Recorded Sound Issue

[Jay-Cee]

Hi all.

Can anyone tell me why the recorded sound I’m getting is not the same the monitored sound when doing the recording. The monitored sound is great. The recorded sound is second rate by comparison.

To begin with, I’m trying to record some rhythm guitar parts. I’ve got a ’78 25/50 Les Paul, running it through a ’89 Marshall Custom into a 2x12 cab, which is in an isolation cabinet, and it’s miced up with a Sennheiser e609 10.5” from cone just inside the edge diaphragm.

Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20.
Head phones: AKG K271 Mk II.
DAW: Protools 11.1.3.
Computer: ASUS G73J Laptop (i7 Processor, 8GB (2GB x4) DDR3 1066 SODIMM SDRAM).
OS: Windows 7, 64 bit.

To keep things simple I’m running the signal directly into Line 1 of the interface, through Scarlett Mix Control and then into Protools. The level is just dipping into the yellow. The monitored sound is big and fat and rich, just as you’d expect from Les Paul and a Marshall. There’s little leakage from the iso cab, certainly not enough to hear it through the phones. I’m using the iso cab so as to avoid the complexities of capturing a room sound and difficulty of monitoring the signal with all that speaker volume.

So, what am I doing wrong? I’ve herd other peoples home studio recordings of rock guitar and they are of a high quality and an accurate rendering of guitar and amp. I’ve tried to purchase the right gear, I’ve checked all the vids, but I’m at a dead end.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
JC.

[Craig F]

Are you Record and Playback faders linked or unlinked?
Do you have any plug-ins active on the track your recording to?

And welcome to the forum, please review the Help Us Help You link at the top of the page

[Jay-Cee]

Hi Craig.

Thanks for the prompt reply and welcome.

I have three default plugins on the track: AIR Kill EQ; D3 Comp/Limiter; EQ3 7-Band EQ.

All are bypassed when recording so their subtle effects are not herd.
None improve the play back/recorded quality of the track enough to solve the problem.

Record and Playback faders are linked in the preferences.

Cheers,
JC.

[Mixchump]

There's been talk about this, and is not unique to ProTools, but seems to be common to all systems that record and play back linear PCM...

Do a google for the phrase 'Playback Disappointment' and you'll find some of that stuff...

Certainly drives me crazy...

[Jay-Cee]

Ta for the input regarding linear PCM. The only discussion I can find seems to be in relation to the play back of WAV files. And yes, I've noticed that, too. However, the recorded sound I'm talking about is from the native 'working file' format, not the bounced content to WAV.

[Jay-Cee]

Okay, I see that WAV is the working file format, not just the format I'm bouncing to. If this an inherent problem with WAV, is this a hopeless cause?