Newbie recording advice requested

    I would like some advice please on my recording setup. I have an active Atomic CLR connected to my Kemper's Main Out L for practise and performance. I plan to use either the Kemper's Main Out R or S/PDIF for recording.


    I just got a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 recording interface. The KPA's Main Out R feeds a Mono signal to the 6i6 through the rear Line Input 3 and via USB to Logic X and out to a pair of Tannoy monitors. The first thing I had to do was run Scarlett MixControl and turn on the Hi Gain switch to get a loud enough signal from the Kemper. I afterward noticed that the KPA's Master Volume is about 3 which is where I have it set for playing through my CLR. My first question is, would this account for the low signal on my DAW, and should I rebalance the Kemper's Master Volume and the output level of my CLR? (The Main Out volume has not been changed from the factory setting).


    Monitoring the Kemper through Logic, my impression is that the tone is rather flat and lifeless in contrast with the sound through my CLR. Is this to be expected? I am currently using no processing or filtering in Logic.


    When I get some time today I'll make a recording and post it. In the mean time, is there anything else I should be doing to optimise the signal and tone that the Kemper puts out to my DAW?

    The way you set up your KPA and your interface leads to problems because you can't handle practise and recording level independently. Both volumes are set via the level of the Main Outs. Solution: Connect the CLR to Monitor Out and the Main Out to your interface. Or record via S/PDIF.

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

    Edited once, last by Kempermaniac ().

    Like 1

    Just thought I'd mention, Stringtheorist, that a level of 3 out of 10 is something you'll almost never find yourself using whilst tracking an electronic instrument. Guitar, maybe (the actual guitar, not the Kemper, which is electronic of course), but nothing else; you just don't see it.


    How this might've affected the tone, I don't know, but my guess is that the Kemper is pretty even across the range of output volumes. What could well have had an impact, 'though, is the bad gain structure that would have had to follow that low input signal. When you cranked the levels in Logic, which you would have had to do, you would've been bringing up the noise floor (background noise), and in addition to that, compounding digital-rounding errors which would've been introduced with that low-level input.


    The lower the level you record at, the less bits are available to capture the dynamics (volume levels of the waveform), meaning that the resultant waveform will look ever-more stair-steppy as you feed the interface's inputs less signal.


    The idea is to give it enough juice so that your guitar sounds are loud enough both to ensure smoother conversion to digital, as well as to provide a decent contrast to the background noise (noise floor). This way, once things are level-adjusted during mixing, that noise you might've heard initially at higher volume, with the instrument playing on its own, will literally be buried well and truly. The way you went about it, with not enough differentiation between the signal and noise levels, would result in a less clearly-defined instrument in the mix, although probably subtly so if only one track of many was recorded this way. Obviously, if every instrument and vocals are thusly recorded, the issue compounds - the noise accumulates and clarity, spacial location (panning accuracy) and so on suffer.


    Bottom line: Record hot enough (70-80%) to get a decent dynamic range (and low noise floor) "to tape", but don't overdo it lest the whole mix become mush. Digital doesn't like to be pushed close to the limit, and with 24 bit having become the norm these days the old rule of getting as close to "0" as you can without "going over" no longer applies, as the volume resolution (more bits to reduce that stair-stepped result), at 24 bits, is literally thousands of times better than it was using 16 bits. This is why CDs, especially older ones pressed before dither (another subject, but basically a method of smearing the stair steps) algorithms improved, sound so grainy. Decays and reverb tails are dead giveaways as you can hear the stair-stepped volume changes.


    Hope this helps, mate. Tried to keep it simple. If I overdid the simplicity factor, please forgive me.
    Nicky