Analog Guitar Pedals and Maschine

Oli79

Hi.

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience using guitar pedals with Maschine MK3.

I have set them up so a sound is routed out the headphone and then back in to another sound on a new group via line in. While I am hearing the effects, like delay or reverb etc. they are extremely quiet. No mater how much I fiddle with the output and input volume, I can't get a decent sound. I also have a re amp box but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

Also, when I do record the pedal and then normalize, there is a massive amount of unwanted hum.

I'm using the MK3 soundcard but wondering if an external audio interface is the only way to get decent volume/sound. I was using a Behringer UMC404, but I'm trying to tidy up the studio and free myself from unnecessary gear.

If it makes any difference, the pedals are the cheep micro kind from amazon.

Any tips or suggestions would be very welcome!

MorrisEd

You are mismatching signals. The guitar pedals are expecting instrument level, which is much weaker than a line level signal; and Maschine expects line level but is getting instrument level from the pedals…hence why it is quiet. The only way to accomplish what you are trying to do is to send the signal from Maschine into a “Reamp” box (which sounds like you have) then send that signal to the pedals. On the way back in, you will need to send the signal from the pedals to a “DI” box, then from the DI box to Maschine. It is a real pain, which is why most studios use rack gear, which takes a line level signal. Also, be aware this is all dependent on the particular pedals and hardware. Some guitar pedals can adjust to a line level signal (newer ones and ones made for dual use guitar & keys mostly) and some groove boxes like the Roland MC-707 have an effects loop that can normalize whatever signal it gets. The noise could be a few things - 1) cheap pedals can be noisy; 2) power supply could be noisy; 3) reamp box could be noisy; 4) you might be using TS cables instead of TRS cables, which will be way noisier. All are very common. I gave up on most small reamp & DI boxes because noise was always an issue. I settled on a Behringer DI800, which is quiet.