Tube inst. preamp in front of XL+?

[B:ASSMASTER]

I'll admit I'm confused by that. If your guitar into the Axe gives you a good result, the same level reamped into the same preset will give you the same result.

If you just want more level into the Amp block, there's always Input Trim.

Technically, yes you can do that and not add any extra dB's. However, when reamping you want the best signal to noise ratio. Which means that you'll need to turn up the input gain on your audio interface when tracking a DI. It's all about SNR. You want the DI to be as hot as it can without clipping your converters in the audio interface.

 

[parlopower]

Tried a Universal Audio 2-610 preamp in front and after the Axe. Both sounded great. I also compared DI recordings through the UA with DI recordings from the Axe, reamping them with the Axe with the same patch, and the UA DI tracks added a bit of sparkle and warmth over what the Axe did that was very pleasant.

Well, who would have reckoned that a $2000 preamp adds something nice to the input circuit...?

 

[Rex]

Technically, yes you can do that and not add any extra dB's. However, when reamping you want the best signal to noise ratio. Which means that you'll need to turn up the input gain on your audio interface when tracking a DI. It's all about SNR. You want the DI to be as hot as it can without clipping your converters in the audio interface.

That's why I prefer digital reamping. Straight into the Axe with the same SNR that your guitar put out in the first place. You can't improve on that no matter how hot you make your signal.

 

[touch33]

It would appear that “The Quest For The Final dB” is alive and well here at the FAS Forum. How refreshing.

I’m starting to feel right at home.

 

[B:ASSMASTER]

That's why I prefer digital reamping. Straight into the Axe with the same SNR that your guitar put out in the first place. You can't improve on that no matter how hot you make your signal.

No. You're not understanding how this works. Just Google "how to reamp" or "what dB should my DI be?" I don't feel like explaining it anymore when there's plenty of resources out there for you. If you still want to disagree and do it another way, that's fine. I'm not going to argue about it.

 

[Rex]

No. You're not understanding how this works. Just Google "how to reamp" or "what dB should my DI be?" I don't feel like explaining it anymore when there's plenty of resources out there for you.

I just did that. Most of the hits were posts in various forums about optimizing levels in your DAW for best SNR. More than half of the the hits were people regurgitating what they'd read in other forums about recording levels. Many of them demonstrated only partial understanding of what they'd read. Most of them didn't realize that the limiting factor with a DI is the SNR of the guitar itself, which is much lower than what you get from modern digital recording, even at low levels. When you raise the level of that DI signal, you're also raising the level of the self-noise of the guitar. Nothing gained.

 

[touch33]

Took the words right outta Old SoundMan’s mouth: hard to see ANY electric guitar as anything but an “antenna with strings” - most certainly the noisiest variable of this particular equation. I have a story - painfully funny and, thankfully, too long for this venue - about what great antennae they truly are.

 

[Rex]

... hard to see ANY electric guitar as anything but an “antenna with strings” - most certainly the noisiest variable of this particular equation.

"Antenna with strings"...love it.

 

[touch33]

OK - The Story must be told, I’ve got a keyboard in front of me and I’m not afraid to use it:

******************************
So we're in the studio tracking guitars one night, everyone’s in the Control Room with the Marshall 4x12 speaker cab in the Iso Booth. Steve puts on his Strat, plugs it in and we hear this faint "tick-tick-TICK!" sound. Wha? A "tick" every second with the third one being noticeably louder, then two seconds of silence. "tick-tick-TICK!" "tick-tick-TICK!" "tick-tick-TICK!" "tick-tick-TICK!" and it keeps repeating and repeating and...

I ask Steve to try facing in a different direction and (just like always with a Strat) the noise gets louder/softer with his compass heading (so I know it’s some kind of RF) but the "tick-tick-TICK!" is still there nevertheless. Time's a wasting, so “oh, screw it…” I cue the tape and hit RECORD – even though I can plainly hear "tick-tick-TICK!" about 30dB down. We rewind and listen back to the first take: nope, the damn "tick-tick-TICK!" is going to be A Problem – even at it's lowest level and even with the rest of the tracks in the mix. Jon thinks I’m being “too picky again”, but he’s a bass player and partially deaf in his left ear so I ignore him and tell Steve “it’s time to do some keyboards”. Thankfully, there’s no "tick-tick-TICK!" coming from the MIDI system and we track keys into the Wee Hours.

Next afternoon, it’s my Alone Time in the studio so I start chasing the "tick-tick-TICK!". I built the studio myself and the entire place is wired with Mogami/Canare that I did myself, and I know how to create a solid grounding scheme and I know how to solder and I know how to lift the shields at one end, etc., so once again I grab Steve’s Strat and plug it in – exact same signal chain, no changes from last night – except there’s no "tick-tick-TICK!"

crap.

“Well, OK – I guess that solves that!” I tell myself, although I know full-well that something like that going away by itself isn't really A Good Thing b/c it hasn't been officially solved, has it? Anyway, later that night everyone's back to cut yesterday’s guitar tracks, Steve straps on and plugs in the Strat and then "tick-tick-TICK!" DAMMIT! I send everyone out to the patio so I can spend the next 20 minutes going around the studio wearing the Strat myself and using it as (yep) “an antenna with strings” to figure out where the "tick tick TICK!" is coming from. It gets a little louder near the iso booth, but what could possibly be making such a defined "tick-tick-TICK!" sound every five seconds? Some kind of military radar sweeping past us every 5 seconds? As if – a radar that sweeps non-linearly? The alarm system malfunctioning? Conceptually, I have nothing to wrap my brain around.

Next night is Friday Gig Night for the band, so this time I grab a Tele and of course it’s "tick-tick-TICK!" "tick-tick-TICK!" "tick-tick-TICK!”. As before, it’s the loudest by the Iso Booth (East side of the building) and after just about killing myself tripping over the guitar cable for the sixth time I have the genius idea of grabbing the battery-powered Rockman and a set of cans, thus creating a Portable Antenna with Strings.

No doubt about it, the "tick-tick-TICK!" is absolutely the loudest on the East side of the studio, so I head outside (still wearing the Portable). As I walk out the front door I notice that the "tick-tick-TICK!" is clearly louder, and as I walk towards the East side of the building it’s louder still – but I have no clue as to where it’s coming from.

So I start walking down the street heading East, and sure as Hell the "tick-tick-TICK!" is getting louder and louder the further East I walk. As I get closer and closer to the East end of the street – and closer and closer to the main N/S thoroughfare (Shepherd Dr.) – the "tick-tick-TICK!" gets even LOUDER AND LOUDER while the stares I’m getting from people driving by seem to get weirder and weirder.

I finally dead-end into Shepherd and take a look to my left – and there I see it. Next to the car detailing place there’s one of those portable signs, about four feet high by six feet long on a small trailer bed, with a horizontal arrow on top. Imbedded into the arrow are five 100W light bulbs, and as I listen to the "tick-tick-TICK!" I can see that the lightbulbs are lighting one at a time in perfect sync to the "tick-tick-TICK!" – with the loudest “TICK!” at the end being the result of three lights flashing ON at the same time! EUREKA, I HAVE FOUND IT! I walk up to The Sign and pry the flashing arrow’s cover open just enough to peek inside and… lo and behold, there’s a motor-driven cam activating three 120VAC leaf switches that each arc like a motherfu… that arc strongly enough to kick out a seriously righteous broadband RF spike.

I quickly head back to the studio, take off the Strat et al, pick up a pair of cutters and dash back to “fix” the sign so that the arrow lamps remain lit 100% of the time – then back to the studio to cut Strat tracks all night long WITHOUT the "tick-tick-TICK!”.

TA-DAAA!

 

[Rex]

LOL

I'm just imagining what you must have looked like sweeping the streets with your guitar. The only thing missing was sunglasses and a dark suit.

 

[Synchronicity]

I hate EMI/RFI with a passion haha.... if I am moving my mouse or clicking on stuff on my computer with my Strat nearby I can hear all different sorts of crazy computer sounds, different pitches for different actions (moving the mouse makes a different sound to clicking etc...).

I can only imagine what all this constant exposure to these frequencies is doing to the human body, in this ever increasingly electronic world.

And to think nutters like Elon Musk want to shower the entire globe in WIFI internet signals from satellites in orbit.... definitely dodgy and not as altruistic as he portrays himself.

 

[Rex]

I can only imagine what all this constant exposure to these frequencies is doing to the human body, in this ever increasingly electronic world.

And to think nutters like Elon Musk want to shower the entire globe in WIFI internet signals from satellites in orbit.... definitely dodgy and not as altruistic as he portrays himself.

We're already in a constant wash of radio-frequency energy from broadcasts from around the world. And before that started, we've been awash in radio signals from the sun and elsewhere for billions of years. The time to worry about that was when the universe began.

 

[is9582]

OK - The Story must be told, I’ve got a keyboard in front of me and I’m not afraid to use it: ......I quickly head back to the studio, take off the Strat et al, pick up a pair of cutters and dash back to “fix” the sign so that the arrow lamps remain lit 100% of the time – then back to the studio to cut Strat tracks all night long WITHOUT the "tick-tick-TICK!”.

TA-DAAA!

Hahaha, what a great story! Sure glad you shared it. I can just imagine the looks you must have gotten.
Cheers,

Lee

 

[mr_fender]

We're already in a constant wash of radio-frequency energy from broadcasts from around the world. And before that started, we've been awash in radio signals from the sun and elsewhere for billions of years. The time to worry about that was when the universe began.

+1. Radio frequency energy (along with many other forms of natural radiation) has always been here. The only major difference now is some of it is organized into usable signals instead of just random noise. The amount of radiation (heat, radio, light, x-ray, gamma, etc.) that pours out of our sun alone every second is unimaginable.

 

[Synchronicity]

Difference is we have grown up and developed over hundreds of thousands years + with those types of radiation and cosmic energies, whereas wifi/radiowaves/microwaves etc... are a new and more focused occurrence... there are many studies showing abnormal and stunted plant growth in proximity of WIFI routers, or near radio masts/towers, mobile phone masts etc...

The same applies to plants shielded from natural radiation (via Faraday cage), showing there is an intricate balance that shouldn't be messed with, high rates of cancers and infertility in the modern age I believe can be partly attributed to these frequencies, a long with all the harmful chemical additives in junk foods, medications, toiletry products/shampoo etc...

 

[Rex]

Difference is we have grown up and developed over hundreds of thousands years + with those types of radiation and cosmic energies, whereas wifi/radiowaves/microwaves etc... are a new and more focused occurrence...

What is "focused" radio energy?

...there are many studies showing abnormal and stunted plant growth in proximity of WIFI routers, or near radio masts/towers, mobile phone masts etc...

Most of these "studies" are repetitions of an old story about an experiment conducted by ninth-grade schoolgirls. The results of that experiment have never been successfully replicated by actual scientists.

The lack of an apparent biophysical mechanism of interaction and the generally negative results of other studies using RF exposures at similar levels as Wi-Fi (Jauchem 2008; Habash et al. 2009; Vecchia et al. 2009; IARC 2011) provide no basis to anticipate that Wi-Fi exposure will cause any biological effects. The overwhelming consensus of health agencies around the world is that RF exposures below international (ICNIRP or IEEE) exposure limits have not been shown to produce any health hazard (Verschaeve 2012).

There is a vocal community of alarmists who spread the word about all kinds of hidden dangers that humans are perpetuating on themselves. That community would better serve people by concentrating on those issues that are supported by evidence that holds up to scrutiny, instead of evidence that simply makes a good story.

 

[touch33]

Well, yeah... but where’s the fun in that?!?

 

[B:ASSMASTER]

 

[Synchronicity]

What is "focused" radio energy?



Most of these "studies" are repetitions of an old story about an experiment conducted by ninth-grade schoolgirls. The results of that experiment have never been successfully replicated by actual scientists.




There is a vocal community of alarmists who spread the word about all kinds of hidden dangers that humans are perpetuating on themselves. That community would better serve people by concentrating on those issues that are supported by evidence that holds up to scrutiny, instead of evidence that simply makes a good story.

I prefer common sense and independent research, to the status quo opinion with trillions of dollars of invested interests and infrastructure, as well as motives that do not have any concern for the health of the common people.

This guy has done some interesting low-tech experiments himself -

By "focused" radio waves I mean a much narrower frequency spectrum that is more concentrated than the wide myriad of frequencies we are naturally surrounded by (and the main issue, we have grown up with these natural forms of radiation, not the modern man-made ones).


P.S - I love how the quote you take even makes it clear it wasn't even using actual wifi signal - "using RF exposures at similar levels as Wi-Fi (Jauchem 2008; Habash et al. 2009; Vecchia et al. 2009; IARC 2011) provide no basis to anticipate that Wi-Fi exposure will cause any biological effects."

"provide no basis to anticipate that"... Hahaha typical arrogant and/or corrupt Western scientism attitude. Show me a long term independent study of people living with close proximity to strong WI-FI signals and those not exposed and I will take it seriously.

 

[touch33]

lots of interesting judgements here - mine is that this all represents a classic case of “thread hijacking”...