I have a guitar with EMGs 81 85. They sound to me very thin and fizzy but when i heard online other EMGs they sounded fuller and way better than mine. I found some dry di recordings online , i compered their tracking with mine just to find out that my sound was dull and lacks some mid and high frequencies.
The first thing i did was to change strings, then battery, even searched online about wiring problems just in case that i had some pickup phase cancelation... But i moved the pups closer to the strings just to improve my sound a little.
Online again , i found out that some guys said that you have to record DI guitars through HI-Z with active or passive pickups , and others that you have to record passive pickups through Hi-Z and actives through Line ... An other thread was swearing that you have to record di rhythm with the 85 pickup (neck possition) ... I m confused. Do i have to record my actives through Line ? Do i have to play through the neck pup through line or hi-z ? Does my interface (ur44) doesn't have good preamps or conversion so my signal gets downgraded ? Or maybe there is some wiring problem ?? Do i need a DI box and reccord to mic ??? Anyone experienced something like this ?

(Some info just in case... Windows 10, Steinberg UR44, Cubase 8.5, guitar is BC-Rich assassin PX3, Pickups EMG 81 - 85)

 

Not a good place to ask about any actual instrument - I planned to get emg 85 but they were out of stock - besides I dislike having to worry about batteries. So I cannot tell you from experience, but preparing to buy I found out for example the output impedance of these pickups is in line with normal line inputs - they are designed to be connected directly to the mixer or computer. But what may be most important is that everyone says these pickups sound better with 2 batteries in series - more volts more headroom (even three batteries is possible) - try that and see what happens. Good luck!

 

Thanks ddoctor !!! i ll try this out !!!

 

Does your guitar sound OK if it's plugged into an amp? Can you borrow a guitar (preferably with active pups) and plug that into your interface? It's a matter of eliminating what's causing this crappy tone, the interface or the guitar.

 

Normally Hi-Z are for passive guits and basses.

Did you try to compare the two inputs? I mean, plug it in, turn the Input knob up until Peak flashes, turn it a bit down, record and compare...

 

So guys, my guitar sounds great plugged in an amp! I was not able to test this out the time i posted this question due to some obligations...But i tried it out and i must say that all this time it was just my stupid head that didn't record DI through Line in... It sounds better plugged in line in, more detailed IMHO. Same goes for my bass. Thanks everyone involved !

 

input gain too high maybe ?

 

Try a direct box, i have a tascam us1800 and after try the hi-z vs mic input i find the more true to my guitar sound was the direct box (behringer ultra G) in the mic input, specially when i do reamps.
Another method i tend to use is my pod hd500x with the spdif out, i can monitor with the pod sound and the spdif will record the DI signal.
I use emg 81 as well as 707 with 7 strings, same with bass, emg pickups and preamps.
Same results with passive pickups

 

I ll take that in consideration (about the di box) I m thinking about radial j48 for the moment , really good with passive and active pickups !