Recording Setup Advice (AxeFX III, Superior Drums, Studio One)

CradleInFlames

CradleInFlames

Member
Hello everyone!

So, I've been using Studio One to record guitars but haven't messed around with drums much. I recently purchased Superior Drums 3 and decided to try and put the pieces together. Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a snag when setting it up. I'm currently trying to figure out how to be able to record guitars while still hearing the recorded tracking in Studio One 4.

When I use Studio One, I have my AxeFX set as my audio device. The scene I'm using has the guitar into Input 1, the output to output 1 of the AxeFX (which I have a studio monitor output on. Nothing particularly special). The problem I'm having is I don't know how to hear the output of Studio One with this setup. If I change the audio device from the AxeFX to Windows Audio, I can now hear the Studio One tracks (including my recorded guitar tracks and the audio from Superior Drummer), but then I don't have a means of recording the guitar . . .

I'm having trouble figuring out how to record guitars via the AxeFX AND be able to hear the other recorded tracks at the same time. I'm not sure if I need to hook the speakers up a certain way (ie, have a monitor speaker coming out of Out 3 instead of Out 1, which I've tried but didn't have any luck with), if I need to change a setting on the AxeFX, etc. When I used Adobe Audition back in the day, I was able to set the input device separate from the output device, but I don't think that's a possibility in Studio One.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm still very new to recording and I think I have a fundamental understanding issue with the setup. Any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help!

-Jay
 
You don't say anything about how you have it configured, so it's hard to say what the problem is. For example, are you using a usb cable to connect the AxeFX to your computer?

If so, send your DAW output to USB channels 1/2. There is an I/O option to route that to output 2 on the AxeFX, but assuming it's at the default, that will go to output 1. If you're hearing guitar, but not the DAW playback from output 1, check the USB input level in the AxeFX I/O pages to make sure the USB level is turned up.

Again, using defaults, the output 1 block will come into the DAW on USB channels 1/2. The unprocessed DI will be on 5/6. The USB section of the manual shows the details on this, so I would suggest becoming familiar with that.
 
Last edited:
I don't use Axe-FX as my only audio device. I have a PreSonus StudioLive 16R for my main audio interface (for StudioLive) and have my Axe-FX connected via USB to the Macbook Pro (Studiolive) and also Out1 to the 16R inputs (stereo)...This setup allows me to connect up to 16 tracks for recording an entire band, using a single rackspace mixer (the 16R). PreSonus rocks!
 
GlennO said:
If so, send your DAW output to USB channels 1/2. There is an I/O option to route that to output 2 on the AxeFX, but assuming it's at the default, that will go to output 1. If you're hearing guitar, but not the DAW playback from output 1, check the USB input level in the AxeFX I/O pages to make sure the USB level is turned up.
Click to expand...

Apologies for the lack of detail, I'm still unsure of exactly what information is relevant so I left out some key details. It is connected to the PC via USB though and everything was what was set as default.

You nailed the cause though, the USB volume was set to -40dB so there was essentially no volume being sent to the USB, thanks for that! I now have it all up and running with both guitar and recording tracks going to the speaker on output 1!

One thing I'm trying to do is have my guitar go out a separate speaker/output than the recordings so I can keep the studio recordings on one speaker and the guitar output on another. I can add output 3 to my patch and get the guitar in both output 1 and output 3, but if I remove output 1, obviously the guitar is no longer going to the DAW (which makes sense).

Is there a way to separate output speaker volume for a channel from USB signal level? Is there a way to set it up the way I described? Is it even advisable to do what I'm describing or do other people take a different approach (obviously, I can always mute the guitar in the speaker tracks and listen to the guitar itself through the AxeFX when recording).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your help, everyone!
 
GlennO said:
Sure, just go to Setup->I/O->Audio and change USB Output mapping for 1/2 to OUT2. That puts the guitar on output 1 and the computer audio on output 2.

You might ask, "Wouldn't this be simpler if there was an I/O matrix?" and you'd be right :).
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/i-o-routing-matrix.162651/
Click to expand...

Ah, gotcha, that makes sense. But in my case, I can't really make that work with 1 and 3 because they're on different buses. I guess the obvious solution is I need to buy an XLR cable or two, then I can use output 2 (I'm going in through 1/4" speaker cables, which is probably less than ideal). Is there a difference in sound between XLR and 1/4" speaker? I assume there is since most people use XLR over 1/4".

Thanks for the explanation!

Also, I love the grid idea! There's actually a pretty solid grid in Studio One that seems easy to follow but you pretty much bridged the knowledge gap for me about the channels being sent it pairs.

Thanks for your help!
 
I use my presonus when working in SD, export the files, import them into Cubase, if I'm recording the AxeFX then I will use it as the interface but even so monitoring it independently reduces latency
 
CradleInFlames said:
Ah, gotcha, that makes sense. But in my case, I can't really make that work with 1 and 3 because they're on different buses. I guess the obvious solution is I need to buy an XLR cable or two, then I can use output 2 (I'm going in through 1/4" speaker cables, which is probably less than ideal). Is there a difference in sound between XLR and 1/4" speaker? I assume there is since most people use XLR over 1/4".
Click to expand...

XLR balanced is generally better, especially for long runs, but it may not make much of a difference in a small studio. In any case, yes, all you need is an XLR cable to make this work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom