Di tone help

[Drugo8989]

Hi!
Would someone help me with my DI tone?
So basically I downloaded a complete Cubase project from a website and I was just trying to "copy" the tones of the rythm guitars and I think that my DI sounds less "defined" ,much more dark sounding and with less attack compared with the reference DI.
Any guess why?
So basically I recorded with a pretty old Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR Special with fresh strings into my RME babyface pro fs (recorded at 48.000 hz 32 bit float).
I post a link to the Google drive with te DIs wav files and a screenshot(I am noticing that my DI has much more sustain and doesn't have much initial peak).

DI tone - Google Drive

drive.google.com

I don't know maybe it's due to the EMG pickups?

(I recorded only a really small part because the original riff is in drop B and I am in drop C so I couldn't record the B note obviously)

Any help is really appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Winspear]

You need to make your file public access

 

[Drugo8989]

Sorry.....
I thought I did it...

Done

 

[Sylim]

yeah, sounds like the pickups are the main culprit for you. the reference DI is super bright and punchy compared to yours. that would definitely impact the tonal characteristic.

in terms of the brightness, you could try putting a hi shelf boost on your DI before the amp. the dynamics are a bit more complicated. your pickup has more sustain because that´s one thing active pickups just do. they compress the sound. peaks are tamed and the sustain is extended. the benefit is you can play very efficiently while still keeping the output high. the disadvantage is picking harder won´t make a more aggressive sound. that´s where passive pickups shine. more dynamics means your picking technique will influence the sound. picking harder will sound punchier and brighter with those.

also, recording at 32bit float is way overkill. 24bit is the standard for recording and plenty good enough.

 

[Drugo8989]

Ok thank you so much!
So do you guys think that getting this sort of DI tone with the EMG 81 is pretty common?

I might change pickups or something else maybe....
I'm using this guitar for regular metalcore early djent stuff but maybe it's not the best configuration possible for that type of sound.....
(just another screenshot comparing the two DIs with Pro-q)

 

[Sylim]

i used to have an EMG 81 in one of my guitars. the DI of that sounded the same as yours. they work for regular metalcore. but for a more modern bright tone with lots of upper mid range attack i find they don´t work that well.

 

[Drew]

I mean...

The internet is pretty amazing, and the fact that today we can go beyond simpyl sharing tips, or even sharing preferred amps and settings to get a particular tone, and now share an entire project as a file that you can load up on your own computer and plug your own guitar into, is pretty crazy.

But, you gotta also keep this in perspective - doing that, and expecting the exact same tone, is kind of the same as saying the sound of the guitar and your pickups in it, is completely irrelevant to the recorded tone. And that makes no sense at all.

At some level I kind of wonder if we were better off when we were just talking about this stuff, and when we were sharing how to get a tone, we'd talk about our process to get there, rather than just copying and pasting a signal chain. You get the same exact settings, but lose a LOT of the information and thought process behind how to get to them.

Without looking at anything or hearing anything, and just thinking about it - if you're chasing a tone made with a brighter, lower output pickup, then without swapping pickups in your guitar, I'd start by lowering the amplifier gain, and then either lowering the low end on the amp a little, or potentially boosting the high end a little. But, either way, with a different guitar, it stands to reason you're going to need different amp settings to get to the same ballpark.

 

[Drugo8989]

Ok
Thanks for your response Sylim

 

[Drugo8989]

I mean...

The internet is pretty amazing, and the fact that today we can go beyond simpyl sharing tips, or even sharing preferred amps and settings to get a particular tone, and now share an entire project as a file that you can load up on your own computer and plug your own guitar into, is pretty crazy.

But, you gotta also keep this in perspective - doing that, and expecting the exact same tone, is kind of the same as saying the sound of the guitar and your pickups in it, is completely irrelevant to the recorded tone. And that makes no sense at all.

At some level I kind of wonder if we were better off when we were just talking about this stuff, and when we were sharing how to get a tone, we'd talk about our process to get there, rather than just copying and pasting a signal chain. You get the same exact settings, but lose a LOT of the information and thought process behind how to get to them.

Without looking at anything or hearing anything, and just thinking about it - if you're chasing a tone made with a brighter, lower output pickup, then without swapping pickups in your guitar, I'd start by lowering the amplifier gain, and then either lowering the low end on the amp a little, or potentially boosting the high end a little. But, either way, with a different guitar, it stands to reason you're going to need different amp settings to get to the same ballpark.

Yeah that's true.
My main concern in the end was "is it normal that my DI sounds like this(given the specs or my guitar)?".
Having said that and since I pretty much don't have time to try different things to get to a specific point(or something similar quality-wise) I would have liked to know if maybe the main culprit could have been the pickups.
If it's sort of normal that sound of DI I can start from that and try different things(maybe shaping the Di tone or obviously the ampsim tone) but I don't know if and how to get to that point(I mean I think I can't make a telecaster with single coils sound as full as humbuckers) so maybe the fastest way is to change pickups or guitar or whatever to get to that "modern sounding" metal stuff(not that modern anyway ).

 

[Drew]

Having said that and since I pretty much don't have time to try different things to get to a specific point(or something similar quality-wise) I would have liked to know if maybe the main culprit could have been the pickups.

Again, I suspect this isn't the answer you want... but getting any good at mixing is largely a matter of taking the time to try different things and learn how they impact the sounds you're getting. In the long run, this is probably faster, too.

 

[Drugo8989]

Also if you check this particular project for example there is actually not a great amount of processing on the tracks so I think that is very important to start with the right source(wich can be the DI of the guitar or the samples chosen and stuff like that).
Having said that yeah I'd like to understand more about mixing(metal and rock mainly) but I'm struggling to find channels or websites that provide a clear and accurate path to follow because ,as you said ,on youtube is mainly "take this plugin and apply it to the channel "but nobody tells you why and what to do with different samples so like if I have a different pickup or samples how to get to a similar point(let's say a "radio ready" song because you know in the modern metalcore genre I think is all mixing and making the song loud and professional sounding (composition-wise is 0 0 0 12 13 and some power chords for the most part)