Im trying to run my samples out my mixer tru a boss metal screamer and back in but the sound seems to be very weak,i know that there can be problems with impedance and different levels of signals and all that crap,any ideas on what i should be doing and what to look out for?Im asking because i would like to build a collection of different pedals for processing samples thru.Any help appreciated,cheers
I haven’t re-sampled in a while, but this is the only thing I can
throw out as a lure for you to fish with, hopefully you’ll find
something useful.
site:proguitarshop.com impedance
This is a hack example, though I admit I wasn’t concerned about
impedance at all. I used some simple RadioShack routing cables,
so I could hear computer beats and play my guitar outputted
to the same computer speakers (not pro monitors). I forget the
scheme of it. The mastering is shit, the recording had some crackles
and some noise floor but overall I was ok with it.
Signal flow went a little something like:
computer (beats) or guitar > pedals > record to jamman solo (sdhc card) > load back in computer
You need to grab yourself a DI box.
Thanks for the reply an active DI box is exactly what i need.Much love.
Im about to buy this d.i. box http://www.thomann.de/ie/radial_engineering_pro_48.htm as i said before i tried to run my samples out of my mixer thru a boss distortion pedal and back into my rme sound card,i was less than impressed with the effect of the distortion unit on the signal,also the gain had to be turned to maximum to get a crappy signal,is an active di box definitely what i need to remedy this?and if so do i connect the di box before or after the distortion pedal?Cheers 
/>
before. and it’s a reamp box you need. not a di.
edit: actually. is a di the same as a a reamp box? it’s subtle. regardless - the box I linked is a cheap way to do exactly what you want provided you can amplify the resultant instrument level signal back to line level. I’ve used it and it’s great.
Try checking out some “impedance matching” pedals like…
http://www.pigtronix.com/products/keymaster/
a bit more expensive due to additional features…
Some summary of rules and tips from soundonsound…
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/oct94/impedance.html
Just a quick tip… always check the return policy of the place you
wish to purchase your product from, online reseller or local store.
Thanks for the replies,looks like that Pigtronix reamp is the bees knees,so many things i want to buy…wish i had money. />
Generally-almost-always, guitar gear is hi impedance and pro/semi pro mic/mixer gear is low. Of course, they can be closer or farther apart depending on what gear you are trying to match up. In my experience with plugging this into that, low impedance into high might sound fine or might sound bad but high impedance into low usually sounds from bad to terrible/unusable.
A reamp box will ‘fix’ a signal from a mixer to work with guitar gear (low impedance into high). A d.i. box will fix guitar type signals to work with standard hardware mixer/mic stuff (high impedance into low). Differences in signal level are (should be) considered by these boxes, too. They are kind of the same device but opposite.
So, from mixer-> reamp box -> guitar pedal -> d.i. box -> back to mixer.
Your problem sounds very much like what happens when you plug a high impedance output into a low impedance input. Unexpectedly quite, muffled, maybe variations on fart sounds. But, I couldn’t say for sure. ‘Mixer’ is vague because you could be talking about an old school hardware mixer, DAW mixer through audio interface, passive signal blending mixer from radio shack, don’t know.
If you are talking about a hardware mixer but you also have a regular DAW-guy audio interface it probably has a guitar jack type input which would work like a d.i. box to your DAW. You could use that to test a bit by plugging your mixer into your stomp box and then into the guitar input on your m audio or e-mu whatever and listen through your computer. If it sounds fine there, you probably need a d.i. box. If it still sounds crap you need the reamp or both.
Buffered bypass effects such as Boss boxes usually are pretty good, as far as stompboxes go, at dealing with mismatched signals. Maybe not sounding ideal, but workable. Some are a little better than others. You can use these Boss boxes sometimes (in bypass mode) as ghetto reampers if you find one that works well at that. But something like a big muff or guitar amp is less forgiving.
To state the obvious, and I am sure that you are aware, stomp box distortions are far from hi-fi rack effects and are tweaked entirely with to work with guitar sounds and the countless iterations of these things can react far different with different material. To be honest, I’ve found tube screamer derivatives and overdrives to be the most adaptable and in a generic sense ‘best’ sounding with synths and beatboxes. But that’s just me.
Check return policy as has been suggested in case you misjudge and buy the wrong thing. The fancy pants Pigtronix Keymaster seems to be both devices in one box and some other awesome stuff. Crazy. If you really into it you may want both devices anyway, but this thing is a bit steep.
(Sorry long-winded post especially considering I am not an expert just a guy who plugs stuff into stuff a lot, I have a bro with a ton of crazy stuff and I always have to mess with it until he gets all hissy about it.)
This just got a glowing review in this month’s SOS magazine:
http://www.orchid-electronics.co.uk/Amp_Interface.htm
56 quid inc delivery!