Distortion problems...

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Hello fellas...

First of all I want y'all to know i'm a complete newbie when it comes to this, so I'm not even sure if i'm posting in the right forum...

Anyway...

I got myself a Boss GT-6 multieffect processor with some built-in preamps to be able to record on my PC. I've also bought an external USB soundcard (Edirol UA-25). When I try to record in Audacity (tried other recording software too without hearing any difference), my distortion effects, which use to sound really good on my amplifier, sounds really awful on the computer.

The acoustic sounds are pretty good-sounding, but as soon as i kick some distortion, the sound quality gets bad.

I've been recommended this site, since I heard there was some kind of freeware plug-in that perhaps could solve my problem, but I don't know what it's called or where to look for it...

My connection look like this:

Guitar -> Boss GT-6 -> Soundcard (edirol ua-25) -> PC via USB.

I've tried the EQ on the Boss GT-6, but that didn't help a lot.

Anyone who have a possible solution for my problems?


Cheers! :)
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In what way does it sound bad?

Considering it happens with the distortion unit I would check my input levels and make sure you are not clipping.

Tom
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It is most likely clipping being introduced when you turn on the distortion. Turn down your volumes and see if it is any better. If not, post again and let us know.
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No, turning down the volumes wont make any difference...

It's really difficult to describe sounds..but.. it sounds very "buzzy" and not that pure and "distinct" it sounds on the amp. I've uploaded a sample at http://www.skrapan.uppsala.se/04/ncsolb/w/sample.mp3 where you can here it yourselves.. First i play a little clean, and then i go for some distortion on teh gt-6.. and well, you can here the result...


Thanks.
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Are you using a tube amp? What type of cabinet do you use?
Generally, when going direct in the sound card with a distortion pedal, you are bypassing the very important stage of the cabinet, which acts like a (comb) filter and also has an effect on the linearity of the phase in the frequency domain.
Does your effect have a cabinet simulator? Turn it on. Else, use the software cabsims, of which some are available for free.
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What herror_one said. Use revolverb ( http://revolverb.hostrocket.com/ ) with some cab impulses (check this site http://www.noisevault.com/ )
If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain
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herror_one wrote:Are you using a tube amp? What type of cabinet do you use?
Generally, when going direct in the sound card with a distortion pedal, you are bypassing the very important stage of the cabinet, which acts like a (comb) filter and also has an effect on the linearity of the phase in the frequency domain.
Does your effect have a cabinet simulator? Turn it on. Else, use the software cabsims, of which some are available for free.
The effects processor have some built-in preamps, if that's what you mean?

God, i'm so lost... :?
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gsol wrote:
herror_one wrote:Are you using a tube amp? What type of cabinet do you use?
Generally, when going direct in the sound card with a distortion pedal, you are bypassing the very important stage of the cabinet, which acts like a (comb) filter and also has an effect on the linearity of the phase in the frequency domain.
Does your effect have a cabinet simulator? Turn it on. Else, use the software cabsims, of which some are available for free.
The effects processor have some built-in preamps, if that's what you mean?

God, i'm so lost... :?
Don't panic. Your problem must be the cabinet not the preamps. If you take the distorted signal of any amp or pre-amp or distortion pedal BEFORE the actual (or virtual) speaker it will surely sound unnatural (harsh sounding highs). You need a speaker simulator to act roughly as a low-pass filter. Check the manual of your pedal board to see if it has some speaker simulation or use some speaker simulator in your PC (Revolverb+cab sims as I suggested before, mda combo, Cortex amp sim etc.)
One other solution is to use just amp simulators in your PC and keep your Boss for live use.
In this http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94147 and this http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93352 thread you will find and hear some useful stuff
If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain
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herror_one wrote: Don't panic. Your problem must be the cabinet not the preamps. If you take the distorted signal of any amp or pre-amp or distortion pedal BEFORE the actual (or virtual) speaker it will surely sound unnatural (harsh sounding highs). You need a speaker simulator to act roughly as a low-pass filter. Check the manual of your pedal board to see if it has some speaker simulation or use some speaker simulator in your PC (Revolverb+cab sims as I suggested before, mda combo, Cortex amp sim etc.)
One other solution is to use just amp simulators in your PC and keep your Boss for live use.
In this http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94147 and this http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93352 thread you will find and hear some useful stuff
The GT-6 have something called "Effect Chain", where you simply choose in which order all the effects shall take place. If I got you right, I should place the Overdrive after the Preamp in the effect chain?

I will try that!
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No, the overdrive should be normally before the preamp. I Googled a bit and I saw that GT-6 HAS some speaker simulations. Make sure that you are using them when recording with your PC (check manual)
If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain
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Hi gsol, first thing to check is the Output Select setting on the GT-6. Make sure it's set to "LINE/PHONES" when you're connecting directly to your sound card. If you have this set wrong (e.g. set for connection to an amp) then it will sound very buzzy when connected directly to your soundcard. The GT-6 has speaker cabinet emulation so you shouldn't need any of the additional effects mentioned above to get a reasonable recorded sound out of it.
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msl wrote:Hi gsol, first thing to check is the Output Select setting on the GT-6. Make sure it's set to "LINE/PHONES" when you're connecting directly to your sound card. If you have this set wrong (e.g. set for connection to an amp) then it will sound very buzzy when connected directly to your soundcard. The GT-6 has speaker cabinet emulation so you shouldn't need any of the additional effects mentioned above to get a reasonable recorded sound out of it.
Tried that one too... :?

Thanks anyway
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That audio clip you posted looks to be clipped a little in the louder clean part. The distored waveform looks better but it sure sounds like something is clipping nastily somewhere along your recording chain!

Could be you need to re-tweak your tones for the line output as it will likely sound a bit different from the tones you get through your amp. Also might be worth checking the speaker setting on your GT-6 patches.

But that really sounded like some clipping going on to me. Not plugging the line out into a microphone input or something!?

Hope that helps...
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I don't have the Edirol unit but I ran into the same problem on my Tascam unit. I resolved the problem by adjusting the input level on the Tascam. Unless you have the output level on your clean and distorted patches matched you will have to change the input level on your soundcard when you change patches. I started to balance my patches (on a Digitec box) but found it was much easier to just adjust the input level when I changed patches.
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Unfortuneatly, this problem isn't as simple as just turning down the volume.. I've tried that in every possible way, but it makes no difference to the sound.

The preamp and speaker simulation is correctly turned ON.

And I've not plugged it into a microphone input..

Thanks anyway!
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