Comparison NDSP plugin vs. capture

Quad Cortex
1

Hi Cortexers,

in another thread, @MightyMikeAmps asked about my experience with capturing NDSP plugins (while we wait for their implementation).

I said that I cannot really distinguish the capture from the plugin sound, but my ears are not really good in distinguishing sounds, so I wanted to post an example so you can judge yourself.

It’s a capture of the dry “Rhythm” amp from for Archetype Petrucci plugin. I have captured amp and cab separately, and put them together in the preset.

I also checked the frequency content and they look quite identical, despite some difference in very low end and high end (the yellow line is the plugin, which is a bit wild at high frequencies, the blue line the capture).

Here’s the plugin sound:

And here the capture:

And the frequency analysis:

Screenshot 2023-04-12 102357
Screenshot 2023-04-12 102357850×267 26.4 KB

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Tonewise they sound pretty similar to me.
It feels like there might be a fair bit more gain on the capture, and a bit of a high mid boost, but the frequency plot would suggest the EQ is pretty perfect.

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3

Yes the plot is so similar that I almost suspected that I made a mistake…
But I could not finde one, maybe need to check again.

4

It might just be to do with the gain in that case.
Maybe try with less gain on the capture, say -3-6dB?

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I deleted the files already, but I will try to make a more thorough comparison with different gain settings for the capture next time.

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6

Capture seemed a bit more low end heavy. Might be due to that gain as mentioned since the EQ seems to show otherwise.

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7

Thanks for your insights! I am afraid I played too much rock music in the last 30 years, since I totally struggle to hear the difference, let alone to put it in words… :woozy_face:

Now I feel like the artillery guy in “Good Morning Vietnam”:

I DONT MIND WHAT YOU PLAY AS LONG AS YOU PLAY IT LOUUUUUUUD

3 Likes
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It’s still a really helpful comparison. Making a truly great capture seems to be a mix of art and science here. Also knowing your outboard gear well.

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