How to record fx pedals into Interface/DAW

MagicPigDetective

I'm new to recording and somewhat confused on this, sorry if it's blindingly obvious. With the exception of micing an amp, what methods are there for recording pedals with a DAW? Can you plug any pedal straight into an interface? Or would you need a specific pedal, for instance the Joyo JF-13 AC etc, which has a cab emulation? Or end the pedal train in some kind of DI or preamp unit? Do you need to take care what you plug into an interface, given the various power supplies and voltages etc with pedals?

My set up is Ipad - Itrack Solo - Garageband. My pedals are not getting much attention, it would be great to be able to use them on garageband, especially the Despatch Master, DOD Rubberneck and Source Audio Gemini.

andy_k

I just got a Mooer radar, to have a play with, and tried to match my amp tone, to my pedals through a PA at the last rehearsal. The idea is to use this as a B rig.
My amp is a Marshall code 50, loud, with a Plexi-Guvnor setting, I like it a lot.
My pedals are a Sansamp flyrig, MXR 5150 OD, and a TC HOF reverb, into the Radar--into the PA.
Without the Radar, the pedals sounded -as you'd expect a pedal into a PA to sound, awful, With the Radar, I got great results with the 5150 and HOF, very close match to my amp, I used an ABY pedal to flip back and forth.
My point is, you will need something like the Radar, which is an IR / power amp simulation, I wasn't sure if the pedals would be ok, as they are not strictly pre-amps, and the flyrig could get you to the end of a gig as an emergency measure, but takes a bit of fiddling to get the right sound.
The Radar is a bit like a swiss army knife, it has a lot of features for the price-about £100, so well worth it, my other experiments will be using it with my Valve heads at home to record into an interface, I already tried the pedals with it into Reaper, and used the ABY to get a simultaneous DI, with a distorted sound from my pedals--worked well too.
YMMV.
cheers
andy k

spark240

I dont use your setup, but on the face of it you can just use your normal FX chain straight into your DAW 

MagicPigDetective

spark240 said:

I dont use your setup, but on the face of it you can just use your normal FX chain straight into your DAW 

Your right, it works. For some reason I thought it might not. Doh. 

octatonic

You have to be careful with levels.

If your pedals don't output at line level then it will be pretty quiet and you will have to boost with a preamp which can add noise.aYou have to be careful with levels.

If your pedals don't output at line level then it will be pretty quiet and you will have to boost with a preamp which can add noise.

I use the Radial EXTC which allows me to use my pedals with the audio interface and other line level devices.

http://www.radialeng.com/product/extc

spark240

I have a Radial DI...not the cheapest but very good.,

Musicwolf

If you record direct from pedals then you will be missing two vital components of the sound - amplifier and cab.  Guitar cabs are very poor, in 'HiFi terms' but it is these shortcomings which contribute to the sound that we've come to love.  In particular guitar speakers / cabs are very little by way of top end so missing this element out your sound will be very bright and brittle.  An amp / cab plug in in your DAW will overcome this but you'll probably want to hear this whilst laying down the track and that means you will need a system with low latency.  Alternatively, you can use a pedal or pre-amp with a cab emulated output.

pintspiller

A Behringer GDI is affordable and would help

thermionic

The instrument level input on the ITrack should have plenty of gain to record from a pedal. I use the amps and cabs quite a bit in GarageBand, I think they have some pretty good sounds. No reason why you can't get a great recorded sound like this.

MagicPigDetective

Thanks all, interesting. A few ways to do it then; for now I’ll use the amps on garageband. @thermionic - which gband amps do you use? 

thermionic

I gravitate towards the Vox, but the Fenders and Marshalls are great as well. All the classic sounds are there.

Fretwired

I actually use a range of things. I've you are going to use an amp sim then I also recommend you use the Torpedo Wall of Sound. It works on a PC or a Mac and provides power amp, cab and mic emulation plus a series of add ons to create a great tone. The basis setup is free - all you have to do is buy two cabs which will cost you about $16. Amazing product.

It does power amp modelling - just choose your valves.

Download the demo and use it free for 14 days.

https://www.two-notes.com/wall-of-sound

It won't work on an iPad but then I don't think an iPad is that suitable for recording FX pedals. I just use mine to sketch ideas.