Possibly the biggest addition to the Headrush Prime and Core compared to the MX5 is the Amp Cloner, allowing you to take the sound of your amplifier, have the board record it, and then leave the board at home while you bring your Headrush with you. Many users use of the amp cloner begins there, but even beyond adjusting the settings during the cloning process, a lot of us hear our amp a certain way and want to get a little more in depth with different ways to record that sound. In this guide we'll talk about adjustments that can be made to the cloning process to change how your clone sounds.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Changing your Microphone Type

The SM57 is a guitar player's weapon of choice in most situations, not bad for backing vocals, great for mic-ing amps live and being very dependable. It does nearly everything well. But does that mean it's a good amp cloning Mic? If you're looking for an even, standard response then it is fine. But the Headrush Prime and Cores both have preamps and Phantom Power built into their mic ports. As such, it's not a bad idea to give a different mic a try in certain scenarios. We'll list a few popular models to consider here, and it might be worth talking to an audio engineer for their opinion-


  • ElectroVoice RE20 – very popular in the radio broadcast industry for speech applications. Also a great mic for kick drum or rock vocals. Stevie Wonder’s favorite live vocal mic. You can get right on it and scream, and you’ll never distort it. The downside is that it has a very low output. Pretty much any preamp you plug it into will need to be turned up higher. This mic really needs a high-gain, super clean (expensive) preamp, but the plus is that you can really drive your amp into the mic without distorting your sound, which is great for an amplifier because you can crank up the settings and let it open up without peaking.
  • Shure SM7B – same uses, pros and cons as the RE20, but aiming one of these displaced from the center can help get the harshness of your amp's attack out. 
  • AKG C414 – A large diaphragm condenser mic prized for it's sensitivity and normally used for recording vocals. In situations where you want to use a low gain amp like an Acoustic and really absorb the depth of your sound, try a condenser mic like this to really catch the subtleties of the tone. 
  • Ribbon Mics – Great smooth sound, but very low output. The preamps that are often recommended for these mics are often so specialized (so clean fand such high gain) that they’re sometimes referred to specifically as ribbon mic preamps. These mics often benefit from clean but loud sounds like a Fender Twin Reverb.


Placement of the Microphone

Mic placement affects how the amplifier gets cloned as well. A big part of what you're hearing on stage and in recordings is the sound of your ears physically against the amp itself- you're not physically standing with your ear to the center of the cone, so a microphone placed in the center of the speaker isn't going to pick up what you hear from the amp.


Often times, it involves a calculation of space and offset from the center of the cone- You will always want the microphone pointed towards the speaker, but aiming it towards the edge of the speaker will allow the speaker to have warmer tones, and likewise taking the microphone and placing it further away from the amp allows the actual attack of your sound to dissipate in such a way as to be less harsh. Consider this in addition to the layout of the room and the acoustics and it can be a good way to adjust the physical equalization of what the amp cloner is picking up to match your ears.


What is an acceptable recording level?

In the digital world, 0dB = a ruined recording, so when recording/tracking, you’ll want to leave yourself some headroom. A clearance of -6 to -12 is recommendable. This means that the maximum (not average) level you want to see on the cloner’s input meters is somewhere between -6 and -12dB.


Please note that should also turn off any reverbs or delays on your amp as you record.


Depending on your mic, you’ll find that beyond 3 O’clock on the mic gain can make the preamps get increasingly noisy.


Depending on what amp/mic combo you're using, and how loud it is, you may find yourself in a situation where the mic’s positioned properly, the gain is turned up to 3 O’clock or higher, but the level coming into your cloner is nowhere near 0dB.


In this circumstance, it’s not usually recommendable to turn the mic preamp up any higher. This would get it into its least efficient range, and impart more noise into your recording.


If possible, try to improve the level coming into the mic. Turn up the amp's presence or adjust up the EQ, or move the mic closer to the sound source. Of course, for all sorts of reasons, this may not be possible or desirable.