Having trouble with Axe III

Sfalsetto

Sfalsetto

Member
Hey everyone. I've been a proud Fractal user for many years. Have had my Axe Fx II since 2012 and have had the III since it first came out just about. I've mostly played using headphones but recently my living situation changed, allowing me to pump up the volume a little bit. I have a Matrix GT1000FX going into a Mesa 4x12 slant cab. I noticed that my III sounds quite a bit different compared to my II using this same setup. In headphones everything translates pretty evenly, besides the differences between the two units obviously. I haven't really played my II since getting the III (obviously) but decided to fire it up today just to make sure I'm not crazy.

I created a pretty basic preset on each unit with the same settings, and have AB'ed them pretty extensively and I still can't quite figure out what the difference is. The preset on the II sounds full and roaring whereas the same patch on my III sounds thin and as if there is a blanket over it. My Axe III is on 12.03 while the II is on Quantum 10.01 I believe. I know there is quite a difference in the modeling between these two versions, but it still seems like it should be easier to achieve similar tones than this. On the II I have an IR going to output 1 with an enhancer and the signal going to output 2 for my mesa cab before the cab block. On the III I have the same setup except I have output 2 without the enhancer for FOH, and output three going to my cabinet.

In short, I'm convinced that I must be doing something wrong on the III in this scenario. Yes power amp modeling is enabled globally. I've attached the two presets (one for the III and one for the II). Hopefully someone can help me discern what I may be doing wrong or at least point me in the right direction.

Thanks
 

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  • Heavy Fried AxeFXIII.syx
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did you make the Axe3 preset from scratch or did you import an Axe2 preset somehow? i can't really see any red flags just looking at the presets, someone probably has to load them and play to see what's going on.

Out 3's level on the Axe3 is a bit lower than Out 1 and 2 (and compared to the Axe2), so are you getting the same volume in the room? try using Out 1 or 2 for the cab send on the Axe3.
 
Rain said:
Try Output 1 and see how it sounds ...
Click to expand...
Rain said:
Try turning up the Output 3 Level to +6.0 DB
Click to expand...
???
I'm not the one having issues here, I just asked to understand the reasons behind Cliff's response.
I doubt out 1 will sound different (except for the obvious volume difference)

Btw thanks Cliff, the lower output level of out 3 (and 4) is another reason I use it in place of out 1/2, it matches the input headroom of my power amp pretty much perfectly.
 
Last edited:
DLC86 said:
???
I'm not the one having issues here, I just asked to understand the reasons behind Cliff's response.
I doubt out 1 will sound different (except for the obvious volume difference)

Btw thanks Cliff, the lower output level of out 3 (and 4) is another reason I use it in place of out 1/2, it matches the input headroom of my power amp almost pretty much perfectly.
Click to expand...
Sorry bout that ...
 
Sfalsetto said:
Hey everyone. I've been a proud Fractal user for many years. Have had my Axe Fx II since 2012 and have had the III since it first came out just about. I've mostly played using headphones but recently my living situation changed, allowing me to pump up the volume a little bit. I have a Matrix GT1000FX going into a Mesa 4x12 slant cab. I noticed that my III sounds quite a bit different compared to my II using this same setup. In headphones everything translates pretty evenly, besides the differences between the two units obviously. I haven't really played my II since getting the III (obviously) but decided to fire it up today just to make sure I'm not crazy.

I created a pretty basic preset on each unit with the same settings, and have AB'ed them pretty extensively and I still can't quite figure out what the difference is. The preset on the II sounds full and roaring whereas the same patch on my III sounds thin and as if there is a blanket over it. My Axe III is on 12.03 while the II is on Quantum 10.01 I believe. I know there is quite a difference in the modeling between these two versions, but it still seems like it should be easier to achieve similar tones than this. On the II I have an IR going to output 1 with an enhancer and the signal going to output 2 for my mesa cab before the cab block. On the III I have the same setup except I have output 2 without the enhancer for FOH, and output three going to my cabinet.

In short, I'm convinced that I must be doing something wrong on the III in this scenario. Yes power amp modeling is enabled globally. I've attached the two presets (one for the III and one for the II). Hopefully someone can help me discern what I may be doing wrong or at least point me in the right direction.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Try Output 1 and see how it sounds ...
Try turning up the Output 3 Level to +6.0 DB
 
Rain said:
Do they sound close with headphones on ?
Click to expand...

The sound is much less discernible through headphones.

chris said:
did you make the Axe3 preset from scratch or did you import an Axe2 preset somehow? i can't really see any red flags just looking at the presets, someone probably has to load them and play to see what's going on.

Out 3's level on the Axe3 is a bit lower than Out 1 and 2 (and compared to the Axe2), so are you getting the same volume in the room? try using Out 1 or 2 for the cab send on the Axe3.
Click to expand...

Hi Chris, I made the preset from scratch just by looking at settings. I figured that was the most full proof way to make sure nothing was being transferred strangely.

FractalAudio said:
Not really other than Output 1 and 2 have a higher output level.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this info Cliff. I remember reading about the difference in levels in the past but it seemed to have slipped my mind. I’m away from guitars for a couple of hours but I’ll experiment with the different outputs tonight. For those that looked at the presets, is there any glaring mistake that I’m not seeing?

Thanks for all of the input.
 
Sfalsetto said:
The sound is much less discernible through headphones.



Hi Chris, I made the preset from scratch just by looking at settings. I figured that was the most full proof way to make sure nothing was being transferred strangely.



Thanks for this info Cliff. I remember reading about the difference in levels in the past but it seemed to have slipped my mind. I’m away from guitars for a couple of hours but I’ll experiment with the different outputs tonight. For those that looked at the presets, is there any glaring mistake that I’m not seeing?

Thanks for all of the input.
Click to expand...
I loaded the Preset it looks fine to me, sounds good through the Headphones.....
 
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