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I have a couple of amp in a box preamps...but what do you use to get a great clean warm sound direct to a DAW?
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05-14-2025 04:14 AM
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TC Combo Deluxe '65.
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A DAW software Amp plugin?
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If you're looking to go the modeling route, I don't see any compelling reason to spend any more money than a ToneX one. All of the modeling units can pretty much get comparable results. ToneX one is the cheapest, I believe has the lowest latency, and since you're intending to record with it, you'll probably be doing the bulk of the tone editing in the DAW anyway.
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Scuffham S-Gear amp sim, either the Wayfarer or the Custom '57.
Originally Posted by RobKay
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I have used a lot over the last few years. Boss Gt1, Boss Gt1000, Hx stomp, Fractal Fm9,Tonex one, analog ones like Sansamp Blonde, Quilter Phantom block, lots of others I've borrowed from friends..
All of them sound great when you listen to the video/audio on YouTube etc. But if I mik my Princeton reverb it still sounds/feels way better to my ears/hands. There's always the option of adding some sound manipulation on the DAW.
So my opinion is that it doesn't really matter, if you want to use something like that then buy the best you can afford and work with it. The sound does improve though the higher you get price wise. Fractal effects especially are awesome. But amps still sound digital to me.
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We don't know if you want a software solution or a preamp-like solution, outside of the computer. For non-software solutions, I have the TC Combo Deluxe '65, the Tonex One Pedal, and the Fender Micro and Micro Plus.
The Tonex One Pedal is the one with the most possibilities, but its user interface leaves a lot to be desired. It takes a fair amount of diving through the interface, and the pedal itself gives you very little information. The Fender Micro Plus (a considerable update to the Micro) has a much more pleasant and easier-to-navigate GUI, and once you have narrowed your choices down they are easy to find on the actual pedal, with a nice LED readout.
The Combo Deluxe has very few options, but it is dead easy to get a clean sound right out of the box. It is about $20 more than the other two, but it's my favorite, with the Fender coming in second.
The Tonex One pedal, however, has the highest volume outfit of the bunch, IME. And if you really like the technical aspects, and love to pore over manuals and dive through an interface, it's the one for you.
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ART TubeMP tube preamp, especially the version with the knob of many settings (v3?). Straight from the guitar to the TubeMP to the input to the DAW. Adjust your EQ in the DAW.
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For simplicity sake and great tube amp like tone, the new Tone King Imperial preamp.
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Completely forgot about the ART TubeMP v3. I have only used it with acoustic guitar and voice... what setting do you use for an archtop, if one may be so bold as to ask? Originally Posted by Cunamara
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I have a DI box with a UTC A-11 transformer that I like a lot for guitar and bass.
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I am presuming by your explicit use of the word "direct" that you are not looking for answers that involve mic'd up speakers; you're looking for a great clean warm direct sound that doesn't make any sound in the room (at least not until it hits the recording equipment and then is monitored) ...right? Originally Posted by RobKay
(Sorry, I'm probably overthinking semantics; your use of the word "direct" after the word "sound" has me wondering if there could possibly be some other interpretation.)
Anyway, I have several options when I want to record "clean" & "warm" guitar directly, but the ones that are truly "great" are either:
- a CountryMan Type 85 direct box, feeding the mic input of a Demeter VTMP-2b tube microphone preamp (and then feeding a Lucid AD9624 analog-to-digital converter, and then to a MOTU 2408 interface)
- as above, but skip the CountryMan DI and just plug into the front-panel instrument input on the Demeter preamp
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I’ve got one of these and I tend to use the ‘neutral vocal’ setting for my 175. Originally Posted by Ukena
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Another vote for the TC Combo Deluxe '65. It is to my ears better than what I can get with Ampitube or Ampire (ampsim VST that comes with Studio One DAW). The TC just sounds like a tube amp and is simple to tweak.
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These days I use a Boss GT1 straight in the USB port. It’s has a decent amp sim of a Fender black panel - which tbf have been decently modelled since the 80s. I mostly bought it as a multi FX so the sound interface aspect is an unexpected plus.
The one thing it lacks compared to more modern solutions is IR’s. So it can sound a bit flat if you aren’t using reverb or delay. I just use a Two Notes IR plug in just for the room, which here is a small room with hard surfaces which gives a naturalistic slap back that I quite like:
A little bebop guitar.... then the improv runs away... #jazz #guitarist #jazzguitar #music #bebop - YouTube
You could use a normal reverb of course, but even so I find the model sounds a little close miked which I never really like for jazz.
Your more modern modellers, Line 6 etc will be able to do this in the pedal even in inexpensive units
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A warmup, wow, IMHO this is a very high level of playing ability, that needs to be seen and heard on a wider screen. Truly excellent Bebop facility.
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Audient Sonotube:
Overview - Audient
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I've been using the original ART Tube MP since it came out 30 years ago. It's still in production and now sells for a still very reasonable $130. This is one of the cleanest, warmest, jazziest preamps I've ever heard. It really wakes up SS amps, and it's a wonderful signal source into DAIs, house systems, powered speakers etc. It'll goose a small combo amp to noticeably higher volume if the amp and speaker will handle it (be careful !). It even fattens up class D amps like the BAM200, which is not sterile on its own. Originally Posted by Cunamara
The newer models in this line have more bells and whistles. The TubeMP v3 has a glorified varitone switch, and the bigger models have a digital output and a compressor. There's also a "dual" model that has 2 channels, but it doesn't have a tube in it. I haven't used the one with USB out. But it's most probably excellent for direct USB input to a DAW, if you're satisfied with the limited resolution it'll pass. I can;t find a spec, but I'm pretty sure it's limited to 44.1 or 48. Since 44.1 is standard CD quality, I doubt that it'll matter for home recording. But most decent little DAIs today will go to 192, and even simple recording programs like Audacity can handle that for a slight improvement in sound quality.
The simple Tube MP will give RobKay the "great clean warm sound" he seeks for very little money, and it'll keep doing so for many years. The ones with USB output will go directly into a DAW.
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I have the great inexpensive StudioProject VTB1 Tube preamp gathering dust on my shelf, I should give it away to someone to use. They were the best preamp at the low price about 20 years ago. I home recorded a lot of stuff with the StudioProject VTB1.
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Thanks! Originally Posted by GuyBoden
A warmup, wow, IMHO this is a very high level of playing ability, that needs to be seen and heard on a wider screen. Truly excellent Bebop facility.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Here’s a video I did a few years ago with Dutchbopper where I used the Art Tube V3.
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Does anyone have a recording example using the TC Combo Deluxe 65?
I use a Boss GT-001 currently. which does the job, but the TC looks interesting
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I recently recorded my Eastman AR810CE by simply plugging the guitar into an inexpensive passive DI (Behringer DI400P), then connecting it to the XLR input on my recorder (Zoom H8). If I were recording to a DAW I would have connected it to the XLR input of an audio interface and had the same result. After rolling off the treble and mids on the recorder I was quite happy with the result.
Active DI’s are often recommended for magnetic pickups since the transformers in passive pickups can affect treble response. But for a clean warm tone I thought it worked well. The active DI I tried added some hiss. With the passive DI I just heard the pickup. It also has a ground lift switch, which can sometimes solve noise problems.
The passive DI didn’t distort or compress the signal. I could have used those effects in the DAW/recorder, but in the end I was happy with just a bit of hall reverb which adds some warmth.
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For tc combo deluxe 65 jazz example: Originally Posted by gps
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...deluxe+65+jazz
Doug
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Thanks for your thoughts, just picked a joyo ac tone up from a friend and thought i would just try it to record direct into presonuis studio one, not sure what to think really....guitar is just a telecaster made from car boot parts and a cheap Roswell charlie christian pickup, must admit i'm intrigued by the tc electronics unit.
Regards
Rob
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