Bardagh
Well-known member
I’m listening on headphones and it is pretty hard to tell, and it shouldn’t be.
Frustration and no meaningful answers
- Thread starter WhiteShadow
- Start date
It is a combo amp with a single speaker in a small enclosure. It will never sound as big as a 4x12 unless you know what you’re doing.
Snave
Well-known member
This. DSLs are fine amps but there are certainly better options, and 95% of records that we listen to are recorded with roaring 4x12 cabs. Your clip sounds like a 1x12 combo.
BigGuitars
Active member
Its nnot about sounding “big”. The point is, It should sound normal/good/acceptable. But it doesn’t. You should be able to record a perfectly fine and acceptable guitar track with it, but I can’t
Snave
Well-known member
Post a screenshot of your DAW render settings so we can see why you're exporting mono tracks. Getting them in stereo will make a huge difference.
BigGuitars
Active member
Also, I signed up for that URM academy and that site is unusable. There isn’t actually any actual content on it. It’s all just like scheduled live lessons or something. Very unorganized and random. I thought it would be an actual step-by-step course.
Bardagh
Well-known member
You can get a good sound out of a DSL combo, but they don’t all have a good speaker. The sound you’re looking for is going to be most likely found with a vintage 30.
You’ll have to boost the amp if you don’t already, probably best bet being a BOSS SD-1 or an MXR Custom Badass Overdrive (like an SD-1 with more options). I had a modern DSL for a little bit and found that the highest gain mode was unusable but both the clean/crunch and first high gain had some good sounds. However like a lot of Marshalls it gets woolly and muddy sounding just turning the gain up. Boosting with an OD pedal will get more saturation with less mud, and also clean up fizziness up top.
Mic placement wise if using a vintage 30, somewhere at the edge of the dust cap is pretty much always where you’ll find the sweet spot.
You have to make sure your different guitar tracks are panned fully left and right and that you aren’t using any mono effects plugins on any of your stereo tracks or busses. There are especially a lot of older plugins that will have a mono and stereo version, and the mono version will convert a stereo track to a mono output.
You’ll have to boost the amp if you don’t already, probably best bet being a BOSS SD-1 or an MXR Custom Badass Overdrive (like an SD-1 with more options). I had a modern DSL for a little bit and found that the highest gain mode was unusable but both the clean/crunch and first high gain had some good sounds. However like a lot of Marshalls it gets woolly and muddy sounding just turning the gain up. Boosting with an OD pedal will get more saturation with less mud, and also clean up fizziness up top.
Mic placement wise if using a vintage 30, somewhere at the edge of the dust cap is pretty much always where you’ll find the sweet spot.
You have to make sure your different guitar tracks are panned fully left and right and that you aren’t using any mono effects plugins on any of your stereo tracks or busses. There are especially a lot of older plugins that will have a mono and stereo version, and the mono version will convert a stereo track to a mono output.
WhiteShadow
Active member
Mine has a Warehouse British Invasion speaker and I always use SD-1 out front
There is no difference at all whether I export them mono or stereo
Again, you guys are just saying the same old shit. Everything that is NOT the issue and has ZERO to do with it. There is something you all do that results in good sound, and you just play dumb and gaslight me.
Your answers are the equivalent to me asking "hey guys, how do I win the Daytona 500" and you guys respond "Well, did you put tires on your car?"
Bram576
Well-known member
1) What drum software are you using?
2) Look at the nail the mix portion from URM.
3) Probably start with amp sims before you’re micing a cab up. This will teach you how to dial sounds in on a real amp better.
4) make sure you’re not clipping anything on the way in.
5) watch this
2) Look at the nail the mix portion from URM.
3) Probably start with amp sims before you’re micing a cab up. This will teach you how to dial sounds in on a real amp better.
4) make sure you’re not clipping anything on the way in.
5) watch this
BigGuitars
Active member
I take this back. I found the course part. Its actually very in depth and well put together. This should help tremendously
Snave
Well-known member
You posted a mono track. Something in your DAW is making it mono. If us trying to help you fix this is playing dumb or gaslighting to you, then good luck.
Simon Dorn
Active member
Get an EVH and the matching 4x12?
Simon Dorn
Active member
Sounds like a Marshall to me. Did you ever listen to the old soloed EVH Guitar tracks?
Simon Dorn
Active member
No. It will never sound like a 412. How could it?
Simon Dorn
Active member
Ok, you got us. We use special fairy dust and a new and cool thing called sTeReO.
I mean in terms of miking and recording. In the mix you can make it sound big if it’s recorded a certain way. In real life you’re right that it will never sound like a 4x12.
TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
We are telling you that the tracks you posted are in mono. That is the issue and has everything to do with it. Your guitar tone doesn't sound bad at all. Same with the drums. But everything is in mono, and that's the most fundamental problem you're facing with your mixes at the moment. That is the reason your mix sounds weird. Everything else you want to change about your mix needs to wait until you get your mono/stereo issue sorted out. Once you get that problem solved, you'll be well on your way to making pretty killer sounding mixes.
I am absolutely not trying to be a dick or gaslight you, btw. DAWs are not easy things to figure out. They have a billion options and everything seems tucked away in obfuscated menus.
But you are absolutely 100% rendering to a mono track, which is specifically the reason why your mix sounds off.
napalmdeath
Well-known member
Like a cereal box.
DanTravis62
Well-known member
Agreed. The stereo field is 90% of what makes big rhythm guitars sound big.
Also, at least from what i've heard of your mixes OP, these are my thoughts
(keep in mind i've technically been a "professional" in that I've recorded guitars in hourly studios for money, but I'm not fucking bob rock or anything, and my tastes lean towards much less "modern" sounding fare)
1. The rhythm tracks, even if they are two separate tracks hard panned L/R, do not sound like they are two separate tracks hard L/R. I would suggest using slightly less gain for your rhythm tracks, to start out with. The gain level for leads sounds great. Then I would suggest using a different guitar/pickup for each side, at the least.
2. The tone doesn't sound awful by any means, but you can definitely tell it's a 1x12. You might have better results if you record a line out of your DSL and experiment with IRs - i would suggest starting with the standard mesa V30 OS type stuff for the type of sound I assume you're going for.
3. The snare drum sounds pretty rough. I don't know what's going on with it, but it sounds dead.
4. There's no magic secret everyone is hiding from you, recording distorted guitar is extremely difficult, and just as much of an art form as playing guitar is - with the requisite 10,000 hours. I've put a ton of time and effort into it, specifically to learn the sounds that I gravitate towards.
5. Do you use hi/lo passing? Shelving? Any other basic EQ or channel strip plug ins? That's a "putting tires on your car at the 500" thing but i don't think its been mentioned.