Guitar Level Problem?

State of Epicicity

State of Epicicity

Fractal Fanatic
I wonder if it's possible for there to be some sort of issue with the guitar levels in my Axe-FX III.

Here's an image of two dry DI files recorded direct from the front input of the Axe-FX III, with the same riff being played:

Waveform comparison.jpg

The top is me with my superstrat with the stock high output humbucker, and the bottom is Leon Todd's PRS DGT with its stock medium output bridge humbucker (shared with his permission). Input 1 / Instrument level on the I/O setup page for my guitar had to be set to 8.3% not to clip, yet this top waveform is the result. Same result with high quality Rattlesnake and Mogami Gold guitar cables, and I've checked over the wiring of my guitars many times to make sure all was correct.

I have two guitars, which both have a really decent output level, but neither has tended to drive the amp models that hard in the unit. I've always felt like my guitars sound harsh straight in with a single IR, so I misalign mics to make up for this, and it's been difficult to get any static IRs to sound good. I've come to the point that I'm wondering if they've just been hitting the amp models with too low a level.

I've made up for this in various ways, but his really hit home for me when I was following along with preset creation videos that Leon Todd would post; I would use the same IR, the same blocks, and settings, and my guitar would be nowhere close to his in terms of the raw signal driving the amp. I found this to be true for a recent Cooper Carter video too. I wrote Leon asking him if he was boosting his guitar before the Axe-FX III, but he said just plugs straight in (and not increasing global Input 1 Gain either), same as me, and he actually sent me his DI wav file to compare. I get a similar level with my other guitar too, a Washburn Parallaxe Trevor Rabin with Duncan Saturday Night Specials. In my Super Shredder, I used to have Duncan Blackouts, and still the output did not hit the amp models that hard, which just seems nuts.

I tried plugging into all the other inputs on the unit, all the ones on the back, and the levels sounded similar. I don't know if it's possible something in the unit could be padding the levels of my guitars, so I thought I'd ask. I'd be happy to send in my unit if that would be best. Of course, the Axe-FX III is so flexible and powerful that I can make up for this by placing an OD pedal model in front of an amp model, but this just seems extreme. I've tried so many different sets of humbuckers in the years I've had the Axe-FX III, and the results have all been pretty similar.

I realize guitars sound massively different, but the difference in recorded output level just seems too great here for me not to check what's going on, that a medium output pickup can decimate the signal of a high output pickup to such a degree.

Thanks in advance for looking into this!

@FractalAudio
 

Attachments

  • DI Files.zip
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Without knowing anything about the amplitude scales in the two screenshots, it's impossible to say, but it looks to me like you and he are using different methods to record a DI.
 
chris said:
my DI's with 7 string and 6 string Majesty guitars always look like the top image. i think most people's DI's look like that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking at that. If you play the tracks I attached through the same preset, the difference sounds even more extreme than it looks, and I can't figure out why.
 
GlennO said:
Without knowing anything about the scales in the two screenshots, it's impossible to say, but it looks to me like you and he are using different methods to record a DI.
Click to expand...

We both recorded straight from the front input. There's no scale alteration here.
 
GlennO said:
I'm with Chris. The amplitude on his DI is implausibly high for a signal path from guitar to usb channel 5 to DAW with no gain adjustments.
Click to expand...

Hearing that difference is what prompted me to write him. He actually said he's heard that from others too. I was sure he had gone into an interface first and not realized there was a boost or something like that.
 
I can't explain the original tone difference that prompted you to contact him, but I can tell you he recorded his DI using a different method than you. Maybe when he told you "USB", he meant input block connected to output block. That's very different than how you recorded your DI and could account for the difference.
 
GlennO said:
I can't explain the original tone difference that prompted you to contact him, but I can tell you he recorded his DI using a different method than you. Maybe when he told you "USB", he meant input block connected to output block. That's very different than how you recorded your DI and could explain the difference.
Click to expand...

What I did was to have Reaper record the Instrument 5 output. I didn't deal with blocks at all for that.

Regardless, in the video he recorded this for, he just had his guitar straight in to the unit, and it sounded the same. Now, if he looped his input block to something else then output to the amp block, that could boost it, but he didn't say anything about that.

I had a similar experience following a recent Cooper Carter video.
 
GlennO said:
Without knowing anything about the amplitude scales in the two screenshots, it's impossible to say, but it looks to me like you and he are using different methods to record a DI.
Click to expand...

I should point out, that's not two screenshots. Those are two tracks in the same project in Reaper. It's one screenshot.
 
State of Epicicity said:
What I did was to have Reaper record the Instrument 5 output. I didn't deal with blocks at all for that.
Click to expand...

That's exactly my point. Without knowing the amplitude scale in your screenshot, it's impossible for anyone to answer your question, but there's no indication in that screenshot that there is anything wrong with your input level. It sounds like you don't want to hear this :), but the difference in the DI amplitudes is most likely due to the fact that Leon used a different method to record his DI than you did. Assuming a typical amplitude scale in the screenshot, his DI is preposterous and yours looks normal.
 
GlennO said:
That's exactly my point. Without knowing the amplitude scale in your screenshot, it's impossible for anyone to answer your question, but there's no indication in that screenshot that there is anything wrong with your input level. It sounds like you don't want to hear this :), but the difference in the DI amplitudes is most likely due to the fact that Leon used a different method to record his DI than you did. Assuming a typical amplitude scale in the screenshot, his DI is preposterous and yours looks normal.
Click to expand...

No, that makes me feel way better if you're right. I'd like to think my unit is fine. I don't know what the scale is in Reaper by default, but that's what you're seeing there. All I was stressing is that both tracks are at the same scale in my screenshot.
 
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