Laptop recording problems

[mybreathyourlung]

Okay, so basically:

I don't have much technical knowledge, but I'm learning a bit by this venture into the "engineering" aspects of recording. My goal here is recording distorted guitar. Alot of crunch to the sound, and a good bit of distortion but obviously a sharp, clean sound, not muddy or too low-end.

I'm recording with my farily new Dell laptop using Sony Acid. The sound from the amp is great, just what I'm looking for. The sound coming out of the eq/mixer is great as well. But once I record to my laptop via it's generic mic input from the main line out from the eq/mixer, the sound I get recorded is very fuzzy, flat and just bad sounding. (mind you I only have this problem with distorted guitar, not horns or strings or drums).

Now, I read elsewhere on here that basic soundcards for/in laptops are generally all the same (whether stock, or made specifically for recording), built to take in sound from pretty much a wide variety of sources. Is this true (doesn't seem right)? If so, what could I possibly do to get a better sound into the laptop? If not, what would be a product I could buy to change this?

I've thought of just purchasing a digital 8-track (i'm not a stickler for the whole analong vs. digital discussion) to do away with using my pc's soundcard (or the pc in general), but if there is a resonably priced thing-a-majig out there that can fix my problem, I think I'd like that better as I enjoy this whole interface currently. Thanks alot for your help, I would love to solve this problem soon!

[brandondrury]

Well, I happen to think that PC recording is the way to go if you are serious about tones when budget is an issue.

Here's an article on that subject.

Why Recording Computers Blow Away Standalone Units

I would not try recording with the 1/8" input of a laptop soundcard. I'm of the opinion that just about any 24 bit soundcard made for recording is going to sound pretty good. However, the stock soundcards are almost NEVER suitable for real recording where you are actually concerned about tones.

I'm not sure of your specific needs, but here are a few gear suggestions.

Home Recording Gear Help For Songwriters


Okay, now onto guitar recording.
What mic are you using? If you LOVE the sound of the amp, the mic is not going to lie to you. You may only think you like the sound of the amp. Then again, you may be right on! I've learned that you can get away with just about any tone when playing live or whatever but tones that seam pretty good live usually end up being too fizzy or muddy in the studio.

My guitar tracks have improved immensely in the past 6 months. The secret? Isolating the cabinet so I can listen to exactly what is going down to tape/disk. I tweak the amp like crazy until I get what I want. I'd say that 90% of the tone comes from how you set the amps tone controls.

You should post an mp3. I'd love to hear it. Then I can make specific suggestions.

Brandon

[mybreathyourlung]

I figured that my pc's soundcard wasn't fit for recording but I had no idea what my alternatives would be, there's so much out there and I would hate to buy equipment I don't need for my purposes. The suggestions in that second link will help alot.

I'm using two Shure 57's and a Behringer Eurorack UB802 Mixer. I believe the Behringer has phantom power (essentially a pre-amp? but without the "character" I guess?) but it doesn't seem to work well, or make a difference that I've noticed, but I think I'll double check.

I've been placing one mic touching the amp's grill at a 45 degree angle, about halfway through the speakers radius (15" speaker) and other facing head-on center of the open back (would phasing be a problem? maybe I should try a single mic and work the sound out from there, I can always overdub to get a thicker sound).

(I have also read that sometimes you'll want to turn your gain/distortion down further than you normally have it so that it will record better, but I've also read to crank the amp and get it to a point where the cab begins to really vibrate in order to get the amps true sound. These seem to be two very different view points, so is there a middle ground?)

I've isolated the amp and I recieve great tone coming through the headphones/mixer, but the recorded sound is immensely different than what I hear when listening through the mixer. It's as if the computer is magically turning my presence all the way up and turning the middle down. It's awful.

As you suggested, the majority of the problem probably is that I'm using my pc's stock soundcard and microphones without a preamp. I'll get an mp3 up soon so you can hear what I'm working with.

Anyway, sorry for the long windedness but I find this whole process very fascinating and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks!

[brandondrury]

I believe the Behringer has phantom power (essentially a pre-amp? but without the "character" I guess?) but it doesn't seem to work well, or make a difference that I've noticed, but I think I'll double check.

I'm not sure what you mean here. Could you reiterate?

would phasing be a problem?

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

This means you didn't check phase. Hopefully after this ass chewing (in a fun/helpful way) you will NEVER forget to check phase again!!!

Without a doubt, the single biggest lesson I learned at the Michael Wagener workshop was not what phase is. I had learned about phase while taking electronics in college. The concepts translated over to music recording fairly easily. What I did learn at the workshop was just how important phase is when using multiple mics, on a guitar cab, for example. NOT CHECKING PHASE BETWEEN MULTIPLE MICS ON THE SAME SOURCE IS THE AUDIO ENGINEERING EQUIVALENT OF TESTING THE SHARPNESS OF YOU KITCHEN KNIVES WITH YOUR WEINER!!

Well, I don't know how the two correlate one bit, but if you can associate "not checking phase" with "cutting your dick off" you will be a much better engineer!!!

I'm about 99.9% sure that your problems are with phasing.

This will help:
Electric Guitar Recording: 2 Mics On A Guitar Amp? #2

(I have also read that sometimes you'll want to turn your gain/distortion down further than you normally have it so that it will record better, but I've also read to crank the amp and get it to a point where the cab begins to really vibrate in order to get the amps true sound. These seem to be two very different view points, so is there a middle ground?)

Electric Guitar Recording: How Much Distortion? Volume?

Brandon

[mybreathyourlung]

Well I'm glad to say I think the majority of my problems are fixed. My problem (dumb enough) was that my soundcards input was jacked all the way up, therefore causing the distortion and I totally forgot to even check this.

But phasing was still a problem, but I'm trying the single mic approach and overdubbing another track with different mic placement. Thanks alot for your help and all the articles, it's great information!

[brandondrury]

AH HA!!

The world's most disgusting criminal since Adolph Hitler!!!!!