Amp demos recorded with cell phones are worse than useless

Techdeth said:
Hermansson makes it his sound amazing through a phone . So I guess says a lot about his amps . It still sounds amazing even that way
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Gjika also makes his amps sound great through his iPhone vids and Tiago had some great sounding Larry clips with his iPhone. The iPhone recordings seem to be fine at giving a broad overall picture of the sound, but not showing the details
 
braintheory said:
Gjika also makes his amps sound great through his iPhone vids and Tiago had some great sounding Larry clips with his iPhone. The iPhone recordings seem to be fine at giving a broad overall picture of the sound, but not showing the details
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It can definitely be a good reference point if you’re use to the phone
 
Maybe I’m odd, but I prefer phone clips a majority of the time. When you’re listening to a “proper” clip of mic on amp, there’s so many variables that are coloring what you’re hearing. The mic being used, the cables, the interface, the mic preamp, etc…along with occasional EQ, plug-ins and more. Not to mention the mic position and the talent of the player/engineer recording it. By the time it’s done, it’s hard to even tell what’s contributing to what you’re hearing.

Sure, an iPhone clip may have a terrible speaker and the quality is suspect at best, but most guys haven’t used a 57 and 421 with Mogami cables placed at exactly the same angles into a BAE 1073, double tracked using plugin XYZ to EQ it and etc. What they have done is made a million iPhone clips and know exactly how they sound vs in the room where you’ve really only got 2 variables - how loud you play and where the phone is sitting.

I like both, and both absolutely have a place, but if I have to choose just one, I’m probably taking the phone clip.
 
I belong to the, it really does give it a close idea to how it sounds in the room, camp. Sorry, not sorry. I don't think they're useless at all. If I'm standing on the other side of the room, in the same room as the amp...a cell phone recording is going to be closer to the sound I am perceiving standing in that room; much closer than the playback on a mic'd amp. That is of course, if you want to hear how it sounds in the room. If you are going for a mic'd amp sound, then mic your amp...

Simple as day.

If you record 10 different amps with a cell phone they will all sound different. I've done it. Inversely, if you mic and record 10 different amps, they will also sound different. So yes, the mic'd amp sound is what you want to put on a record, but a cell phone recording is far away from being useless.
 
What's out there mic wise for the android/ I phone that can be plugged into them to increase sound quality ,if you don't want to get into it deep with a daw but just staying in the cell phone realm? Any add on? Plug ins?
 
And really, recording guitars isn’t exactly rocket science nor do you need all sorts of expensive gear, any set of cheap monitors and mic/interface combo at sweetwater is moser than sufficient, stick the mic on the edge of the cap near the grill, record a left and a left and a right track and that’s basically it, you might have to tweak your eq settings slightly but I’m sure you guys can handle it
 
A decent IPhone clip can be more telling and honest about an amps core tone than a miced clip with all of the variables that come with it. Not as detailed and polished, but more honest. Blake and Vesmedic make killer clips, and can make most anything sound great, but imo Hermansson’s and Paul’s IPhone clips are more raw, transparent and honest. Of course they don’t sound better, but they can be very helpful for someone who’s amp shopping. Shea’s clips are a perfect example of this. His miced clips sound crushing, as do his amps, but his in the room clips sound much more like his amps actually sound in person.
 
Honestly they can be ok if you have earbuds in and not listen with the phones speaker . Still not great but buds help
 
NewWorldMan said:
Maybe I’m odd, but I prefer phone clips a majority of the time. When you’re listening to a “proper” clip of mic on amp, there’s so many variables that are coloring what you’re hearing. The mic being used, the cables, the interface, the mic preamp, etc…along with occasional EQ, plug-ins and more. Not to mention the mic position and the talent of the player/engineer recording it. By the time it’s done, it’s hard to even tell what’s contributing to what you’re hearing.

Sure, an iPhone clip may have a terrible speaker and the quality is suspect at best, but most guys haven’t used a 57 and 421 with Mogami cables placed at exactly the same angles into a BAE 1073, double tracked using plugin XYZ to EQ it and etc. What they have done is made a million iPhone clips and know exactly how they sound vs in the room where you’ve really only got 2 variables - how loud you play and where the phone is sitting.

I like both, and both absolutely have a place, but if I have to choose just one, I’m probably taking the phone clip.
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I agree, 100%...Plus, there are these YouTube channels for amp reviews where everything is done in such a "professional" way and it sounds great but every amp you hear sounds the same. You're just hearing their recording set up and skills.
 
Racerxrated said:
This. I've heard youtube demos sound like shit, with a pro mic etc etc. Yet, I've also heard cell clips sound really good and exactly what I've heard of the same amp, in person.
It just varies..of course I imagine you'd have a better chance of a great clip with a mic, interface etc.
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Agree 100%. There are some who gave posted countless clips with ‘pro’ gear and every amp - no matter the make or model - ends up sounding almost identical. May be a subconscious thing. But by the time that signal gets processed and compressed and eq’d with a dash of ‘grease’ before uploading, it is this homogenous, ubiquitous, ultra-tight, ultra-compressed, ultra scooped, chugga-chugga that sounds like every other amp ‘demo’ that person has uploaded.

I have also heard folks make a phone recording in the room of someone who: 1) knows how to dial in an amp; and 2) knows how to play (!) and it sounds glorious.

No argument - the ‘best’ sounding clips are someone who: 1) knows how to dial in an amp; 2) knows how to play (!); and 3) has some decent recording gear on hand.

The #1 thing with a phone recording is not to overload the mic with too much db. Pull back and let the cab move a little air through the room before it hits the mic.
 
I think phone clips can be fine. The op mentioned the main problem...phone placement/positioning. You really need to try several things and then listen, adjust, repeat, until it sounds representative of what's in the room. IMLE, the hardest part is getting the midrange right without too much bottom or fizz, usually too much bottom.

Recently I've made several clips with intention of posting here but they are always darker and more low-mid heavy than what I'm hearing so I record several, listen, then delete them all in frustration.
 
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I've never heard a phone clip that sounded great. What I have heard are phone clips of great amps that still sound reasonable despite the poor recording.
 
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