Axe FX sounds bad with Soldano SM100 and VHT 2x12

Z

zurdyo

Member
Hey all,
I'm a bit stuck here.
I borrowed from a friend a monster power amp (Soldano SM100 USA-made) and paired it up with my VHT 2x12 Fat Bottom cabinet. I expected to be blown away by the punch and low end. Instead, the sound is just in the mid-highs and quite frankly sounds plain bad. I'm sure I must've done something wrong, because it sounds WAY bigger if I play through my home studio 8" Tannoy speakers.

These are my routings/settings:

Global: Cabinet simulation OFF
I/O: Output 1 mode L+R sum
Unbalanced output: regular guitar mono cable to mono power amp input
Power amp: speaker cable to VHT mono cabinet

Any ideas?
 
Jay Mitchell said:
Set the mode to stereo and use the left channel output.
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Makes no difference whether I use the right or left channel output or if I set it to stereo, L+R or to copy L ->R. In each combination it still sounds small and mid-high end only. No basses or mid-lows...
 
If you are using the same presets from your other gear that's probably the issue. I use a power amp into a real guitar cab and the presets that sound good ot home on my FRFR setup with my computer always sound thin and lifeless on my power amp guitar cab rig. I would start from scratch and and build a preset with your ears and forget whatever settings you had before because you'll find it hardly translates to good tone between the 2 worlds. Good luck, let us know what happens.
 
zurdyo said:
Makes no difference whether I use the right or left channel output or if I set it to stereo, L+R or to copy L ->R.
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Then something is probably amiss in your amplification rig. Stereo L+R can cause frequency-specific cancellations if the preset contains certain stereo blocks, e.g., enhancer. You've apparently eliminated that possibility, so the difference you hear must lie in the difference between the response of your monitors and the power amp/cab you're using.
 
octatonic said:
Did you create new patches from scratch?
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rsf1977 said:
If you are using the same presets from your other gear that's probably the issue. I use a power amp into a real guitar cab and the presets that sound good ot home on my FRFR setup with my computer always sound thin and lifeless on my power amp guitar cab rig. I would start from scratch and and build a preset with your ears and forget whatever settings you had before because you'll find it hardly translates to good tone between the 2 worlds. Good luck, let us know what happens.
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I'm fairly new to the Axe FX, so I haven't made any presets yet, I'm still just playing around with the factory presets. But if I try making new ones, even if I boost the amp basses to 10, the punch is still not there, it's mainly the mid and high frequencies.
 
Something weird I'm experiencing is that if I add an EQ and pump the bass frequencies to the max, they're there. If, on the other hand, I modify the bass frequencies on the amp, nothing changes. It's as if the amp side of things is not rendering the lower frequencies...
 
Have you tried adjusting the depth parAmeter? I play modern metal stuff and I am always fighting to keep the low end under control. There should be more then enough available. I would try another cable or something there is something off. Also make sure your global eq isn't killing the low end
 
If things seem that out of whack tonally, then here's my 2 cents:

- start from scratch. Create a new preset. Delete ALL processing blocks and create a single stream consisting of nothing but shunts, which is the equivalent of hearing your guitar unprocessed straight through the amplification system you are using.

- go through the ALL of the I/O and Global functions to make sure that everything is set to default, that is flatten Global EQs, zero out level settings, etc. If you are going FRFR, confirm that Global Amp and Cabinet sims are ON.

- confirm that the "new" patch consisting of nothing but shunts matches the tone (and very close to volume level) as compared the with the Global Bypass engaged.

This will reveal what your guitar and amp sound like. Know this sound WELL. Confirm that your FRFR system is not heavy or deficient in any specific range of frequencies, or in other words, do what you can to make sure your speaker system/listening environment are not creating sonic problems which will impact everything you do from here on out. Consider for this exercise the use of a quality pair of headphones since this is as much a diagnostics exercise as anything else.

If everything sounds as expected, move on to create your own patch, starting with nothing but a CABINET block first. Any tweaking you do within the cabinet block should be regularly compared with this block Bypassed in order to make sure you are not wildly off base in terms of level/gain structure. Some cabs/mic combos can really add some boosts in certain frequency ranges, so please pay attention to this. I might also suggest starting out by NOT using a microphone at this point, just to keep things simple, as they tend to add a LOT of color to the tone.

Follow the same procedure by adding an Amp block in front of the cabinet, again comparing Bypassed amp/cab sim blocks with your 100% unaffected guitar.

You will also find in the amps that the Damp and Sag parameters impact the "thump" of your guitar sound, especially when gain gets high. Experiment with the setting for Damp at 3 o'clock, and Sag at 9 o'clock. This should help bring your low end back to life.

Good luck.
 
Thanks, Jim, for you input! I did exactly as you said and everything went fine throughout the whole process. When I got the amp part, I noticed that whenever I chose clean amps (Jazz, Brownface, Double Verb, ecc...) the basses were there. When I switched to the distorted amps, the result was what I was getting yesterday: a total lack of punch in the low end.

I thought I'd make some demoes to better clarify what's going on for me. I chose a modelled Plexi Orange amp and modelled V30 4x12 speaker in the first two tests. The other two tests were done with the VHT 2x12 cabinet. Test 2, 3, and 4 were all mic'd with the same condenser tube microphone at about 3 feet distance.

Test 1

Axe FX Ultra (Recto Orange amp with bass at 5) --> Apogee Duet Audio Interface --> Mac recording software

test12amp.jpg





Test 2

Axe FX Ultra (Recto Orange amp with bass at 5) --> Behringer 4 chan passive mixer --> Linn MAJIK-I integrate amplifier --> Tannoy Fusion 2 (6.5" woofer & 1" tweeter)

test12cab.jpg





Test 3

Axe FX Ultra (Recto Orange amp with bass at 5, no cabinet) --> Soldano SM100 --> VHT 2x12 Fat Bottom

test3k.jpg





Test 4

Axe FX Ultra (Recto Orange amp with Bass at 10, no cabinet) --> Soldano SM100 --> VHT 2x12 Fat Bottom

test4e.jpg





Anybody's input is welcome! :)

Ian
 
jimfist said:
did you have any luck with the advanced settings, Deep, Damp and Sag, Master Volume?
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Not yet, it was getting too late and the neighbours would've kicked my ass! But the Damp setting was already at 3 o'clock and the Sag was at 11 o'clock. That's not far from the settings you suggested. Tomorrow I'll give that a try.
 
Also, try turning up the Axe-Fx Master Volume and backing down the amp block's Level. I hear exactly what you're talking about in the audio clips.

The Axe-Fx is capable of putting out a TON of gain. Is it possible that this is messing with the sound by causing the Soldano amp's tubes to "compress" the low end? Try backing off the output gain of the Axe-Fx (and/or try using the 1/4" connectors for output if you aren't already doing so) and then turn up the volume on the Soldano's Master gain input.

Otherwise, does Test 1 sound clip come close to the sound you're looking for at all? In the end, if you are able to create the sound in the Axe-Fx using FRFR speakers, then the only conclusion is that something funky is happening with the Soldano. Where are you putting the Axe-Fx in relation to the Soldano? In front of it, or does it have an effects loop? Just tossing out ideas now...and running low at that. Keep us posted.
 
Sixstring said:
When I built presets using a guitar cab and power amp I had to add low end with a EQ block.
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I have the OPPOSITE problem, and have BACK DOWN the bass levels! Something is definitely amiss in the hookup of the OP, especially since he stated he gets the same results with amp sim on or off!

Are you running active or passive tone stacks?
 
s0c9 said:
I have the OPPOSITE problem, and have BACK DOWN the bass levels! Something is definitely amiss in the hookup of the OP, especially since he stated he gets the same results with amp sim on or off!

Are you running active or passive tone stacks?
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Yeah something is not right... The presets I was running with amp and cab were all stock parameters. I did an experiment early on when moving to FR from amp and cab. Wile using the same preset I ran OP-1 to FR and OP-2 to amp and cab simultaneously. I always had to add low end to match the content of the FR side.
 
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