Weak Volume When Recording Guitars

[EJinCho]

Hey guys,
I've got a problem recording my guitar from an amp. I record using my shure sm57 against my amp. The mic is plugged into my US 122L TASCAM AUDIO INTERFACE. For some reason the recording is too quiet. The only way I can capture enough volume is if I turn the mic volume on the mixer almost all the way up, which causes the feedback to get louder. Maybe it's the cheap amp jack that I'm using? Maybe the sm57 is made to only record at high volumes? Maybe it's my audio interface? I'm not sure. Yes I would like to crank my amp up, but I live in an apartment complex:- /

Thank you.

[Seafroggys]

SM57 is a weak microphone. On my preamp, I have to turn it to the 3 o'clock position to get a decent gain out of it.

[Motleyguy]

Yeah, the SM57 is not very sensitive. It's a dynamic mic, so you need lots of gain on your mic pre's. Try recording during the day sometime, as you'll get a better sound with a louder amp anyways (especially if it's a tube amp).

[Moseph]

Hey guys,
I've got a problem recording my guitar from an amp. I record using my shure sm57 against my amp. The mic is plugged into my US 122L TASCAM AUDIO INTERFACE. For some reason the recording is too quiet. The only way I can capture enough volume is if I turn the mic volume on the mixer almost all the way up, which causes the feedback to get louder. Maybe it's the cheap amp jack that I'm using? Maybe the sm57 is made to only record at high volumes? Maybe it's my audio interface? I'm not sure. Yes I would like to crank my amp up, but I live in an apartment complex:- /

Thank you.

I'm a little confused, but I think maybe it's because you're misusing words.

Describe your setup. I think it's something like this:

guitar --> amp --> SM57 on amp --> Tascam US 122L --> PC

However, I'm not certain what you mean by "mixer" (I'm hoping you mean the US122L), "feedback" (I'm hoping you mean amp noise), and "cheap amp jack" (I'm guessing you mean the input on the guitar amp).

I'm also not sure what you mean by "too quiet." Are the meters not doing what you'd expect them too? Is the playback too quiet?

I don't know the US-122L particularly well, but make sure there's no hardware compressor or limiter on the input too. It's probably not the reason (those are typically designed just to prevent clipping on low-end models), but it's a possibility.

[Happy_Squirrel]

Hey guys,
Yes I would like to crank my amp up, but I live in an apartment complex:- /

Thank you.

Since you live in an apartment, you might want to think about investing in a DI guitar recording setup, like the Toneport:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-Toneport-GX-USB-Recording-Interface?sku=241406

Even if you get a condenser or ribbon mic, you'll still be hard pressed to get a great recorded sound because most guitar amps don't sound their best at low volume, which is obviously what you're limited to in an apartment.

[EJinCho]

I'm a little confused, but I think maybe it's because you're misusing words.

Describe your setup. I think it's something like this:

guitar --> amp --> SM57 on amp --> Tascam US 122L --> PC

However, I'm not certain what you mean by "mixer" (I'm hoping you mean the US122L), "feedback" (I'm hoping you mean amp noise), and "cheap amp jack" (I'm guessing you mean the input on the guitar amp).

I'm also not sure what you mean by "too quiet." Are the meters not doing what you'd expect them too? Is the playback too quiet?

I don't know the US-122L particularly well, but make sure there's no hardware compressor or limiter on the input too. It's probably not the reason (those are typically designed just to prevent clipping on low-end models), but it's a possibility.

Ok sorry, let me clarify. I do not have a mixer.... i thought I deleted that word. By mixer I do mean the US122L. By feedback.... I mean... a humming noise I start to get when I have to turn up my mic volume almost ALL THE WAY up on my US122L just to pick up the sound of the guitar. And I did not mean amp jack.... sorry... I meant the MIC JACK. The mic jack that is connected to the microphone which I am using to record the guitar coming from the amp.

By too quiet... I meant that.. in order to get a somewhat decent volume for recording my guitar, I have to turn the volume up on the US122L up almost all the way up. Which I guess is the play back volume. It just doesn't feel right having to raise the volume up on the interface almost all the way up just to pick up SOME sound.

I'm starting to think maybe the recording program..(GARAGEBAND) can be a factor.

[Seafroggys]

the humming noise could be a 60 hz ground loop.

[EADGC]

Is your guitar up? Amp up? Interface up? Volume control on your computer up?

it could be any combination of these

[Moseph]

Ok sorry, let me clarify. I do not have a mixer.... i thought I deleted that word. By mixer I do mean the US122L. By feedback.... I mean... a humming noise I start to get when I have to turn up my mic volume almost ALL THE WAY up on my US122L just to pick up the sound of the guitar. And I did not mean amp jack.... sorry... I meant the MIC JACK. The mic jack that is connected to the microphone which I am using to record the guitar coming from the amp.

By too quiet... I meant that.. in order to get a somewhat decent volume for recording my guitar, I have to turn the volume up on the US122L up almost all the way up. Which I guess is the play back volume. It just doesn't feel right having to raise the volume up on the interface almost all the way up just to pick up SOME sound.

I'm starting to think maybe the recording program..(GARAGEBAND) can be a factor.

I think I'm starting to get an idea of the problem. It sounds to me like a physical connections problem, or a confusion about what each gain control is doing.

1) I'm still confused, by "mic jack" do you mean "mic cable", the input connector on the US122L, or the output connector on the microphone itself?

2) Which volume is turned up? The "playback" volume will be the headphone/output volume, which shouldn't really need to be that loud. Looking at a photo of the device, this dial is labeled "PHONES/LINE OUT."

However, the "input" volume will control the microphone preamp on the US122L, and this will likely need to be pretty high. Looking again at a picture, this dial is labled "INPUT L." Make sure you're connecting to the XLR (labeled "MIC IN L") connection, and not the line/guitar level connection. This is key, because the line level inputs will bypass the preamps, and in my experience it will sound pretty similar to what you're experiencing.

3) Can you post a brief recorded clip of audio? Somewhere like MediaFire would be fine. Hearing the behavior might help me figure out what's going on.