Direct recording

The definitive headphone guitar amp.
sammy777

Direct recording

Post by sammy777 »

I've read the Rockman X100 was often used in studios in the 80s to record directly - does anybody know the details on how this was done? Right now I'm using a UA Arrow interface and even with the maximum of 65 db gain from the preamps the signal is quite weak, and doesn't sound nearly as nice as plugging headphones into the headphone jack.

Were Rockman headphone amps paired with a strong additional preamp before going into a studio board? Or do studio boards usually give more than 65 db gain? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
RockmanCentralBob
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:10 am

Re: Direct recording

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

Don't use the headphones out, use the auxiliary out (the large one besides the input).
sammy777

Re: Direct recording

Post by sammy777 »

Thank you very much for the tip! I'll give it a try once I find a suitable cable. Do you know what the technical difference is between the large output and the headphone output? Is it related to the impedance? I'm also thinking of trying to use a DI box because I noticed the signal was stronger when I put one cable into the single high Z instrument input on my interface. Also interesting is that in the manual it says to use the headphone jack when plugging into a mixing board or a cassette player, and the larger 1/4" output for a portable cassette/radio.
RockmanCentralBob
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:10 am

Re: Direct recording

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

sammy777

Re: Direct recording

Post by sammy777 »

Yep! So unless Tom made a mistake, he is recommending to use the small output to record to a mixing board. I've found the larger 1/4 output does indeed give a stronger signal, but I'd bet the standard practice was to additionally use a transformer to deal with impedance. Unfortunately I'm getting some hiss in one channel of the large output that isn't present in the small one :(
f550maranello2
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:11 pm

Re: Direct recording

Post by f550maranello2 »

RockmanCentralBob wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 12:23 am Don't use the headphones out, use the auxiliary out (the large one besides the input).
Hmmm.. My X100 has way more volume out the headphone jack when plugged straight to the mixer.