I just can't get a good recorded guitar tone

[The Elf]

Only you know your budget, but for 56 quid, including VAT and delivery (assuming you're in the UK) it's not worth skimping, IMHO.

[Aled Hughes]

The Apollo Twin’s Console software allows you to play through their amp sims in real-time with (almost) no latency using the Unison tech.
Does this also sound horrible? If you don’t have the UAD amps there’s a free trial.

[RyanMW]

The Apollo Twin’s Console software allows you to play through their amp sims in real-time with (almost) no latency using the Unison tech.
Does this also sound horrible? If you don’t have the UAD amps there’s a free trial.

I guess I wouldn't say horrible, but no, I don't like it. There's still latency. it could very likely be due to my computer which I'm hopefully upgrading soon. I've actually never played DI with what I would call zero latency. There's always something and it's always bothered me.

[Aled Hughes]

The Apollo Twin’s Console software allows you to play through their amp sims in real-time with (almost) no latency using the Unison tech.
Does this also sound horrible? If you don’t have the UAD amps there’s a free trial.

I guess I wouldn't say horrible, but no, I don't like it. There's still latency. it could very likely be due to my computer which I'm hopefully upgrading soon. I've actually never played DI with what I would call zero latency. There's always something and it's always bothered me.

The UA Console/Unison is not dependent on your computer- it runs in real-time on the Apollo hardware, which is why there’s no latency.
You load the plugin in the Unison slot in Console, NOT your DAW, and you listen to the signal through Console (again, NOT through your DAW).

Maybe try this without your DAW open, with just Console running and your guitar going straight into the Apollo’s high-Z input, and monitor directly via Console, then insert an amp sim in one of the Unison slots. At least this will determine if it’s latency that’s putting you off or not, and the UA amp sims really do sound good to my ears.

[RyanMW]

The Apollo Twin’s Console software allows you to play through their amp sims in real-time with (almost) no latency using the Unison tech.
Does this also sound horrible? If you don’t have the UAD amps there’s a free trial.

I guess I wouldn't say horrible, but no, I don't like it. There's still latency. it could very likely be due to my computer which I'm hopefully upgrading soon. I've actually never played DI with what I would call zero latency. There's always something and it's always bothered me.

The UA Console/Unison is not dependent on your computer- it runs in real-time on the Apollo hardware, which is why there’s no latency.
You load the plugin in the Unison slot in Console, NOT your DAW, and you listen to the signal through Console (again, NOT through your DAW).

Maybe try this without your DAW open, with just Console running and your guitar going straight into the Apollo’s high-Z input, and monitor directly via Console, then insert an amp sim in one of the Unison slots. At least this will determine if it’s latency that’s putting you off or not, and the UA amp sims really do sound good to my ears.

I've actually tried this in the past and the latency was still an issue for me. I can give it another shot though, it's been a while and maybe I'm misremembering. I own a few of the UAD amp models, including the silver jubilee. I think they sound pretty decent -- I'm a big fan of UAD plug-ins in general. But again it's really the "feel" that bothers me more so than the sound. I'd ideally like to be able to dial in a tone I liked and record it in a way that feels like actually playing through an amp, but I realize this may not be totally feasible with my gear at the moment.

[Peevy]

I hope I’m not hijacking this thread, but as the topic is on recording guitar, I’m wondering if I may ask a question?

I’m not a guitarist, but my usual setup to record an electric guitarist is:

1. To use a DI box to record the clean guitar and use the DI box thru to send to a guitar amp and record the amp with a mic (mics) or …

2. Only record clean guitar via a Hi-Z input on my audio interface and use software to create the guitar effects, amps and the likes within the computer.

However, I’m going to be recording an electric guitar without an amp, but with the guitar going though a pedal board. My understanding is that the signal coming from the pedals is still instrument level and can be plugged into a Hi-Z input on my interface. But I’m wondering what’s the best approach to be able to record out of the pedals and also record the clean guitar at the same time before any pedals are involved?

Will it work if I plug the guitar into the input of the DI (and record the clean guitar to a microphone input on the interface) and use the thru to go into the pedals and record the output from the pedals into a Hi-Z input on the interface? (DI box is a Radial J48)

[resistorman]

Will it work if I plug the guitar into the input of the DI (and record the clean guitar to a microphone input on the interface) and use the thru to go into the pedals and record the output from the pedals into a Hi-Z input on the interface? (DI box is a Radial J48)

Yes

[resistorman]

But again it's really the "feel" that bothers me more so than the sound. I'd ideally like to be able to dial in a tone I liked and record it in a way that feels like actually playing through an amp

You should play through an amp and mic it.

[Peevy]

Yes

Thanks resistorman

[Music Wolf]

Some good tips already but here is a general observation from and aging, very average, guitarist with more gear than talent but with a lot of miles on the clock.

Guitarists trying capture the sound, and feel, of their amp in the room is an age old problem. The fact is that, even in the best equipped studio with the best Engineer, the recorded sound played back through studio monitors or headphones is going to be a very different experience to that of standing in the same room as an amp and cab being played at any sort of volume. I’m very lucky in that I have a number of very good amp sims (Kemper, Helix, Sansamp, Marshall JMP pre-amp plus others that I no longer have or have forgotten about) I’ve also recently acquired a lovely 50 year old Fender Pro Reverb and, whilst it’s not really suitable for home recording, one of my bands rents a studio one evening per week which gives me the chance to play and record it at volume.

The recorded sound of the Kemper with a Pro Reverb profile loaded is every bit as good as the recording of the real thing, the experience of playing is totally different. As resistorman says, if you want the ‘feel’ then play through the amp and mic it whilst standing in the room. If you can’t do this at home then rent a space for a few hours.

[Wonks]

I was going to write along similar lines to Music Wolf.

I think a lot of your issue is that hearing recorded guitar sounds through headphones is never going to sound like a real amp in a real room, and less about negligible latency (e.g. 3ms is just like sitting 3 feet away from the amp). We don't stick our ears right next to the speaker cone when we play (but that's where we put the mic), so we hear a very different tonal balance that's influenced by the room frequency response and with added natural room reverb. But that room sound amp sound is rarely what you'll want on a recording.

So, is it worth trying to modify the sound you hear through the phones with some extra reverb and EQ, whilst keeping the sound recorded as-is?

[Guest]

I don't understand where this latency is coming from.

If you have the Apollo set up correctly then direct monitoring would give you less than 2ms if using UAD plugins and basically no latency if monitoring with no plugins.

So where is the latency coming from?