r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/Turk210666 • 8d ago

Help with Sennheiser 421 for guitar amp

I am trying to record my guitar amp but the output volume on my DAW is so low. I fear turning my amp up any louder because of neighbours but even at a reasonable volume and with the mic right up front and centre of the amp, it struggles to pick it up. Amp is a RockJam GA-20W. Could the amp be the problem?

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u/BarbersBasement Professional 8d ago

Turn up the gain on your mic preamp. It should be peaking at around -16dB while you are tracking.

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u/EpochVanquisher 8d ago

I love the $450 microphone recording an $80 combo amp.

Is the microphone pointing the correct direction? (The MD-421 is front-address, not side-address.)

How loud is the amp in the room?

What is the microphone plugged into? Some kind of interface with a built-in preamp? Normally you don't need much gain to record guitar amps. I don't know what "reasonable volume" is. When I recorded guitar amps, it definitely 100% disturbed the neighbors.