Recording DI with overdrive: How to sound good? and recommend a microphone.

stylesforfree

So, I have Reaper running Amplitube 5 as a plug-in and I am using a RME fireface UFX II with my guitar running into an instrument input.
My guitar sounds decent when recording clean but as soon as I run any overdrive and add significant gain it sounds terrible, 

I was wondering if anyone can give me any pointers on what level to set at each stage of the chain.

Currently have my insrument input set to around 25dB with the input on reaper set to unity gain.

Is it just the nature of playing into a digital amp emulation using overdrive pedals? Will it never sound anywhere near as good as when I use my real amps?


Also, If anyone could recommend a microphone for recording a 20 watt amp for crunchy/fuzzy garage/hard rock sounds then that would be awesome.

Microphone budget: upto £250-£300

Winny_Pooh

Pedals in front of the interface are tricky and wont resct like your amp. You can add distortion but not gain as you don't want to clip the interface inputs. Try setting the pedal volume levels low but if you're already doing that then you're better off with a modeller or just use amplitube for everything.

Mic:
Audix i5

If you want to dual mic the amp:
Audix i5
& 
Se Voodoo/Senn md421

digitalkettle

Are you sure you’re not clipping the instrument input? Ideally, you’d be peaking around -10dB. If you change the level going in, e.g. turning a pedal on, you might have to adjust the interface’s input gain.

 Also, are you sure that you’ve got an amp and speaker emulation engaged? You can get away with clean tones but dirt is immediately harsh without amp/speaker.

stylesforfree

Winny_Pooh said:

Pedals in front of the interface are tricky and wont resct like your amp. You can add distortion but not gain as you don't want to clip the interface inputs. Try setting the pedal volume levels low but if you're already doing that then you're better off with a modeller or just use amplitube for everything.

Mic:
Audix i5

If you want to dual mic the amp:
Audix i5
& 
Se Voodoo/Shinybox mxl/Senn md421

Thank you! the md421 has some tasty specs for sure. Im guessing the audix beats the sm57 in most workhorse-type applications and is more forgiving in terms of placement...

PolarityMan

digitalkettle said:

Are you sure you’re not clipping the instrument input? Ideally, you’d be peaking around -10dB. If you change the level going in, e.g. turning a pedal on, you might have to adjust the interface’s input gain.

 Also, are you sure that you’ve got an amp and speaker emulation engaged? You can get away with clean tones but dirt is immediately harsh without amp/speaker.

I bet this is the problem. Tbh its very rare that I need to have the interface gain on anything other than zero when tracking guitar.

digitalkettle

Also, reverting back to mic'ing an amp seems like a backward step for today's home recordist.

I just got my best plugin yet for around a fifth of the OP's mic budget.

stylesforfree

digitalkettle said:

Also, reverting back to mic'ing an amp seems like a backward step for today's home recordist.

I just got my best plugin yet for around a fifth of the OP's mic budget.

There's some great plugins for sure, I sometimes use the neural dsp Cory Wong but it doesn't compare to my amps.

Also I won't be doing the recording at home.

What plugin are you using?

digitalkettle

stylesforfree said:

digitalkettle said:

Also, reverting back to mic'ing an amp seems like a backward step for today's home recordist.

I just got my best plugin yet for around a fifth of the OP's mic budget.

There's some great plugins for sure, I sometimes use the neural dsp Cory Wong but it doesn't compare to my amps.

Also I won't be doing the recording at home.

What plugin are you using?

I got the Tone King Imperial with Neural's recent 50% offer

Sometimes I use a plugin, sometimes I use pedals into a Simplifier.

stylesforfree

digitalkettle said:

stylesforfree said:

digitalkettle said:

Also, reverting back to mic'ing an amp seems like a backward step for today's home recordist.

I just got my best plugin yet for around a fifth of the OP's mic budget.

There's some great plugins for sure, I sometimes use the neural dsp Cory Wong but it doesn't compare to my amps.

Also I won't be doing the recording at home.

What plugin are you using?

I got the Tone King Imperial with Neural's recent 50% offer

Sometimes I use a plugin, sometimes I use pedals into a Simplifier.

Ah, I have that a trial and it does sound incredible, I missed out on the 50% off it seems. Gutted

digitalkettle

stylesforfree said:

digitalkettle said:

stylesforfree said:

digitalkettle said:

Also, reverting back to mic'ing an amp seems like a backward step for today's home recordist.

I just got my best plugin yet for around a fifth of the OP's mic budget.

There's some great plugins for sure, I sometimes use the neural dsp Cory Wong but it doesn't compare to my amps.

Also I won't be doing the recording at home.

What plugin are you using?

I got the Tone King Imperial with Neural's recent 50% offer

Sometimes I use a plugin, sometimes I use pedals into a Simplifier.

Ah, I have that a trial and it does sound incredible, I missed out on the 50% off it seems. Gutted

I guess 'Black Friday' might be the next offer ;-/

victorludorum

Why don't you use the drive on the amp models? Is it the free version of Amplitube that you have?

stylesforfree

victorludorum said:

Why don't you use the drive on the amp models? Is it the free version of Amplitube that you have?

No, I have the full version and a full version of the neural dsp Cory Wong. I guess that's my only option when recording D.I.

victorludorum

Spend some time playing with the included pedals and i'm sure you'll find something you like. 

digitalkettle

stylesforfree said:

victorludorum said:

Why don't you use the drive on the amp models? Is it the free version of Amplitube that you have?

No, I have the full version and a full version of the neural dsp Cory Wong. I guess that's my only option when recording D.I.

Should totally be possible to have a hybrid DI setup: real pedals & plugins…just a matter of gain staging.

pintspiller

I never really got on with the sim thing. What I ended up doing was getting a used Two Notes Torpedo Capture. It was a 16 ohm model and half the price of a new one.

You plug one end into the speaker out and the other into your interface. The VST in your DAW will replace your cabinet and you'll be surprised how different your guitar will sound!

I prefer it that way.