nice and clear. Other videos seemed to overthink it and make it seem technical for some reason. It's literally just putting your interface on zero and adding or subtracting a few dB's--it's not rocket appliance.
Hi! I have a beringher umc1820 and the manual says that the Max input level a instrument is 18dbu it means I have to increase the input of the plugin to 5.8? Thanks for the info!!
Hey I know I'm late, but i've just found your vid!! So I have the SSL2 interface, with maximum input level of +15dbu does this mean, interface at zero gain and increase input on neural dsp by 2.8? Thank you for this information!! Also It's kind of weird why developers don't release this sort of knowledge!!!!
Thank you bro! I got a steinberg UR22C and the manual states that Maximum Input Level for the HI-Z INPUT 2 is +9.0 dBV , is that means I should convert it to dBu (which is 11.22dBu) ? Thankyou again!
Hey! I looked into my audio interface Roland Duo-Capture EX's website and user manual, and the closest thing I could find to "Maximum Input Level" on the specs was "Nominal Input Level", which is: INPUT 1, 2 (XLR type): -60 to -12 dBu INPUT 1, 2 (1/4-inch TRS phone type): -46 to +2 dBu Does this mean the value I should be looking for is +2dBu, considering an 1/4-inch TRS phone jack type is the one we use for guitars/basses?
Hey there! I watched your other video, and I seem to be mixing up information. I have a Scarlett solo (v2) who's MIV is 13db and I use Neural DSP(Gojira). I think the other video said the plugin is around 9.5 instead of 12.2; so I've been adding 3.5db to my input in the plugin. Is that correct, or should I be keeping it at 0 (or +0.8)? Thanks; I'm learning a lot from your channel.
Hey Ed, I use an Behringer UMC202HD which seems to have an max input level of -3dBu on instrument Setting. Where to set the plugin input level? Greetings
You’ll have to use the pad, as at minimum gain it’ll still clip very easily. With the pad engaged, you’ll have 17dBu of headroom with gain at 0 (you can use the Prism Lyra row in the spreadsheet to find plugin input values)
Alright, thanks. I did not understand that 100%, but I try to figure it out. Is leaving the Input Level in the software at 0 and increasing the gain (with Pad on) on my interface till it starts clipping, than backing it up a little bit, a propper way to do so?@@eds4754
@@eds4754 This is a huge help. allways recorded with PAD, and now struggled with not clipping the DI without PAD. But now i seriously don´t know how to dial in my DI signal without the Gain knob on my Interface. Any tricks or tips here? :)
@@eds4754 The Behringer UMC202HD. That is why i answered directly here. With the PAD the DI is at around -25 db. Sound is absolutely fine. Im more concerned about the visibility of thenplayed Notes in my DAW. inmeannit doesn't matter if it soundsgood i guess. it's just weird to have a barely visible wave.
Hey man you seem to know what your doing for amp sims so I just want advice on gain settings for amplitube 5 when using it with my motu M4 please and thank you
Hi Ed. Somewhat related question here. When recording analog sygnal (real amp>load box with IR's (captor x)> apollo twin {LINE level} Where do you preffer to have the input level set in the UA console? I know it does compress a bit... Any input would be great! thankx!
When recording the output of an amp/load box, anywhere below clipping is fine. Obviously you don’t want to be really quiet, but if your peaks are anywhere between -6 and -20 you’ll be absolutely fine.
hey man, Im currently using a focusrite scarlet 4i4 4th gen running the inout at miniun and 0 in ndsp, the signal is extremely weak do you know any fixes? is pad on by default? Thank you
Do you have a multimeter and reamp box? or a signal generator? You can measure it yourself, I made a video before on measuring DI input levels that shows how
I feel like the actual input gain reading in the DAW is a more accurate measure. Because not all instrument outputs the same signal level. Or am I missing something?
the point is that all instrument outputs are different, we don't want to disrupt this - a high output pickup SHOULD have a higher level than a low output single coil. If we match them to a set dBFS level then this relationship is gone (and hard to guess after the fact). So its much better to match the amount of available headroom to what the plugin is using, and then you can record guitars at the same setting and the gain response will be accurate for ANY guitar (or other instrument).
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jXKZqJtjLkg.htmlsi=16plwPD-UgWuBXoD in this video and the link in the description will help. Or, another way of thinking of STL Amphub+Tonality is to set it 7dB higher than for NDSP. So follow the advice here and then set Amphub to +7
The goal is to get the same gain response when using a plugin as you would when using a real amp - when you plug your guitar into a real amp, is it normal to use a volume pedal to turn down humbuckers so they’re the same level as single coils? The point is that higher output pickups hit the amp sim proportionally louder than quiet ones. If your interface has around 12dBu of headroom you should have a loud signal that is just below clipping with humbuckers. as long as you aren’t clipping, then you’re good. using the same setting for all guitars means you’ll preserve the correct difference in level between different instruments
@@eds4754 Playing hard as i can with hot pickups and focusrite solo i peak upto -6db is this a problem or like you said, as long as theres no clipping im good
Edward, can you please help me work this out? Using UR44C which specifies Hi-Z input as maximum input level of +9 dBV. P.s. subscribed to your channel as it seems you have loads of great content I need to go through :)
ha it can be confusing. dBu and dBv are both measuring analog, dBFS only exists in digital. This topic is all about the relationship between how a particular analog signal is represented in digital. There is no set rules, all converters have their own definition to what analog volume=what digital level
thanks for this! however, some guitars have hotter pickups than others. shouldnt this be taken in to account? my guitars volume is quite low. should i still keep my gain on the interface at 0?
The main thing is knowing your input headroom - this means you can adjust accurately for any amp sim. If you want to record at +10dB higher and then reduce by 10dB in the plugin, that’s absolutely fine. The only thing that really matters is having enough headroom for any guitar, and not being too quiet. Most interfaces are spec’d so at 0 you are right in the sweet spot already.
@@tendingtropic7778 If your interface has 20dBu of headroom, that’s about 8V. Humbuckers don’t usually output much more than 3V RMS so I think that’s ample. Most interfaces are 10-16dBu, 20dBu is fine but if you have stepped controls I’d probably aim for about 15dBu (that’ll be a signal that’s fairly close to clipping for the loudest guitars while still leaving a little room).
Hey Ed so if I have the Volt 1 like the one in the video should I set the neural dsp input level to +0.3(I am asking cuz I saw your other longer video) or leave it at 0? Thanks
Good stuff. I have a second gen focusrite solo which is 13dBu, so +0.8 input. Question though - are there any changes that need to be made to account for active pickups to get the best sound from neural plugins? Edit: My mistake was that my battery for my active preamp/pickups was dying and everything sounded distorted - I thought my pickups were TOO hot. Classic!
@@eds4754 what's interesting is that the 2nd gen manual says Max input level for 0 dbfs is +12 dBu (min. gain, pad in) which means pads are engaged. But what I feel is that with pad on and 0 input gain, signal is too weak.
@@eds4754 why not just boost the QC by 2.3? Sorry just a little confused. I can see where setting to zero would help if your interface input is too hot, but if not why not just raise the input on it rather than the plugin?
@@kevinwhite6172 makes no difference ultimately, you can boost in either place (although less chance of clipping your converters if you boost in the plugin). I dont have a QC, but does boosting the input level drive the QC amps harder? or is it only on the clean DI output?
@@eds4754 I’m also not sure how accurate the numbers are from these companies. I have a Audient id4 and a Scarlett, both say 12dbu. The Scarlett clips like crazy with the gain a zero, and the Audient has to turned up over half way before it clips.
No, the point is that whatever pickups you use and how they’re set up, the model will respond like plugging into the real amp. Hot pickups drive the model harder, just like they would the real amp.
Im using the behringer euphoria um2, the maximum inout level is 2 dbu, so that means i need to reduce the input to - 10.2?? Also does it also work for amplitube 5?
@@adibrayyan1909 yes, -10.2dB to match to 12.2dBu. With Amplitube, the required levels aren’t consistent so different amps require different input levels. IK won’t provide any information either so all we can do is guess. Many seem to be around -3dBu or 0dBu, but they can vary a lot either side of that too. I (and a guy called Mathias) have done some videos specifically about it that may help.
How do you set the plugin input level for PRE-RECORDED DIs though (since the audio interface gain is already baked in in the tracks, and you most probably don't know with what interface and interface gain it was tracked, etc) ?
@@djabthrash it doesn't matter. All you're doing is matching the DI level to what you would get with your setup and then adjusting the input gain on the ampsim accordingly.
I am using the Focusrite scarlet solo 3rd gen. I have mine on the hi z input, gain all the way down. Input and output on plugin are both set to zero. Seems my signal is usually into the yellow/barely into the red on my daw (Logic Pro). What gain setting should I be using for the mics on the cabinet selection? I usually run 2 mics... Im having a hell of a time getting a great sound out of my plugins (Gojira x and Fortin cali). Buffer size is 64 and sample rate is 44.1. Ive been on many many forums, and cannot seem to find help anywhere on this matter.
You can use any level after the amp as they won’t overdrive. If you are using analog modelled plugins you might want to make sure you aren’t too loud or quiet, they typically use somewhere between 4dBu=-16dBFS or 4dBu=-20dBFS. It varies a bit plugin to plugin, but it’s easy to just trim up or down as needed.
Ok so with behringer 404 its 3dbu, with pad enabled(20dbu) it becomes -17dbu, am i then increasing plugin gain to 4.8? Geez i hope this right cos my head is hurting
@@eds4754 I was wondering if you have any idea of the baseline level plugin alliance use for orange rockerverb and engl savage? , I have those two plugins but the manuals show nothing
@@eds4754 well, that kinda sucks. Thank you for the quick reply though, I appreciate it Also, if you don't mind me asking, do you happen to know how should I set the M-Track M-Audio Solo? I really couln't find the "maximum input level" for this model on their site Sorry to bother you but I'm really terrible with this kind of tech stuff. And thank you again
@@SpoonFinder I have no idea. It’s possible to measure if you have a reamp box, or another interface that you know the specs of that you can compare with. I have some videos showing how
i've set up my scarlett 8i6 accordingly but i still get clipping on the interface input on my hotter pickup guitars (chapman and schecter, my gibson SG is fine, all passive pickups). would enabling the PAD and then adjusting the plugin level to fit that (14dBu so set the plugin volume to +1.8) be a suitable solution?
Yeah, you can use the pad and readjust but it’s likely to be 10 or 20dB. You could either use the pad and then add gain and measure the headroom (or how much gain you are adding), or just clip the A/D occasionally. If it’s 14dBu I’d imagine it’s not clipping too often and probably won’t be noticeable - for reference, a standard 9V pedal would clip well before 14dBu
@@eds4754 yeah when I plug in to my old fender mustang modelling amp and set it to the “DI” amp setting I can hear that it clips the input on that too so not surprised that a normal pedal has those same shortcomings. I’ll have an experiment with the PAD settings and if I get a less “clippy” result
@@CarloCabiling-r6r Cool! You can basically set the interface to minimum and leave NDSP at 0 and you’re good. Or if you want to be perfectly accurate you can add 0.3dB in the plugin input
@@eds4754 Hey Ed, first of all thank you for all your great work. I have the same issue. if i set my interfaceinput at 0, turning the knob completely left, then i have no signal coming through... i use the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 MK1. Would be awesome if you could help me out! THX!
depends how much it’s clipping really. If your interface has a pad, you can engage that and then boost the same amount in the plugin. Or you could go into a line input with active pickups and use the specs of that. Or you can use a DI box that attenuates the level a bit, or just find an interface with more headroom for instrument inputs.
@TomMAF4 1M Ω input is best for guitars because that is the same load as plugging into an amp, so you’d get the same response from the pickups. Actives are essentially already buffered with their internal preamp so they are less fussy with what impedance they are plugged into. Ideally though, a guitar should be plugged into a high impedance unbalanced instrument level input for the lowest noise and best performance. What interface are you using?
What about the hi z inputs 1 and 2 on the UI24R? It’s says Max Input level +19,5. Should I then turn up the input in the plugin by 7,3 with 0 gain on the hardware? Thanks in advance
But what if I dial in this exact amount of gain on the hardware dial, would that give me a different result? Sorry if it’s a stupid question. Would love to finally understand it all. Thank you in advance 🙌🏻
@@boristubeti6776 the goal of this whole thing is that the level you set the gain to on the plugin would match the gain of the real amp at the same settings for anyone on any guitar
So if I’m lacking gain after this procedure, do I gust compensate it in the plugin amp itself? My presets just seem to respond differently with this settings and it seems like I need more gain now. Thank you for clarifying 🙏🏻
@@eds4754 I contacted PositiveGrid and received these 2 replies: 1) 'While we don't have the specific specs about the input gain to share, our DSP team recommends using -6 dB, which is the standard at the time of sampling measurement. As a personal suggestion, you could try -9 to -6 for single coils, and -6 to -3 for humbuckers. Ultimately, it's best to experiment yourself and go with what sounds best to your ears according to your specific gear!' And: 2) 'I believe the simplest approach is always the best. While I'm not very familiar with your particular audio interface, it should have a way to indicate you how close you are to clipping in your input signal. My suggestion is that you think of the exact point where you clip as 'zero', and set your input gain below that. How close to zero you should set it is purely a matter of taste. Inside of BIAS FX 2 Software, you will also have a virtual input gain meter available. Follow these simple steps: 1. Inside BIAS FX 2, use the virtual input gain meter and set it to around -6dB. 2. Play your guitar as hard as you can to test the input levels and ensure you're not clipping. 3. Adjust the gain on your interface in small increments if needed, in order to find the sweet spot that sounds best to your ears. This approach allows you to maintain a clean signal without unnecessary gain before hitting the plugin.' I'm so confused. I have a MOTU M4 (+16dbu max level). Should I set my interface at 0 and input gain on plugin to -22dbu to get their recommended -6bu? Thanks for your time.
@@fouryearsbehind well done for trying at least, it seems that’s the best advice we’ll get (which imo is not an ideal response). You can get to their intended range any way you like - I usually like knowing exactly what amount of headroom I’m using (so keeping gain at 0) just in case I want to try other plugins or reamp later on. It’s for you to decide :)
Just a comment for those who have a focusrite 2i2 (Both version one and version 2 of the manual, which is good up to gen 3). I took a look at the user manual and it states that there’s +9 dBu at minimum gain, so set NDSP sims to -3.2 to get the best results.
@@eds4754 yeah I was wrong about that my bad I had some numbers mixed up. It’s +12.5dBu so your video is still correct haha. Half a dB either direction won’t change much so set it all to zero is the way to go
I use audio assault vst only, my interface is Bheringer 404hd input level is -3 i set the gain at cero without the pad engaged I have the input and output of the vst at -12 gain -3 I doing it right This is so complicated the signal I get is -6 db😂😂😂
This doesn't work for S-Gear. The resulting input into that plugin is waaaaay too low. You have to ramp up the gain on your interface again. However, the zero setting is ok for Bias FX2 and Neural DSP (e.g. Tone King II).
@@eds4754 Thanks. I'll need to check again. Maybe something daft I've done. When I tried a couple of hours ago (S-Gear 3.1.2), using preset 0 (American Clean), the Input and Output LED's in the IO device at the bottom were barely registering. I had to turn up the audio interface to get a suitable level. I also checked out a few other clean patches and the same low level issue was present. I didn't need to do this with BIAS FX2 or Neural DSP's Tone King II. Of course, my settings in TotalMixFX (the interface's control software) might not be optimal. However, that possibly doesn't account for the drop in signal seen in S-Gear.
@@eds4754 Yeah. That's what I was thinking. So gain at 0 on my scarlet solo and boost .7 dB in the digital input meter on native? Irrelevant of signal strength ln the meter? I might be wrong. Thanks for the quick reply.
@@KoffyGG yep exactly. that will give the same gain response as the HW Helix modellers, and would be the most accurate gain response for any guitar or pickup. You'd just ignore the meters, loud pickups will look louder than quieter ones and all will be accurate.
@@eds4754 gotcha. I play bass though but it still applies. I will try this ASAP. I've always found the bass amp models to break up super early on the gain meter but I boosted the gain meter until I reached -18 dB on the meter in Reaper/helix.
