Help with new Torpedo Live

[CCT]

Hey everyone,
I just got my Torp Live a few days ago hence my first post here. I really need some help.

I bought it to use for recording. I'm fairly new to "computer based" recording fyi ...I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 and Reaper.

I've recorded some gtr tracks using both a Rivera S120 head and a modded 1980 Marsh JCM 800 through the Torp using different cabs/ mics etc. Both are good sounding heads live.

I don't understand what's going on or what I'm doing wrong, but the sounds I'm getting don't sound anywhere near as good/realistic as what I've heard from the samples on the Two Notes site and on YouTube. Not even close. My test recordings sound small, digital...not as bad as running a line out from a head directly in, but closer to that than a "real" cab

I really need and want this to work for me. After researching and listening to the sound samples of the TL I was hopeful that it would be the answer. Everything I heard sounded very good and realistic.

I would really appreciate help with this...am I doing something wrong? Is there a problem with this particular TL?

Huge thanks in advance guys!

Craig

 

[cpiquette]

don't worry, you're not alone here. I felt much the same way about these units. Im still tweaking them to where i want, but i don't think I'm 100% there. Im considering trying the Ownhammer IRs to see if they live up to the rave reviews guys like Pete Thorn give em.

 

[cpiquette]

For what its worth, I have found the sound of the Live to be a lot better upon listening back to a live recording after the fact, as opposed to liking the sound in real time. kind of odd, eh?

 

[CCT]

Thanks for your reply. I've listened both ways and I can't get it to sound anywhere near as good as what I've heard as mentioned above. Mine seemed to sound slightly better the other way around lol!

What's the secret guys???? I really want to be able to record with my amps.

 

[sysexguy]

Hi Craig, can you go into "setup" mode and scroll to the sixth parameter (Output Setting). Please report back what is displayed.

 

[CCT]

Hi Craig, can you go into "setup" mode and scroll to the sixth parameter (Output Setting). Please report back what is displayed.

Hey Andy,
Thanks for trying to help It's set at Wet/Wet.

Craig

 

[guillaume_pille]

Hi Craig, do you think you could share with us one of your test recording?

 

[CCT]

Hi Craig, do you think you could share with us one of your test recording?

Hey Guillaume,
Ok here's a left and right using the Watt cab mic'd with a 57. Each side has slightly different mic placement. I was using my 81-82 JCM 800.

What am I doing wrong here?

Also, should the fan in the Torp Live be on all the time when using it loading an amp?

Thank you for your help


Craig

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

Why are you using the rockcrusher?

 

[guillaume_pille]

What am I doing wrong here?

hard to say, I would bet a lot of people will like your guitar tone just as it is...

The power amp seems to be quite hot, or you're using a pedal or something in front of the 800, but that kind of tone doesn't sounds like anything is wrong or broken...

Do you have a "real" recording with an SM57 of your system, for example, as a comparison?

Did you try putting the SM57 off center or using a ribbon microphone to soften the high frequencies, if that is your concern?

Oh, and why the Rockcrusher and Axe words in the file?

 

[CCT]

Thanks for your response Guillaume,

I don't have a recording of with a 57 and cab with that head for comparison purposes.

I did try using a 121 on some of the other cabs to knock off highs as well to answer your question.

What I'm getting soundwise with the TL doesn't sound as "good" as what I'm hearing on say Steve Steven's, Keith Merrow's etc. demos of the TL, hence my confusion and concern? As I said in my first post, I've used my Rivera S120 with the TL as well and I'm not getting any better results.

I'm certainly open to any suggestions. To be clear, I am in no way trying to put the TL down. Quite the contrary...I really want and need it to give me great sounds ala what I've heard. I love the variety that it offers.

Another thought...I'm running out of the TL's line out into the Focusrite...would it make a huge difference to be using the s/pdif connection? Is that what I'm doing wrong?

Regarding the file title, I have an RC and Axe that I had been testing. I knew I'd be getting the TL, so I used the same "project" to do the recordings. That's all...probably should have retitled the file before I posted it here

So, should the fan on the TL be operating when the TL is being used? I ask because when I've looked, the fan is not operating.

I really hope we can get this figured out for me as I'd really like to sell the RC and Axe and use the TL to get the quality of tones I hear online! I hope I'm doing a good enough job of letting you know how much I want the TL to work for me!!!!

Again, thanks for the help.

Craig

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

What I'm getting soundwise with the TL doesn't sound as "good" as what I'm hearing on say Steve Steven's, Keith Merrow's etc. demos of the TL, hence my confusion and concern? As I said in my first post, I've used my Rivera S120 with the TL as well and I'm not getting any better results.

In the demos, do they talk about what mic positions they are using? Do they share their eq settings in the Torpedo? Do they share their post eq settings in their DAW?

They might be tweaking some of these things to make it sound "good".

 

[CCT]

What I'm getting soundwise with the TL doesn't sound as "good" as what I'm hearing on say Steve Steven's, Keith Merrow's etc. demos of the TL, hence my confusion and concern? As I said in my first post, I've used my Rivera S120 with the TL as well and I'm not getting any better results.

In the demos, do they talk about what mic positions they are using? Do they share their eq settings in the Torpedo? Do they share their post eq settings in their DAW?

They might be tweaking some of these things to make it sound "good".

No unfortunately they tend not to. I wish they would!

I've wondered too if there are tricks/tweaks that people are using to create their "tones" with the TL. Techniques with recording, EQ, effects etc.

I'd sure appreciate having some of that info and am open to trying any suggestions.

Thanks Hung

Craig

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

What I'm getting soundwise with the TL doesn't sound as "good" as what I'm hearing on say Steve Steven's, Keith Merrow's etc. demos of the TL, hence my confusion and concern? As I said in my first post, I've used my Rivera S120 with the TL as well and I'm not getting any better results.

In the demos, do they talk about what mic positions they are using? Do they share their eq settings in the Torpedo? Do they share their post eq settings in their DAW?

They might be tweaking some of these things to make it sound "good".

No unfortunately they tend not to. I wish they would!

I've wondered too if there are tricks/tweaks that people are using to create their "tones" with the TL. Techniques with recording, EQ, effects etc.

I'd sure appreciate having some of that info and am open to trying any suggestions.

Thanks Hung

Craig

Right there with ya good buddy!

 

[guillaume_pille]

Steve Stevens is using a Friedman amp and a Torpedo Studio, both the amp and the Torpedo could be considered as upgraded versions of what you have.

Keith is using a Live, and no post processing on the computer. But he now have a Torpedo Studio and apparently a new world of awesome tones appeared in front of him.

Anyway, you should be able to get a great result out of a Torpedo Live with the JCM800, and, again, I kind of like what you posted already (apart maybe from the power amp which seems to be pushed too much for may taste), so it's hard to put the finger exactly on what you want to achieve.

The S/PDIF and Line out may sound a little different, because the signal are slightly different on the Torpedo side and your soundcard will process them differently. But not a world of difference.

And the fan will start once the Torpedo's heatsink reaches a certain temperature, not before.

Regarding tips and tricks I must have wrote some a thousand times, but never managed to compile them in a single document. The thing is that what I consider a good sound may not be good for someone else, or depending on the music style you're playing.

If you can put some words on what disturbs you in the sound sample you provided, maybe I can give some guidance.

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

For what its worth, I have found the sound of the Live to be a lot better upon listening back to a live recording after the fact, as opposed to liking the sound in real time. kind of odd, eh?

Just curious, do you find that the TL sounds "better" when you plug headphones into it vs. what it sounds like once recorded? I just got a focusrite 6i6 which has the spdif input and I am looking forward to trying it out once I figure out Ableton Live. I am hoping this interface + spdif will get the TL headphone sound that I like so much.

 

[shadow070]

I think your recording sounds good. I would try the R121 mic and ''The One" cab from two notes and go from there.
Move the mic position bit by bit etc.

The cabs have a huge impact and the mics to.

 

[cpiquette]

For what its worth, I have found the sound of the Live to be a lot better upon listening back to a live recording after the fact, as opposed to liking the sound in real time. kind of odd, eh?

Just curious, do you find that the TL sounds "better" when you plug headphones into it vs. what it sounds like once recorded? I just got a focusrite 6i6 which has the spdif input and I am looking forward to trying it out once I figure out Ableton Live. I am hoping this interface + spdif will get the TL headphone sound that I like so much.

I think it's totally a perception thing. I feel as though I may be so hung up on what I think the unit sounds like in realtime that I am not seeing the forest for the trees...

 

[CCT]

Steve Stevens is using a Friedman amp and a Torpedo Studio, both the amp and the Torpedo could be considered as upgraded versions of what you have.

Keith is using a Live, and no post processing on the computer. But he now have a Torpedo Studio and apparently a new world of awesome tones appeared in front of him.

Anyway, you should be able to get a great result out of a Torpedo Live with the JCM800, and, again, I kind of like what you posted already (apart maybe from the power amp which seems to be pushed too much for may taste), so it's hard to put the finger exactly on what you want to achieve.

The S/PDIF and Line out may sound a little different, because the signal are slightly different on the Torpedo side and your soundcard will process them differently. But not a world of difference.

And the fan will start once the Torpedo's heatsink reaches a certain temperature, not before.

Regarding tips and tricks I must have wrote some a thousand times, but never managed to compile them in a single document. The thing is that what I consider a good sound may not be good for someone else, or depending on the music style you're playing.

If you can put some words on what disturbs you in the sound sample you provided, maybe I can give some guidance.

Hey Guillaume,

Again, thanks for your response, info and help. I'll try to be clearer with my wants and needs

For clarity, I'm not "trying" to match anyone's tone so that's not my concern at all. It's the "quality" of the recorded sound that I'm looking for if that makes sense. When I listen to the examples such as Stevens, Merrow, Englund, and a number of others I've heard on the Two Notes site, the overall quality of the sound that I hear from those examples is, to my ears "better" than what I'm achieving at this point. To my ears they sound bigger, fuller, less "grainy" and more natural and real.

Obviously the TL or TS are capable of this, hence my query as to what I may be doing wrong. I've done a fair bit of session work for artists ranging from Bonnie Pointer to Quiet Riot which I mention only to let you know that I've got experience with that end of it...doing the actual recording/engineering/mixing...not so much So, that's what had me wondering if I was unknowingly doing something incorrectly with regards to the TL, or if there are other reasons why I'm not getting the same quality sound as the examples we've been talking about, ie recording techniques, EQ, Comp, etc etc. I'm soooo confused

As far as the JCM I used, I agree that it is pushed too much as I recorded it. I use a TC Spark Booster into the front end live. Too much for recording for sure For reference, live I run a full stereo rig(one head as the main, the other as a slave) with a 15-20 ms delay between sides to fatten the sound. Time based effects through the loops with pedals running into the front end, ie pretty standard in that sense. I basically always play in three piece situations so I'm a big sound kind of guy

Anyway, I of course understand that the Torp Studio would give me more. I was trying to be frugal when I bought the TL Maybe I really need the TS...

Again, please know that I am very, very serious about using your product. I have no ego about my recording engineering/mixing abilities so I would really appreciate any help/guidance that you can give me to achieve comparable "quality" of recorded sounds that I've heard with the Torps.

I hope that I've been a bit clearer this time with regards to what I'm not liking with the example I posted. LMK if not

Best,

Craig

 

[djd100]

Try moving the virtual mic away from the center/dust-cap, and also consider a HPF and LPF if needed to control bottom and fizz (as well as perhaps not using the Marshall's bright input seeing some 800's had a massive bright cap, as well as dialing down the amp's presence control). If you're hitting the front end with a pedal try one that isn't full range, something like a tube screamer or equivilent with a mid-boost.

I'd suggest purchasing the BoGreen Cab for great vintage Marshall tones...

http://store.two-notes.com/index.php?id ... &id_lang=2

Note that you'll also be needing a room sim for room-tone to actually compare with a real mic'd cab seeing the real mic captures room-tone that isn't part of the cab-sim.

Great tones can be had from the CAB/LIVE, there's no doubt about that.