Recording Guitar Direct

[drossxyu]

My Gear:

Cubase SX3
NI Guitar Rig 2
Motu UltraLite Mk3
Presonus Studio Channel Vacuum Tube Channel Strip
Adam A7 Monitors

So I've been trying to figure out how to get the best sound while recording direct since my current living situation prohibits me from micing an amp. I was never really impressed w\ the way my guitar sounded going direct into one of the Motu's unbalanced 1/4" ins and out through Guitar Rig and I've realized that I had been missing some essential components to my chain. So upon further investigation I realized I needed a direct box of some sort and a preamp for my guitar. A friend of mine, who is an audio engineer, suggested I go with the 'Presonus Studio Channel' since it would essentially act as both of these devices. So I picked one up and added it to my chain as follows : Guitar --> 1/4" unbalanced TS Cable --> Presonus Studio Channel (Instrument Input) --> XLR Cable --> Motu UltraLitemk3 (Mic/Instr. IN 1) --> Cubase SX3 --> Guitar Rig 3. I read the UltraLite manual a bit before I tried this out and realized that it says 'Do not connect a +4 (line level) XLR cable to the front-panel inputs (because of the preamps). Use a rear-panel quarter-inch input instead". Does the standard XLR cable coming out of my Presonus studio channel's XLR out ( which is described simply as an 'XLR output' ) qualify as such? I realize that the UltraLitemk3 has pre-amps of it's own but I'd obviously like to bypass them since my signal is already going to be amplified. Should I be using the balanced TRS out on the Presonus Studio Channel instead so that I can go into one of the balanced 1/4" inputs on the back of the Motu UltraLitemk3 (which are not pre-amplified).

If anyone could comment on my setup or point me to some resources where I could learn more about it It'd be greatly appreciated

-f

[SixStringGeek]

If you want to bypass the preamps on the mic/guitar 1&2 inputs, then you're going to have to bring your guitar in on input 3 (or one of the other back panel 1/4" inputs).