Axe-Fx Firmware Version 21.00 Public Beta #4 (Beta 4)

[la szum]

I think lowering all amp master volumes to about 1.8-2.5 would do it for me. At least give me the ball-park figure I like. Then I can do each one individually. I'd like a way to do it across all of them in one fell swoop and then go from there, but don't think it is possible.

Don't no one come and set me on fire, but I feel like the Master Volumes are not always accurately
modeled. I often have to drop the Master down to the 1 to 2 range to get ANY headroom. That is not
my experience with the actual amps, though.

 

[York Audio]

Found this old nugget of wisdom from way back when. Apparently it's just a matter of adjusting the variac?

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/rectifier-solidstate-vs-tube.102553/post-1228691

EDIT: You and Cliff were having this same conversation 7 years ago, apparently.

Haha! Yup, I’m guessing it was modeled with Bold power and the Tube rectifier. I posted that 7 years ago because the model is on the looser side and was trying to figure out how to make it feel “quicker” and sound as aggressive as the real amp with the Silicon Diode rectifier setting.

It still sounds good. I was just curious if it was possible to model the amp with the other rectifier option.

 

[peteri]

Don't know one come and set me on fire, but I feel like the Master Volumes are not always accurately
modeled. I often have to drop the Master down to the 1 to 2 range to get ANY headroom. That is not
my experience with the actual amps, though.

My understanding is that the MV control are not scaled the same as the real amps - many real amps (I'm looking at you Marshall!) don't do much after half way for example

 

[ak301]

Dumbles sound great now. Not a huge fan of them prior to 21 but now they sound superb.

You're dam right, just lost an hour jamming with the factory ODS100 preset - they sound just exceptional

 

[unix-guy]

Don't no one come and set me on fire, but I feel like the Master Volumes are not always accurately
modeled. I often have to drop the Master down to the 1 to 2 range to get ANY headroom. That is not
my experience with the actual amps, though.

What models?

 

[unix-guy]

My understanding is that the MV control are not scaled the same as the real amps - many real amps (I'm looking at you Marshall!) don't do much after half way for example

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Don't no one come and set me on fire, but I feel like the Master Volumes are not always accurately
modeled. I often have to drop the Master down to the 1 to 2 range to get ANY headroom. That is not
my experience with the actual amps, though.

Cliff talks about the Master Volume, along with the various settings for knobs in the Tech Notes and in the Wiki:

Setting the Master Volume
No Two Amps Sound the Same - Fact or Fallacy
The "Modelers Don't Clean Up with the Volume Knob" Myth
2.5 Why your amp doesn't sound like Fractal Audio's

And…

Ears not Eyes

Fractal isn't trying to accurately model the position of the knobs, they're trying to accurately model the sound. Sometimes that means turning the knobs to a different setting.

 

[notalemming]

Ears not Eyes

Fractal isn't trying to accurately model the position of the knobs, they're trying to accurately model the sound. Sometimes that means turning the knobs to a different setting.

Also, due to component tolerance variation from amp to amp, the control settings may be spot on to Cliff's amp but could be quite different from the same amp any of us own. As Greg said, ears, not eyes!

 

[rsvette12]

And whats the consensus of the setting of the output volume knob on the front of the Axe unit ?

 

[yek]

And whats the consensus of the setting of the output volume knob on the front of the Axe unit ?

Turning it up makes it louder.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

And whats the consensus of the setting of the output volume knob on the front of the Axe unit ?

I think it depends on what Out 1 is connected to and how it's connected.

I think the output level should be as high as the other side can cleanly handle. That helps reduce the noise floor; Think about what would happen if you reversed that, and sent the minimal signal to the other device and had to turn that up to its maximum setting, you'd raise the noise floor.

I use XLR from my modelers to my FRFR on Out 1 and to FOH on Out 2, and start with the Out knobs at 50% after I've established I have sound through the system. My FRFR are at 50% so I raise that feed to a comfortably loud volume, then make minor adjustments once the band is playing. My FOH feed is set while talking to the FOH engineer and he's monitoring the feed on his tablet, and I let him tell me what he wants; That's usually about 55-60%.

Set your outputs to 0 initially though because bad things can happen if they're at normal volume when you're connecting and powering things up.

And, in every case, it's extremely important to have your scenes and presets leveled. BAD things can happen if you don't.

---

PS - Section 4 in all the manuals talks about connecting to different types of devices. Connections and levels in the Wiki is good reading too.

 

[komorebi_dayo]

And whats the consensus of the setting of the output volume knob on the front of the Axe unit ?

pretty sure that's gonna be different for everyone depending on what you're playing through and the levels you need. around 60% gives me good headroom for my church's p.a. but my headphones only need about 5% to get a strong signal and that will vary based on the resistive load of your headphones

 

[Greg Ferguson]

my headphones only need about 5% to get a strong signal and that will vary based on the resistive load of your headphones

It'll definitely vary. I max out the Out 1 with two of my headphones to get a comfortably loud setting, but they're 250 ohms.

 

[rsvette12]

Thanks Guys strictly headphones at the moment - great info as always - Good one Yek

 

[mr_fender]

My ATH-M50's are only 38 ohms, so they're stupid loud at about a third of the way up.

 

[Brewce]

Good one Yek

A week ago I discovered that when it's turned up, you can still turn it further to the right!!
Always try to think out of the box

 

[Greg Ferguson]

My ATH-M50's are only 38 ohms, so they're stupid loud at about a third of the way up.

I've been thinking about getting a pair; I'm not overly impressed with the ATH-M40s which seem to have a honk to them compared to my Sennheiser HD 650s, beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, and Blue Mix-Fi. I move between the various types when EQing, along with using either a matched correcting IR or a compensating EQ curve, because I figure if my preset sounds good through all of them then I'll be happy with it live.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

A week ago I discovered that when it's turned up, you can still turn it further to the right!!

A trick that not too many know about is that once the Out is maxed out at 10 if you turn the unit on its right side you can get to 11.

 

[Sashman]

A trick that not too many know about is that once the Out is maxed out at 10 if you turn the unit on its right side you can get to 11.

I do this for some solo boost on stage

 

[giantslayer]

Thanks Guys strictly headphones at the moment - great info as always - Good one Yek

For headphones, it is whatever level sounds good to you with those headphones.

For the PA, I use the Preset Leveling and get my loudest setting at 0dB, then feed a full strength output to the PA.