Cheap or free silent recording/playing rig - mini Tutorial

Allright - I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but never seem to find the time. Not that I have the time now, lol - but I've seen posts lately from folks that are likely in a similar situation as mine. That 'situation' being the proud new, first time owner of a brand new human (my boy is now 10mo old, but same idea)! So, as soon as 'that' happened, it became necessary for me to find a way to practice/jam/record very quietly - and those of us on the western side of the country don't even know what a basement is, so...

I tried the whole low volume (bedroom level) thing, but I just cant stand it. Never sounds good enough to inspire playing of any kind. Rather just play unplugged, lol. So, I became interested in cabinet emulators/loadbox combos such as the Two Notes Torpedo, and Palmer units.

Well, the Two Notes goes for ~ $1k, and the Palmers for ~$700. Sorry, not gonna drop that kinda cash. I'd rather sit on my porch and play my acoustic, lol. So, I began to search for a cheaper alternative. And, I found it!

Basically, if you do the following, you can silently play (with some decent headphones), or very quietly play (with decent studio monitors), or record, with just as good of results as with the aforementioned hardware devices. Minimal computer skills are required.

I'll break it down very simply and concisely here. Just try to go off of this. If you get stuck somewhere, post here and I'll try to help.

1) If you need one (you dont have a Direct Out on your head (like the RM20, RM22, maybe others?)), acquire a loadbox/dummyload/attenuator of some sort. These can be bought for very little, or for alot. Up to you. I got a used THD Hotplate online from GC for $150. It works PERFECTLY for this purpose.

2) You need a decent set of headphones. I got a set of used Sennheiser studio phones for like $20 on eBay (already had em for keyboard tracking).

3) You need a USB audio interface for your computer. I have a simple 2in 2out MAudio unit. These also can be had for very little used. No reason for super high quality in this application.

4) Download and install the 'Freeware' DAW (music production/recording software) called "Reaper". It is suggested that you purchase it after 30 days, but does not require it. If you like it, I suggest you pay for it - it's only fair and it's only like $60 anyways. But, it will work in perpetuity without doing so. This is a pretty **** good DAW, especially for the price! Do that here:

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/download.php


5) Download and install 'Poulin LeCab'. This is a freeware Speaker Cab IR VST. Do that here:

http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/2010/12/lecab2-vst-for-windows.html


6) Download and install the free demo Speaker/Cabinet IR's from Redwirez (Marshall 1960A w/G12M-25's) and Ownhammer (Bogner Cab w/V30's). I've since purchased several more, but the freebies are excellent. I personally prefer the RedWirez IR's, but personal preference rules there... Do that here:

http://www.ownhammer.com/free/public-beta-redux/
http://www.redwirez.com/free1960g12m25s.jsp


7) Use:

- Plug your guitar into your amp
- Run your speaker cable to your loadbox
- Run your Direct Out from your loadbox to your interface
- Plug your interface into your computer
- Fire up Reaper
- Load up the LeCab as an 'effect' on your track (just tool around with it, it's pretty easy to use and figure out)
- Load up your IR's in the LeCab VST.

Now, adjust your modules, amp, LeCab options, etc to get a good sound, and play away! You will be surprised just hown **** good it sounds! Not as good as live cranked, but about 85% there. 10x better than low volume playing, IMO.

Hope this helps someone!

ADDED:

Oh, and I found that this VST Reverb plugin really rounds out, and fattens the tone in this scenario. The difference is VERY noticeable, and VERY good! Just download, unpack and install in the same effects chain as your speaker IR's. I wont use it without this, as the tonal improvement is striking!

http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/17-Reverb/426-Ambience

Cool info, my wife is 13 weeks pregnant on our first also.
Congrats on your new arrival!
I may try this if noise becomes an issue.
I live in Texas, so basements aren't a possibility for me either.
My house does however have a 500 sq ft playroom we converted some attic room to. Full carpet and drywall, so I'm hoping I can still jam up there with decent volume (at least loud enough I can't here the pick attack acoustics).
This will be a great option if not though!

This is mostly the way I ran my RM4 into my PC (sans load box of course)
when using XP
got a E-mu 1212m for just ?150 and ran with that

The only thing I'm using different these days, is a VST for running IRs since LeCab crashes on Win 8.1

@ NightDare, with the RM4 you just run the output into the interface input, no? sound good?

Nightdare said:

This is mostly the way I ran my RM4 into my PC (sans load box of course)
when using XP
got a E-mu 1212m for just ?150 and ran with that

The only thing I'm using different these days, is a VST for running IRs since LeCab crashes on Win 8.1

Click to expand...

Well, I'll be sure to avoid the 'update' from Win 8.0 to 8.1... I've heard of a bunch of different issues with 8.1. No thanks...

withmittens said:

@ NightDare, with the RM4 you just run the output into the interface input, no? sound good?

Click to expand...

I tried this before with an RM4, and did not like the results at all - no low end, screechy, staticy, etc - basically nothing like it should sound like through a power amp/speaker cab. However, you can also run a tube power amp sim/IR before the speaker cab IR's in the DAW. There are free versions of those out there too. I'd say try that, as I've heard good things.

Also, instead of Poulin you can also use Torpedo WOS, which is free, and has the added bonus of power amp sims should you want to test them out. You can load in your IR's also. I am digging it.

Link for Torpedo is here:
http://www.two-notes.com/en/software/torpedo-wall-of-sound-3/

that is bad ***. 30 days then buy the sims?

horseblanket said:

Also, instead of Poulin you can also use Torpedo WOS, which is free, and has the added bonus of power amp sims should you want to test them out. You can load in your IR's also. I am digging it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - I'll definitely have to try this out as well!

withmittens said:

that is bad ***. 30 days then buy the sims?

Click to expand...

You don't ever have to buy anything, you'll have to wait 30 seconds before use. If you do spend 8 bucks on a sim, then the startup wait time disappears.

I've used the Torpedo WOS with my M4 and I see a lot of potential if I can find the right impulses. The only problem is my old computer can only run a couple tracks when the latency is set low enough to be tolerable to play with. I really need a new audio computer?

I am using redwirez and they kinda kick ***.
As for old machines, not much you can do about that.

I run a mix of three Redwirez Cabs - The Soldano 4x12 w/V12L's, the Mesa 4x12 w/V30's, and the Bogner Ubercab w/G75's. Each cab mic'd with SM57's and Royer ribbon mics. Was trying my best to recreate the live sound of my Zinky 4x12 - and this mix works really well for me!

Corium_AZ said:

Nightdare said:

This is mostly the way I ran my RM4 into my PC (sans load box of course)
when using XP
got a E-mu 1212m for just ?150 and ran with that

The only thing I'm using different these days, is a VST for running IRs since LeCab crashes on Win 8.1

Click to expand...

Well, I'll be sure to avoid the 'update' from Win 8.0 to 8.1... I've heard of a bunch of different issues with 8.1. No thanks...

Click to expand...

There's a bunch of other IR loaders around just grabbed another one that worked,
...as for 8.1 having issues?

Being a bedroom dork, I'm running fine at 2ms @ 44KHz, whereas 7@44
on my old system, could result in artifacts when running too much fx/channels
and on my old system, I needed to disable any non-vital services/processes
whereas now, I only took out anything that could kick in while recording
(Antivirus/Update/maintenance programs)

Corium_AZ said:

withmittens said:

@ NightDare, with the RM4 you just run the output into the interface input, no? sound good?

Click to expand...

I tried this before with an RM4, and did not like the results at all - no low end, screechy, staticy, etc - basically nothing like it should sound like through a power amp/speaker cab.
However, you can also run a tube power amp sim/IR before the speaker cab IR's in the DAW. There are free versions of those out there too. I'd say try that, as I've heard good things.

Click to expand...

Odd, since on my setup, I always had to dial OUT low end, even with the bass on the modules far lower than 12 O'clock

This might have to do something with the soundcard used
since going from an old AMD XP4200 with XP32 to an Intel I5 with 8.1 64
the only thing that stayed the same was the outboard gear and the E-mu

...and IMHO, I've gotten quite decent sonic results just using Cab IRs, with sometimes only a touch of EQ added

( I nicked one trick form FearedSE, using a compressor with a -4dB setting to remove spikey palmmutes)

I have tried the method prescribed in the topic thread and even with my picky ears, this was the BEST setup I cam up with. The RedWirez free cabs sound great! Le Poulin interface isn't the greatest but it works and you can get some great tones out of it. If i remember correctly you can also draw from different industry standard microphones as well. I compared their greenback to my greenback and I thought it was close enough. You won't get as much of the nuances that you would in a real cab but as mentioned, 85% there I'd agree with. Definitely good enough for new babies, angry girlfriends, and neighbours.

Just one extra thing to consider on the line out.. the RM100 and Lynch Box also have a "slave" out which i assume is like a line out but it will only give you the preamp out for running into another head. The advantage of something that goes from the speaker jack to a load like the hotplate, is that you should in theory, also be getting the tone of the preamp + power amp working as well. Something to consider and maybe the reason for power amp emulation in the Torpedo stuff..

Kapo_Polenton said:

Just one extra thing to consider on the line out.. the RM100 and Lynch Box also have a "slave" out which i assume is like a line out but it will only give you the preamp out for running into another head. The advantage of something that goes from the speaker jack to a load like the hotplate, is that you should in theory, also be getting the tone of the preamp + power amp working as well. Something to consider and maybe the reason for power amp emulation in the Torpedo stuff..

Click to expand...

That is correct. The point of using the loadbox is that you get your power tube's tone/distortion as part of the signal. Makes a huge difference.

Oh, and I found that this VST Reverb plugin really rounds out, and fattens the tone in this scenario. The difference is VERY noticeable, and VERY good! Just download, unpack and install in the same effects chain as your speaker IR's. I wont use it without this, as the tonal improvement is striking!

http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/17-Reverb/426-Ambience

Nightdare said:

The only thing I'm using different these days, is a VST for running IRs since LeCab crashes on Win 8.1

Click to expand...

LeCab works fine here on Win 8.1.
You have to be careful about the sample rate.

By the way IRs are the most important things in this kind of setup.
You should check the God's Cab IRs. Redwirez are great too with free Guitarhack.

The power amp stage is not the graal. Power amp distorsion is not that great and often add too much low end. On Marshall's model the distorsion you are looking for comes from the PI stage.
I use the send of the effect's loop of my old JCM2000 with success.
I prefer it by far to the use of a loadbox.
My 2 cts. :wink: