How do I get a better recording?

[Forty6and2]

I have my FM3 going direct into Reaper and the audio wave is pretty much flat. The top track is a backing track I downloaded and the bottom one is my FM3 signal. It makes my recording sound really fizzy and pretty bad. How do I make it have more dynamics like the top track? The FM3 track slider was all the way up, if that makes a difference? As you can see, I know pretty much nothing about recording haha.

 

[mr_fender]

It looks like your output level from the FM3 is really low. Quiet signals will look flatter than they really are because of the way the waveform display is scaled. What do your preset levels look like in the OUT1 block meter on the FM3? Try to get your average level while playing to hover roughly around the 0dB mark on that meter. That should give you a good strong output level that still has plenty of headroom for dynamic peaks. The Preset Leveling tool in AxeEdit and FM3 Edit works great for this. 0 dB on the OUT1 block meter corresponds to about -12 dBFS in reaper.

I'd suggest browsing YouTube for some video tutorials on the basics of recording and using Reaper. There's a ton of good info for beginners out there.

 

[Forty6and2]

It looks like your output level from the FM3 is really low. Quiet signals will look flatter than they really are because of the way the waveform display is scaled. What do your preset levels look like in the OUT1 block meter on the FM3? Try to get your average level while playing to hover roughly around the 0dB mark on that meter. That should give you a good strong output level that still has plenty of headroom for dynamic peaks. The Preset Leveling tool in AxeEdit and FM3 Edit works great for this. 0 dB on the OUT1 block meter corresponds to about -12 dBFS in reaper.

I'd suggest browsing YouTube for some video tutorials on the basics of recording and using Reaper. There's a ton of good info for beginners out there.

Hi, thanks!
Should I also be using ASIO in my Reaper Device Audio system Settings? I found you earlier post from Oct where you posted a screenshot of your Reaper Settings, but that was for AxeFxIII. Is it the same settings for FM3?

I also noticed that I can't listen back to ASIO recorded tracks if the FM3 is no longer connected. Says ASIO needs device to play the recording, is that correct?

 

[Forty6and2]

I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but I think I might have Direct Monitoring enabled on Reaper. I've always thought the recorded tone sounded a bit off from what I was hearing from my monitors.

 

[mr_fender]

Yes, use the ASIO drivers. The settings should be pretty similar except the Axe III has more input and outputs available. The FM3 only has 4 in and 4 out. Both are fixed at 48 kHz, 24 bit.

If you select the FM3 as the audio device for Reaper, it will need to be connected for both recording and playback.

You'll want to turn off input monitoring when recording from the FM3 so you don't hear the doubled signal and get weird phase issues. It's the little speaker icon in the track panel. Click it until it's just an empty outline.