CamdenRob Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Morning All, Bit of advice needed here. I’ve picked up one of those little boss micro multitracks (BR-80 I think it’s called) at the weekend to start recording some of my solo bass bits a bit better quality than the old youtube video approach. I know it’s not top quality, but it’s small, convenient and seems to do everything I need it for at the moment. I’m having a bit of an issue with recording higher register chords. I seem to have a good strong clean bass sound for recording basslines and higher register melodies but when I try to record chords I seem to be getting distortion. I’m playing chords high up on a sixer so they are not stupendously low notes and they sound fine through my amp / cab setup. I’m also having the same issue playing simple two note chords on my four string. If I drop the input level really really low I can pick them up cleanly but then I get loads of hiss. The level meter is nowhere near peaking but yet the signal is still distorted? I’m getting this issue whether I run straight into the input or via the DI out of my amp and also if I use the line out of my amp. I’m at a bit of a loss…. Don’t know if I need a high pass filter? Is my bass creating frequencies that are peaking the input that I can’t hear? Why do I only have this problem when playing chords? I’ve very limited experience with recording and I’m hoping there is something obvious I’m not doing. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Are there settings on the Boss unit to determine the input type (i.e. line in or microphone for e.g) or possibly an input pad to reduce the level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) [quote name='steve' timestamp='1371454872' post='2113972'] Are there settings on the Boss unit to determine the input type (i.e. line in or microphone for e.g) or possibly an input pad to reduce the level? [/quote] Yeah there is a mic / line switch which I've got set to line and there is an input sensitivity pad which I've got set to the maximum -12db. I can't work out where the clipping is comming from, its not a visible clip on the level meter. Seems odd its only when I play chords? Rob Edited June 17, 2013 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Can you try recording into your mic input in your pc/mac to see if you can replicate the problem there? if you can that would remove the Boss unit from the potential list of culprits. Are the chords you're playing very dense with small intervals, it may be a select group of frequencied which are distorting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) [quote name='steve' timestamp='1371455912' post='2113983'] Can you try recording into your mic input in your pc/mac to see if you can replicate the problem there? if you can that would remove the Boss unit from the potential list of culprits. Are the chords you're playing very dense with small intervals, it may be a select group of frequencied which are distorting? [/quote] Thanks Steve, I think thats my next port of call. I'll investigate a bit further and try and eliminate some more posibilities. It just seems odd that its fine with single notes but as soon as I attempt a chord (any chord) it distorts... Might even be my headphones or something? I'll try some different monitoring options when I get home from work tonight. Edited June 17, 2013 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 no worries, good luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 OK... bit of a random one this. I've got those fender cables with the white tips, loads of them all different lengths. They are all less than Three months old and I've never had an issue with them. In fact I liked them so much they are the only brand I've bought. The clipping problem when recording chords refused to go away, I tried everything to no avail. Then by random chance I plugged my Spector straight into the BR-80 using an old Piranha cable and bingo, no distortion, no clipping... all my other basses are fine too. I've since tried all my fender white tips (8 cables) and every single one leads to clipping when recording chords. Both my old Piranha cables record fine. I'm assuming this is a random quirk with the combination of a particular type of cable and a particular type of input.. Anyway, all sorted and hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff down this weekend Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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