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I've read already some things about splitting signals here but im still unsure about how to make mine. So what i have is one acoustic guitar with an undersaddle pickup and a mic (K&K). Both signals go into a K&K preamp where I split the signals (undersaddle / mic). The undersaddle goes through a some pedals and later on in a mixer (or amp). The mic goes direct in a mixer (or amp). I'd like to record them separately to a zoom H6. There are no real good possibilities on the mixer to send the signals separately. So I was thinking using A) a simple cable splitter B) a splitter from radical engineering or similar. As I would need 2 splitters (mic & undersaddle) this might become quite expansive for option B). So I'm really not sure (as i don't send the signal to 2 amps) how A) will affect the sound and all technical issues (grounding).

Similar problem with the mic (shure 58) from my singer....

Any clues?

Greetings

EDIT: You right the original question i a bit misleading due to the equipment. We can simplify it. So lets imagine there are two acoustic guitars in a live setting. Sometimes they go into a PA , sometimes into an AMP directly. So as you have mentioned the option with the PA. Its very valid but sometimes the Mixer is that shitty or there is no mixer and I have to go directly to the AMP. In the amp there is an output which i could use, but for the mix. The second option with the DI is also known to me, but it might be quite expansive. So I was thinking to use just some Y cables. But here I heared some issues: the signal strength and grounding...

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  • Thanks for clarifying. Though my answer is the same as I wrote below :) Using some Y-cables might work but is definitely in the "gerry-rig" category IMO. At a certain point you do need to spend more to do it right. If your area has a gear rental place, you could look into renting DI boxes and/or a mixer to save some dough. Nov 6, 2019 at 22:28

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I'm not sure I'm clear on your signal chain, but I'm inferring that your K&K preamp has 2 discrete inputs and 2 discrete outputs. And that the Zoom has 2 discrete inputs. If that's not correct, please provide the model of the preamp and Zoom so we can see what your routing might be.

If that is correct, one typical method of simultaneously recording a signal and sending it to a PA is to use a mixer with enough outputs -- in your case, a mono or stereo signal for the PA, one for recording the pickup, one for recording the mic. You might also want a DI box between the pickup signal and the mixer if the mixer doesn't specifically have an instrument-level input and/or the signal has to travel on a long cable before getting to the mixer.

For example, if you have a mixer feeding a power amp for a PA, you would use a send on each channel to route each input signal to your Zoom separately from the main output signal to the PA.

Going to an "amp" (assuming you mean a guitar amp) but not a PA, you would use a DI box on the pickup signal and route one output to the Zoom and another as a pass-through to the amp. Then duplicate that setup for the mic signal (assuming it's going to a different amp).

If you need an amp, PA and recording at the same time, a typical acoustic guitar signal chain is guitar -> DI, then DI output 1 -> mixer -> main out to PA and send out to recording; and DI output 2 -> guitar amp. Then a completely separate chain if the guitar is also mic'd: mic -> mixer -> main out to PA and send out to recording.

I've left out some details like if the mixer has its own mic pres, but it sounds like your mic is already going through a preamp.

There are probably more gerry-rigged ways to do this but IMO this is the tried-and-true way.

Good luck!

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  • just edited my question. See my long respond there :) Thank you sofar Nov 6, 2019 at 20:15

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