Audio / guitar sampling

You'll find plenty of info for impedance matching especially googling DIY DI box

Ultros wrote:if your source is unballance it doesnt matter if you send it down a ballanced feed line you're still already losing signal

Correct , but by using the pseudobalanced connection you reduce the noise floor

Ultros wrote:mixers do impedence matching?

they might have the classic buttons (HiZ instrument, phono for pickups, etc....)

Ok last reply, i did some research and some thinking. Consider this, a guitar is an unballanced source. The jack is a TS jack. Using an ballanced trs cable wont make it a ballanced source, the same as running your unballanced TS cable into a mixer that is ballanced. You would still be susceptable to rf interference on the line from guitar to input device regardless. Whether its 10 feet of ts before a ballanced mixer or 10 feet of unballanced cable to the mpc its the same thing merely adding another filter so to speak to the circuit to have to deal with.

Ultros wrote:Ok last reply, i did some research and some thinking. Consider this, a guitar is an unballanced source. The jack is a TS jack. Using an ballanced trs cable wont make it a ballanced source, the same as running your unballanced TS cable into a mixer that is ballanced. You would still be susceptable to rf interference on the line from guitar to input device regardless. Whether its 10 feet of ts before a ballanced mixer or 10 feet of unballanced cable to the mpc its the same thing merely adding another filter so to speak to the circuit to have to deal with.

It's called pseydo balanced (not true balanced) .And you must use a TRS cable (tip,ring,sleeve) and you must cut the ring and connect it to the guitar , the other side (unchanged) το the mixer
That way the noise from the cable that it's not connected (the ring) will be summed on reversed phase on the mixer (due to the balanced input) , so it's canceled .
You must read how balanced connection works , eg
https://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/

SakisX wrote:
It's called pseydo balanced (not true balanced) .And you must use a TRS cable (tip,ring,sleeve) and you must cut the ring and connect it to the guitar , the other side (unchanged) το the mixer
That way the noise from the cable that it's not connected (the ring) will be summed on reversed phase on the mixer (due to the balanced input) , so it's canceled .
You must read how balanced connection works , eg
https://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/

you rock, thank you for taking the time to explain the logic of how to correct it. I'm familiar with ballanced and unballanced signal, just i was hazey on how exactly people pulled it off physically / electrically on the guitar side.

this thread sent me down a rabbit hole earlier today hah.

64hz wrote:You know you bought a sampler, right? What kind of guitar are you trying to record, electric?

And? SP404 MK2 Is a sampler too, but you can just plug in your instrument cable and the thing has amp simps built in for your guitar action.

It looks like there is an update coming with amp simulators soon.
I used an EHX Super Ego to convert guitar level to line level and enter into Mpc.
It worked fine and Super Ego is cheap.
Now I switched to a Boss GT1000core which works beautifully but much more expensive.

alexbuga wrote:Get a Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp. It has nice effects and sounds dope.

Yep. Great little bit of kit. Shame it doesn't work as an audio interface, but cable it up and it's good.

I use an inexpensive effects pedal to boost my electric guitar input to line level. Works fine.

What is electric guitar better for recording samples? Can I just have any, or is there a specific kind of them intended for that?
I would also like to record some more sounds for my library, and I wonder what instrument I might need to look for. I have many friends with good guitars, and I can ask for one from any of them. They also have the [ur=https://ironageaccessories.com/lbest guitar accessories[/url] ever, and I might even find something for recording better than I have now.
Anyways, I need to know what to look for, at least because now I don’t understand what guitar is better for recordings.

Ultros wrote:I dont use any extra equipment i record guitar directly into channel input 1 (mono). Guitar > ts patch > mpc input. Crank the sample volume and turn the guitars knobs up. It will work fine and prpbably sound way better than if you pass it through some hum introducing piece of hardware before entering the mpc. As a general rule if your items dont need a phono preamp or mixer inline to increase amplitude don't use them. If you capture on a minimal low/no-noise circuit you can normalize or crank the volume later.

Another fun tip is you can actually run a band off the mpc.. lol you can put a guitar into the left input, one into the right input, set up your fx chain WITH MAXIMIZER (hint wink elbow nudge!) and plug in a keyboard and have 4 people playing. Keys, drums and two guitars. Mind blown right? The force is even cooler for that stuff.

yah, my bad,i thought it wouldn't handle hi-z inputs correctly, in fact i did some test and was able to have a decent sound with guitar plugged in and using the Air Amp effect.

hyena wrote:you can record\sample only two kind of signals in the mpc live:
1)line level signals (cd players, computer, synths, line out from guitar amps)
2)phono signals (turntables)

you cannot sample\record:
1)mic level signals (they are too weak and need preamping, you can try but you'll have a very low level and when you normalize it you'll have tons of noise)
2)hi-z\instrument (high impedance) signals (electric guitar\bass directly from the pickups)

I have an Ibanez bass, and I run it direct into my MPC Live II and/or Force and record it just fine. No noise, no amp, no DI box, no mixer - just the bass over an unbalanced guitar cable. Sounds great. My pickups run off a typical 9 volt battery. Volume on the bass is usually around 75%.

Guess I'm lucky?

No, it‘s just what to expect from an active bass... it sends a low impedance line level signal
But don‘t underestimate passive basses (high impedance and no active circuit): I once measured a p-bass (dimarzio pu) which produced about 500mV output when strings were hit solid.

High/low impedance has no influence on signal level, but influences the sound.
Rule of thumb: the amp‘s input impedance should be 10 times higher than the source impedance, otherwise the source will (usually) be influenced in an unpleasant way.
(it‘s hard to describe, because it‘s not just damped high frequencies, but the thing sounds strange... there will be a sound output, though, just not what was intended)

Guitar (or bass) PUs usually have an impedance between 20-100kOhm, so a hi-z input is typically 1 MegOhm to cover the range.
In the end it’s more a matter of taste, other than input sensitivity of mic preamps.
ps: the PU impedance is not the Ohm value that you measure with a multimeter, it‘s higher because the inductive part (the coil) of the PU is ignored.

aramapromising wrote:What is electric guitar better for recording samples? Can I just have any, or is there a specific kind of them intended for that?
...
Anyways, I need to know what to look for, at least because now I don’t understand what guitar is better for recordings.

Bad news: the guitar only has a small influence. The major part is the player
So it depends on your chops, otherwise you can use almost any current instrument.
The good news: quality (of budget guitars) has increased mighty in recent decades.

Telefunky wrote:No, it‘s just what to expect from an active bass... it sends a low impedance line level signal
But don‘t underestimate passive basses (high impedance and no active circuit): I once measured a p-bass (dimarzio pu) which produced about 500mV output when strings were hit solid..

Yeah, my Ibanez bass is indeed active! That said, my Epiphone Swingster hollowbody electric is passive, and it works absolutely fine going direct into both MPC or Force. Signal is clearly a bit lower than my active Ibanez, but slap an Amp Sim on as well as a Maximizer, and it slaps. Crystal clear, too! I'm guessing those pickups on the Epiphone are excellent. So, in matters like this - it absolutely depends on the guitar you're using with your MPC (or Force), player "skills" aside...

In the end your ears decide
The rule of thumb (input impedance 5-10 times the source impedance) doesn‘t always apply. I have some 800 Ohm mics that perform flawless on 3kOhm inputs.