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Help with first audio interface

2K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Joel 
#1 ·
I received my first proper audio interface yesterday (Audient iD4) along with some Beyerdynamic DT770 pro headphones and really like the build quality and feel of them.

The only issue I'm having is that when I tried the Neural DSP plug in for quiet recording at night, the sound was relatively muffled, with some audible pops and crackling.

This issue isn't present when I'm just listening to music, or watching video, but only appears in the plug in software. So far the noise doesn't occur when using my Kemper either.

Signal is -- Guitar > Mogami 3ft cable > D.I input of Audient iD4 > USB cable to PC running Windows (i5, 16GB DDR3). I don't have monitors plugged in, just the headphones out the headphone output at the front of the interface.

I set the DI gain so that it doesn't clip, but the output seems to be clipping a little bit.

Does anyone have any ideas on why I'm getting the extra noise, and why the tone sounds distant and muffled?

Sorry if this is an obvious question, I just have little to no experience with this.
 
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#4 ·
Could be a buffering issue. Try setting the buffer in the Neural plugin a little higher. Not enough so that latency becomes a problem, but enough to create a bigger buffer.

In all honesty, I never play from my Scarlett interface directly into a VST. Latency is always a problem, and I never get the right feel.

Instead, I use my Axe-FX 2 as my guitar interface, recording only the input signal. While recording, I monitor using the internal AFX2 sounds rather than a VST. Since my AFX plugs directly into my monitors, I'm thus bypassing the PC altogether for monitoring purposes. I then reamp the recording of the input signal through a VST (usually Neural) while I'm mixing or tracking other instruments.

You should be able to do this same thing with the Kemper. The key is to record only the Kemper's input signal, bypassing all its internal modeling and effects.

You can then take your pick of how to reamp it--through the Kemper, if you want, or through amp VSTs.

The easiest way to do this with the Kemper might be to use it as your audio interface, rather than the Audient. Honestly, it probably has a better DAC in it than the Audient does.
 
#5 ·
Yeah I will probably end up using the Kemper. I think the sounds are better than anything I've heard in Neural DSP, I just got the free trial to see what the fuss was about. It was just frustrating me to hell so I ended up giving up and just using the Kemper instead. I'd still be interested to get it working properly as an alternative quick and easy jamming tool though.

Thanks for the help!
 
#6 ·
Yeah I will probably end up using the Kemper. I think the sounds are better than anything I've heard in Neural DSP, I just got the free trial to see what the fuss was about. It was just frustrating me to hell so I ended up giving up and just using the Kemper instead. I'd still be interested to get it working properly as an alternative quick and easy jamming tool though.

Thanks for the help!
I wouldn't be so quick to write off the Neural. I just see amp VSTs as fulfilling a different purpose than modeling amps.

VSTs simply aren't a very good playing experience, but good ones (and Neural ones are mostly very good) offer a way to get great guitar sounds in your mixes more easily, once you've recorded a basic guitar input tone. In my recordings, I use a mix of Neural VSTs and Axe-FX re-amping. The latter I mostly use for Fender-ish clean tones, which Neural doesn't do as well, and oddball tones like Vox or Hi-Watt, which Neural doesn't do at all.

For metal tones, I'm finding that I dial in better tones in my mixes with Neural. This is largely because I can tweak amp and cab sim parameters in the full context of the mix with doubled rhythm guitars etc. That's harder to do with re-amping an AFX or Kemper. A professional producer/engineer obviously knows what they want going in, but I'm far from that--so the ability to edit amp/cab parameters directly in my mixes is a huge plus.

Also, the cab modeling in both AFX and Kemper is more of a static "snapshot", while the cabs in Neural (and many other VSTs) allow you to experiment on the fly with different mics and mic positioning.
 
#7 ·
I received my first proper audio interface yesterday (Audient iD4) along with some Beyerdynamic DT770 pro headphones and really like the build quality and feel of them.

The only issue I'm having is that when I tried the Neural DSP plug in for quiet recording at night, the sound was relatively muffled, with some audible pops and crackling.

This issue isn't present when I'm just listening to music, or watching video, but only appears in the plug in software. So far the noise doesn't occur when using my Kemper either.

Signal is -- Guitar > Mogami 3ft cable > D.I input of Audient iD4 > USB cable to PC running Windows (i5, 16GB DDR3). I don't have monitors plugged in, just the headphones out the headphone output at the front of the interface.

I set the DI gain so that it doesn't clip, but the output seems to be clipping a little bit.

Does anyone have any ideas on why I'm getting the extra noise, and why the tone sounds distant and muffled?

Sorry if this is an obvious question, I just have little to no experience with this.
as jacksonplayer mentioned, this sounds like a buffering issue. The Audient DACs should be fine, they're a noticeable upgrade compared to other budget interfaces. I'm using an Audient iD44 straight into Reaper with Ignite Emissary amp VST freeware to monitor guitar for practicing/writing at home. I'm able to set my buffer size to 32 samples at 44.1Khz for a 2.4ms roundtrip latency. I get no pops or crackles or delay in sound from strings picked to hitting my ears...this is in conjunction with running SD2 at the same time for drum backing tracks. This is pretty low latency and might not be achievable on all systems, but I find it hard to believe that the Audient is having trouble with one standalone plugin. If you're not using the iD software with the Audient, I'd suggest downloading it. Set your sample rate to 44.1Khz and your buffer size to 512 or 256 samples, go from there. Just make sure numbers match up in the plugin you're using, I know some DAWs or plugins will override the sample rate/buffer size of your interface and vice versa. Also, make sure to click "store standalone rate" in the iD software so these settings don't change everytime you fire up your machine. Hope this helps
 
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