Axe-Fx III & light dimmers

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pauly

Fractal Fanatic
Hi All,

I have a number of GU10 240v LED lights in the studio on a dimmer. The Axe FX II seemed ok with this, with the occasional small amount of dimmer noise. The III on the other hand seems a lot more sensitive - keep in mind it could be a gain thing or something as I'm brand new to this unit.. It's showing up in a lot of presets though.

Anyone else playing in a room with dimmed lights?

Thanks
Pauly
 
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yes i've a similar experience but i've no many differences between ii vs iii.

by my side, the noise was caused by my legrand variator.
i've installed another variator (TRIAC one) and the noise has gone

ps: the brand name of the led bulb is important too.
you must have no noise near it when you dim it
 
Yeah exactly - Strange how it wasn't a problem until I changed the II for the III. I literally unplugged the connectors on the II, removed it from the rack, and replaced it with the III... Then plugged all the same leads in.
 
It's not the Axe-Fx. The noise gets into your guitar's pickups. They are electromagnetic sensors. Dimmers create electromagnetic interference (EMI). The Axe-Fx only amplifies what your guitar is sending it.
 
FractalAudio said:
It's not the Axe-Fx. The noise gets into your guitar's pickups. They are electromagnetic sensors. Dimmers create electromagnetic interference (EMI). The Axe-Fx only amplifies what your guitar is sending it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with Cliff, i've another new experience recently with my new automower.
the cable of the perimetric loop of the signal of the robot which is installed outside went up a frequency of humming in my guitar pickups. I took a long time to identify and find this problem.
 
Correct - so perhaps I should be asking how to correctly set the gain on the iii as the ii did not suffer from it like this. Maybe it's even the input capacitance? I'll screw with that tomorrow and share any result. Of course I've already ordered new dimmers and lighting just in case a coincidence had something in that system fail as I replaced the unit. Fun fun :)
Thanks
Pauly
 
pauly said:
Correct - so perhaps I should be asking how to correctly set the gain on the iii as the ii did not suffer from it like this. Maybe it's even the input capacitance? I'll screw with that tomorrow and share any result. Of course I've already ordered new dimmers and lighting just in case a coincidence had something in that system fail as I replaced the unit. Fun fun :)
Thanks
Pauly
Click to expand...

Noise gate threshold is offset about 20dB apparently from the Axe-Fx II, you may want to start there (i.e. 80db is 60dB on the III)
 
What kind of dimmers do you have? if they are older analog versions swap them out for digital dimmers, they made a big difference in my room.
 
AlbertA said:
Noise gate threshold is offset about 20dB apparently from the Axe-Fx II, you may want to start there (i.e. 80db is 60dB on the III)
Click to expand...
Nice tip. Not sure how I missed that one. My NG levels on the III seemed stupid high on the III to the point where I worried that it was malfunctioning... I knew I had noise but the III seems way over sensitive to it. This info makes it feel somewhat better.
 
Hi Lopan,
ive ordered 'trailing edge' dimmers to be sure. theyll be installednext week.
thanks

LoPaN said:
What kind of dimmers do you have? if they are older analog versions swap them out for digital dimmers, they made a big difference in my room.
Click to expand...
 
FractalAudio said:
It's not the Axe-Fx. The noise gets into your guitar's pickups. They are electromagnetic sensors. Dimmers create electromagnetic interference (EMI). The Axe-Fx only amplifies what your guitar is sending it.
Click to expand...
Actually I experienced the same issue. But as soon as I switched the Axe III noise gate to 60 hz, problem went away. My cellphone in my pocket caused severe interference. Changing to 60hz cures that as well.
 
The A/C Line Frequency parameter, in Global Settings, should be set to match your power line frequency, in your country,
So U.S. = 60 Hz, EU = 50 Hz. It really helped my issue with noise, even when no input cables were plugged into the AXE. Now my AXE III is totally quiet. And no more cellphone interference, when it is in my pocket.

Also, right or wrong, I've been setting my input noise gate as follows: Threshold -50 to -40, ratio 2, attack 2, release 10. I literally lose no sustain and the gate is invisible. And when not playing, the AXE is dead quiet.
 
Hi Tommy, Thanks for that.
When I got in today, I checked the frequency and it was correct for this area (50Hz). Of course I tried 60..but that just made it worse. I also tried adjusting the input capacitance and while it had a significant impact on the noise - it also affected the sound.
The new led lights had arrived so I installed them which appears to have helped quite a bit. I'm tipping that when the 'trailing edge' dimmer arrives and is installed, I'll be happy with it. I've also ordered a bunch of clip on ferrite noise reducers that I'll install when I feel like getting into the roof.
When recording, I prefer to use a light touch on the noise gate but of course when just playing I don't mind cranking the hell out of it :)
Thanks
Pauly
 
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