Problems with my new AXE-FX III: It does not sound good?

daviavid

New Member
I've been expecting this purchase since many years ago but finally I got my AXE-FX III. The problem is that I am really struggling with making it sound as I was expecting and I'm frustrated.

I'm just using my headphones for playing (Sony WH1000XM3 with cable). They are not full-range headphones but I'm used to practice with them with other devices and I'm hearing many youtube videos with AXE-FX III recordings with the same headphones that does not sound at all like the sound I have . I'll purchase in the future studio monitors and probably other headphones though.

I've been reading the manual and I've been searching other users in the forum with similar issues but I don't get anything. I've reset all the settings even if it is new, the Power Amp Modeling is ON , the Cabinet Modeling is ACTIVE and I've checked my guitars are not clipping. I've tried different factory presets but there's always something there that I do not like and I see a huge difference with other recordings. I really don't know how to describe the sounds, one thing I'm noticing is that the pick attacks sound very plasticky. I've tried with different picks, playing softly and with my fingers, and of course if I use the neck pickups the sound is rounder and smoother, but it is generally there.


I'm not sure if it is just me, that I've been without playing a lot of time for an injury, or that my guitars are not the best for the sound I'm expecting. I have two guitars, an Ibanez RG3550MZ which maybe doesn't have the most versatile sound and an Epiphone Sheraton II for playing jazz. As an example, I was trying to get a sound for playing Eric Johnson, so I downloaded the preset made by the user Camilo Velandia and I've recorded with the Chorus scene just a phrase with both guitars in different pickups. But I really don't listen the same sounds it can be heard in his video (




Can somebody help me to find out if there's something wrong with my Axe? I really don't know if I'm just crazy, deaf and/or I need to purchase other guitars for liking the sound.

Thank you!

Edit: I'm trying to put a link with my mp3 recording but it does not allow me, where should I upload it? In the meantime I've attached a .zip. I'm comparing the sound with the 1:37 on the video I put.
 

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I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with your Axe-FX. Make a recording and post it here so we can see what it sounds like. Personally, I never use people's presets for amp tones. I always get better results when starting from scratch...at least for my personal tastes.
 
If you can record something and we can hear it, we can help.
I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with your Axe-FX. Make a recording and post it here so we can see what it sounds like. Personally, I never use people's presets for amp tones. I always get better results when starting from scratch...at least for my personal tastes.
I've edited the post, I couldn't upload it before. Thank you.
 
the preset was designed for a guitar with three single coils. your guitar has two humbuckers and a single in the middle? do the humbuckers split in positions 2 and 4? it's not going to sound right in positions 1 and 5. very difficult to tell what's going on, your clip was too short and you didn't play anything on the lead scene at all.
 
I've been expecting this purchase since many years ago but finally I got my AXE-FX III. The problem is that I am really struggling with making it sound as I was expecting and I'm frustrated.

I'm just using my headphones for playing (Sony WH1000XM3 with cable). They are not full-range headphones but I'm used to practice with them with other devices and I'm hearing many youtube videos with AXE-FX III recordings with the same headphones that does not sound at all like the sound I have . I'll purchase in the future studio monitors and probably other headphones though.

I've been reading the manual and I've been searching other users in the forum with similar issues but I don't get anything. I've reset all the settings even if it is new, the Power Amp Modeling is ON , the Cabinet Modeling is ACTIVE and I've checked my guitars are not clipping. I've tried different factory presets but there's always something there that I do not like and I see a huge difference with other recordings. I really don't know how to describe the sounds, one thing I'm noticing is that the pick attacks sound very plasticky. I've tried with different picks, playing softly and with my fingers, and of course if I use the neck pickups the sound is rounder and smoother, but it is generally there.


I'm not sure if it is just me, that I've been without playing a lot of time for an injury, or that my guitars are not the best for the sound I'm expecting. I have two guitars, an Ibanez RG3550MZ which maybe doesn't have the most versatile sound and an Epiphone Sheraton II for playing jazz. As an example, I was trying to get a sound for playing Eric Johnson, so I downloaded the preset made by the user Camilo Velandia and I've recorded with the Chorus scene just a phrase with both guitars in different pickups. But I really don't listen the same sounds it can be heard in his video (




Can somebody help me to find out if there's something wrong with my Axe? I really don't know if I'm just crazy, deaf and/or I need to purchase other guitars for liking the sound.

Thank you!

Edit: I'm trying to put a link with my mp3 recording but it does not allow me, where should I upload it? In the meantime I've attached a .zip. I'm comparing the sound with the 1:37 on the video I put.

As an Axe user since 2011, I completely understand the struggle with headphones. I have pretty much been on the lifelong tone struggle bus anyway, regardless of gear - but in a decade I can honestly say I have never dialed in a tone that I even found passable monitoring through headphones. I always considered it a "me" issue rather than an Axe issue. Even tried a few different headphones with no luck.

Other users can certainly give you more useful guidance on how to get what you are looking for. For my part, I would definitely recommend getting some decent monitor speakers as it is a distinctly different animal than headphones - IMHO.
 
Since forever it’s impossible to me to play guitar through headphones, and even more with modelers . The high gains sound very aggressive, your ears feel tired very quickly... in clean sounds it’s nice but in dist😟 , my new high gain presets sounds synthetic with my headphone (shure srh840) . I don’t think that the headphone himself is bad, when I listen to music with it it’s very nice . And when I play the same presets with real studio monitors its “good”. Maybe we hear too much the details with headphones don’t know
 
As an Axe user since 2011, I completely understand the struggle with headphones. I have pretty much been on the lifelong tone struggle bus anyway, regardless of gear - but in a decade I can honestly say I have never dialed in a tone that I even found passable monitoring through headphones. I always considered it a "me" issue rather than an Axe issue. Even tried a few different headphones with no luck.
I m glad to read this, I believed I was alone with this feel . With the kemper is even worst. I don’t know how they can play with this sound directly in their ears 🤦. What is the problem so ? The headphone out is not good ? Or we really listen to the sound more than in speakers ? Because the sound you have In headphone is the same that will be in a recording ... so ? Is it better to do presets with headphone first ? I think not, because when you do a mix for exemple, the result in speaker is not the same at all ... I try whatever tweaks quickly, it don’t sound natural, like a digital multi effect .
 
I m glad to read this, I believed I was alone with this feel . With the kemper is even worst. I don’t know how they can play with this sound directly in their ears 🤦. What is the problem so ? The headphone out is not good ? Or we really listen to the sound more than in speakers ? Because the sound you have In headphone is the same that will be in a recording ... so ? Is it better to do presets with headphone first ? I think not, because when you do a mix for exemple, the result in speaker is not the same at all ... I try whatever tweaks quickly, it don’t sound natural, like a digital multi effect .
I think the main factor is that physics is physics - a 1 inch speaker half an inch from your ear is going to be perceived differently than a 6 or 12 inch speaker 6 feet away from the listener in a room.

What blows my mind - and I hesitate to mention it because it is the type of thing that always seems to rub people the wrong way - is that people will post recordings that are direct from the Axe III with no post processing, and the recordings sound great through my headphones AND my monitors. Seems like sorcery to me, but I assume some people just have a much better ear for dialing things in than I do.
 
Not sure what's going on with the zip file... I couldn't expand it.

My suggestion would be play with the IR cabs. With real physical gear, changing speakers often makes more of a difference than changing amps or guitars. I experience the same with modelers: the cab model selected makes a HUGE difference on whether I like the amp model.
 
Not sure what's going on with the zip file... I couldn't expand it.

My suggestion would be play with the IR cabs. With real physical gear, changing speakers often makes more of a difference than changing amps or guitars. I experience the same with modelers: the cab model selected makes a HUGE difference on whether I like the amp model.
+1 on cab IR. Can make a world of difference.

I have been down the IR rabbit hole for so long, the rabbits have accepted me as one of their own.
 
As others have said, I suspect your headphones have a lot to do with your issues. I tried a few different pairs recommended on here, but even after tweaking, they just sounded bad. No other term for it. I knew it wasn't the Axe FX as it sounded amazing through my monitors.
Anyway, I took one last roll of the dice and got some Sennheiser HD600's. The difference is nothing short of incredible and my presets are pretty much the same as through my monitors, especially with the Cygnus beta. No tweaking required.
 
As others have said, I suspect your headphones have a lot to do with your issues. I tried a few different pairs recommended on here, but even after tweaking, they just sounded bad. No other term for it. I knew it wasn't the Axe FX as it sounded amazing through my monitors.
Anyway, I took one last roll of the dice and got some Sennheiser HD600's. The difference is nothing short of incredible and my presets are pretty much the same as through my monitors, especially with the Cygnus beta. No tweaking required.
I might have to dig out my Sennheiser (HD650) and give them another listen. That was my last pair up until a couple years ago I got Blue MoFi. I remember at the time thinking the two pairs didn't sound much different, outside of the Blues being louder.

Edit: One of my primary issues with both pairs, outside of generally sounding bad, is that they seem to absurdly over-emphasize low end. I could dial in a patch in the cans that is a little boomy/muddy and through my CLRs (in FF mode) sounds like a clock radio.
 
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In the past, similar experiences have made.
Against normal music and the reproduction of a guitar sound, there are more differences, claims to the output system speaker or headphones when you suspect. Super expensive hi-fi speakers blades tired matt and grow. Only with an EQ the frequency response can be adjusted so that the sound picture is right again. So bass out and more heights. Smaller boxes with significantly less bass foundation sound better as big hi-fi boxes
I put the graphicsQ in front of the output to the hi-fi speakers out2
And the Setup Out 1 EQ for the output via headphones.
Under Github Autoeq, there are eQ correction values for almost all headphones that can be used in the Ax.
 

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I might have to dig out my Sennheiser (HD650) and give them another listen. That was my last pair up until a couple years ago I got Blue MoFi. I remember at the time thinking the two pairs didn't sound much different, outside of the Blues being louder.

I never really play with headphones, but just tried with my HD650's and it sounds pretty killer.
I just dug up my HD650s and AB'd them with the Blue Mofi. Overall, not a drastic difference - the Blues are a bit louder and a bit scooped sounding. Not a big enough difference to move the needle in terms of overall impression of the tone.

Hopefully this somewhat expanded conversation about headphones and tone is useful to the OP and draws attention to their question.
 
Maybe with these EQ values even better.

Listen to the difference.
 

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