Confessions of a sound man

brokenvail

Fractal Fanatic
I am doing a few dates at some coffee houses. I showed up yesterday (had my clr in the car in case I needed it) I told the sound guy just give me an xlr I am sending you line level. The house speaks were jbl eon And I was able to hear my self through them so i rolled with no CLR. After the gig sound guy says. What is that thing? It sounded amazing and all I did was raise my fader. I told him what it was and he said everyone should own one of those. Way better than micing a cab


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Lol I have been luckily. Only had one guy ever give me a hard time but in the end he did it my way. Every sound guy who every hears my at goes crazy over the Axe and I have had two offer to buy it from me on the spot over the years. I have only gassed for guitars for the last 5 years and even that has come way down. All I play is Anderson's and Suhr's right now so I am in a super happy with everything I am using


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I'm the Broadcast Engineer for a very large church in Houston Tx. Several years ago Lincoln Brewster visited and led praise and worship with our team. He had the most amazing guitar sound I had heard at that time. I called down to FOH to ask FOH engineer what he was getting the same thing, He was exicited as well, but not being a player he wasn't as curious as I.
I then called the stage manager on radio to find out what he was using, all he could tell me was it was a line level unit started with an F.
Not much help but I had read about the Fractal unit and assumed that was it.

Well shortly after service Lincoln was being given the 50 cent tour, and they wanted to see Broadcast Audio, Well the first words out of my mouth were, 'what are you playing thru', and from that point on it was Fractal this, Fractal that, Where is Fractal, etc, etc.
He said he wished he had more time so he could show it to me in the studio, (so did I) but he was due at another date.
This changed my way of thinking about guitar sounds for ever.. And this was the Fractal Ultra.
I now have owned the Fractal FXII for several years. And it just keeps getting better....
 
I am doing a few dates at some coffee houses. I showed up yesterday (had my clr in the car in case I needed it) I told the sound guy just give me an xlr I am sending you line level. The house speaks were jbl eon And I was able to hear my self through them so i rolled with no CLR. After the gig sound guy says. What is that thing? It sounded amazing and all I did was raise my fader. I told him what it was and he said everyone should own one of those. Way better than micing a cab


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How would you say the JBL EONs compared to your CLR?
 
I was a live audio engineer for years, and I really don't understand the stereotypical reluctance to go line-in on guitars. Any chance I got, I wanted to try the direct line first because it makes for a cleaner sound and it's one less thing that can feedback. I think I ended up deciding to mic a cab instead of taking the line-outs... once? Maybe twice? Although I will say that I never had the chance to compare the direct vs mic'd sound on any of the Line6 amps, and those are probably the most common rigs where there's an actual choice.

Line-in drums are... interesting. They've certainly gotten better since I first came across them 14ish years ago, but I never could get them to sound great. OTOH, if you've got a quiet vocalist or a loud drummer, there's something to be said for not having what amounts to 3rd, phasy-sounding overhead mic.
 
I'm a live soundguy ( 10 years and still counting ) and I always prefer take a direct line when I can.
- no bleeding
- consistency
- can't kick the mic around

it's 2015 and you can get your hands on many good sounding things to get you a good direct sound.
even if you don't like the axe, the Radial JDX or Torpedo stuff is great.
I just recently built a rig for an artiste I work with using the Tech21 FlyRig.
all we bring around is a small pedal train board.
 
As someone who's been on both ends of the stage snake over the years, I always appreciated the ability to take an XLR out from someone's bass or guitar rig (assuming it was half way decent). My old Digitech GSP2101 Artist had the ability to do this in the mid 90's and sound guys (who had a clue) usually preferred it. Given that our Fractals are light years beyond the old 2101's, one would have to be of questionable mental agility not to want to use their XLR outs. Sadly, as we all know too well, there are too many live sound Luddites who still don't get it. Slowly, patiently, we shall bring the unwashed masses into the fold. :p
 
How would you say the JBL EONs compared to your CLR?

Not a comparison at all. The CLR is another level. It is fuller in the bass, nicer in the highs and nice in the mids. The Eon is def "good enough for rock and roll" I sounded fine though them. I have never had major issue making my patches though. Patches I made on k12 and RCF all translated well


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Given that our Fractals are light years beyond the old 2101's, one would have to be of questionable mental agility not to want to use their XLR outs.

I'm kind of new to the FOH issues but aren't the XLR inputs on most boards mic level? Wouldn't the XLR outs be too hot for the XLR ins on the board? I've been using the 1/4" outs on the AXE and going to 1/4" line level inputs on the boards. Also, what about boards that have phantom power on their XLR in's, is that a potential problem for the AXE?
 
Some sound engineers reluctance (especially older guys) stems from people taking a line out from their Boss GT5 and expecting it to sound like an amp... then blaming the sound engineer when it doesn't. Nowadays it's moot point as the equipment has gotten better sounding.

I've never had a problem with the Axe in any venue I've played, even in the back arse of nowhere. Mind you, sound guys usually just do what I tell them and it works out fine.
 
I'm kind of new to the FOH issues but aren't the XLR inputs on most boards mic level? Wouldn't the XLR outs be too hot for the XLR ins on the board? I've been using the 1/4" outs on the AXE and going to 1/4" line level inputs on the boards.
Depends on the preamp. Either way, that's what pads are for.

Also, what about boards that have phantom power on their XLR in's, is that a potential problem for the AXE?
I don't think the AxeFX cares. I can't remember where I heard that, though.
 
I consider myself a working guitar and A1 audio engineer. Mic placement is key, and a direct sound is cleaner but, a good player with a good guitar and amp/modeler really makes all the difference.
 
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