FRFR/Direct to PA help needed!!!

S

seanthesheep

Member
Ok so Im having more problems with my axe fx ii :(

Yesterday I spent atleast an hour at my bands regersal space trying to get some axe fx tones going direct/FRFR. It didnt go well at all. Even the stock presets sounded pretty bad. After a while I just played through the marshall DSL halfstack that was there and even though I dont really like marshalls, the tone was leaps and bounds better than the axe direct.

The PA rig I used was a powered mixer pushing 2 JbL JRX500 speakers. It sounds pretty nice for vocals but something was not right for guitar. I guess the big thing Im asking is how should I effectivly transition from headphones at home to a PA system? My patches for home sound amazing so I know the tones are there for sure
 
How was the EQ for the PA system?

There are just so many variables here it's difficult to help.

To be honest, using the axe, stock presets, with a PA system that's full range should sound "good" and a great starting point.

I'm wondering if the PA was tuned for vocals, meaning mids pushed, lows cut and crispy highs.

Edit - oh just saw the headphone thing... Yeah this has been discussed a lot here. Headphones don't necessarily translate well to PA system mostly due to volume and the FM curve.

Your presets probably have too much bass and treble, because that's what sound good in headphones.

Try using your global eq to make a "frowny face" (cut lows and highs) for a quick fix, but definitely EQ your presets for the PA at or close to your performance volume.

MANY threads on this topic.
 
I an issue last time I played through a PA that the patches I created on my monitors didn't translate well...I checked the channel on the board and the EQ was all over the place. I set everything back to flat on the PA channel and everything was right in the world.
 
Check the mixer's channels you hook up the Axe to. People have a tendency to do some really weird stuff with it so make sure everything is at the middle and the global eq on the mixer is flat as well. Then move from there. If anything, you will most likely have to make a patch there in the rehearsal spot so you can compete with the other guitarist. I've run into problems going direct to pa as well due to the same issues you have and on the spot patch making is the way to go. Or if you ran out of time like me, you can use the global eq in the axe and make a frowny face to cut a bit.

When you set it up right, man it sounds good. Try not to go overboard on tweaking as I kept fiddling knobs through a couple of practices constantly and it burned me out for a bit.

Also, have 2 sets of patches. 1 for live and the other for recording or home jams. Live patches sound unpleasant alone at home.
 
As others have mentioned make the board EQ neutral first. What I do is take my outs from output2 and then adjust the global EQ on output2 to compensate for the speakers. My expereince has been to pump the mids because some speakers boost the highs and lows to make them sound bigger. I use output1 for my DAW. When I AB my studio monitors against my PA speakers the difference in EQ is substantial. Previous to doing this my patches sounded like mud through the PA and sounded good in the DAW.

Now you can use the board EQ to compensate for the room.
 
Ideally, you want to dial in your tone in the exact same situation that you'll be playing at, with the exact same equipment. When you switch equipment, don't expect things to translate. Even when you dial in your tone using the exact same equipment, but at bedroom level, it could sound different when you crank it at band practice.

What you dialed in for your headphone will only sound good on your headphone. Let's say you record it, and give it to your friend, who listens to it in his car. It won't sound the same.

What I do, since my band uses QSC K12 mains, that's what I use to dial in my tone. Luckily, I own the K12s, so they're sitting at my house. What I do, is that I dial in my tone somewhat at night, at low levels, since one of my neighbors is a dick and have called the cops on me many times. Last time was New Years Day, 4pm, I was just messing with some VST instruments playing through my KRK monitors. I wasn't any louder than someone watching a movie at home. Anyway, then I go back and tweak it during my lunch hour, so I can play louder, since my neighbor would be at work.
 
It mustve been the PA in that particular room, today we were in a different room and I tired again, and I just went great, everything was perfect pretty much, I couldve tweaked the patch a little more but it was more than good enough.

Btw Im the only guitarist in my band for now so I dont really have to compete woth anyone

And thanks for all the detailed posts guys :)
 
Yea, Im for sure going to be picking up a monitor soon now but getting our own mains and stuff isnt really possible for now so lets hope we dont run into another shitty PA system
 
The really sad part is that if your guitar sounded bad then the whole mix sounded bad. I've played more gigs than I can count where the soundman had absolutely no idea what he was doing. And there's nothing you can do since they never listen to any suggestions. One bit of advice: throw the soundman $20 before the gig starts. He's less likely to press the suck button if you do.
 
Your presets are as good as your headphones. If you had a PA that responded the exact same way, the presets would translate well.

You want to create your presets on the flattest platform available to you.
 
Yea I for sure get that.

Well next week I might be picking up a mackie HD1221. The guys asking 600$ and its practically brand new and everything working. Ive heard about the reliability issues but Ive also heard they sound amazing. Should I go for that or get an EV EXL12P?
 
FractalAudio said:
The really sad part is that if your guitar sounded bad then the whole mix sounded bad. I've played more gigs than I can count where the soundman had absolutely no idea what he was doing. And there's nothing you can do since they never listen to any suggestions. One bit of advice: throw the soundman $20 before the gig starts. He's less likely to press the suck button if you do.
Click to expand...

Yea, my band doesnt run anything through the Pa for rehersals beside my guitar and the vocals but now we got moved to a new room that costs the same amount that is so much better in every way, including the PA
 
Hey seanthesheep, I'm in Toronto, I use Yorkville EP10's for monitoring my AxeFxII (and I do output 1 to FOH, output 2 to my EP10's), and if we can work out a time, I'd be happy to come help you out.

Craig
 
Can I ask you to check if your cab sims disabled in your global settings?

When I got the Axe, the first thing I did was to disable cab sims, because I was going through power amp and cabs. Just covering all bases here - perhaps you did this too, and forgot to turn them back on?
 
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