Topic: Babyface for a guitarist?

I need an advice from you, since I need to buy the tools for playing and recording guitars at home.

I live in an apartment and I have really annoying neighbours, so I can not be louder than a televisor...

I want to record guitars using the lineout of my tube amp. The amp was studied for this application and the line out is not the typical crappy lineout of the commercial amps. It is really good and it delivers a tone really close to the tone you can get recording the amp with a mic in front of the speaker.

There are two possible outputs: unbalanced 1/4" and balanced XLR.

All outputs on the back have the same low impedance and are controlled with the Line Out knob from zero to above line level (+4 dB). All these outputs can be connected to any impedance input (low, med, or high) and will always match - preamps or power amps alike.

Should I better use line inputs or preamplified ones?

I have a new iMac with Mavericks OSx and I'm planning to use Garage Band and Logic.

I would like to get an audio interface 100% stable with Mavericks, with excellent A/D conversion and for me it is crucial that the latency of the overall system is zero.

It is also really important that headphones output has pristine audio quality.
I have really good signal cables, boutique amp and great guitars, so I'd like to keep the quality of signal chain with high performances.

2 (edited by gregor 2014-01-14 15:25:04)

Re: Babyface for a guitarist?

If you want the best quality then connect the balanced XLR out from the AMP to the balanced input of the Babyface. As you wrote your AMP outputs will match any impedance input so it should be ok.

Regarding line inputs of Baabyface - it has only two analog inputs, where both serves as mic preamps and if needed one of them (second) can be swtiched to Hi-Z mode (direct instrument connection). All two inputs are preamplified ...if you raise gain knob but you can set the gain to 0dB (in Hi-Z mode second input has minimal gain set to +9dB).

3 (edited by spacealf 2014-01-18 00:30:56)

Re: Babyface for a guitarist?

Different strokes for different folks. Well, usually people find out that maybe more equipment is needed in the long haul. That is because recording is different than playing live. I have an amp that has low impedence outputs and can set the volume like yours. It is a modeling amp Fender. I also have another amp that can record out of the headphone jack and sound like the amp with the cabinet. That is also low impedence or around 30-50 ohms, and also the headphone jacks on the Babyface work around 30 ohms also.

But then, after you record you may want to compress the signal going into the recording, so either you can do that perhaps in Logic or the other but then I use Sonar so I am not sure what you get with the recording software. I also have a Windows computer so all that would have to be checked out for the Mac, but the Babyface and RME come out with drivers to suit the purpose.

The only other things I use are a Digitech box or a Boss ME-25 like or some other effects which usually by the way can be stereo in the output and all that has to be considered.

I have channel strips also which are low impedence outputs and the Babyface Analog 1 & 2 inputs support about anything, and the guitar unbalanced input on the side of the Babyface with the high impedence is more perhaps like a guitar naked then you may have other tools in the software to similate amps or distortion and other software with the say Logic program to make the sound different if you want that.

So that usually leaves the low impedence XLR inputs (analog 1 & 2) on the Babyface as the main inputs and the channel strips have compression and EQ in there and all of that so the recording comes usually out better if that type of equipment is needed.

Depends on how you will record in the end - loud and compress and the loudness wars that seem to generate nowadays with recordings or perhaps more like old analog type recordings in a sense but then it is digital and not analog like tape in the Past although Sonar has tape hiss kind of sims and cabinet sims and EQ and all that kind of stuff included with the program.

Well, how you record at least to me will be different than live playing, but the headphones out in the guitar amp the speaker is cut-off, and I am not sure about the low impedence outputs on the Fender Mustang III V2. but I suppose the speaker is also cut off when hooked up that way perhaps not, I found out the speaker is not cut off by those low impedence outputs made to go into a mixer board say for loud playing, but both have a headphone jack that can be used for recording also (mini 3.5mm plug).

Of course if you were in a recording studio you may have an old beat-up guitar and a mound of equipment like in this video packed in sort of like sardines in a can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exQRfHbSwn0

big_smile