Hi guys
I've seen several posts about this already but wanted to try and get to the bottom of this issue.
I tried the 4 cable method with a Marshall JVM 410 head and it's instantly obvious that Output 2 (used to feed the front end of the head in the 4CM setup) is really hissy and unusable. What seems very strange is that if you use Output 1 instead (to just use the Axe II in front of the head without any post preamp effects) there is hardly any hiss at all and everything sounds great(like a huge collection of stomp boxes). There's no two ways about this..Output 2 is simply full of hiss (something i also noticed when using it as an fx loop with external stomp boxes). This is with no fx blocks at all, just the fx loop block for the 4CM itself.
I came up with a semi solution which is to put the pad all the way up on Output 2, which drops the level a huge amount, and to then bring the level back up using the level control in the fx loop block itself. The problem with this is that to get your signal back to the "dry" gain level that you'd get when plugging your guitar direct into your amp head, you end up getting a lot of clipping in the Axe II, which affects how the head's overdrive channels sound. If you then back down on the fx loop block's level to eliminate the clipping, your signal goes below the required level of gain which screws everything up.
It seems like there's a real flaw in the Axe II's capabilites for 4 Cable Method.
Another solution i thought about would be to run 2 independent rows in the grid..one for front end effects and one for amp head fx loop effects. The trouble with that is that you can't setup and route Input/Output 2 because they are always part of the fx loop block. The other possibility is then to use the Left side of Input/Output 1 for front end fx and the right side of Input/Output 1 for post fx but this would almost certainly cause major hum and would make stereo fx no longer possible.
Furthermore, i would be running the 4CM with an Fx Gizmo to keep both the front end and post fx sections of the Axe II in true bypass when not in use so that my head's tone remains intact, but this still means i get the hiss when engaging the front end fx form the Axe. Meanwhile, because the post fx are coming out of the Axe's Output 1, they don't have any added hiss at all, it's just Output 2 that seems to ruin the signal path!!!!
Any 4CM users got any ideas or solutions? If i've understood correctly, the humbuster technology is for hum and not hiss, right?
I've seen several posts about this already but wanted to try and get to the bottom of this issue.
I tried the 4 cable method with a Marshall JVM 410 head and it's instantly obvious that Output 2 (used to feed the front end of the head in the 4CM setup) is really hissy and unusable. What seems very strange is that if you use Output 1 instead (to just use the Axe II in front of the head without any post preamp effects) there is hardly any hiss at all and everything sounds great(like a huge collection of stomp boxes). There's no two ways about this..Output 2 is simply full of hiss (something i also noticed when using it as an fx loop with external stomp boxes). This is with no fx blocks at all, just the fx loop block for the 4CM itself.
I came up with a semi solution which is to put the pad all the way up on Output 2, which drops the level a huge amount, and to then bring the level back up using the level control in the fx loop block itself. The problem with this is that to get your signal back to the "dry" gain level that you'd get when plugging your guitar direct into your amp head, you end up getting a lot of clipping in the Axe II, which affects how the head's overdrive channels sound. If you then back down on the fx loop block's level to eliminate the clipping, your signal goes below the required level of gain which screws everything up.
It seems like there's a real flaw in the Axe II's capabilites for 4 Cable Method.
Another solution i thought about would be to run 2 independent rows in the grid..one for front end effects and one for amp head fx loop effects. The trouble with that is that you can't setup and route Input/Output 2 because they are always part of the fx loop block. The other possibility is then to use the Left side of Input/Output 1 for front end fx and the right side of Input/Output 1 for post fx but this would almost certainly cause major hum and would make stereo fx no longer possible.
Furthermore, i would be running the 4CM with an Fx Gizmo to keep both the front end and post fx sections of the Axe II in true bypass when not in use so that my head's tone remains intact, but this still means i get the hiss when engaging the front end fx form the Axe. Meanwhile, because the post fx are coming out of the Axe's Output 1, they don't have any added hiss at all, it's just Output 2 that seems to ruin the signal path!!!!
Any 4CM users got any ideas or solutions? If i've understood correctly, the humbuster technology is for hum and not hiss, right?
