Is it possible to record two simultaneous guitar tracks with Y-Cable: DI into Cubase & Mic'd up Amp

Cubase
1

Hello. I’d like to record two tracks of my electric guitar simultaneously: one track with a dry DI sound; and another track with a full mic’d up amp sound. I have a Steinberg UR44C sound module and Cubase 11.

If I use a split Y-cable with my guitar and plug one end into my Cubase via the UR44C (for the dry DI sound) and the other end of the Y-cable into a mic’d up amp (for the full, live, loud sound), would that theoretically achieve my aim?

The reason I’d like to have an exact dry DI copy of the guitar track is so I could maybe use an amp modeler to blend with the real live amp.

Many thanks,

Lylio

2

Be quicker to suck it and see than wait for an answer.

3

It should but it may lack in power due to splitting. If you gave enough inputs and outputs record dry and also send out to the amp cab. A bit like an external instrument.

4

Agreed. Another possibility may be to use an effect pedal/unit with stereo out, clean, and feed you amp and interface one of the outputs.

Steve.

5

Thank you Mr. Wilde! I’ve ordered a Y-cable and currently waiting for it to arrive. I thought I’d get some feedback while waiting to “suck it and see”.

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6

Yeah, I’ve read that can be an issue, but I could surely just normalize/turn the gain up on the WAV audio.

7

Cracking idea, I didn’t think of that - might try that too, thanks.

8

I would use a DI box with two outputs: 1. Hi-Z passthrough to your pedalboard, and 2. Lo-Z symetrical clean signal. An example of such a device:

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9

Thanks for the reply. But if my Steinberg UR44C has 2 HI-Z/Mic inputs, and 2 Line/Mic inputs (and all inputs have option of Phantom power), how essential is a separate DI box? It feels like an unnecessary purchase, especially as the dry signal will by normalized, compressed and run through a digital amp modeler. What could a DI box do that I can’t do with a combination of my UR44C and Cubase 11? Cheers.

10

The sound resulting from the Y-cable will be horrible. Test it and you will hear for yourself. If you have an effect pedal with two outputs, as mentioned by @plectrumboy, that might be a viable solution, too. But a DI box is the standard and the most transparent option for your needs.

11

Cool - I’ll look into buying a DI box too then. Thanks for the advice.

12

I didn’t want to throw a huge amount of cash at a DI box considering it’s my first use of one. I’ve gone for the Behringer ULTRA-DI DI100 which has got good reviews. Hopefully that will be decent. Thanks again for everyone’s feedback, much appreciated.

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