Hello, this comes from an experienced audio engineer at 56 years old. I am not reading all the previous comments. Sorry for that. I am posting this on a few KZitem channels I respect. Yes, input gainstaging is necessary in all analog emulations. Some plugin manufacturers will tell you the expected target level. Some plugin manufacturers will show you on the plugins input meter the target input that you should be using (many do not). The interface input level has little to do with the process at all. In fact, the level on playback is bound to exactly the same issue. If you use any simple digital gain plugin at any point of recording playback you can resolve the issue if you know the target. I would avoid anything that does anything more than gain as it such as fader/pan plugins they themselves can alter pan law or fader analog emulation and more. This requires only simple digital gain. Find one that has an accurate meter. This fixes both the input and recorded guitar signal at once. You can record at any healthy level. Keep in mind this also applies to every analog emulation in your processing chain. Researching a list of known good plugins for this use is where the community needs to go. So, how can plugin coders ultimately resolve the issue. It is simple. Have an accurate meter that shows the plugins preferred target level. Possibly build in a simple clean gain in their plugin that comes before the analog emulation code. Of course, a target standard could be made but that is less likely. Lean on expert coders to tell you how easy this is. I hope this helps. Skilled plugin developers, please weigh in on the subject. AS an additonal tip, incorrect gain can be used as a tone shaping trick. That might also make for interesting content.
@OrangeMicMusic
9 ай бұрын
One other important thing, which I'm not seeing here, is that some plugins need an extra amount of gain in order to sound like the real amp. So, after the input on the interface is set to minimum, depending on which plugin you're using, use a clean boost inside the DAW to raise the level before hitting the plugin. For instance, a Rectifier from Amplitube needs a +12dB boost to sound like the real amp with the same settings. Ed S. has some videos with lists of what amount of gain each plugin needs.
@JohnNathanCordyFactBot-br8is
9 ай бұрын
John loves to walk across his Devonshire estate, but is often mistaken for a hedgehog by children. This is not because of his small eyes, but that when startled, John curls into a ball and uses his spikes as a defence mechanism.
@louissanderson719
9 ай бұрын
I can imagine John enjoying coffee picked and ground by Peruvian mountain folk. 300 quid per 100 grams
@chrisgmurray3622
9 ай бұрын
Did I say " Hedgehog"?, Sorry, I meant " Hedgefund Man- ager!
@gffg387
9 ай бұрын
Hey Jonathan. Rhett Schull just made a video of you. He said you're an amazing player and has a pretty face. You two should do a collab, I think he likes you.
@derrickm5013
9 ай бұрын
if your interface is 10 and the plugin wants 12, you need to subtract 2 from the plugin input gain. If your interface is 12 and the plugin say helix native wants 11.5, you would boost .5 on plugin input gain
@trevoryearwood6377
9 ай бұрын
Well done J ! Thanks so much for the clarification; as it gives my guitar a bit of a proper range from cleaner "clean sound" to the full pick-up output. Cheers !
@TreyB.
9 ай бұрын
Thank you, John... I could in fact hear and feel the difference upon changing my Focusrite input gain as you've recommended. With single coils and humbuckers, btw.
@jackprice7828
9 ай бұрын
I saw Rhett's follow up video to yours. I think you two along with Ed have, have really nailed the issue well. It does matter now in the digital world when an interface and a DAW plugin is involved.
@buzzfretwear2906
7 ай бұрын
This was a revelation for me and now some plugins that I wanted to like previously are now quite satisfying (Neural Tone King Imperial, for one). It seems that I'm not the only one for whom this was a game changer (and proper thanks to Ed S., by the way). I simply cannot believe that so many manufacturers and so many users have been misunderstanding this and so many users have been misguided. It's pretty crazy.
@Dan-of-NJ
9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for an actual hands on demonstration of how to do this. Perfect and very clear. The next question is how do we do this going into a real amp. I have a Two Notes Cab M+...which I sometimes use into a neutral amp (Like a Princeton w/o breakup). I assume the same rule applies to keep gain as low as possible and let the plug in do the heavy lifting of tone. Cheers
@xlilxillx
9 ай бұрын
thanks for doing these, i'm sure most people had no idea about this
@AlexVonCrank
9 ай бұрын
This is valuable info right here, folks!
@fuzzymuppet1990
9 ай бұрын
I have an older 2i4 scarlet, and I was having the hardest time figuring out why my amp sims sounded over saturated and kinda muddy. I would turn on high z and I would turn the input gain while slamming chords untill it clipped , then i backed off till it didn't anymore. Basically, it's a nice strong signal but not clipping. When I played live the raw DI guitars, they sounded fine and recording software was reading great, but I would turn on turn on a plugin and was never sastified with the sound. At no point was I clipping in the DAW or the plugins. Then i just randomly turned the input gain all the way down with padding on , and it sounded 1000x better ! It does look weird when i record because my wav files look weak on screen, but whatever. On a side note ,I noticed I also used to get a little DI bleed mixed in with my processed sound, i mean a tiny tiny bit almost inaudible , but I swear I could hear/feel it... minimizing the input gain also cleared that up too!
@frankpratte8358
9 ай бұрын
When you had your interface all the way down to zero it looked like the Reaper track input meter was peaking around -18db. The advice to set input at -18db has been the standard general advice in the digital domain, right? Backing a hair off from clipping is what we use to do when recording to tape. I plug my guitar (usually a tele) into a direct box, then to a line level input of my interface. To peak around -18db in Reaper track panel I need to have my audio interface gain at about 12 o'clock. So, I think going for -18db peak is better as it works regardless of which interface you're using. The proof is in the sound, a clean amp setting does sound clean, crank the amp sim gain a bit and it starts to break up. This idea also points to not normalizing your guitar tracks as that will increase the gain hitting the plug-in and will change the sound of the amp sim.
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
it’s just coincidence that it looks to be around -18dBFS, and setting all guitars to that level just has the same issue where all guitars are at the same (inaccurate level). It’s much easier and more accurate to just adjust your headroom to match the plugin you are using, and then ALL of your guitars are accurate without any guesswork or additional adjustment
@nigelsmith721
9 ай бұрын
Off the back of your previous video on the subject I did some testing on my AXE I/O. Going into HX Native, McRocklin Suite and Amplitube with the Gain on the interface set to minimum (humbuckers, s/coils and P90s) has transformed how those models now sound in my system. So much more clarity and touch sensitivity...a real revelation.
@santosp2117
8 ай бұрын
John, thanks for sharing this information. I tried getting the specs for my very old interface but could not find anything. I followed the scarlett specs and set gain all the way down and engaged the Pad. Now I can get clean tones with my plugins!!! Nice
@mathmusicstructure
9 ай бұрын
The big problem is that I've tried a bunch of software for 14 day trial periods with the gain up, which means I haven't really tried them correctly, and now my trial period is over.
@eriksmith1728
8 ай бұрын
If it's neural dsp- you can email their support to request another 14 day trial. I wanted to compare a new plugin to something I had trialed from them in the past and requested another trial license for this reason and they provided exactly that. Might be worth a shot for other companies as well but I know NDSP has good customer support in this regard.
@johncox2552
9 ай бұрын
I feel like an idiot now. This explains all the problems I have been experiencing with Neural DSP’s Plugins.
@Alex_Martz
9 ай бұрын
Real amps also have much higher headroom than what an actual guitar produce and this is why most real amps sound much better with a "clean boost" pedal in front, like Klon centaur and such, adding extra gain on your interface produces the same effect for free
@Harrysound
9 ай бұрын
That jam at the start is lovely. The backing track has some Zietecki vibes. It’s never been easier to get a fantastic tone. I like being rooted in the real world though so I use an Axe Fx FM9.
@mickeygiesbers8176
9 ай бұрын
Am very interested in trying this out. I had this problem with my Tonex plugin, I use the Tonex pedal/Helix for live but when I use the plugin, it's oversaturated. I play in a Symphonic Metal and a Deathcore band so you might think I need a lot of gain, but I was having troubles getting the riffs tight because there was way to much gain.
@ac8704
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for this video, and looking into this topic. This helps a lot!
@picksalot1
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the explanation and demo. When I started using Helix Native, I was confused by tonal results I was getting. Perhaps this also explains the big differences in the volume between different Stock Presets on the HX hardware itself as well. This could be true if they were created using the Helix Native Plugin, but with an Audio Interface using the wrong Input settings.
@ihitge
9 ай бұрын
Super helpful. Thanks!
@connorbouta9402
9 ай бұрын
Does this concept apply to modelers? I have a quad cortex, should I be setting the input to as loud as possible before clipping for each guitar? Or should I turn it down even more?
@digital360
9 ай бұрын
This is great advice, however, this whole conversation is creating some confusion for many; as some interfaces (such as my Focusrite 2i4) display a zero (0) on the gain knob at the full counterclockwise [lowest possible position] setting. Meanwhile, Focusrite's owner's manual specifically states: "GAIN 1 and GAIN 2 - adjust the input gain for input signals on inputs 1 and 2 respectively. The gain controls have concentric bi-colour LED ‘rings’ to confirm signal level: green indicates an input level of at least -24 dBFS (i.e., ‘signal present’), the ring then turns red when signal level reaches 0 dBFS". From my experience, and using many different guitars, I find that the LED ring begins to hit the "red" at or around 9-11 o'clock position, which is clearly not where the zero gain is indicated on said ring. Sorry if this was too verbose. #stillconfusing
@jon.martian
9 ай бұрын
i've got the same 2i4 interface, having trouble also if i set to zero there is signal, but in my plugin which doesnt have vol input adjustment its barely enough signal to activate the tuner and sounds bad tbh.
@400_billion_suns
9 ай бұрын
The reason you’re confused is because of the difference between analog input signal levels (measured in dBu or volts) vs the way levels are represented in the digital domain (DBFS). An analog signal goes into your interface. This could be the output from your guitar, for example, and you can measure that signal in volts or dBu. To be clear, this can go above 0 dBu, and is not the same level you’re seeing in your DAW. Once the analog signal goes into the interface, the interface converts it to digital. After that, it is no longer represented by volts or dBu, and is now represented by DBFS. The crux of this issue with plugins is that different interfaces have different conversions from dBu to DBFS. For example, one interface might convert -3dBu to 0DBFS, while another interface might convert 17dBu to 0DBFS. That’s a huge difference, and it also varies with the gain knob setting. On top of that, different plugins assume different conversion values as well. So to really hear the plugin as the designers intended, you need to know (1) how your interface converts dBu to DBFS; and (2) how many dBu the plugin assumes is 0DBFS. Knowing both of those, you can figure out the exact amount to adjust the input trim so the plugin gets what it’s expecting from a given analog input. On your 2i4, the 0 position on the gain knob gives you the max headroom when it converts your guitar signal from dBu (analog) to DBFS (digital). As you increase that gain knob, you’re boosting the input signal, which is bringing the converted digital signal closer to the 0DBFS digital ceiling. The gain knob boosts the analog signal, which changes the conversion factor from dBu to DBFS, and unless you measure it yourself, you can only be sure of what that conversion value is with the gain knob set at 0.
@MarvelJAM
8 ай бұрын
I would also like to add that profilers such as NAM rely on end users to make the profiles. This is another place where the proper gain for emulation can be troublesome as a target. Thank you for the content :)
@rullywow3834
9 ай бұрын
Love the videos, JNC! Just curious on two things: 1. What gauge strings do you use on Strat/DGT/Gibson 2. Do you deck your tremolos?
@RRod1025
9 ай бұрын
I believe in his previous DGT video he said he kept the factory choice of 9’s on it, but the Strat has d’addario 10’s
@rullywow3834
9 ай бұрын
@@RRod1025 Thanks for the info. DGT SE comes with 10's however but the core DGT comes with 11s...
@Masophere
9 ай бұрын
100% makes a huge difference the only time I crank that gain up now is if I want that really gainy boosted sound for noodling around with a mesa sim 👍
@ekuzy
9 ай бұрын
Wait, setting the gain to 0 in audio interface is recommended with software plugins or also if I have a modeler (HX stomp) in front of the audio interface?
@LIGHTintheHALLS
9 ай бұрын
Bravo! That’s the secret to getting closer to the original. Don’t hammer the plugin. 🔊💥🤨
@rockstarjazzcat
9 ай бұрын
On higher end studio gear with a gazillion channels, you calibrate the interface to establish line level unity gain. Then preamps work to get lower levels up to line level. And then in the box, one uses trim plugins to shift unity to whatever the plugin in question expects. Ironically, the guitar modeling plugins, as charted out recently, expect a hotter level than other studio plugins. Cheers.
@LEUNN_
5 ай бұрын
If I'm running a pedalboard into my interface, will this still apply?
@ericlinfoot7419
9 ай бұрын
I have a focusrite solo and it doesn't have a db meter on it. I use it with neural dsp plugins in stand alone mode. How do i set the focusrite gain to zero? Turn the dial completely anticlockwise? It sounds a bit quiet and thin like that.
@musicsurfandrats
9 ай бұрын
Adjust the input on the plugin you have like 24 DBs of boost there. The good thing in my opinion is that in that way you can know how many DBs of boost you like and replicate it . (If you move the input gain on an interface that doesn't read you back the gain , then after a few days you might have it lower or higher without noticing). I hope that makes sense to you. If not, always do what sounds best to you and not what anybody says.
@jambackingtracks6951
9 ай бұрын
I noticed this problem some time ago. Insufficient headroom was causing nasty distortion, often when I was playing on the G string in the A Pentatonic scale and in the upper registers of the B and E strings. Bringing the input gain down helped, but I lost some clarity on the lower strings. Pickup height adjustments didnt help. A multiband compressor and/or eq plugin on the input (b4 the amp sim) helped mitigate the situation. I usually bump around 2.5K and cut around 100-200 Hz or so. Then, after the cab sim, I eq and cut alot of the high freqs above 10k (and lower sometimes depending on the sound) to get rid of the fizz (depending on the IR used).
@willgoodchild4343
9 ай бұрын
Maybe a dumb question… would this principle be a factor going DI from a quad cortex into a desk?
@slash196
9 ай бұрын
I think my levels are basically right, but I've still found when I knock 3-4 dB off the plugin's input knob I prefer the sound, even compared to pulling back on whatever amp gain might be present. It's interesting too that tube amp makers have basically the same problem with input levels, because guitar pickups pride such different input levels (single coils vs humbuckers vs active), but guitar players have gotten used to using boosts or backing off the volume pot to compensate for that. And yet when we enter plugin land we somehow expect the laws of physics to be different!
@ebb8870
9 ай бұрын
I appreciate this, followed the same advice about cranking the input level for the QC just under clipping and couldn't get a clean sound out of anything on it. plugins/modelers need better instruction on how to set this or a function to set it automatically, iirc Bias fx has such a function.
@nickcelej7201
9 ай бұрын
So like...for using the helix as a straight up interface what should my settings be? Should I have a USB output block set to the default 0 db? Or cut some? Do I need to change the settings of the output to hi-z or something? Can you do a tutorial on how to do this with helix as an interface?
@musicsurfandrats
9 ай бұрын
Isn't it the best of both worlds to use the gain in the interface so you do get that strong signal but then adjust the input of the plugin down if you need it? I think that's the reason why those input levels are there, you get something like 24db plus or minus in the neural stuff and that is plenty, no?
@boshi9
9 ай бұрын
Maybe theoretically, but is it worth the trouble? You’d have to find the correct configuration for every guitar you’re using, worry about transients clipping, etc. And the benefits are probably undetectable, especially with modern 24 bit interfaces, which have an inherently much better SNR. As John pointed out, the noise of the guitar itself will drown out anything that’s introduced by the converter.
@musicsurfandrats
9 ай бұрын
@@boshi9 I feel the other way around, I have a nice interface with a nice recommended setting (rme babyface/hi-z +9db I think ). At that setting things sound great to me and if I need it I adjust the input of the plugin (I almost always go up instead of down there too). That way all my guitar and basses have a nice healthy signal going in , which also makes it easier to work with inside the daw at least to me. In this case I m taking about detecting transients and warping time for example, it's much easier if the signal is strong enough. All in all yeah, it's potato potato but I don't feel like I'd gain anything by changing the way I work by turning it upside down in terms of gain staging. If it made me play like John Nathan I'd do it though :) if it helps you or any other more power to y'all.
@musicsurfandrats
9 ай бұрын
@boshi9 one thing you just reminded me of is that not all interfaces have a digital gain setting like mine where I can exactly see how much gain is being applied and how the input signal looks before the daw (rme total mix software) . In case of not having that, then yes probably leaving the input at 0 is a good idea. I have the feeling though that the setting my lo-z input defaults to is the minimum.
@christopheranderson2158
9 ай бұрын
Headroom...headroom...headroom. It’s the biggest issue I see with most guitarist’s rigs. Super high output pickups plugged into drive pedals into either lower watt tube amps or modelers. This is why most guitarists sound the same...at least in the hard rock/metal genres. I ditched this year’s ago and now use low output pickups...usually below 8k...into my pedals or preamps...then into a 50 or 100 watt tube power amp and cab. It’s not about 100 watts of screaming tube output....it’s about the HEADROOM. Air to breath....
@redaben9936
9 ай бұрын
Hi John, is it the same case with mutli effects such as hx stomp / pod go ? Cheers
@johnnathancordy
9 ай бұрын
Nope!
@lulikastrati5911
8 ай бұрын
I have a presonus quantum 2626, and I agree, the dial fully down is too low. If i boost in the plugin, i get a fair bit of noise. I can overcoem this by using a DI Box (i only have an active one) or by setting my interface gain at around (what i think is) unity gain, which seems to be around 10 o'clock, and then adjust inside plugin or using studio one controls.
@kendevries3212
8 ай бұрын
What about reamping? Does the same 0-Gain on the interface hold true there as well?
@dekofschipper8412
7 ай бұрын
Excactly. Basically recording guitar to DAW through an interface means recording a DI signal. I don't see why you would even want to record this at 0 input level on the interface, minimal signal, high signal to noise ratio.... Then playing this recorded wav though a plugin is basically the same as reamping, so WTF is happening with amp plugins ? Amplibute seems to have the opposite problem, need to add 12-15db to get any decent sound.
@kendevries3212
7 ай бұрын
@@dekofschipper8412 This what I have noticed about Amplitube as well. The 0-gain on input sounds worse with Amplitube. This is all very confusing.
@davidspingler6337
9 ай бұрын
Never even once considered gaining up the signal after plugging into a hi-z input on an audio interface, and I’ll continue to not consider it 😂
@chandlerclement1365
9 ай бұрын
Has anyone else tried this with the Tonex plugin in the DAW? It might just be me, but this isn’t working for me with Tonex and my Motu interface, it’s ridiculously quiet, even after increasing the input gain on the Tonex plugin.
@musiccreation1198
9 ай бұрын
Thank you John.
@hpnascimento95
9 ай бұрын
I don't understand why plugin manufacturers don't instruct users to use their products correctly. I tried setting up my audio interface like this it sounds so much better, and I'm using humbuckers.
@Gerhard468
9 ай бұрын
So this is a game changer for sure. I do however found it highly confusing applying this to ToneX as a plug-in. So I have an Audient ID14 which has a min gain of -12db, great, easy enough. IK if I remember correctly according to Ed’s chart said ToneX wants to see a -8db signal, great easy enough. So this means set my interface to 0 and boost by 4db before ToneX. Here is where it gets confusing, most people making captures advise to boost around 8-12db to make the captures sound right, so I need to boost with a total of 12-16db to get accurate gain staging with my interface on 0? Sonically this sounds correct because I never experienced gain staging issues when turning up the preamp, it essentially sounded as it should. So what is the point of turning the preamp down 12db just to add 12db at plug-in input. Well I did an A/B test and found the preamp on 0 sounded clearer in the highs and the gained preamp suffered from muddy low end especially on the neck pick-up. Why would this be? Could this be preamp colouration? Anyway so in short this did not really solve the big issue of inaccurate gain in captures but introduced me to other possible effects gaining up the preamp could have on the EQ of the signal I was sending into the amp.
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
There is no ToneX in my spreadsheet. ToneX models require different levels based on who made the model and how their reamp chain is set up. So it’ll vary model to model and is less easy to correct for
@mikaelsuomela1549
9 ай бұрын
Then again, if you are using a traditional DI box before your audio interface, the too low gain issue reappears - as all DI boxes step down the volume. So it would be really nice to have some sort of universal max peak dBFS recommendation or a constant RMS dBFS recommendation.
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
Peak level of the guitar is no good because you’ll normalise single coils to humbuckers. “Constant RMS dBFS recommendation” is literally what the topic is about. This is why dBu relative to dBFS is important. dBu is a measure of level relative to voltage. If we know an input has 12dBu of headroom before clipping, then we have all the information we need. If you use an external DI, you just have to measure what you input headroom is. I have a 2 minute video showing how to do this and then you can have accurate gain levels with any plugin
@mikaelsuomela1549
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754 that's great! You really have done superb work!
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
@@mikaelsuomela1549you’re welcome!
@LukeMosse
9 ай бұрын
Can you review the Synergy stuff? Separate swappable preamps and enclosures?
@sam80pr
9 ай бұрын
So theoretically it is not only about signal to noise ratio. Higher level input signal as long as it is not clipping results in a better resolution with A2D conversion, with more information about the waveform (and admittedly pickup noise). But not sure if it has much perceived effect in this case. The other point about using Ditto or any other looper is that it omits the impedance interaction between the interface and the guitar pickups. So not 100% accurate, ideally this level matching can be done with same guitar and same picking intensity and capturing and comparing the waveform levels between interface attached to computer and the modeler interface, and should be repeated for each guitar. Also, if you have the modeler to do this process, then why not use that as the interface for the computer if you want to use the plugins.
@eds4754
8 ай бұрын
this is kind of muddling up different things. Using the ditto is fine to set the levels (because it’s constant) and after that the relative levels of different guitars pickups, impedance interactions etc will all get preserved. Higher signal level doesn’t really offer any more resolution, the dynamic range of a guitar is much less than what converters can capture so as long as you’re below clipping and above the noisefloor it’s going to be ok
@BeatsAndGuitars
9 ай бұрын
What is zero? Completely all the way down or zero db? This is all so very unclear especially for people that don’t have the specific interfaces that are referred to during all of this talk.
@philipmarsh3522
9 ай бұрын
If you look up your specific interface, you should be able to find the max db for the high Z input. If you reference that against the one’s listed (check out the video John references in his earlier video) and you can cross reference to those. Example, Scarlett 2x2 is +12db. If yours is +12db use those settings (zero at the interface, zero on the software).
@jwright8838
9 ай бұрын
All this stuff is relative to your interface and the plugin your using. I'd also be curious about the importance of the dynamic range of the AD conversion.
@JAYAT100
9 ай бұрын
Oh no this sounds like Maths to me 😢....So I have the Motu M2 going into PreSonus studio one....= ?
@bradfordeffingleigh96669
9 ай бұрын
Wow it actually sounds like a guitar amp now
@hannesganahl6384
9 ай бұрын
When you keep the gain on the interface on 0 the plugin reacts more like a real amp to different guitars.
@Tupac_Shakur-NL
9 ай бұрын
what about the uad unison input?
@Masophere
9 ай бұрын
More on the guitar/pickup soup, if a guitar sounds bad unplugged it will sound even worst plugged then including a big gain boost its just fart soup through a megaphone
@fuzzymuppet1990
9 ай бұрын
I'm gonna borrow that line, I promise I'll bring it back 😅😅😂
@AresJazzOfficial
9 ай бұрын
Good!
@kevinwhite6172
9 ай бұрын
-12 going into the interface has always been the proper way. I don’t understand why people think you are supposed to set it right before clipping. Strum really hard, set it to peak at -12. Problem solved.
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
setting all your peaks to the same level is literally what caused the problem in the first place. Setting humbuckers to just below clipping can get close to the “correct” level for some plugins, but it’ll be way off for single coils. And it’s all about preserving the relative volume of each guitar. That’s why the method John is showing is superior
@kevinwhite6172
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754 how would single coils be way off? You turn up the interface gain so it peaks at -12. The method he’s using is exactly the same, he’s just adjusting in the plugin. If your interface is set correctly that step is not needed.
@pierre-claudemeriot6562
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754 well of course the level for humbuckers and single coil can't be the same. The guitars have different output levels. Shouldn't you adjust the input gain when changing guitars? When I play an amp and use my Les Paul for a while, If I change to a single cool guitar I will step on a clean boost to bring it at the same level as the Les Paul
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
@@pierre-claudemeriot6562 when you plug a guitar into an amp, do you make the guitars the same level? usually you want to preserve the different characteristics of each guitar. If you think of an amp sim plugin as being a reamp box+amp, then the goal is to set it so the reamp box part is at unity and the amp is the same as plugging the guitar straight in.
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
🍲 🍜 🥣 great job explaining and demonstrating again!
@josephcanedo9447
9 ай бұрын
🔥🔥🔥
@rendyandrian7149
9 ай бұрын
I'm a bit confuse with all this matter. Since I play the opposite of you which is hi gain chugging stuff. Maybe this topic needs to be addressed by different youtubers who plays different genre to give different perspective.
@pierre-claudemeriot6562
9 ай бұрын
I think we have this issue because chuggers are oversaturating KZitem with their high gain tones. I've always had a hard time getting clean tones but the chuggs are easy AF. Just open any amp sim, on any setting and its already way too saturated of a sound. If I dial the gain back it doesn't sound right. It's not that nice breakup, it's more of a digital clipping which was underneath your high gain sound
@marcohermans3207
9 ай бұрын
This is a video about calibration of a basic scarlett interface, it's not my own video. The same procedure works for every interface. It's all about unity gain and how to get there. With this method for dummies all your plugins will sound good. I printed out Ed's spreadsheet but it wasn't working for me because I had to search for numbers for different plugins and adjusting the input gain in the plugin accordingly but the results were superb. This method gives me the same results and it is set and forget. I also use Tonex but that's another story....Almost nobody shares their recording levels so it never will be accurate. The video: kzitem.info/news/bejne/xmav26esm3yUaXY
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
This is something a little different, it’s matching the headroom of the interface outputs to the inputs. It can be helpful for getting unity gain for a real chain, but the amount of headroom everyone ends up with when using this method would depend on the specs of their A/D and D/A. A lot of people do this when setting up their reamp box to make sure it’s getting back to unity gain, and it works. But you’d still need to know your headroom in dBu if others want to use NAM/ToneX models at the same level, or if you want to use different plugins. I’m also not sure about his advice of using line inputs for guitar. With active pickups you might be ok but there will likely be noise and tonal problems for passive pickups due to an impedance mismatch (which is why the instrument input exists).
@marcohermans3207
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754, yesterday I had a conversation with a local audio engineer about this subject and later on Jason Sadites, the Tonex expert, helped me how to dial in my Motu M4 for his Tonex captures and how to dial in the pedal accordingly. It was the same procedure as in the video shown above. The only difference was that Jason uses a 0.775VAC (400hz sinewave with a certain level) signal which he sat up in his DAW with a tone generator and fed this from an output from his audio interface back into the input and he aimed for - 11db-12db on his DAW meter because that gives him room to work with different guitars. I did this procedure and get the exactly the same result as shown in the video. My local audio engineer does the same procedure with every interface he works with before even starting with plugins. His explaination was that every interface is different and that this method gives him consistent results when he is at different locations working with different gear. Jason on the other hand is really helpfull and has also a video about this in his channel from a few mounths ago. So I got curious and wanted to know what this meant for the Neural DSP toneking plugin I have and compared your method (interface at zero and raise the input gain at the plugin by 3.8 according your spreadsheet) with their method. I'm sorry I hear no difference. And my DAW is showing healthy results with plenty of headroom to work with. I don't have guitars with active pickups. I'm no expert. I emailed Amalgam Audio at which levels they capture their amps but I don't get a response yet....I have to say that i really respect your tremendous work on this subject and it will help a lot of people out there with their problems with plugins but there are several roads that lead to Rome.
@marcohermans3207
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754 , Karlis Cirulis from Amalgam Audio respond to my question about adjusting the audio interface input for Tonex . His answer : I can't give you specific trim or dB settings, however I recommend this - for any given guitar, load a clean capture and adjust the input so that it is clean up to the very strongest attack, where slight break-up occurs. This is where my cleans live. From there all the other gain ranges will sound as intended for that guitar. This works really well for myself, for my demo guys and many users. The paint by numbers approach does not always work anyway and there are too many variables." Resumee we have to use our ears....
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
@@marcohermans3207I tried going through it with him before but he found it too difficult. Using your ears goes without saying, I think having a good starting point/base line to go from is optimal and then fine tune from there. That way you’re using the model or capture right in its sweet spot and any tweaks will be in a comfortable area (rather than at extremes). But yeah, sounds good=is good is fine, but if you want the most accurate gain response, Karlis method is only as accurate as a guess.
@johnplaystheguitar123
9 ай бұрын
Legato plugato boi
@TheRezus35
9 ай бұрын
this is I believe the third video about how we should set the gain to zero? :)
@johnnathancordy
9 ай бұрын
Correct. Ed S has been trying to get the message out there for a long time, and I feel like it warrants some attention
@jessesammons2508
9 ай бұрын
U just wake up and make exquisite runs and then fade into the ether
@kaekayyy2554
9 ай бұрын
here before the bot
@GuitarsOK
9 ай бұрын
That’s an accomplishment! Ugh
@kaekayyy2554
9 ай бұрын
@@GuitarsOK you seem really mad about my comment 🤔
@GuitarsOK
9 ай бұрын
@@kaekayyy2554 oh no. Quite the opposite. Kudos to you for beating the bot! That’s not easy! Bots are ridiculous
@frankcrack777
9 ай бұрын
What about recording guitar with so small wave form? All mixing engineers want to have a big wave ...
@eds4754
9 ай бұрын
every DAW has a waveform zoom that allows you to make the waveforms appear as big or small as you like.
@frankcrack777
9 ай бұрын
@@eds4754 when you're recording you want the signal to be as strong as possible. if you set the gain on the interface to 0, the signal will be the weakest possible.
@DadRockAndGuitars
8 ай бұрын
I record a good healthy signal. So in the input knob on my interface is definitely not all the way down. To compensate, I sometimes lower the input on the actual plugin. This gives me more "headroom" on the "amp". Achieves the same thing, but I still get a good signal recorded.
@dekofschipper8412
7 ай бұрын
With a normally recorded guitar wav (i.e. a 'big wave'), an amp sim should sound correctly. After hours of youtube videos on why on earth this is not the case, I am still none the wiser.
@jessesammons2508
9 ай бұрын
Dude, do u sleep?
@philipmarsh3522
9 ай бұрын
He posted this at 3pm … do a lot of people sleep in the middle of the day? Guitarist thing?
@Dantespeako
9 ай бұрын
@@philipmarsh3522 3pm and he still didn't go to sleep since last video
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