Woohoo! Got my ToneDexter in the mail. Set up tips and tricks?

Wags · #1 06-09-2018, 04:34 PM

Read through the manual, guess I'll give it a shot tonight. Any advice from you beta testers? Do this but don't do that? Seems like mic selection and placement are the main considerations, yes?

Gracias!

Gordon Currie · #2 06-09-2018, 06:12 PM

Mic placement is super important, but it can be hard to know ahead of time whether a placement will be effective or not.

I've learned to do a training (takes 2 minutes or so) and then, before saving or even moving at all, I listen to the mic signal. Sometimes I then reposition the mic and start over.

I have had better luck with locations where the mic is NOT pointing at the soundhole. Also, less than 10 inches seems to be too close and I never like those wavemaps. Give the mic a little room to breathe!

Pitar · #3 06-09-2018, 06:30 PM

The most successful mic placement for me in any recording situation is aimed at the 12th fret, about 12 inches away and slightly towards the sound hole. In this situation the best sampled microphone is the key to whatever the TD best produces. I watched Doug Young's demo and I think that should have identified the scenario that gives the TD its best performance. Nor was there any discussion about the set-up in terms of physical mic positioning and room acoustic dynamics, which is also important when recording by microphone. All I got from the demo was the training bit of the TD, which lies inside a booklet that does not discuss anything but the features of the TD itself in isolation of how best to employ it.

Wags · #4 06-09-2018, 10:30 PM

Thanks for the info, folks.

Tonight I set up 4 wavemaps with 3 different mics: AudioTechnica AT4047 and AE3300 plus an EV N/D468. Frankly, all of them afforded a huge improvement compared to the guitar's pick-up only (Taylor 814). I was going to do a few more, varying the mic placements, but then I started playing through my Fishman LB Artist, and didn't get around to doing any more wavemaps

I'd say the fav mic so far is the humble little EV N/D468, but each of them worked well, the differences being subtle but noticeable, each usable in different styles of playing.

Looking forward to my days off when I can dig into it a little more, try different placements, set up a couple more guitars. Wish I had a small diaphragm mic to try. Any thoughts on that? Cheers