Another idea: gain staging. I know I had this wrong for a while. The sound got really congested at louder levels. This comes into my mind too when you talk about "boomyness". The punch and attack are wrong then. I solved this with less signal from the Axe FX and more from the amplification. Just in case, if it's boomy and phasey all over, cause that is strange.
What about letting some other Fractal owner try it with your setup, is that possible? Or taking your guitar to try it with someone else's Axe FX?
How do you calibrate your level?
I set my Axe to send out around 0db on the VU meter, out1 level is on 50%, hits my interface just right from what I can tell.
I don't know any other guy that has an Axe though.
I wasn't suggesting a DI to rule out a problem with your unit. A DI and preset will serve to provide others with access to what you're hearing and afford them the ability to twist knobs, try different IR's and manipulate your tone directly, which is a lot more convenient / efficient than going back and forth for days or weeks with parameter and IR suggestions.
I see, I can upload a DI, though I don't have any preset to upload because like I said, my issue is kind of "global", rather than affecting a certain amp/preset.
I’m having a hard time understanding your apprehension regarding buying a 3rd party IR pack. You do this for a living so you are well aware of how critical mic placement is & how it can drastically effect the overall tone of the sound you are hearing, let alone different mics or speakers in the same cab. With the Factory Cabs you are only relegated to being able to choose one single instance of the shoot. That’s it, one. No other mic choices, or mic combos, or moving the mic in on the cap, etc.. so while you may get 247 IR’s you may never ever use in the cab pack, you’re gunna get the 5 ya need. And for $29.00 on average your freaking basically stealing it. Imo.
Otherwise, it’s really gunna have to be one of those things I suppose, “if no one can do it right, you’re just gunna have to do it yourself.” And continue on with the ToneMatching. Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that approach either. Whatever reaches the end goal the best way with the best results. But I would definitely give a cab pack or two a try.
Of course it's important!
What I meant is that I don't want to buy 200 cabs, and start filtering them out.
I don't want a 57 IR and a 421 IR and a 121 IR and all of those endless possibilities, I'm looking for an IR that just sounds good and full, don't even tell me what speaker and mic it has.
It's as if I'm looking for an IR that has a specific tone rather than a specific realistic mic/speaker combination.
Hopefully this makes sense outside of my head.
I've been doing the "DIY" thing for years and I'm getting tired of it.
Also sometimes you want a tone that is not possible to tone match.
post your preset to check it
Like I said, it's not a single preset.