HELP! What is going on here? - Updated

[AndrewSimon]

OK help me understand what is going on here.
All my guitar recordings look like this:




You see how it always peaks on the bottom but not on the top.

I tried with two different guitars.
I tried with two different sound cards.
I tried with two different hosts.
I tried with two different DI boxes
(I always go into the the sound card via S/PDIF)

Always the same result.

So what is going on here?
Anybody knows?

I have a few ideas but haven't tested them.
1 Is it possible that this is normal behaviour for electric guitars?
2 I have a feeling this has to do with the distance between the pickups and the strings.

[rich_h]

Don't worry, it's not unusual. My bass guitar often looks similar (only upside down!)

The question is does it sound okay? If so, don't worry! You may also find if you zoom in the effect might look less pronounced

[Lunch Money]

Same happens over here. I was going to ask one day whassap with that (not that I thought it was broken, just that I was curious about why it is the case) but never got around to it.

Greg

[AndrewSimon]

It's good to know I am not the only one and I don't worry but I would like to understand it.
And if I can balance the damn thing somehow I could get more input gain without clipping, something that is always desirable.

[Lunch Money]

After careful thought and meditation, I've decided that it's because you're leaning to the right while playing. Sit straight, and the problem should go away.

[cbit]

my synthetic drum track looked lke that the other day. odd, and it doesnt seem to be a dc offset-fixable thing because the 'silent' parts are vertically centered.

[mandolarian]

DC offset? If you want to test your signal path (less the guitar) you could try the free Rightmark Audio Analyzer. Visit: http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml
Or if you have CoolEdit /Audition you can analyze the waveform with that.

[rich_h]

It's not a DC offset as the signal settles back to the middle line, with a DC offset it would (in this case) settle below the middle.

[AndrewSimon]

I wish it was DC offset, that can be fixed easily.

[mandolarian]

Ah. Rightly spotted. Ok, must be AC offset. Asymmetric clipping? What does it sound like? Can you post a snippet? Although you have tried 2 of everything, what is the one common element into the S/PDIF?
Maybe it's just nature's way of saying you have been playing too many 'up' tunes.

[haydxn]

that is odd!

as in any kind of recording situation though, if nothing else, to get more input gain without clipping you need some compression before it reaches the input converters. of course that's not saying that you NEED to, but that's obviously one thing you can do

[AndrewSimon]

After doing some Googling I found out that this is "normal" behavior for string instruments.
Some claim is harmonics, some claim it's the way strings vibrate when they interact with your pick or fingers.

I also have some new ideas.
If you look at the low E and the high E strings they are never centered arround the pickup pole.
Also I wonder what happens when you bend notes and the strings move off center with the pickup coils.
It shouldn't be hard to test I will just use one string and bend it the other way.

I any case I think I will find the answer soon but for now I am going to bed.

[AD80]

When I take a rendered stereo wav from Tracktion, and turn it into a mono file in Audition, a lot of times its offset like that. I dont know what it is. But it sounds fine.

[Toad]

It might also be worth looking into your cables and connectors in case there's a bit of leakage somewhere.

[zeoy]

I am not sure but this has to be related to the assymetry of the magnetic field that the pickups produce
(or something like that). Strings are free to vibrate in any direction but the magnetic field of the pickups (in wich they vibrate) is surely directional. Electric signs produced when string approaches the pickup should be stronger thus the assymetry. Just a guess