Bass preamp - how much of a no-no?

[Trombone]

Hi guys,

 

I'm back into my annual summer Rocksmith binge, having got my hands on an alienware laptop instead of my mac. I hadn't realised how easy CDLC installation on PC was compared to mac... anyway, I was getting frustrated with the tuner taking ages and complaining about low volume on my bass (D especially), and so I hooked up an overdrive pedal and incrementally upped the volume until Rocksmith seemed to work better.

 

As you might imagine it sounds much nicer and the boosted volume (drive settings at a minimum) has eradicated the tuner issues... however I'm aware that we're told that we're *NOT* supposed to do this and I'm thinking why. Do you think it's to preserve the integrity of the system for troubleshooting and optimal system experience, or could it knacker my new laptop. If I'm careful it'll be ok right? The USB interface will have a peak signal limiter right? What harm can be done right... right?

 

Has anyone with better technical understanding than me (everyone) have any suggestions why I shouldn't do what I've done?

 

Cheers,

 

 

[firekorn]

The ADC used to convert the signal for the system to analyze it has voltage limitation due to the fact that it's powered by USB so the signal you put into the ADC to be converted can't go higher than the USB voltage. Even though i doubt a pedal would put out 5V or more, if it does you'd probably kill the ADC. It's unlikely since reaching 5V for an audio signal is VERY unlikely.

 

Note that the first thing in a situation like that is to make sure you calibrate inside of Rocksmith which will adjust the gain of the cable to obtain a decent level for the game to work with. You can also change this setting in game by hand in the option or even change the gain in the windows recording device directly but that last option needs to be done at every startup of the game while all other will be remembered by Rocksmith.

 

TLDR : you won't break anything but make sure to use the tool inside the game first.

[Trombone]

Thank you - I'll give the gain adjustments another go!