What Is Reamplification?

Reamplification has become a popular studio technique that began as a means of finding and fine-tuning an amp tone for guitar players in the studio after they had recorded a performance. It has since grown into a much more varied creative tool in the music space as the means to do it have become more accessible. Here, we will go over what reamping is, how to do it, and a few ways you can use it.

In the most directly technical of terms, reamplification is taking a recorded track from a digital audio workstation (or DAW), feeding it out of a balanced line-level output on an audio interface or mixer, and using a signal processor (often a reamplification or “reamp” box) to turn that signal into a high-impedance (or “Hi-Z”) instrument-level output that can be fed into an external amplifier.

Let’s break that statement down into its relevant components.

What You Need

Reamping starts with a pre-recorded track inside of audio production software (often referred as a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW). This can be a guitar track, bass guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, mandolin, or any number of different instruments.

These tracks are usually recorded directly into the software completely dry, so instead of setting up a microphone on an amplifier or using effects pedals, the instrument is either plugged into a dedicated “Hi-Z” input or is wired into a standard balanced input using a direct box such as the Samson MDA1 or MD1 Pro (the best type of direct box varies by instrument type). This prevents signal loss and degradation from an impedance mismatch, which can cause low volume or distorted sound.

Most mixer and audio interfaces have balanced line outputs on them to listen back to your recordings, or to route signals to external gear like compressors or EQ. Using the DAW’s signal routing settings, the pre-recorded performance can be sent out through one of these outputs to a reamp box like the Samson ReTrack (which can also be fed via a headphone output, unlike most other reamplification boxes).

How It Works

The reamp box acts as a sort of inverse direct box, taking a balanced, line-level signal and converting it into a high-impedance, unbalanced signal. In fact, the early technique was pioneered by using existing direct boxes backwards. This imitates the same signal that an amplifier would expect from most guitars, basses, and vintage synthesizers and keyboards, once again preventing an impedance mismatch from the amplifier.

From here, you can then use a microphone of your choice to record the amplifier, and dial in the tone you want.

The Benefits

This is a benefit to most studio engineers and producers, because it allows them to capture a clean performance first, make any tweaks or edits as needed (such as retiming or pitch correction), and then figure out and adjust tone afterwards using whatever amplifiers, effects pedals, and microphones they have at their disposal. This utility is a large portion of why reamplification has become so widespread as an engineering technique.

However, reamping has also become a powerful production tool as more engineers and producers have gotten creative with its capabilities. The fact that the signal at the root of the process stems from the DAW, you can technically send any recorded track out to an amplifier via a reamp box. This includes brass instruments, software synths, drums, and even vocals.

The possibilities are vast, and as products like the ReTrack continue to make reamplification more accessible, new concepts and techniques for the art form will continue to emerge and be refined to contribute new sounds to music the world over.