** Update:
A combination of the following gets me closer to the 2.0 sound with 3.0 firmware:
Amp Tone Lo/Hi Cut : 0-20000 instead of the defaults (for AC30TB and 59 Bassguy at least)
Amp Basic Depth : 5.00 instead of 0 (for those amps that are affected by it)
Cab Proximity : 0 instead of the default 2.5 (I don't have a good explanation for this but it was important.
Graphic EQ : after an RW Cab set to increase low frequencies and decrease high to compensate for the changes made to the IRs.
Amp EQ : boost 125 and to a lesser extent 250 to instead of using post cab eq block. This seems to compensate well for the RW Cab's and saves adding a block.
Amp Basic Treb : 0 instead of 5 - this worked on one AC30TB preset
Amp Basic Drive : increase by ~1 - also worked on an AC30TB preset
Amp Speaker Hi : Hi settings default differently in 3.0. Changing these settings was critical for a few of my presets. It depends on amp but one of them had a Boutique 1.
**
I upgraded to V3 today but before doing so I performed a lengthy recording session my normal way by recording three tracks at the same time:
1 Dry track (just guitar going through a pre)
1 Wet track (just the output of the Axe)
1 Midi program change
I went through a bunch of Bank A presets followed by my custom presets.
Then I upgraded and performed the same recording using the same dry track and midi track but new wet track with 3.0.
Now I'm able to A/B the wet tracks. I wasn't comforted by what I heard. The first preset (bassman) in 2.0 had so much body. In 3.0 it has totally lost that full range full body sound. It doesn't really sound like it's just an eq change. It really sounds like the model has changed substantially. I checked a bunch of other presets and tended to prefer the 2.0 sound. I did this in a somewhat blind way so that I when I toggled (using my mouse) I wouldn't always know which was A and which was B. Before panicking, I worked with my presets which I'm more familiar with. I A/Bed an AC30 preset and without question 2.0 was better. 2.0 sounded more even and rich. 3.0 seems to be clearer (in a bad way), nasal, and missing a lot of mid content. I tried adjusting various settings to no avail. A few settings helped such as increasing the drive slightly and the XFormer Match but it still sounds one dimensional compared to 2.0.
I'm not sure I can attribute it to anything specific in 3.0. It could be the move to pentode vs. triode, general tweaking in the amp models, or maybe the cabinet ir changes. I'll work a bit more on it but I'll be honest, I'm discouraged.
Has anyone else A/B-ed in this way? Specifically have you noticed the richness difference between the two firmwares? What did you do to address it?
To eliminate preliminary questions:
No, I do not use global eq.
Yes cab and amp are turned on.
I monitored extensively in high quality head phones.
Yes, I uploaded the 3.0 bank A.
Yes, on my presets, I did the amp change to get the default parameters
Yes, I upgraded to 3. I see the new features in Axe-Edit and on the front panel.
I use spdif io between my sound card and axe (I don't have sync issues with this).
I did a parameter reset and updated the only global settings I needed to match 2.0 fw (input levels 1 and 2).
I am using the new Axe-Edit 1.0.239.
I don't want to post my dry or wet tracks.... however, encourage you to do an A/B test and post the results :0)
A combination of the following gets me closer to the 2.0 sound with 3.0 firmware:
Amp Tone Lo/Hi Cut : 0-20000 instead of the defaults (for AC30TB and 59 Bassguy at least)
Amp Basic Depth : 5.00 instead of 0 (for those amps that are affected by it)
Cab Proximity : 0 instead of the default 2.5 (I don't have a good explanation for this but it was important.
Graphic EQ : after an RW Cab set to increase low frequencies and decrease high to compensate for the changes made to the IRs.
Amp EQ : boost 125 and to a lesser extent 250 to instead of using post cab eq block. This seems to compensate well for the RW Cab's and saves adding a block.
Amp Basic Treb : 0 instead of 5 - this worked on one AC30TB preset
Amp Basic Drive : increase by ~1 - also worked on an AC30TB preset
Amp Speaker Hi : Hi settings default differently in 3.0. Changing these settings was critical for a few of my presets. It depends on amp but one of them had a Boutique 1.
**
I upgraded to V3 today but before doing so I performed a lengthy recording session my normal way by recording three tracks at the same time:
1 Dry track (just guitar going through a pre)
1 Wet track (just the output of the Axe)
1 Midi program change
I went through a bunch of Bank A presets followed by my custom presets.
Then I upgraded and performed the same recording using the same dry track and midi track but new wet track with 3.0.
Now I'm able to A/B the wet tracks. I wasn't comforted by what I heard. The first preset (bassman) in 2.0 had so much body. In 3.0 it has totally lost that full range full body sound. It doesn't really sound like it's just an eq change. It really sounds like the model has changed substantially. I checked a bunch of other presets and tended to prefer the 2.0 sound. I did this in a somewhat blind way so that I when I toggled (using my mouse) I wouldn't always know which was A and which was B. Before panicking, I worked with my presets which I'm more familiar with. I A/Bed an AC30 preset and without question 2.0 was better. 2.0 sounded more even and rich. 3.0 seems to be clearer (in a bad way), nasal, and missing a lot of mid content. I tried adjusting various settings to no avail. A few settings helped such as increasing the drive slightly and the XFormer Match but it still sounds one dimensional compared to 2.0.
I'm not sure I can attribute it to anything specific in 3.0. It could be the move to pentode vs. triode, general tweaking in the amp models, or maybe the cabinet ir changes. I'll work a bit more on it but I'll be honest, I'm discouraged.
Has anyone else A/B-ed in this way? Specifically have you noticed the richness difference between the two firmwares? What did you do to address it?
To eliminate preliminary questions:
No, I do not use global eq.
Yes cab and amp are turned on.
I monitored extensively in high quality head phones.
Yes, I uploaded the 3.0 bank A.
Yes, on my presets, I did the amp change to get the default parameters
Yes, I upgraded to 3. I see the new features in Axe-Edit and on the front panel.
I use spdif io between my sound card and axe (I don't have sync issues with this).
I did a parameter reset and updated the only global settings I needed to match 2.0 fw (input levels 1 and 2).
I am using the new Axe-Edit 1.0.239.
I don't want to post my dry or wet tracks.... however, encourage you to do an A/B test and post the results :0)
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