A Good Spectrum Analyzer to Run the Axe Into??

boltrecords

boltrecords

Fractal Fanatic
hello all

my bandmate and I are both running an axe fx II live now and we are working on making presets that will sit well in a mix with each other. id like to try running our presets as well a clip of our Bass guitarist into a SPectrum Analyzer to accurately tweek the EQ of each instrument and preset so we all sit well in a mix together in a live setting.
This would actually be a cool feature to add to the axe fx one day....unless its capable of this and im just missing it.

Does anyone have any experience with this method? also can anyone recommend an affordable spectrum analyzer. preferably one that is computer based and not an actual rack unit?
 
The Axe-Fx can do this (and actually does this) but the LCD just doesn't have the resolution. There are multiple FFT modules in the Axe-Fx but the data isn't exposed to the user. I can access it in debug mode but it just isn't something the average user would understand, let alone the difficulties in getting the data to Axe-Edit for display.

My recommendation, and what I use, is TrueRTA. The pro version is only $99.
 
FractalAudio said:
The Axe-Fx can do this (and actually does this) but the LCD just doesn't have the resolution. There are multiple FFT modules in the Axe-Fx but the data isn't exposed to the user. I can access it in debug mode but it just isn't something the average user would understand, let alone the difficulties in getting the data to Axe-Edit for display.

My recommendation, and what I use, is TrueRTA. The pro version is only $99.
Click to expand...

Might I suggest putting it into a future update of Axe Edit? That way we can get much greater resolution.
 
boltrecords said:
Does anyone have any experience with this method? also can anyone recommend an affordable spectrum analyzer. preferably one that is computer based and not an actual rack unit?
Click to expand...

I use Spectrafoo, but it's pricey. supermegaultragroovy has an app called "spectre". The starter version is currently $50, and includes a spectrograph and spectrogram. Both are Mac only AFAIK; and the full version of Spectre is a bit cheaper than TrueRTA. With all these "see what you're hearing" kind of apps it's best to rely primarily on your ears and use the tools to confirm your observations.
 
when dialing in the overall EQ for your direct feed to FOH, should i be dialing in presets and then tweeking the overall EQ with the global EQ afterwards? or should i look at what frequencies i want to stay away from and then pull those frequencies out with the global eq and then dial in the presets?
 
boltrecords said:
when dialing in the overall EQ for your direct feed to FOH, should i be dialing in presets and then tweeking the overall EQ with the global EQ afterwards? or should i look at what frequencies i want to stay away from and then pull those frequencies out with the global eq and then dial in the presets?
Click to expand...

When you settle on an analyzer, get some tracks from cd's that you really admire and study them in your analyzer. Look at bass fills, guitar fills, etc. to see where they are at in the analyzer.

Richard
 
boltrecords said:
when dialing in the overall EQ for your direct feed to FOH, should i be dialing in presets and then tweeking the overall EQ with the global EQ afterwards? or should i look at what frequencies i want to stay away from and then pull those frequencies out with the global eq and then dial in the presets?
Click to expand...

barhrecords said:
When you settle on an analyzer, get some tracks from cd's that you really admire and study them in your analyzer. Look at bass fills, guitar fills, etc. to see where they are at in the analyzer.

Richard
Click to expand...
TO add to Richard... make sure you do that while playing the full mix, otherwise your will most likely not get it right.
 
@ OP: there is a good spectrum analyzer to run the axe into: your ears. Why not use those? :)

And speaking of gigs, things are different all the time: P.A., venue, crowd, strings do age... I'd just get into the ballpark by ears instead of "accurate EQing". Good arrangement ("who plays what in which register") is more important.
 
Sebastian said:
@ OP: there is a good spectrum analyzer to run the axe into: your ears. Why not use those? :)

And speaking of gigs, things are different all the time: P.A., venue, crowd, strings do age... I'd just get into the ballpark by ears instead of "accurate EQing". Good arrangement ("who plays what in which register") is more important.
Click to expand...

+1

Good arrangements provide natural instrument separation.

Checkout the arrangements of Def Leppard. Simple chords but the arrangements let all the different instruments have their place in the mix.

For rock, I would recommend getting agressive with high pass filters on everything but the kick, toms and bass. Roll it up way higher than you think. It really lets the mix get clear and gives and awesome low end thump.

Richard
 
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