static when recording guitar

putwig · Aug 21, 2011

Hey all,

For a few months now I have been recording by plugging the headphone jack on my peavey Vypyr directly into the 1/8" "audio in" on my <1yr old iMac (current generation 27" running 10.6.7). Recording in garage band.

Every thing has worked great, till lately. The last couple times I have tried to record I get static in the recording every time I hit the strings with anything more than a very gentle strum. To be clear, this is static noise, not distortion.

The amp sounds fine with nothing plugged in to the headphone jack. Also, the static is not present when I plug headphones into the headphone jack on the amp.

I have tried two different 1/8" rca cables with the same result.

This static was definitely not present when I recorded previously. Any thoughts?

Sean

BrianLachoreVPI · Aug 21, 2011

Do you hear the static through the computer speakers with the guitar plugged in ?

You say you don't hear it with gentle strums - static is ambivalent about signal amplitude - perhaps you're overdriving the Garage Band input?

putwig · Aug 22, 2011

No, I do not hear the noise when plugged in and not playing. So, you are right , shouldn't be static.

The signal coming from the amp should not be distorted though. It sounds clean when I play into headphones. I have it set up as a "real instrument" in Garage Band with no effects. So, I don't know how "gain" would be added in Garage Band.

I am stumped. I record so seldom......really wanted to avoid a dedicated interface.

BrianLachoreVPI · Aug 22, 2011

Odd. When you record and play back with headphones are you hearing the distortion, or only with the computer speakers? Where's Robducky - he's majoring in this for pete's sake!

robduckyworth · Aug 22, 2011

thought i had replied to this. seems Opera messed up.

Im curious as to whether this is the noise floor of one of the parts of the recording chain being amplified. check each part of the chain individually and make sure they are giving out an acceptable level.

also, are the Garageband inputs clipping at all when this static arises?

putwig · Aug 23, 2011

I hear it with both the computer speakers and the headphones when plugged into the Mac. However, not when the headphones are plugged directly into the amp (ie Mac out of circuit).

The noise is also present in the recording.

I am a Garage band novice what would clipping of the inputs look or sound like?

robduckyworth · Aug 23, 2011

try switching the cable you are using between the guitar and them mac. test the soundcard of your mac aswell (just play some music through it to see if it does it then.)

clipping is just when your levels go into the red.

BrianLachoreVPI · Aug 23, 2011

Yes - that was what I was trying to get at when I said overdriving the Mac inputs. Try turning down the input level and see if that improves what you're hearing.

putwig · Aug 25, 2011

Hey all,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have already tried three different cables. It will be a few days till I get a chance to try all your suggestions. Keep you posted.

putwig · Aug 26, 2011

I tried recording for a bit last night with the master on the amp dialed down (in effect decreasing the input level). Seemed much better. Thank you.

Nick11 · May 10, 2012

static when recording

putwig said:
Hey all,

For a few months now I have been recording by plugging the headphone jack on my peavey Vypyr directly into the 1/8" "audio in" on my <1yr old iMac (current generation 27" running 10.6.7). Recording in garage band.

Every thing has worked great, till lately. The last couple times I have tried to record I get static in the recording every time I hit the strings with anything more than a very gentle strum. To be clear, this is static noise, not distortion.

The amp sounds fine with nothing plugged in to the headphone jack. Also, the static is not present when I plug headphones into the headphone jack on the amp.

I have tried two different 1/8" rca cables with the same result.

This static was definitely not present when I recorded previously. Any thoughts?

Sean

have a Vypyr 15 that I tried to record on a PC, the same thing happened to me . If you listen with headphones out of the headphone jack, you'll hear that high end static there as well. I now use a Marshall which has a good emulated headphone out.