don_joe
Experienced
I know I'm late with a review for an EOL product, but I hope still to solve a few problems and maybe learn something I missed before, if I'm going to stay in the digital realm.
After owning a FX II Mk 2 for 8 years now, I just can't say that I'm happy with it in situations where I play loud with other people. It might be a user error or just suboptimal amplification in all those different rehearsal rooms where I was occasionally playing from time to time, outside of my "home studio". I can use it well for recording and for playing through normal inexpensive desk monitors, even with my CLR Atomic on normal listening levels. As soon as I crank up the volume, the sound quality seems to deteriorate and becomes Lo-Fi and grainy, with certain irritating latency. In all those 8 years, I didn't manage to leave the rehearsal room happy, not one single time.
I see that some users are quite happy and proud with their sound. They just need to plug their FX II into the mixing pult or whatever and leave it to the sound engineer. What am I doing wrong?
Fletcher-Munson? I can dial it in some wrong frequencies but why does it sound Lo-Fi and grainy? And why does it have this latency?
I would often play through a mix pult with 15" speakers. 15" isn't optimal but it should at least sound OK. What about other users, don't they play through big speakers too? Could the impedance of the mixing pult be a problem here? Is Axe FX II meant to be played only through Hi-Fi equipment? Do the other users experience this graininess and latency if they go FOH? A stage monitor can help but I suppose not everyone and always uses them.
Then, playing through CLR Atomic, which is built exactly for this, doesn't make it any better, and it has a 12" speaker (beside the tweeter). The experience of playing it cranked up loud isn't even close to a real amp. At first I thought that CLR wasn't such a good PA solution but I've seen a lot of good reviews. That's why I even bought it in the first place.
I would like to stay digital and I'm considering the FX III or FM3 but the purchase doesn't solve any of my mentioned problems, I'm not sure that I want them. I still don't know, am I doing something wrong or is the FX II often hard to dial in in live situations on different equipment?
Many thanks for any hint that can help me or for your experience if you're willing to share.
After owning a FX II Mk 2 for 8 years now, I just can't say that I'm happy with it in situations where I play loud with other people. It might be a user error or just suboptimal amplification in all those different rehearsal rooms where I was occasionally playing from time to time, outside of my "home studio". I can use it well for recording and for playing through normal inexpensive desk monitors, even with my CLR Atomic on normal listening levels. As soon as I crank up the volume, the sound quality seems to deteriorate and becomes Lo-Fi and grainy, with certain irritating latency. In all those 8 years, I didn't manage to leave the rehearsal room happy, not one single time.
I see that some users are quite happy and proud with their sound. They just need to plug their FX II into the mixing pult or whatever and leave it to the sound engineer. What am I doing wrong?
Fletcher-Munson? I can dial it in some wrong frequencies but why does it sound Lo-Fi and grainy? And why does it have this latency?
I would often play through a mix pult with 15" speakers. 15" isn't optimal but it should at least sound OK. What about other users, don't they play through big speakers too? Could the impedance of the mixing pult be a problem here? Is Axe FX II meant to be played only through Hi-Fi equipment? Do the other users experience this graininess and latency if they go FOH? A stage monitor can help but I suppose not everyone and always uses them.
Then, playing through CLR Atomic, which is built exactly for this, doesn't make it any better, and it has a 12" speaker (beside the tweeter). The experience of playing it cranked up loud isn't even close to a real amp. At first I thought that CLR wasn't such a good PA solution but I've seen a lot of good reviews. That's why I even bought it in the first place.
I would like to stay digital and I'm considering the FX III or FM3 but the purchase doesn't solve any of my mentioned problems, I'm not sure that I want them. I still don't know, am I doing something wrong or is the FX II often hard to dial in in live situations on different equipment?
Many thanks for any hint that can help me or for your experience if you're willing to share.