AXE FX II Mark IV misses some high end sizzle but...!

I

Irotlas

Inspired
...it's really like 98% like real MK IV

I've tone matched it to real MK IV with same setting and it looks like this:
MV IV TM.jpg

But the overal sound is pretty much like it should. The clip below is NOT a TONE MATCH, it's just USA LEAD + and Petrucci CAB compared to Dream Theaters new album sound, just a quick dial by ear, same results. Image is tone match just to "see" the difference. In some new interview JP said he used mark iv mode of his MK V most of the album. I believe that after my test and the petrucci cab is really the cab he uses :D



JP DT vs AXE FX.jpg
JP DT VS AXE FX spec.jpg
 
also remember that the guitar sound on the recording is not just guitar > amp > cab. you also have to factor in the mic, the mic pre and any eq or compression used as well. also figure in the guitar and pickups used, if they differ from yours. it's very close though!
 
simeon said:
also remember that the guitar sound on the recording is not just guitar > amp > cab. you also have to factor in the mic, the mic pre and any eq or compression used as well. also figure in the guitar and pickups used, if they differ from yours. it's very close though!
Click to expand...

And mastering and other stuff done. I really wonder some times if most guitar players understand that the sound they hear in most recordings is not the amp strait with nothing done to the recorded sample.
 
simeon said:
also remember that the guitar sound on the recording is not just guitar > amp > cab. you also have to factor in the mic, the mic pre and any eq or compression used as well. also figure in the guitar and pickups used, if they differ from yours. it's very close though!
Click to expand...

Yes yes...I was going to mention that in that post to avoid these comments but I forgot. Ofcourse it cant be the same etc etc...but for those who dont understand thats a good thing to keep in mind when listening these.

The first picture and the matching to real amp was the main topic...
 
The tone sounds pretty good although I can definitely hear that there is compression going on (from the master) in the first clip. Also, they are differing volumes so one will sound different just due to that.
 
Sean Ashe said:
The tone sounds pretty good although I can definitely hear that there is compression going on (from the master) in the first clip. Also, they are differing volumes so one will sound different just due to that.
Click to expand...

Yep there's clearly compression etc in the album tone.

But the most important thing is the tonematch pic with REAL MK IV, you can see the low and high end differences, otherwise it's 100%. Sean you did some comparisons between the MK V iic+ and AXE FX, what kind of tonematch spectrums did you get?

I find that the MK IVs highs and lows are definitely missing that what the spectrum shows, the highs are really different in other mark models in AXE FX, you can really hear that mk iv is kinda dry compared to other but it shouldn't be. When I tonematched AFX mk iv to real mk iv, BOOM it's tone is there. You can get it sound almost right without TM with the 5 band eQ but the last high frequencies are missing and the lows are a bit different, as the TM spectrums shows.
 
I'd Love to see you now do an Izotope tone match of this and show the spectrum. Because in my tests when the Axe FX II is close to the tone, Izotope is even closer it doesn't miss the high's mids, when the Axe II is not as close Izotope is closer still and workable ect.
 
laughyouraxeoff said:
I'd Love to see you now do an Izotope tone match of this and show the spectrum. Because in my tests when the Axe FX II is close to the tone, Izotope is even closer it doesn't miss the high's mids, when the Axe II is not as close Izotope is closer still and workable ect.
Click to expand...

Hmmm I could but for me there's no point because I'm not trying to do an accurate tonematch, the clip wasn't tonematch, just did it to SEE the difference I hear between AXF MK IV and a REAL MK IV. But yes I've find out too that I can do more accurate tonematch with Izotope for what ever reason, but still AFXs TM is good enough. I don't like using tonematches when I play, I just use it to see differences and then tweak the amp settings and check again where I'm at.
 
One more interesting thing what I found when I matched axe fx mk iv to real mk iv. The high end changed when the eQ is on or off in the amp. First pic is eQ off and second eQ on. Like some thing happens in mark iv when you switch eQ on. My gues is that axe fx is modelled eQ off and thats why you cant get the correct highs even when the 5band eq is added in afx model. Something must happen to the preamp when you hit the eQ switch no matter how you set it. I dont know have Cliff tested this behaviour with his amp.

image.jpg
image.jpg
 
man, I can't get my patches to sound that good direct. they all seem to come off Line6-ish to me. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong
 
primerib said:
man, I can't get my patches to sound that good direct. they all seem to come off Line6-ish to me. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong
Click to expand...

Well not much can go wrong as far as amp modeling goes. You can see that the mid range is basically 100% like the real mk iv but the low and hi end has some problems, I'm 100% sure about that, I can see it, I can hear it, you can too.
Maybe you're not using good IR? But if you want a MARK sound,try IIC+ or Triaxis, I find them easier to dial in. Specially for leads but I think MK IV is better for basic riff/crunch tone 'cauce it has more scooped lo-mids. If you want the IIC+ closer to MK IV you have to set the 250hz fader around -3.0.
 
Going from my memory of the album version, the first one from the clip is from about 2:13 into Behind the Veil. I reckon that little bit is the best guitar tone I've ever heard from Dream Theater. The little playing nuances and oomph of the tone is so sweet.
 
In my opinion the biggest audible difference in the clip is in the midrange if you listen to this in a good midrangy speaker (Yamaha NS10) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom