Guitar Gear Forum

hey guys.
ive been trying for a while to get a good sound out of my hughes & kettner tubemeister 18w direct into my computer. just to test it I bought a Behringer xenyx 302 since it is cheap and has an xlr input. I use the rca stereo to 1/8" cable to connect to the line in on my crappy onboard soundcard. no matter how much tweaking it sounds like crap. what am I doing wrong? just to clarify the chain is amp head direct out XLR > xenyx xlr in > Main mix out via said cable > 1/8" line in on PC. thanks.

Do you need a cab simulator or IR loader? Or does your amp have a simulated cab through the DI?

Its like the redbox di they make built into the amp which i think is also meant to simulate a speaker/ cab. Could it be my crappy souncard? Balanced to unbalanced signal? It distorts very easily

forklord wrote:Its like the redbox di they make built into the amp which i think is also meant to simulate a speaker/ cab. Could it be my crappy souncard? Balanced to unbalanced signal? It distorts very easily

I think there is also a switch on the back that will simulate speaker or cut it out...checking now

Just checked out your amp specs. Do you have the combo or head and cab? Also...what computer, what DAW, and you may need an audio interface in order to make this sound right. Hit me back and I'll see if I can help

Im using an old version of cool edit pro and its the 18w head. Theres no switch on the back. Just 18w 5w 1w and the direct out. Im looking to spend a couple hundred on whatever i need to make it work. Otherwise im selling my amp. I think a soundcard/interface maybe?

forklord wrote:Im using an old version of cool edit pro and its the 18w head. Theres no switch on the back. Just 18w 5w 1w and the direct out. Im looking to spend a couple hundred on whatever i need to make it work. Otherwise im selling my amp. I think a soundcard/interface maybe?

I would get a decent DAW...Cubase is what I used to use. Some people find Reaper effective...and inexpensive. Get a USB interface ...iFocusrite or something....doesn't need to be anything fancy if you just want your guitar to record. You'll need a cab sim. There are free ones to download try Poulen LeCab with some decent IR files (I can Dropbox you some good cab IR's)...should be able to do that for $200. Message me for some other solutions buddemeyer72@yahoo.com

So will there be any lag/latency issues thru usb interface or line in and all that software? If so will i need a faster processor or sound card? Its just the built in realtek one im using

forklord wrote:So will there be any lag/latency issues thru usb interface or line in and all that software? If so will i need a faster processor or sound card? Its just the built in realtek one im using

There might be a little but shouldn't be much. Most of the USB interfaces I've had have their own drivers that are separate from the Realtek drivers.

So i've discovered that the direct out of the tubemeister 18 is pretty hot. a -10db pad is what I need. now the question is, when shopping for an interface, will a trim knob cut the signal the same as a pad? some interfaces have pads and some do not. they just have trim knobs or nothing at all but a gain knob. I guess I could bring my amp head and test it in store...

also I was using a mic input on my current interface so im overdriving the mic preamp a bit. needs to be a line level input

Your interface already has two line level inputs (stereo), but they're RCA. Try using an XLR to RCA adapter. It might mess with the impedance a bit, but it should work, and line level signals are relatively low impedance anyway so there shouldn't be much of a tone change.

And that's not just a mixer, it's a USB interface too, so there's absolutely no reason to run it into your computer sound card's line input. Install the drivers for it if you haven't already, and then select it as your recording/playback device in your DAW.

However, the Red Box DI should be sending a mic-level signal (that's why they used an XLR jack), so the XLR input and mic preamp should be fine. I bet it's going through your computer sound card's line input that's making it sound like crap. But even if you get the Red Box working fine, I've never heard a hardware cabinet simulation that sounds anywhere near as good as impulse responses...so personally I'd run the FX send into the interface (which is line level, so it would need to be TRS to RCA adapter into the interface's line input) and use impulses. No power amp coloration that way, but with impulses it's still a way better sound than most hardware cab emulations IMO.

forklord wrote:hey guys.
ive been trying for a while to get a good sound out of my hughes & kettner tubemeister 18w direct into my computer. just to test it I bought a Behringer xenyx 302 since it is cheap and has an xlr input. I use the rca stereo to 1/8" cable to connect to the line in on my crappy onboard soundcard. no matter how much tweaking it sounds like crap.

^ that is the problem.


That Xenyx has USB, right? You need to be using that - forget the 1/8" jack on your PC's built in soundcard.

thanks guys. ill try the software/usb for xenyx tonight. haven't gotten around to it yet. also was wary of latency issues with usb. this might just save me 200$ on an interface. that's 200 more I can spend on monitors ill report back

also, as a side note and not completely related, I have a sure sm-57, cheap ART tube mic preamp and a marshall VX67 condenser mic. would those handle vocals well with the xenyx or do you think its worth getting another interface with better pre's and an extra input? thanks

There's nothing wrong with USB, I don't know why you'd be concerned about latency (especially for only an input or two). Just make sure you use the interface's ASIO drivers. That's an extremely cheap interface and Behringer isn't exactly known for their preamps, so I'm sure you'd get better results with something else. But in that price range, it's probably fine. It has phantom power, so it can power the condenser. You could try running the ART into the Behringer's line input but it probably won't sound a whole lot better. It'll definitely be much better than running it into your computer's sound card. For demos and playing around, it should be more than adequate though.

so I got the focusrite scarlet 2i4. no latency at all even with playback thru usb back to monitors. these Yamaha hs5's are amazing! the scarlet worked with little hassle. install drivers, choose as playback device, very simple. no more clipping issues with this -8db pad. but it gets SUPER compressed when you load up the distortion and play some thick chords which kinda sucks. I turned on my compressor pedal and it helps out with that big time. I had the master cranked (get the best tone) and gain a little over halfway on the amp. this is probably why

yeah you won't necessarily get the best tone out of this set up with the master cranked. Try different combinations between the the amp's master and the interface's input gain until you find one that sounds good.

I just played the amp thru my cab and its doing the same thing on 1w setting. I think its my boss od-2 pedal. not cool. getting a bit of crackling and popping at high gain too. might get this head looked at...thanks for the help guys.