Hi everyone - quick question about setting up inputs and outputs on the Axe FX III. I've read the manual and searched the forum to see if anyone has asked this question before, and I'm not seeing it, but my apologies ahead of time if this has already been covered elsewhere.
I've been messing around with various options for hooking up different pedals for use in effect loops, and I've got a couple small issues / concerns about best practices, and I want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.
The short version of the question is that I've noticed that when I make a patch that routes directly from input 1 to an output, the meter within the block itself is always pushing into the red, even though I've got the input 1 set up so the meter is just barely tickling the red when I'm playing hard on my guitar with the loudest pickups. Is this normal?
The reason I ask is that I'm looking at routing from output 2 through to some external pedals (all mono), mostly weird delays and lo-fi reverbs that I like the sound of, back into input 2. I want to make sure I'm hitting these pedals with a level that is the same as what's coming out of the guitar (but I'm not interested in having output 2 copy input 1, because I'd like the flexibility of hitting a drive / compressor block before going to the external effects). I've noticed that when I just connect output 2 into input 2, there's a jump up in volume, which I'm imagining is related to the fact that in Axe-Edit, the levels on output 2 are pushing into the red. I've experimented with switching output mode from Stereo to Copy L>R and Sum L+R, but run into the same issue with the metering on the output block regardless.
So, basically, I'm wondering what the preferred method is for setting up unity levels when going to outboard hardware - where should I be adjusting levels? There's something I'm not wrapping my head around about how this stuff works - so I apologize if this question is mega-stupid.
Some more thoughts, for background:
* I've noticed that setting the Level of the output block to somewhere around -10 makes the "pushing into the red" less prevalent, and sounds (to my ears) like it's a unity level, but I'm not sure if that's the best way to do this.
* I've currently got the output 2 knob on the front panel of the axe fx set fully clockwise - I noticed in the manual that this is the unity level for outputs 3 and 4, so I'm not sure that's the right level for the output 2 knob, but regardless of what I do with the physical knob, I'm seeing the level in the output block pushing into the red, so I'm imagining this knob is not where I want to make the change, but I could be wrong!
* I've noticed that if I just route input 1 directly into output 1, the output pushes into the red as well, regardless of what changes I make to I/O mode.
I've been messing around with various options for hooking up different pedals for use in effect loops, and I've got a couple small issues / concerns about best practices, and I want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.
The short version of the question is that I've noticed that when I make a patch that routes directly from input 1 to an output, the meter within the block itself is always pushing into the red, even though I've got the input 1 set up so the meter is just barely tickling the red when I'm playing hard on my guitar with the loudest pickups. Is this normal?
The reason I ask is that I'm looking at routing from output 2 through to some external pedals (all mono), mostly weird delays and lo-fi reverbs that I like the sound of, back into input 2. I want to make sure I'm hitting these pedals with a level that is the same as what's coming out of the guitar (but I'm not interested in having output 2 copy input 1, because I'd like the flexibility of hitting a drive / compressor block before going to the external effects). I've noticed that when I just connect output 2 into input 2, there's a jump up in volume, which I'm imagining is related to the fact that in Axe-Edit, the levels on output 2 are pushing into the red. I've experimented with switching output mode from Stereo to Copy L>R and Sum L+R, but run into the same issue with the metering on the output block regardless.
So, basically, I'm wondering what the preferred method is for setting up unity levels when going to outboard hardware - where should I be adjusting levels? There's something I'm not wrapping my head around about how this stuff works - so I apologize if this question is mega-stupid.
Some more thoughts, for background:
* I've noticed that setting the Level of the output block to somewhere around -10 makes the "pushing into the red" less prevalent, and sounds (to my ears) like it's a unity level, but I'm not sure if that's the best way to do this.
* I've currently got the output 2 knob on the front panel of the axe fx set fully clockwise - I noticed in the manual that this is the unity level for outputs 3 and 4, so I'm not sure that's the right level for the output 2 knob, but regardless of what I do with the physical knob, I'm seeing the level in the output block pushing into the red, so I'm imagining this knob is not where I want to make the change, but I could be wrong!
* I've noticed that if I just route input 1 directly into output 1, the output pushes into the red as well, regardless of what changes I make to I/O mode.