Yes, I am using presets, snapshots, mute and fader groups etc. Starting to see how powerful TOTAL MIX is and why so many people swear by RME. I have also saved many custom DIGICHECK layouts - LOVE that metering!
So here is a long and very interesting story that might help some random person if they happen to stumble onto this post and have a similar issue as it pertains to guitar DI tracking. This is something I never, ever would have noticed if I was not dedicating time to learning DI and REAMPING. I have never actually listened to what any of my guitars sound like as a bare DI signal. I'm always playing through super high gain stuff and just chugging away.
I have a TON of guitars, 60 or more... mostly all pointy head rock/metal shred stuff, especially Ibanez and USA Jackson/Charvel. I've soldered in just about every high gain pickup you can get from Duncan, Dimarzio, EMG, Suhr, and they all sound diff and play diff and I love them all.
So on to my point of the story. As I'm recording the guitars, I am using DIGICHECK and looking at my ANALOG 1 input level (this is the DI from Countryman Type 85) and shooting for a -4dBfs to -6Bbfs peak on my absolute hardest right hand bashing of strings. As I am doing the level setting of the DI into ANALOG 1, the actual DI sound itself is MUTED in totalmix and I'm only hearing the delicious chugga chugga high gain lovely stuff from the Kemper (5150 or Mesa) that is coming out of SPDIF.
Here is where it gets super interesting. TWO of my guitars made CLICKING SOUNDS on the recorded DI! Not a DIGITAL DISTORTION TOO HOT, but a CLICKING sound and usually always on the most aggressive part of the rhythm. I am 100% positive they did not clip on the way in.
I re-recorded them as well as 6 other random guitars and listened back. Again, those same 2 guitars have the CLICKING sounds in the DI and all of the other guitars are perfect. I then switched to SPDIF output to record them thinking maybe it was teh DI box or maybe ANALOG 1. Nope, same results. Those same 2 guitars have a clicking sound inside of their DI's, none of the other guitars did, so clearly it is something specific to those 2 guitars. Can you guess what it was??
PICKUP HEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lowered the bridge pickup on each guitar by about 2.5mm and all of the clicking is GONE! HOLY SHIT. One guitar was an Ibanez RG3120 with a TONE ZONE and the other was Ibanez USRG30 Custom, oddly enough, also with a TONE ZONE in the bridge! Sooo.... It's a bit odd that both guitars happen to have the same pickup in them and perhaps this pickup is very sensitive to its height? Don't know, and I'm not going to raise pickups on other guitars to see if I can make them click, too. In this case, those 2 guitars are now click free after lowering the bridge pickup slightly.
My main #1 rhythm guitar has a Duncan Nazgul in the bridge and it is set REALLY HIGH up and does not click at all, so this does lead me to think it's something specific to those Dimarzio's, possibly?
That's my story. If you ever get clicking on your guitar DI and you are positive you are not clipping going in, check your pickup height. End story.