#145

This thread is really making me consider my guitar recording chain, which is currently a UA OX cab sim into my interface (ultralite mk4).

Thoughts on hitting a pair of discrete mic pres (or some other color box) between a cab sim and the interface?

EDIT: Or how about BOUM for this task?

#146

Hmm. That’s an interesting idea. I’ve not heard of anyone doing that. I’d be curious to hear it.

I had the Ox for about a month and ended up returning it. At first I was sure that it was going to be a game changer. But at the end of the day I just had to admit to myself, my amps miced with a Royer 121 into a good pre sounded/felt better to me than the “Royer 121” simulator.

Also the Ox still just didn’t truly behave like a real amp. No feedback, sustains different. You can get some great sounds, but still not quite the same. Also, the attenuator is cool, but for recording, my best sounds are nearly always recorded at bedroom levels or below gigging at least, with great care to mic placement and…getting a good/unique sound. It’s about ten times harder to do with an amp that’s dimed. But if someone isn’t able to record at home, then yes, obviously worth it.

I bought the Ox mainly because I thought I would use it live more. But then I realized that it was only truly easier if I brought my own monitors to use with it night after night for consistency. And again, I’d still need the amp signal mixed in just so it would behave like my actual amp was. At the end of the day, it didn’t really speed anything up (it slowed things down if anything) and just ended up making me more paranoid I wasn’t hearing my actual very nice amp, muchless what the audience would be. So it’d be schlepping a bunch more gear and bugging the sound guy even more than usual.

That being said, I wish I had one at my disposal at certain times for recording. It does a pretty uncanny job of morphing your sound. But the classic rocker in me just couldn’t make peace with that. Right or wrong. I want my Deluxe to sound like a Deluxe, not a Marshall stack. And vice versa. Curious more people these days aren’t working more towards getting more interesting ampless sounds via going direct a la Thom Yorkesque tones. That sound has grown on me more and more and strikes me as more interesting than direct guitar trying to fool someone that it’s actually a wall of amps.

I just couldn’t justify keeping it at that point when I could get an M160 and a really nice pre for the same cost. Sure, you get a lot more options from the Ox, but it still bugged me to hear that it’s only ever really 90% there. When it comes to guitar tones I guess I’m still completely biased. Plugins for EQs, comps, less so. But not guitars/amps.

#147

Summing boxes as far as “improving” the mix, magically with nearly all summing mixers bar the ones where you might as well get a nice little console, Its a mixer of the different distortion between the multiple gain stages that gave it THAT sound.
DIYRE are producing a very cool 19" rack mount where you can slide the main board out and swap the “colours” snap off/snap in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoqArOq4EhI&feature=emb_title
If that was a Neve/API/BLAH it would be epoxied and all sorts of vague marketing of “special circuits” and cost an eye watering amount

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#148

Thank you for your reply. Forgot to mention that I’m looking for something cheaper and portable. :confused: It was great idea to merge my thread with pro-audio-mastering (kinda) :confused:

@Noisetrees Thanks, I need to check them.

Also got interested by Roland Aira Torcido :thinking:

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#149

In my totally baseless and unqualified opinion, it seems like the Ox is ideal for commercial production - built for speed, flexibility and usability.

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#150

have you tried the strymon deco? i bought a 2nd hand unit some months ago and i´m delighted with it: lots of functions/modes, simple, quiet & clear sound when boosting signals. nice as a desktop pedal too (mixer aux//soundcard insert)

#151

As mentioned I think it’s hard to beat the RNC if you’re looking for cheap. It does all the things you mentioned, it’s 2 channels, and it sounds fine. It’s a fully functional compressor, with all the standard controls, and then some. Not the most unique sounding, but it sounds better than most plugins and costs even less. I use it all the time on my stereo drum machines.

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#152

Sounds to me like your opinion is more than qualified. The first time I tried the Ox I was like…I HAVE to get one.

I think it’s an amazing piece of gear if you don’t have all the other pieces it is replicating, then WELL worth the price.

#153

Also a nice piece of gear when you want to make records with a toddler sleeping in the next room :grinning:

The idea for this approach came from an interview with Scott Hansen. He works with a Kemper Profiler a lot I guess, but mentioned having it hit a couple of Neve units before the interface.

EDIT: I remembered the source! It’s from an interview with Scott in “Pedal Crush”.

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#154

Maybe look at the API transformers gt? I actually tried running my guitar through the ssl six pre then sending it to my amp. It made a huge difference! It inspired me to get the API pedal because it is not cheap, but worth it.

#155

Thanks for the input! Since posting, I actually found a BOUM here on lines. It arrived yesterday and is doing a great job. Love the subtle saturation that it imparts. It’s the second to last box in the chain I used on this little piece.

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#156

Can anyone comment on the general quality of interface headphone outputs compared to pure DAC headphone amps ?
No-one ever really comments on the DAC headphone amp quality of audio interfaces…

I generally mix on headphones and need something outside of the studio.

Been looking at the Fostex HP-A4 as a pure DAC, but a portable interface would be infinitely more useable.
Motu M4 & SSL 2+ seem a bit too good to be true type of thing.

Mixers and audio interfaces
#157

The headphone amp circuits in low cost interfaces are generally poor, and an afterthought in the designs. I haven’t tried the Motu or the SSL interfaces, but my expectations would be low based on experience. I use a separate high quality DAC and headphone amp in my studio, however my MixPre 6 has a surprisingly high quality headphone amp. Sound Devices considered the headphone output an important design element. Mixing on headphones is also my preference, but the quality of the system has to be at a certain level or it’s very difficult.

#158

The headphone outputs on the RME gear are top quality outputs with special consideration given to high current applications as headphone amps (compared to line driving). Their impedance is a little on the high side (30 Ohm) but they drive studio-grade 250 Ohm phones absolutely fantastically and I haven’t heard a whit of difference on my 80 Ohm phones either.

#159

SPL make interfaces with special attention paid to headphones (crossfeed etc.), I haven’t been able to try one yet.
I’ve been using my Sound Devices MixPre as my primary interface for months and the headphone out is great on that.

#160

@Hovercraft Thanks for the input, I’ll go the dedicated route then. Just curious, what’s your DAC/Amp setup then ?

@equipoise Yea I still use a FF400 that does sound great.

Probably gonna get the Fostex HP-A4 and see where i go from there. The RME ADI-2 FS would be great, but i can’t justify the money on it at the moment…

#161

If you want just excellent headphone amplification from any line-level source, the Shiit Magni is a superb amp. I read (can’t find it at the moment) somewhere that one of the major headphone-compensation-software makers uses it as their reference amplifier.

#162

Keeping in mind, I was into head-fi before I got into modular. My reference system is a Schitt Ragnarok amp, Schiit Yggdrasil DAC, and Audeze LCD-X cans. I’ve also got a range of gear, including the Schiit Magni amp and Modi --which are bargains for the quality.

#163

Ah nice setup indeed @Hovercraft
I spiraled into the madness of DAC/Amp research and for now decided on the Modi3 DAC & Magni Heresy, in part due to availability in Europe. I’ve got a slew of headphones to try with it & finally ordered a pair of Beyer 1990, Neumann NDH20 to follow at some stage…

Anyone looking to get into the DAC/Headphone amp world here is a very brief list of the best (on paper) entry level devices.

DAC
Schiit Modi3 (the best DAC on paper for the money)
Geshelli Enog2 Pro (only S/PDIF & Toslink digital inputs)

Headphone Amp
Schiit Magni Heresy
Geshelli Archel 2

DAC/Headphone amp all in one
Topping DX3 Pro (cheaper than buy both separate)

Lots of info here if anyone’s interested. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php

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#164

I’d like to propose we split the recent audiophile discussion off into another topic, as this topic is mostly focused on multichannel solutions for studio/home studio/mobile recording and live mixing and it’s starting to appear very muddied and confusing when we blur it with lots of highly personal listening-environment mostly-audiophile conversation. I’d love to track audiophile stuff, headphone amps, etc. but I’m not sure this is the right thread for that.

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