Vinny554
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone. I've been on a hunt to upgrade my home setup for a while now and I've finally spent some pretty pennies on some new equipment for recording DI guitars. However, I'm running into some trouble and I'm really struggling on figuring out the source of my problems. Essentially, I'm clipping on my guitar DI's, but cant seem to figure out why since the units I'm using have great headroom. I record quite a bit of metal and all the subgenres, so heavy picking / chugging is expected.
Here's the breakdown of the setup and equipment:
My guitar is a PRS SE 7 string with Bareknuckle Blackhawks installed. One thing I've noticed is that the guitar tech had installed the bridge pickup fairly close to the strings. (see Image 1 attached for reference) This could be part of the issue, however if you read on, you'll see that there are still some other results that don't quite make sense. The Blackhawks are fairly hot regularly, but nothing atomic and they are passive.
I used to record straight into the DI port of my Audient iD22. While this works well, the Audient's DI is a bit bland in my opinion, and for the sake of re-amping on commercial projects I wanted to upgrade the DI. So, I grabbed the best DI I could research - an Avalon U5. Note: With the PRS + Blackhawks going into the Audient's DI, I would get near-clipping without the Pad -10db activated, so it would often need to be activated. For reference on what the headroom is like for the Audient's DI input, see Image 2 for reference.
Now I've got the Avalon and couldn't be more excited. So, I've run an XLR to TRS cable from the Line Out 600ohm output on the Avalon to the Insert Line Return on the Audient. This bypasses Audient's preamps, which is what I want. With the Avalon being a $600+ dedicated preamp and DI, I feel it makes no sense to run this into an inferior pre on the Audient. With the gain all the way down on the Avalon, I'm clipping upon strumming hard notes. Why?
I set out to figure out where in the chain this was happening. First, I plugged in my headphones to the Avalon's back headphone port and I can listen to the clean, raw DI signal. Upon strumming hard notes, it does sort of sound like the signal is clipping/popping. The strange thing is that the Avalon's headroom seems to be higher than the Audient's. (see Image 3 for reference) So why would the guitar be clipping going into or coming out of the Avalon, even with gain at 0? Multiple folks have told me their headroom is nowhere near clipping on their guitars and basses with the U5, including Bareknuckle Juggernauts or Ragnaroks. For S&G's, I plugged my headphones in the "Thru" port to hear the DI signal and still sounded clip-py. Odd. I continued in the chain to see if there were any other variables.
The Audient's Line Return has no option to switch from -10 / +4. See Image 4 for reference on the Line Return's specs. Could there be some sort of loss of headroom from coming out of the Avalon's Line Out to the Insert Return? As some suggested trying running a Mic Out from the U5 into the preamp of the Audient, as many setup their DI boxes, this did not clip but sounded much less appealing. The signal sounded muffled and a little lifeless. I also attempted running the Line Out to a regular Line In on the Audient (which still enables the preamps) and similar results here as well.
The best sounding signal, by far, is the Line Out on the Avalon to the Return on the Audient...but why the hell is it clipping? I'm so confused and frustrated, and I've spent quite a bit of cash on these units. The Audient was chosen specifically because it has the capability to bypass the preamps with outboard equipment. I have tried an old Ibanez with DiMarzio pickups on this setup also, and it does not clip but barely has any headroom and comes close. Could there be an issue with the Avalon?
Sorry for the long-winded post, but really desperate for help here. Thanks.
Here's the breakdown of the setup and equipment:
My guitar is a PRS SE 7 string with Bareknuckle Blackhawks installed. One thing I've noticed is that the guitar tech had installed the bridge pickup fairly close to the strings. (see Image 1 attached for reference) This could be part of the issue, however if you read on, you'll see that there are still some other results that don't quite make sense. The Blackhawks are fairly hot regularly, but nothing atomic and they are passive.
I used to record straight into the DI port of my Audient iD22. While this works well, the Audient's DI is a bit bland in my opinion, and for the sake of re-amping on commercial projects I wanted to upgrade the DI. So, I grabbed the best DI I could research - an Avalon U5. Note: With the PRS + Blackhawks going into the Audient's DI, I would get near-clipping without the Pad -10db activated, so it would often need to be activated. For reference on what the headroom is like for the Audient's DI input, see Image 2 for reference.
Now I've got the Avalon and couldn't be more excited. So, I've run an XLR to TRS cable from the Line Out 600ohm output on the Avalon to the Insert Line Return on the Audient. This bypasses Audient's preamps, which is what I want. With the Avalon being a $600+ dedicated preamp and DI, I feel it makes no sense to run this into an inferior pre on the Audient. With the gain all the way down on the Avalon, I'm clipping upon strumming hard notes. Why?
I set out to figure out where in the chain this was happening. First, I plugged in my headphones to the Avalon's back headphone port and I can listen to the clean, raw DI signal. Upon strumming hard notes, it does sort of sound like the signal is clipping/popping. The strange thing is that the Avalon's headroom seems to be higher than the Audient's. (see Image 3 for reference) So why would the guitar be clipping going into or coming out of the Avalon, even with gain at 0? Multiple folks have told me their headroom is nowhere near clipping on their guitars and basses with the U5, including Bareknuckle Juggernauts or Ragnaroks. For S&G's, I plugged my headphones in the "Thru" port to hear the DI signal and still sounded clip-py. Odd. I continued in the chain to see if there were any other variables.
The Audient's Line Return has no option to switch from -10 / +4. See Image 4 for reference on the Line Return's specs. Could there be some sort of loss of headroom from coming out of the Avalon's Line Out to the Insert Return? As some suggested trying running a Mic Out from the U5 into the preamp of the Audient, as many setup their DI boxes, this did not clip but sounded much less appealing. The signal sounded muffled and a little lifeless. I also attempted running the Line Out to a regular Line In on the Audient (which still enables the preamps) and similar results here as well.
The best sounding signal, by far, is the Line Out on the Avalon to the Return on the Audient...but why the hell is it clipping? I'm so confused and frustrated, and I've spent quite a bit of cash on these units. The Audient was chosen specifically because it has the capability to bypass the preamps with outboard equipment. I have tried an old Ibanez with DiMarzio pickups on this setup also, and it does not clip but barely has any headroom and comes close. Could there be an issue with the Avalon?
Sorry for the long-winded post, but really desperate for help here. Thanks.
