Hidden contributors to volume in an AMP block

P

patreojames

Member
Hi folks.

Since I've been digging deeper into the AMP block trying to wrap my head around my new amp + cab setup, I've been led to what it probably a softball of a question.

I've noticed that nominally similar AMP blocks (such as 6160 Block and 6160 II) with identical settings produce noticeably different volume outputs (6160 Block being louder in the above example). By "identical settings" I include Drive, Master Volume, Level, Input Trim, various switches, EQing, etc.

I imagine that the actual amps naturally have different volumes with identical settings (to the extent this makes sense with the actual amps). Is this an attempt to build this into the modeling? Naively, I would have guessed that the modeling is set up to uniformize the volume with default settings (or identical settings on similar AMP blocks).

As usual, my question is rather academic - I'm just curious what's behind this. I know that I can simply adjust the Level when needed...

Thanks
 
There's no design reason, based on the real amps, why the 6160 Block and II should have noticeably disparate volumes. The only difference between the two amps in the real world is the tubes they came from the factory with. I can't imagine the tube difference would lead to the volumes being very different. So, this either comes down to model inaccuracies or some setting is getting missed. Is saturation off on both models?
 
Ben.Last said:
There's no design reason, based on the real amps, why the 6160 Block and II should have noticeably disparate volumes. The only difference between the two amps in the real world is the tubes they came from the factory with. I can't imagine the tube difference would lead to the volumes being very different. So, this either comes down to model inaccuracies or some setting is getting missed. Is saturation off on both models?
Click to expand...
Actually the 6160 Block (5150 EVH Block) is a shared architecture two channel amp whereas the II (6505+) has two independent channels. There is actually a number of circuit differences between the amps, not just tubes, so the volume differences are IMO normal and would be experienced between the two real world amps.

I believe the goal was to make the axefx models as close to identical to the real world amp as possible, warts and all.
 
Ben.Last said:
There's no design reason, based on the real amps, why the 6160 Block and II should have noticeably disparate volumes. The only difference between the two amps in the real world is the tubes they came from the factory with. I can't imagine the tube difference would lead to the volumes being very different. So, this either comes down to model inaccuracies or some setting is getting missed. Is saturation off on both models?
Click to expand...

They are very different amps. Regardless, "volume" is irrelevant. All that matters is the gain staging and the onset of distortion in the various stages. The resulting volume is arbitrary. You simply use the Level control to adjust the "volume" of the amp block. The Level control does nothing more than adjust the output level of the block so you can use it to equalize the volume between amp models.
 
I agree that volume is practically irrelevant for the reasons you mention (and I mentioned in the OP). I was just curious what contributes to it aside from the obvious things, since I was a bit surprised to see such variability in playing around with several nominally similar amps. (I have no knowledge of amp architecture, so by "nominally similar" here I just mean, e.g., the standard choices for high-gain metal patches.)

Again, this is a rather idle curiosity, but thanks for the comments.
 
patreojames said:
Hi folks.

Since I've been digging deeper into the AMP block trying to wrap my head around my new amp + cab setup, I've been led to what it probably a softball of a question.

I've noticed that nominally similar AMP blocks (such as 6160 Block and 6160 II) with identical settings produce noticeably different volume outputs (6160 Block being louder in the above example). By "identical settings" I include Drive, Master Volume, Level, Input Trim, various switches, EQing, etc.

I imagine that the actual amps naturally have different volumes with identical settings (to the extent this makes sense with the actual amps). Is this an attempt to build this into the modeling? Naively, I would have guessed that the modeling is set up to uniformize the volume with default settings (or identical settings on similar AMP blocks).

As usual, my question is rather academic - I'm just curious what's behind this. I know that I can simply adjust the Level when needed...

Thanks
Click to expand...

So... this is a verbatim copy of my post from 11/2. How did that happen?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom