[cowparsleyman]

Apart for a dead quiet signal chain, using really good quality cables such as van damme, sepearate mains adapters, recording in a faraday cage  one of the easiest ways to get really excellent detail to your recordings is to record at a sample rate least 48kHz and a bit depth of 24bit.

Sample rate is just howmany slices of the sound it takes in  48kHz means it takes 48,000 slices, 44.1 means 44100, so you get nearly 10%  improvement in resolution...

44.1khz is the standard, but it doesn't mean it's YOUR standard, you'll get a much finer resolution in your recordings, which can be reduced by dithering down to 44.1.

Try it, it really does make a difference, but you computer needs to be pretty beefy and have a good sized RAM (I use 48gb)

Good luck...

[ChrisPrice]

I agree with most of this..especially the 'faraday cage' I've never been entirely won over by the 48k vs 44k thing. I think it depends a lot on the quality of what's being recorded. I understand the basic theory of it but, having tried both - and 96k, I'm not sure that I'm really hearing the difference. I know others will disagree. It might just be my old ears of course.

[cowparsleyman]

@ChrisPrice - i know  what you mean, i also tried 96, but i know that’s not worth it due the sensitivity with my input devices, and my recording environment.

I get a load of stems come my way for mixing and producing and few few sparkle with 48k clarity even digital synths, quite surprising, maybe the don’t gain stage…

…and i dont spend long periods when I’m mastering, keep it fresh.

[CorkingCrackBand]

Thanks for this tip @cowparsleyman. I'm trying to understand all this jazz a bit better since switching to DAW from an analogue system and it's been a steep learning curve.

   The biggest difference I've noticed (recording) is that my acoustic guitar sounds shit, whether through a mic or electro/acoustic. It just sounds thin and tinny without any of the depth and warmth I used to get. It's annoying because I'm writing a lot of songs on the acoustic at the moment and after Blue Lights (a song I recorded and am unhappy with the guitar on) I'm concerned about commit anymore acoustic to recording. I'd say about 1/3 of my output has historically used acoustic guitar, so it's a real limiter. I appreciate that this is vague as hell but is there something obvious I'm missing? Both the mic/lead method go via an audio interface but otherwise I'm doing nothing different.

CCB

[cowparsleyman]

@CorkingCrackBand - You're welcome CCB, Acoustic guitar is one of the hardest things to mic up to sound as it does to your ears (Piano, acoustic drums are others) . I never rely on DI for my acoustic tracking.

I'd need to know a little bit more about your setup as it was before and how it is now.
(Thin and shit is usually a phasing issue, check you haven't pushed in the phase (phi symbol)

If it's not that then
What is the guitar?
How heavy are the strings?
What is your mic (s)?
Where do you have your mic pointing and how far away is it?
If you are using 2 mics do you use  a well known pattern of spacing?
Your Audio interface?
Are you DI ing and mic'ing?
What's Your DAW?
What headphones are you using to listen when you are recording?
How close to 0dB is your input signal?
Do you prefer Cadburys or Galaxy chocolate?

Rgds

Rich

[CorkingCrackBand]

Oh wow. I just got timed out after a long response. Words were uttered. Non-PG words. 

My apologies but I'll be more brief than I was first time.

Epiphone Excellente / Vantage 12 string

Don't know - still factory strings

Sennheiser e865 and Shure SM 58

Various angles + distances to little material effect re the tinny problem, obvious it effects the sound in other ways. It definitely sound better through mic tha jack but it's still a problem.

NI Komplete Audio 6

Are you DI ing and mic'ing? I don't know.  the mic (if playing 'acoustically')/jack (electro acoustic) goes into the AI and then to the computer via usb. Both vocals and electric guitar seem unaffected by the issue.

Ableton Live

Sennheiser  HD 215

dB obviously varies but no higher than about -6 to -4 dB at loudest

Cadbury's but I'd take a galaxy caramel bar over a Cadbury's caramel bar.

If you listen to the first 20 seconds or so of this you'll hear the BEST (with EQ/effects etc) I could get the guitar to sound. It was supposed to be a man and guitar song but I had to drown out the guitar with other instruments as I couldn't get a clean sound.


https://soundcloud.com/lee_boyes-128832399/blue-lights?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Flee_boyes-128832399%252Fblue-lights

Thanks for the help Rich, even if it's a lost cause 

CCB

[cowparsleyman]

@CorkingCrackBand - To me it sounds like you had it DI'd into the AI, this is why I never do this, I pretty much always use 2 small condensor mic's spaced about a head's width apart (Konig and meyer do a great one) this emulates the space between the ears, so the sound when played back, so this is the Stereo mic arrnagement, there is also another one.. MidSide (where the mics are above each other) which is actually my favourite, and gives slightly different results.

Maybe read up a bit on mic'ing acoustic guitars, IMHO just forget the DI method if your recording environment allows it (background noise, space etc.)

it's just how I do it, and it works for me...there's no right way.

Here's an example, frm a few years ago...(Midside method)

[CorkingCrackBand]

I'll do some research. I used to have a condenser mic and sold it. Certainly your song contains rather better sounding guitar than mine!  I suspect to condenser mics will be winging there way to me within the day.
  Cheers for taking the time.

CCB

[pompeyjazz]

Can recommend this mic - I think @cowparsleyman might have one too ?

https://www.thomann.de/gb/se_electronics_x1a.htm?glp=1&msclkid=711c4353ce4d1dcbe4f7275ca3582e05

[CorkingCrackBand]

Can recommend this mic

Can, eh? Sounds a bit 'tinny' to me. Horrible word...   

Thanks. here goes the retirement money again... 

CCB

[cowparsleyman]

@CorkingCrackBand - your condenser mic is fine, ni need to buy another one. 

I use Rode mics, an NT2a and a NT3 and a AKG c1000s which isn’t as detailed as the rodes, which i use for amp micing and stereo acoustic mic’ing

[adamfarr]

Hey CCB - agree with all this - you'll probably need to experiment with the mic placement (near 12th fret seems a good place to start) and distance (how much string noise, how much room ambience etc.).

I don't know how long you've had the geetar but one thing struck me - new strings! I'm not really a regular player but I change mine once at least a year "whether they need it or not".

[cowparsleyman]

@CorkingCrackBand - Your Sennheiser e865 is a condenser mic (c. £200), it's an electric small diaphragm, and needs phantom power. it's fine for an acoustic gtr and vocals, a large diaphragm would be more detailed. I can recommend @Pompeyjazz - X1a, and my Rode NT2a (which has some very handy features)

@adamfarr - is right about strings, and I've always sworn by long ish nails, thaey add clarity and a decent bit of treble. btw I've just put some really light Newtone strings 20-42 on my acoustic (due to smashing my hand up on a bike accident) and it sounds as I expected, crap, now 11-52 are fantastic. I tried Thomastik but found them souless, they lasted forever but just didn't sound right to my ears.

Anyway hope this helps

[CorkingCrackBand]

Anyway hope this helps

It does - my thanks to yourself, @pompeyjazz and @adamfarr for the advice. The thing I don't get is why this has only become an issue in the digital set up. I'm happy for that to remain a mystery, however.

Ta all

CCB