass guitar, guitar, fender rhodes, etc. Generally DI-boxes are too transparent to really make any valuable difference for re-amping. However, there are some exceptions, such as the Reddi DI-box, which is tube powered, with possibility to get some nice overdrive out of it. There are also DI-Boxes from manufacturers such as Avalon, who make really high-end ones, with sound-shaping capabilites. If you’re also recording lined instruments it could definitely be worth spending some extra cash in this department.
There are also some dedicated gear which lets you control the amount of distortion in a very nice way, adding pleasurable harmonics and saturation, something which works fantastic with re-amping. One of my favourite pieces of gear, the Thermionic Culture Rooster (I’ll write some more on this unit later), as well as the Neve Portico 5042, and a few other units, all have possibilites to internally distort the source sound, ranging from very subtle saturation, to heavy cranking. This is something that often works extremely well on synth sounds, or on anything sterile from the computer in need of a bit of mojo.
A note on tube gear
There is often an understanding of tube gear that they sound more “magically analog” than their solid state counterparts. While this may be subjectively true in many cases, there are a few more sides to the coin.
First of all, not only tube gear can add a nice analog vibe to your sounds, but also solid state can sound great in this departement. There are a lot of other factors to consider. But tube-powered gear does seem to add more color generally, especially when the gain is driven hard (though there are tube gear which is also very transparent, so there are definitely exceptions to this rule as well…
But it is important to point out that just because something has a tube inside, doesnt mean it will automatically sound good. In fact, I find that cheap tube gear actually sound worse than gear with other types of powering. So, dont believe that tube=good. Make sure you listen to the differences so you can decide for yourself. And, dont buy cheap tube gear unless you’re absolutely sure it really does sound great.
4. Moving air
Onto method number 2, which is to let sound pass through any type of speaker, and then record that sound back to the computer through a microphone.
There are so many ways to do this, and all the ways to record any source with a microphone is a chapter (or rather a whole book) of its own, getting in to acoustics, stereo recording, and mic placements. So I’ll just cover this briefly.
One way is to use a guitar speaker. In fact, a small guitar speaker, such as the Fender Champ, is a really useful piece of equipment even in the smallest bedroom studio. Run the sound through it, and put a mic in front of if. You’ll get something completely different immediately. If you’re using electric piano (rhodes, wurlitzer etc) samples from your computer, I really urge you to try and record them through a guitar amp. They will come alive in a whole new way.
Obviously, guitar amps are great for heavy distortion effects as well, which can be great on lead synths for example. If you’re not sure about the sound you get, if its too extreme, do what is described above as well, record it, and then blend it with the original sound, rather than replace it completely.
Another very interesting way is to play back the sound through your control room speakers or even home stereo speakers. You can put the mic in front of the speaker, or further away in the room. This is where it gets into the field of acoustics and mic teqhnicues, but trial and error is a great teacher, experiment!
Yet another great method is to run the sound through a really small, ****ty speaker, a Walkman with a speaker, small clock radio, or one of these super small toy guitar amps.
Especially if you’re making music with a rough indie edge this can make for some really interesting and fitting sounds!
This was all for this description. Dont be afraid to spend a little extra time on your sounds, it will feel very rewarding in the end. And dont be afraid to try lots of different things. Record two slightly different versions of the sound, then pan one to the left and the other to the right, your imagination is the only limit!
Hope you’ll find this little introduction to re-amping useful, please feel free to pass it on if you like. There is so much room for experiments, not to mention a multitude of ways to use the above described methods in combination. Please feel free to ask any questions, and keep enjoying making music!
Sincerely,
/Rasmus Faber[/quote]
check out this guy! makes some really cool sh!t
Quality. Its like a bitcrusher as well!