Reamping my protools mix through outboard

[Dr Gris]

Do your preamps in the lunchbox have line in?
What preamps are you using?
If you only have mic input you have to convert the line level
from the UC to mic level, otherwise you' ll have a level and impedance mismatch.
I' ve built my own but I know you can by these.
Do a search for line to mic adapter/pad.

Good luck!
M

[adamgggg]

Thank you for the information. My preamps are FiveFish X-72s, but I was thinking of getting some with a line level input. Line to Mic adapters seem pretty cheap.

Would a re-amp device have the same effect?


Adam

[Chrisc_o]

For the record: re-amping is the process of running a recorded signal into an amplifier (as in a guitar or bass amp system), micing a speaker cabinet and recording the result.

Simply running audio through outboard gear is not "re-amping", so a re-amp device is not required. Try a DI.

[Dr Gris]

No, reamping means that you take a line level signal (anything you have previously recorded) out of your soundcard or what ever, and connect it
to a reamp box that converts the signal to hi Z, wich means a high impedance
signal. And that means the signal now is like a signal that comes from a guitar, bass or keyboard. This is a cool thing and can be used on many
things. The most popular is of course to reamp guitar. When you record the electric guitar you plug the guitar direct in to a DI input of your preamp or soundcard (Hi Z DI input) and record. Then you plug a balanced line cable from a balanced out of your soundcard into the reamp box, and from there you connect a regular guitar chord (unbalanced TS) to a guitaramp and rerecord the guitar through the amp with a mic. That way you can first record your guitar at home and not disturb anybody, then you bring your laptop, soundcard and reamp box to your rehearsal studio where you can crank up the volume and rerecord the guitar as loud as you want and get some nice amp distortion.
A reamp box can also be used if you have some nice effect pedals you want to use, for instance a MXR phase pedal on a mono drum overhead mic
Or a vocal track trough a dist pedal, sure beats most amp simulator plugins!
Your mind is your limit...

And by the way, FiveFish preamps are a very good for the money.

I hope I made some sence...

Cheers
M

[Silent Sound]

I guess there's no official definition for what reamping is. However, I agree with Chrisc_o on this one. In my experience, you don't need a reamp box to reamp anything, though it can often help to improve the quality. You do, however, need an amplifier and a microphone that is recording what ever pre-recorded signal you have going through that amp. If you're not running it through an amp, then you aren't reAMPing. I would call what the OP is attempting something more like "Bouncing/Routing/Looping through hardware". It's a common practice and probably deserves a more efficient name, but I don't guess anyone's given it a good one yet.

In any event, I wouldn't look to a reamp device. They're more for guitar signals and such. You're not dealing with those super high impedances here, so I don't think a reamp box would do you any favors. Have you tried bypassing the preamps and just using the compressor? Since you're dealing with line level the whole way through, the compressor ought to work fine in this case without a preamp.

[Chrisc_o]

True: re-amping into guitar pedals is accurate as well, but you seem to agree with me that "Re-amping" into a studio processor not designed to receive the signal from a guitar or bass is not actually "re-amping". Using outboard studio gear while mixing is not "re-amping", it simply processing.

[RiF]

Originally Posted by adamgggg

However, the sound is tinny and metalic.

Are you sure that you don't monitor the 1&2 outputs and the 3&4 inputs as well? "tinny and metallic" reminds me of the sound you get if a delayed track that runs alongside a nondelayed track. The amount if delay you get from the conversion to insert your outboard can produce this effect.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by RiF

Are you sure that you don't monitor the 1&2 outputs and the 3&4 inputs as well? "tinny and metallic" reminds me of the sound you get if a delayed track that runs alongside a nondelayed track. The amount if delay you get from the conversion to insert your outboard can produce this effect.

my thoughts, too.

[adamgggg]

Thanks for the detailed replies everyone. I guess a re-amp device is not what I need for this task though owning one is something that will more than likely happen in the future given the creative possibilities. The Line>Mic adapter the first respondent suggested seems to be what I need.

Are you sure that you don't monitor the 1&2 outputs and the 3&4 inputs as well?

You might be onto something- I still haven't quite got my head around the RME Totalmix software, and was having trouble setting up so that I could only monitor the compressed signal... Time to give the old manual another look I guess...

Yeah I like the FiveFish preamps a lot. Trouble is, more and more cool stuff is coming out for 500 series...