Auria and FF Plugins – A way to learn how to record and mix properly ?

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Floch
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Auria and FF Plugins – A way to learn how to record and mix properly ?

Post by Floch » Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:25 am

Hi there !



Just bought (a few days back) Auria (not pro) for my Ipad (Pro) and tried to have fun with it for a few days. I’m into guitars (mostly acoustic these days) and wanted to upgrade a bit my home recording studio (was recording with Cubase and Cubasis). I have a zoom H6 and an AT2020 which is plugged into the zoom !



I’m quite a rookie in this recording « art » and no matter what I do I cannot get, with my DAW, near to what I hear and what I would like to hear when I record my guitar… I use both – simultaneously - the XY caps of the Zoom and the AT2020 to capture the sound (24bits 96hz), both are directed toward the 12th fret and where the neck meets the body, 20/30 cm away from the guitar. Gain between 6 and 9 out of ten so I keep the signal in the « green zone » (gain may vary depending on the Mic sensitivity, and whether I pick or strum).



But when I try to record, the track keeps its « hiiiiiss » from the background (even if the room is fairly quiet – gain too high ?), sounds a bit dry and remains, most of the time way too low (always need to push the volume up to get a decent level).



Then I struggle AF to increase the signal without altering the integrity of the file (the background sound is becoming louder, too much peaks, the sound is sometime crackling – meets the limits of my headphone, so it doesn’t sound pro at all haha). I mean, the sound quality is definitely better with this setup (got the zoom recently), but I feel that I could obtain wayyyyyy better results than this (and when I see some of the tracks that have been recorded with the zoom, like Josh Lee Turner on YT for example, I’m almost sure the hardware is not involved… the problem has to be me !)



I am still working on this but I realize that I feel like a « chicken with a fork » when it comes to play with the internal Auria tools.



I was wondering if the fabfilter plugins would help me in my journey to record properly a warm, wide, clear and clean sound of my guitar (most of the time I play at home on my Martin DJR) and leave behind this nightmare of « upgrading the hardware -> realize that I still suck at recording -> wondering if this is an hardware issue -> upgrading the hardware » ?



If yes, do I need to start with the Pro-Q2, Pro-C2 and Pro L or do you believe that one or two may be sufficient at the beginning to see a difference (it is still a bit expensive though) ?



Thanks a lot for your help and sorry again for this rookie question…



Thanks a lot,

Florian

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richardyot
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Re: Auria and FF Plugins – A way to learn how to record and mix properly ?

Post by richardyot » Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:47 am

Recording acoustic guitars is hard :)

So first of all with digital recording it's important to keep the gain low - if you're getting hiss then the gain on the Zoom is too high and the electronics are being pushed too hard. Reduce the gain and record a quieter signal. Then once recorded you can increase the gain in Auria: select the recording on the timeline and go to Process --> Gain and add 10 or 20db to the file (but make sure none of the peaks clip, you can check by looking at the waveform, it should not touch the top or bottom of the box). This will give you a clean recording.

A 2020 aimed at the 12th fret is going to result in a bright recording. Many engineers like their acoustic guitars bright so that they can cut through a mix. If you want a warmer recording you are going to need to experiment with mic placement, because where the mic is placed is going to profoundly affect the sound.

You might want to try the mic higher up, say at just below head height (when sitting down) and in front of the soundhole. This should give you something warmer, but it's tricky to get warmth without boominess so try different mic placements until you find something you like.

Also the 2020 is IMO a fairly bright mic to begin with, but unfortunately replacing it with something warmer is likely to be expensive. Just for some suggestions warmer mics could be something like an Octava MK319, an Aston Stealth, A Violet Design Atomic, or a Shure SM7B (although this last one also needs a really powerful preamp). There are lots of mics out there, all of which have different characters. You can also just try adding some EQ to your AT2020 recordings to remove some of the top end.

Finally yes the FabFilters can help with the mixing side, they are really good plugins, but the most important stage is the source: getting a good recording is half the battle.

Floch
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Re: Auria and FF Plugins – A way to learn how to record and mix properly ?

Post by Floch » Thu Mar 07, 2019 1:57 pm

Absolutely wonderful!!! Thank you very much for your reply!! Will try this tonight to see the difference !!
In addition I think i’m Gonna try the pro q2 first (struggling to use the default fx box )!

Floch
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Re: Auria and FF Plugins – A way to learn how to record and mix properly ?

Post by Floch » Thu Mar 07, 2019 3:10 pm

Ok just a Quick update, I already see a huuuuge difference !!!!! I cannot Thank you enough for this!!! Indeed I slightly moved up the 2020 (above the sound hole) and the h6 (a bit lower, Closer to the neck), reduced the hardware gain (and used the Process gain) - tried quickly the EQ - and this is NIGHT AND DAY!!! Less hiss, warmer, cleaner and smoother sound (still manage to get good brights !). Still not perfect but I start to understand what was wrong !

Will work from this but I am Already really happy! I can work from this point (and thanks for the suggestions Of new mics, probably for the next gear addict syndrome crisis hahaha)

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