This is weird...

[Imran5000]

I was about to sell my Eleven Rack because I couldn't get a great heavy distortion sound and ended up going back to Pod Farm.

I actually came about my new PF sound by bypassing the ER (so in tuner mode), and going via SPDIF into my Babyface.

So today I unplugged the ER and just went straight into the Babyface, and get this - it doesn't sound as good???

Is the True Z active even in Tuner mode and could this be impacting on the bypassed sound?

I'm not going mad I've recorded the same riff using both methods and played it back side by side. The one going through the ER in tuner mode sounds fatter, and the distortion sounds clearer with power chords.

I might have to keep it now but for reasons I could never have imagined

[nst7]

Yes, the True-Z is active even when everything else is bypassed. Aside from true-z, it could also be that the analog input stage of the 11R is of better quality than the Babyface (it doesn't matter how good the digital conversion is if the DI is not that great, and it's not that great on many lower priced interfaces).

On a separate note, there is no reason on earth you can't get a good distortion sound from the 11R. The amps modeled in it are the most common ones used by top rock bands. In fact some big groups have used the 11R or the Eleven Plugin to record their albums and they sound great. It may be worth your while to research modern guitar recording techniques to get more out of whatever devices or software you're using.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Imran5000

I was about to sell my Eleven Rack because I couldn't get a great heavy distortion sound

Why not?

You can get super heavy with the 11R - have you tried the SOD amp? Or do you not have the ERXP? If you don't have the ERXP, it is a must.

If you are having trouble creating your own heavy presets why not download presets made by someone else? There are thousands of 11R presets out there for you to download. Find one thats close to what you want, then tweak.

Check out
www.elevenrackpresets.com
and my blog site
www.elevenrackusers.blogspot.com

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by Imran5000

I was about to sell my Eleven Rack because I couldn't get a great heavy distortion sound and ended up going back to Pod Farm.
.......

Are you saying that you can't get a heavy sound in a) standalone mode or b) when recording?

If you are saying a) there are plenty of example on the net showing a heavy sounds thru 11R. Like dingle1 for instance, who recorded an album using primarily the 11R. There are a couple of fairly hi-gain factory presets that I use fairly regularly like "7 string King" or "Mesa Madness" and the SOD amp is pretty heavy . Plus a number of presets made by a guy with the moniker of 'Benoni'. There are quite a number of presets available at both:

• 11R Presets:
• 11R users Blog

If b) check out this guy called 'BenoniStudios' on YouTube, plenty of hi-gain recorded goodness with the 11R, albeit with some mixing done, you don't want raw tones when you are making something available to the public.

And of course, you may find that the 11R doesn't work for you and that's cool. I know a recognized metal act that uses a POD HD for touring - I can't for the life of me understand why. But it shows that there is not a single product that is going to work for everyone.

[Imran5000]

I'll give it another shot but I've been playing about with it for a while including uploading presets and not been that happy with it.

[hollow]

Nothing magical at all

The 11R probably has a proper impedance load on the input, probably somewhere around 1megohm - which is what a proper amp has. It doesn't load down your guitar pickups.

Most audio interfaces have an instrument input - but these inputs are most often NOT proper input for guitars and basses - I don't know about the babyface so you'll have to check the specs for it - but if the instrument input has an input impedance of 10k-ohms (which is what many interfaces have) that is far too little and it will load down on your guitar pickups - making them behave strange tone wise.

[hollow]

This is usually not a problem with active pickups (EMGs etc.), almost only passive pickups are affected.

the input of a typical marshall amp has an input impedance of around 1meg-ohm.

What you want to do is to put an active DI-box between your guitar and your babyface.

Make sure that you buy an active DI-box and that it has an input impedance of 1meg-ohm.

Plug your guitar into the DI-box - The DI-box will treat your guitar pickups more nicely...

Then simply go from DI to babyface - I would use an XLR cable from the DI and plug into the MIC input on the babyface

[hollow]

Here's a great article on the matter

http://guitarwtf.com/2012/02/25/my-s...like-crap-wtf/

[YYR123]

Nice article

[Imran5000]

I actually have used a Radial active DI box as well and even that doesn't sound better than the ER on bypass!

By the way good shout on the Benoni presets they are excellent and superior to the others I've tried out