Axe-Fx III settings with Headphones

Thanks for all the recommendations. That recommendation by Cliff was 12 years ago. Surely there are better options now.
Possibly. But just because there’s newer stuff doesn’t mean older stuff isn’t great. I mean look at all the favorite amps in the Axe. Most of them were designed before many folks here were even alive.
 
"This is a 2 part question.
1. How do you tweak your setting to make the Axe sound better through headphones?
2. What headphones do you recommend around $200 or less? "

To answer (somehow) your questions :
  • I don't , it sounds great as it is, but some reverb/air (play with the cab block settings) in your presets may help, as well as a hi pass filter to remove some fizzinness with distorted sounds. But it has been said a lot, fizziness is not bad in itself and helps to cut in a mix.
  • Although they are great headphones, I wasn't happy with the DT-880 when playing the guitar alone, specialy with gainy sounds. I bought a pair of blue lola's (lot of recommendations on the forum) and they are very nice. They are less flat and precise, probably not recommended for a mix, but much more pleasant and even closer to my Adam A7X monitors. Haven't looked back since, the DT 880 remain in their box.

Hope that helps
 
I bought a pair of HD600’s this week and got them yesterday to replace a $50 pair of AKG headphones. It blew me away last night when I plugged them in for the first time. I liked the tone through the AKG’s- especially the extensive high end but they were not balanced at all and colored the tone a lot more than I thought. I had a hard time stopping playing last night with the new headphones- it just sounded so good with a grind and richness that I haven’t heard before through headphones. The open back let’s a lot more outside sound in than the semi-open AKG’s but I like that. The HD600’s are a little quieter though so will have to up my levels some but I love them so far and am glad I finally spent the extra $ to get good headphones since I mostly play through them now.
 
Audeze LCD-2s, but they are pricey.

That's right. And I've tried almost all the headphones mentioned at the many threads about hadphones already opened at this forum. In an A/B comparison, the LCD-2 makes them all sound colored; including the ATH-M50X

They are very expensive, but worth considering how much money one can spend with trial-and-error mid-range headphones. They are the closest I've ever heard to my studio monitors (Mackie HR824) - with a lot of difference. I can use them to tweak the Axe-FX knowing that what I hear is what I will get on the PA.

And they are not ear-fatiguing.
 
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And a question one has to make to himself is:

Do I want the headphones for enjoying playing guitar, or for critical listening?

Because it could be the case that the headphones are revealing a deficiency in your monitors or room acoustics. (e.g: a room resonance that makes certain frequencies to sound "cool" with the guitar, but are not really coming from the Axe-FX. That would let you down when you go FRFR to a gig, connected direct to line)
 
To me - and this is just my opinion - I have never yet figured out how to get my studio monitors to sound as rich and clear as headphones. I play with Sennheiser HD 558's (or maybe the prior gen can't remember) and Shure SE215 in ear monitors. I mainly use the Sennheiser's at home and use the Shure's when I play out. I can dial in the sweetest mix I've ever heard with my Sennheiser plugged direct in the Axe III - and when I take it out and run it into a board my Shure's sound great as well. Conversely, if I use that same mix that works at home for practice and playing live and flip it over to my Yamaha HS7's - it sounds terrible. It looses all the richness and that 3D feel - and it also doesn't translate well to my Shure's when I play live.

So what I've found - and I've had more than one modeler and more than one set of monitors - is that I can't really use a monitor mix anywhere but right in front of the monitors - and even then doesn't sound that great. That's kind of a shame because it means that if I want that type of thing I have to do a bunch of work to duplicate all my patches for that equipment only. So, what ends up happening is I just play with headphones much of the time which is fine I guess - unless you are playing with friends.
 
To me - and this is just my opinion - I have never yet figured out how to get my studio monitors to sound as rich and clear as headphones. I play with Sennheiser HD 558's (or maybe the prior gen can't remember) and Shure SE215 in ear monitors. I mainly use the Sennheiser's at home and use the Shure's when I play out. I can dial in the sweetest mix I've ever heard with my Sennheiser plugged direct in the Axe III - and when I take it out and run it into a board my Shure's sound great as well. Conversely, if I use that same mix that works at home for practice and playing live and flip it over to my Yamaha HS7's - it sounds terrible. It looses all the richness and that 3D feel - and it also doesn't translate well to my Shure's when I play live.

So what I've found - and I've had more than one modeler and more than one set of monitors - is that I can't really use a monitor mix anywhere but right in front of the monitors - and even then doesn't sound that great. That's kind of a shame because it means that if I want that type of thing I have to do a bunch of work to duplicate all my patches for that equipment only. So, what ends up happening is I just play with headphones much of the time which is fine I guess - unless you are playing with friends.

that was my issue with wondering about headphones. are they more important for "mixing" than actually listening through a monitor system worth $2k! that's what it kind of sounds like, unless im really just a novice.

I mean it makes kind of sense if I think about it, im using 2k monitors and the average person uses $2 headphones so duh....or they use their airpods or beats or whatever the hell else apple gets people to use these days (though I do love the beats solo3 lol)

idk, if I had less than 50-60 to spend, what would you suggest for an essential headphone? or just keep the ones im using?
 
that was my issue with wondering about headphones. are they more important for "mixing" than actually listening through a monitor system worth $2k! that's what it kind of sounds like, unless im really just a novice.

I mean it makes kind of sense if I think about it, im using 2k monitors and the average person uses $2 headphones so duh....or they use their airpods or beats or whatever the hell else apple gets people to use these days (though I do love the beats solo3 lol)

idk, if I had less than 50-60 to spend, what would you suggest for an essential headphone? or just keep the ones im using?

Again this is just my opinion with my years of experience - but the secret to getting headphones to sound good has nothing to do with Axe III - other than making sure you are outputting in Stereo vs Summed MONO - and making sure your internal output isn't clipping. It's the headphones. Specifically - it's mainly the OHM rating on the headphones - what you need are something that can handle the volume of the output (not too low) but something you can still push (not too high) without a headphone amp. I'd shoot for something that is about 32-50ohms. I have a pair of 300ohm headphones and I never use them because it takes a lot of power to push them and I don't need extra complication in my life. If they are rated too low, when you turn up the volume they will crack and distort. That's the main thing.

The rest is your pref in headphones. Some people like closed vs open back etc, etc... I won't get into all that. My top recommendation would by anything 50ohm or near 50ohm Sennheiser - their stuff just pleases me to no end in terms of sound and comfort. Alternatively you could go with Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 32 or 80's.

For in ears I use Shure SE215. They translate live perfectelly from my Sennheisers.

The short answer is - you don't have to do anything to get your stuff to sound good - just get the right headphones and it will sound amazing. In fact, if your listening experience is similar to mine - I'd argue you aren't really hearing what this thing can do unless you are using headphones.

I will mention one setting - in the cab block there is a air or space parameter like the 3rd or so tab down that will make you have that improved feel with some amps when using headphones. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. Just preference.
 
Again this is just my opinion with my years of experience - but the secret to getting headphones to sound good has nothing to do with Axe III - other than making sure you are outputting in Stereo vs Summed MONO - and making sure your internal output isn't clipping. It's the headphones. Specifically - it's mainly the OHM rating on the headphones - what you need are something that can handle the volume of the output (not too low) but something you can still push (not too high) without a headphone amp. I'd shoot for something that is about 32-50ohms. I have a pair of 300ohm headphones and I never use them because it takes a lot of power to push them and I don't need extra complication in my life. If they are rated too low, when you turn up the volume they will crack and distort. That's the main thing.

The rest is your pref in headphones. Some people like closed vs open back etc, etc... I won't get into all that. My top recommendation would by anything 50ohm or near 50ohm Sennheiser - their stuff just pleases me to no end in terms of sound and comfort. Alternatively you could go with Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 32 or 80's.

For in ears I use Shure SE215. They translate live perfectelly from my Sennheisers.

The short answer is - you don't have to do anything to get your stuff to sound good - just get the right headphones and it will sound amazing. In fact, if your listening experience is similar to mine - I'd argue you aren't really hearing what this thing can do unless you are using headphones.

I will mention one setting - in the cab block there is a air or space parameter like the 3rd or so tab down that will make you have that improved feel with some amps when using headphones. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. Just preference.
great advice, ive heard so many say just get the 770 or the 880 or Senheisser 500 or something so i have to just get that
thanks so much for the thorough and informative post my friend
 
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