I know this is probably a common newbie topic but let me explain.
I’ve used line 6 podfarm in the past and it was fine for what it was and when it came out.
I now own the Cory Wong, Tim Henson, and Nameless Fortin plug-ins. I think they’re really good and I know my issue is user error.
I have Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pickups in old American (Canadian) Kramers running into a Scarlett 4i4 (set to instrument)
I usually run my plugins through logic so I can put hi pass and lo pass filters on my guitar sounds to cut mud and shrapnel. (Cut lows at 130-150 and cut hi’s at approximately 6300-6500).
I have run them as stand alone as well.
I can’t get a great sound for the life of me. I will tweak a tone a little at a time so as to avoid ear fatigue (not knowing what is good or bad) and I find the distortion is ratty and the eq is all over the place. Sometimes the miss sound scooped (I’m pretty sure this is mic placement etc and not just eq alone) I usually run a 81 JCM800 with a Marshall guv’nor or sd-1 to tighten the gain (a little gain from the amp + a little gain from the pedal stops that hi gain flab. I do t use hi gain but it is mid gain settings for sure.
This post isn’t to berate the plugins. Again I think they’re really good. My whole end goal is to fine tune awesome sounds which I know is totally possible with the neural plugins.
Sorry for the high school length essay and thank you in advance for any and all help.
could be many things… make sure theres no clipping, adjust your input and gain … on the other end look at what you are using to monitor since that may affect the sound as well, try using earphones etc
im assuming you´ve tried the presets on the plugins? has not a single preset felt good?
i´d say try the presets and find one you like and adjust from there.
Hi Cheems. Thanks for the quick reply.
I have genelec so I’m good there. I don’t usually mix or judge sounds with headphones as it’s not a great representation of what is truly coming out of the DAW or standalone.
I’m not clipping. I’ve got good levels in and out for sure.
I’ve gone through the presets and none really jump out as being truly honed well. I understand the issue with different individual set up’s and guitars etc.
I’m assuming the answer is what I figured it would be before I posted here. Get a patch and delete/normalize everything and start from scratch one parameter at a time.
Again thanks for the quick reply and suggestions. If there’s any other tips I’m totally open to hear anything.
yes my friend, i´d say try building one from the bottom up, might be some work but thats the sure way to know where the issue might be -if there´s one- or if it´s just adjusting things to your taste
I´d suggest trying with the cory wong amps since they are very clean and then add external pedals or effects from other plugins
hopefully this helps! do share if you find a solution
I’ve been working at getting a good sound for a little over an hour now (on and off so as to not get ear fatigue)
I don’t think I should have to work this hard to get a good tone. I’ve spend the past 20+ years recording with all sorts of gear in different studios including my own and have not had this issue. It’s not the cables or levels. The eq of the cabs with the simulated mics seems to be part of my issue. The gain tones are not really great at all either. The eq itself seems to be nice but as far as getting the tone I’m not at the eq stage yet. I’m still trying to hone with the amp, cab, mics, and the overdrive pedals. I shut off the eq, delay, reverb etc.
I’ll keep at it but is there a place I can upload what I have?
I agree with what you are saying. I honestly can’t believe JP would put his name to this. Mine sounds like a cheap fuzz pedal plugged in to one of those novelty practice amps you wear on your belt. Harsh and fuzzy with no power.
What are you using for an audio interface, monitor etc. It sounds like you may have your gain staging misconfigured or possibily not configured as efficiently as possible.
I am using a Focusrite 8i6 and Yamaha HS8 speakers.
I played with the audio buffer size and it improved things a tiny amount (still weak sounding but better). However, now the sample rate and audio buffer size are stuck on 48000 and 128 samples. I no longer have the option to change those numbers. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling to no avail.
Fixed the issue with the stuck buffer size, but still sounding a little thin and ‘fizzy’. I guess I just need to keep working on this to get a workable sound…
Honestly I haven’t. They are mediocre at best. It’s not a gear thing. All my gear is running properly and set up properly. Once in a while I go to my Logic Pro template that houses all three DSPs I own (Cory Wong, Tim Henson, Namless) and try to tweak sounds. As I may have said, you can’t work on a good guitar sound for long periods as your ear will hear everything is crap or good or whatever.
I would love to get great sound out of these as I’m into them for I don’t know how much money now.
I hear you. I have tried the last couple of days to get something I consider half-decent, but I have failed so far. It is just sounding awful. I can get better sounds for free. Disappointed and mad at myself for not doing the demo.
I meant maybe you just don’t like the available cabs/speaker types. Have you tried a decent external I.R? GGD Zilla Pack is good because it includes so many different speaker types, and has an idiot proof interface.
Maybe you just don’t like the Petrooch plugin/amp. I don’t use any plugins, but I have a QC. I don’t really like any of the models or captures of his amp. Never use any of them.
I wonder if you could reach out to NDSP and explain. If it’s quite recent, maybe they’ll consider a refund or credit to put towards a different plugin. Pretty sure it says no refunds somewhere though, so you’ll have to ask real nice.
In the mean time, trial Rabea, see if you have more luck.
I appreciate the response. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something when you mentioned other cabs. I could give your suggestion of the Zilla pack a try.
I guess I could try a trial on another pack (Rabea as you mentioned). I do have a Kemper and an Axe FX and I am seriously thinking about just sticking with that. I did want something a little easier I could just use though. Maybe none of the Neural stuff is for me.
In any case, thanks again for the suggestions. I truly appreciate your input!
We were using a Presonus 1818vsl but now exclusively use the Quad Cortex as the main audio interface. I know the Scarlett’s previous generations had some compatibility/stability issues but otherwise a very decent interface. Hard to say what your issue is as the JP plugin sounds phenomenal on default settings and there are some great presets available that really make the plugin shine. Try some of the other plugins, all free for trial and worst case email support@neuraldsp.com with specifics and they will get you sorted as there are a ton of variables.
