I have a Gen2 Scarlett 2i4 all updated Asio 4 all drivers and Plini, Gojira, Petrucci, Wong and Tone Master. I’ve tried 10+ different guitars, cables etc… I cant get a decent tone from any preset. They all sound waaaay over the top sensitive, noisy, muddy and gainy.
Do you need to play these through a seperate powered cab? I’ve tried lowering the input dB, my input on the Scarlett is at 10:00. Am i doing something wrong or do these only sound good after they’ve been recorded?
thx
What do you mean by monitor speakers? Computer monitor speakers? Studio monitor speakers? On stage monitor speakers? You’ll get the most amp like out of a frfr designed speaker cab. What are you using?
Strictly speaking, most amp-like would be a proper guitar cab, poweramp and forego the IR section of the plugin.
if I want to sound like THAT speaker and cab and THAT amp maybe so. But then that is not what was asked by the OP. He asked about getting good tone through monitors. In my studio I use a Headrush 108 and a Behringer floor monitor barely audiable. I get great tone and a very amp like experience especially at the volume I am playing. Even my Mesa set to 5 watts gets LOUD attne volume necessary to make it work.
The power amp should be mostly transparent. You’re stuck with that speaker/cab setup, but if it’s a great cab, that’s not a problem. Using a real cab bypasses whatever colour the mic/I.R. imprints. I’m yet to find a mic combination that can fully recreate what the cab sounds like when it’s sat in front of you, but out of FRFR monitors (although I’m open to suggestions!)…
I know OP was only asking about good tone, but thought I’d clarify another avenue to consider.
I’d figure that a good FRFR speaker would give you the most options to cover cabs as well, even if they don’t match up to using a guitar cab minus the IRs. So basically one has to make a choice and a trade off.
Edit: How much better would using a cab be - better enough to make up for the loss of the IR option?
Sorry, i actually thought about that today, that i never specified. They are KRK RoKit6 speakers.
When I was playing through my Eleven Rack I first ran though my studio monitor. I found it was lacking that guitar amp feel and sound it was too “hi-fi” like a good final mix on a CD but not like a guitar amp and speaker in the room. Got the Headrush and yes back in the playing through an amp feel. With the QC it even sounds better.
So an FRFR speaker would be a better option over choosing between guitar cab and studio monitor? I’m looking at the ATOMIC CLR NEO MK II REFERENCE MONITOR.
I have a similar problem and a similar setup. Scarlett 2i2 to MacBook Pro to KRK 7 (Gen4). Sometimes I get great sounds and sometimes I get scratchy nasty sounds (Standalone Nolly, Plini, Cory, Tone King, Soldano, and Fortin) or a weird doubling. I watch the gain on the Scarlett and in the plugin to make sure I’m not too hot or too low.
My current experiment is to close everything I can on the Mac and have the plug in as the only program running in the foreground.
In contrast, if I plug that same cable into my (analog and digital) pedals and amp, it always sounds great. I don’t anywhere near the range of sounds that the plugins provide, but it’s never weird or unpleasant in the same way that I often get through the computer setup.