Global EQ adjustment

K

kobestory

Member
Hi all, a long time lurker - first time posting on a forum like this.

I'm new to Fractal products. Before the FM3, my setup was Eleven Rack + dirt pedals (which I love the sound) in my basement at relatively low volumes. My monitors are JBL LSR305.

I was hoping the FM3 will sound great out of the box. But to me it was underwhelming and not as good as my previous setup (until I adjusted the Global EQ which I will get to later). Any patch with high gain sounded either muffled or had a some artifact noise going on. When using my dirt pedals with the FM3 either in front or in the loop, same deal - unnatural sound. I messed with the parameters in I/O menu, tried adjusting EQ for each patch - which helped to an extent, but still didn't sound very good.

It wasn't until I messed with the Global EQ that I really liked the sound coming out from the FM3. I boosted the highs (some lows as well), and lowered the mids. This suddenly gave character to the sound, and now many patches sound great. It sounds good with my dirt pedals, and there is no artifact noise. I discovered this just yesterday.

Now, perhaps its not ideal to have to tweak the Global EQ in a permanent setup. It seems Eleven Rack and FM3 have different curves, since that was the only change in my physical setup. But I find my experience to be kind of strange. Do people in the forum find this experience to be within normal, or is it possible I have a somewhat defective unit?
 
It’s possible, but more likely that either:
(A) You are accustomed to hearing a certain curve in your guitar tone, and are able to recreate that more easily with the global EQ
or (B) your monitoring/mixing room has certain room nodes that make any mixes or tones sound a certain way, and you are either compensating or enhancing that sound with the global EQ.

Have you “eliminated the room“ in your tone by listening in good headphones, or listened to a recording of your tones somewhere else (car, living room, etc)?
 
Curious, what does your Global EQ look like? If it's set extreme, you probably have other issues. If not, maybe you just like a certain tone like mentioned above by @getlostinsound.

If you are using the factory presets, they might not sound good with your guitar. That is fair game. If you don't feel comfortable building something from scratch, just go to any working preset and see if you can get where you want just by modifying the ideal controls in the Amp block.

In addition, at low volumes you are probably being affected by the Fletcher–Munson curve. Try cranking things up and see what it sounds like. As a side note, I never touch my Global EQ's.
 
Thanks for the input, guys. I was using the factory presets at first, then tried to dial in my own sound to no avail. I know its not really the room, I tried the FM3 with headphones and it didn't make much of a difference (sounded artificial).

I do agree that I'm after sounds with more treble jumping out, as needs be with lower volume settings. Unfortunately, cranking up is not really an option. Although I'm in the basement, my wife is griping about my volume as it currently is.

Here is my Global OUT1 EQ now. Contrary to my first post, I realize that I have both the mids and lows set from -5 to -2 dB. The highs are from +1 to +5 dB (except for 16K). With this setting I'm satisfied with the sound, and downloaded presets sound good as well.

Gain: 0.00
16K: -1.29
8K: 3.59
4K: 5.22
2K: 3.19
1K: 1.29
500: -5.08
250: -3.22
125: -3.19
63: -2.78
31: -2.64
 
A recording might help others understand if this is normal or a problem.

I would use Fractal Bot to backup your unit. Then reset the system parameters (doesn't affect presets). See if anything changes after that. You do have Amp Modeling and Cabinet Modeling enabled, correct?
 
Sounds like you’re just compensating for the room. This is common for any professional sound application.
 
Rex said:
It's the low volume that's throwing you off. The presets are dialed in to sound good at gig levels in a band mix. That's why you're boosting highs and lows. Those tweaks sound good at low levels, but they'll kill you in a band situation.
Click to expand...
Nailed it!

OP - Wait till your wife is out and turn that bad boy up!
 
I have the volume of JBL monitors at 9/10, and the OUT 1 knob of the FM3 is at 3 o'clock (75%). Definitely not gig level, but I'm not sure if its that low of a volume either. Will have to experiment some and crank it up when I get a chance.

Cab and amp modeling are on. I just backed up my unit like biskitboy suggested. It also helps to know it's not too weird to compensate and use the Global EQ. Thanks guys.
 
Wife away now. I cranked it up, I can feel more character in the sound.

Rex said:
Is your output set to -10 dBV or +4 dBu? Big difference in volume.
Click to expand...
The JBL monitors are set at -10 dBV sensitivity, and FM3 output is also -10 dBV. When I raise the FM3 to +4 dBu, it definitely gets louder and sounds more full in my ears. It doesn't seem to be clipping the speakers, no distorted effect that I can hear. Perhaps this can be another workaround in my environment.
 
Score! Use what works to get you there. Even output EQ. Just remember that, if you get into a band situation, that EQ will probably get you buried in the mix.
 
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