iRig HD - high input volume

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klinge
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iRig HD - high input volume

Post by klinge »

Hi,

I'm trying to setup my Ubuntu 16.04 computer as a virtual guitar amp. My interface is an iRig HD (http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irighd/). I use Jack for connecting everything up and Carla as a host for the plugins I want to use.

After some fiddling around I got everything working and I get both the input signal from the iRig and manage to route it through Carla and to speakers.

My only trouble is that the input signal from the iRig is way to high leading to extreme clipping and distortion. There is a volume control for the preamp on the iRig - this is adjusted to a correct level for the guitar I'm using. So I guess the output level from the iRig should be correct. But the input level in Carla shows the signal going into red as soon as I gently touch the strings.

I found no way in the traditional sound controls to change the input level from the iRig. I also tried pavucontrol and alsacontrol - but nowhere is there any way to adjust the input level from the iRig.

I googled but did not find any information that helped me fix it so I thought I could try posting the question here. Any suggestions on what I could do?
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magicalex
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Re: iRig HD - high input volume

Post by magicalex »

This may be a stupid question, but have you tried turning down the preamp volume on the iRig until it doesn't peak in Carla?
glowrak guy
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Re: iRig HD - high input volume

Post by glowrak guy »

Try skipping Carla for now, and use the Guitarix standalone app or
Rakarrack, or the free Amplitube 4 Custom Shop via wine-staging,
which will act as preamps that can buffer the volume from your guitar.

Your guitar volume knobs will be the first stage of gain-staging,
then irig preamp, then guitarix amp volume, (or rakarrack preset i/o volume sliders etc)
on through whatever effects lead to the guitarix or other output, then finally to your recoding software input.

You're the boss, and all the signals and softwares need some deft cat-herding,
each having a mind and level of it's own!
Cheers
klinge
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Re: iRig HD - high input volume

Post by klinge »

@magicalex: I sure tried that - but to get the sound to a decent level I would have to almost turn off the preamp on the iRig and turn the volume control on the guitar down to 1 or 2. Doing that and playing soft results in a signal that is not clipping. But as soon as i hit the strings with a little bit of force I the level still peaks.

@glowrak guy: Things are getting weird. Thanks to your advice I tried installing Guitarix and there the input level is perfectly normal and acceptable. How could the input levels in Carla and Guitarix be so different??

To be honest I have a couple of favourite ampsims that run as VSTs so I would like to be able to use them. And that is so easy to do with Carla. Is it possible to use VSTs in Guitarix or Rakarrack?
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sysrqer
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Re: iRig HD - high input volume

Post by sysrqer »

Are you connecting a mono signal to a stereo input? Like from the card and connecting to LR in Carla? If you're doubling the input to Carla that could account for some of the extra gain.
klinge
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Re: iRig HD - high input volume

Post by klinge »

@sysrqer: Thanks for the tip! I had connected both inputs from the iRig to both inputs of Carla. When disconnecting one of the connections the signal level came back to normal! Even more strange - when I connected it back signal was still at a normal level.
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