Moog Music Forum

Hi Guys, this is a bit of a noob question: How do I connect the Sub 37 to my sound card the best way?

Right now my signal path is this:

Moog Sub 37 -> TS Cable -> active DI Box - > XLR -> Line In (of my Universal Audio LA-610) - > balanced XLR/TRS -> RME Hammerfall (Soundcard) Audio Input

Which sounds great but seems a bit overcomplicated...But using the Instrument Input of the LA-610 gave me some noise that I got rid of going through the DI and into the Line In...could I drop the DI by using a balanced TRS/XLR Cable Moog -> LA-610 Line IN?

1) Is the Audio Output of the Sub 37 Mic or Line Level?

Thanks!

andreasm wrote:Right now my signal path is this:

Moog Sub 37 -> TS Cable -> active DI Box - > XLR -> Line In (of my Universal Audio LA-610) - > balanced XLR/TRS -> RME Hammerfall (Soundcard) Audio Input

Which sounds great but seems a bit overcomplicated...But using the Instrument Input of the LA-610 gave me some noise that I got rid of going through the DI and into the Line In...could I drop the DI by using a balanced TRS/XLR Cable Moog -> LA-610 Line IN?

Simply using a balanced cable doesn't help, it's the DI Box that creates the balanced signal.

andreasm wrote:1) Is the Audio Output of the Sub 37 Mic or Line Level?

No idea, but it's definitely a hot output, depending on the setup.

I plug all of my moogs, including my modular, directly into my presonus firestudio(s). No signal issues, just crystal clear audio.

Unless you really want the coloration of the preamp, you can go directly into your interface. I sometimes go into a Neve DI then into my interface, sometimes straight in.

fwilleke wrote: Simply using a balanced cable doesn't help, it's the DI Box that creates the balanced signal.

This is true, however I have been able to kill some ugly static simply using TRS cables from my Moog gear to my mixer...

Sounds like an extremely complex setup for recording a Sub-37

It does in deed. I just have mine connected with a normal
Instrument cable, sounds great. Instead of using additional gear to get rid of the noise, I'd rather track down and eliminate the cause.

The more gear you add to the signal path the more noise there is.

Seriously, get yourself a decent USB or Firewire audio interface and you can plug the Sub 37 directly into that. If you want more control and flexibility, get a small 4 or 8 channel mixer and feed the output from that into your audio interface.

The complex and arcane signal path you are using will only result in frustration and disappointment. Keep it simple!

andreasm wrote:
1) Is the Audio Output of the Sub 37 Mic or Line Level?

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure it's a line level output. You can connect it directly to a mixer or power amp. If you're connecting directly to an instrument level input, you'll get noise.

andreasm wrote:Right now my signal path is this:

Moog Sub 37 -> TS Cable -> active DI Box - > XLR -> Line In (of my Universal Audio LA-610) - > balanced XLR/TRS -> RME Hammerfall (Soundcard) Audio Input

I'd just connect the Sub 37 directly to a line input using a regular 1/4 inch instrument TS cable.

Note that an instrument input on a preamp is not the same as a line input. If you want the LA-610 in the chain for color, set its input to line level, not Mic or Hi-Z (instrument).