Advice On Soft & Hard Inputs & Outputs

Paulg2uk

Paulg2uk

Power User
Hi all,

Just wanted a bit of advice on where to set my soft & Hard Inputs and Outputs? I'm running the 4CM into my mark v. I'm getting quite a good sound but sometimes I get a clip in the red on input 2 and a clip on output 1. (when I say clip the signal isn't actually clipping the light are just coming on) I thought it might have been the compressor I was using which has helped a little certainly with the output 1 light.

It would be good to hear how the rest of you are setting your levels?

Thanks

Paul
 
I am also running the 4CM into a Mark V. I have noticed a vastly increased level of hiss (the bottom two front panel LEDs light up on Input 2) when connecting output 2 to the input of the Mark V, when compared with jacking directly to the Mark V input. I will note that the Mark V is on a high gain channel. I can get good tones, I just have to gate the hiss out after the Axe II effects loop. I am curious exactly how the boost/pad function is designed to be used. Right now I have the output 2 boost/pad set to 9dB. Any higher and the front clip LED lights. Would it be beneficial to lower the FX Loop "Send" mixer level by 9 dB so that I can have the boost/pad set to the full 18dB? Are there any sonic consequenses to this? Should we always aim to have the boost/pad (both outputs) set to 18dB when using the 4CM? I would really like to avoid having to gate my Mark V preamp so heavily. I will add that I am using the "Bypass" preset with onlyan FX Loop in the chain when I am experiencing the above.
 
I will also note that I am using Humbuster cables between Output 2 and the Mark V input and between Output 1 and the Mark V return.
 
You probably have this covered, but just to check: do you have the out1 and out2 knobs on the front panel full up (clockwise) as you should?
 
LostInSpace said:
You probably have this covered, but just to check: do you have the out1 and out2 knobs on the front panel full up (clockwise) as you should?
Click to expand...

I don't actually have them up full not even half way. Wouldn't the signal be come too hot? Not even the soft outs or soft instrument input is up that much.
 
I believe that with Out1 and Out2 up full you get unity gain, meaning that if there were no other blocks in your patch other than the FX Loop block, your guitar signal hits the front of your amp like you're plugged in directly, and your amp's fx send goes back to your amp's fx return as is. If you have Out2 less than full, you're hitting the front of your amp with less signal, like having the volume down on your guitar. If you've increased the Mark V's gains to compensate, I can see why that might be noisy.

I'd give it a try. If it's still noisy, I'd try disconnecting everything but the cable from Out2 to your amp's input (don't connect your amp's loop). That should sound just like plugging straight into the front, with no added noise. I'm running 4CM, and I've found the Axe is quite transparent.
 
Ok say I turn those up full, what do I do with the soft outs and instrument input? I guess I turn them
Down and increase the levels but just make sure I don't clip?
 
On the Input tab of the I/O menu, set Instr In (assuming your guitar is plugged into the front) high enough so that the input lights "tickle" the red when you strum hard, then maybe back off a little. Do the same with Input 2 when you have the Axe connected to your amp. Note these steps are intended to optimize signal to noise ratio during A/D conversion. After A/D conversion, the Axe applies the inverse of this gain after A/D so there's no net effect on the signal level that flows into the grid. This means that these gains have no effect on the amount of signal that goes out of the output jacks, so no matter how you set them they won't increase clipping on output signals of the Axe.

On the Audio tab of the I/O menu, I would turn up the Output1 and Output2 boost/pad as much as you need to reduce noise, but if you get clipping of the output, back them down. I think these work like the input, where the signal is boosted before D/A conversion, and then the inverse gain is applied after to get unity gain. So although this overall is a unity gain operation, since the signal is boosted to the D/A converter and then reduced back to unity, if you pad too much you can clip the output, so just make sure you don't set it high enough to clip.

After you levels are set this way, you should only get clipping if you have blocks that produce a lot of gain in the grid. For example, if there's a drive block with high level in front of the FX loop, you could clip the Output 2 D/A and you might need to set Output2 boost/pad lower.
 
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