High end fizz...is this normal?

LostInSpace said:
Not to start a philosophical discussion, but I want to note that if you want to look at it like that, many or all of the advanced parameters can be viewed as "realism reduction", because the real amps have fixed values for these things, and when you adjust, you're moving away from the "real amp" values. For me, in the end who cares? It's all about tonal flexibility, and the Axe is awesome in this regard and continues to become even more so.
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I have to disagree, at least in part. I *think* I understand what you are saying, but may be incorrect.

With a real amp, the parameters and corresponding values are available, albeit, in certain cases, not in a direct, "this-is-this" aspect. For instance, while the "Bright Cap" value can correspond to a single component value in a real amp, when one moves to, say, a Plexi, this becomes a "value of function," rather than a "single component's value." As such, when adjusting this value with the Plexi, I approach as a "general shaping value" rather than a directly translatable, singular capacitor value.

The fact that the Axe affords us values that would be (incredibly) difficult to implement in a real amp is beside the point IMO, as we are afforded the ability to directly assign an *absolute* value to a component (when, and as, applicable) in the Axe, just as in a real amp (I cite the Bright Cap value once again). Further, with the inability to do direct component replacements/modifications (in most cases).. as we are afforded with a real amp.. but rather are afforded a set of general, (typically) broad(er) scope, "component tailoring" parameters, we are thus relegated (not in a bad way!!!) to consider, and then apply, such "tweaks" as we may feel most appropriately reflects a similar modification in a real amp. One only need look to the various power and preamp tube parameters, or transformer, etc, and it becomes apparent; while we cannot trade OTs as a direct analog of doing so with a real amp, we can (at least) approximate the impact and affect of such a change, at least in a broad scope manner. We would not be capable (yet? :D ) approximating the more specific tonal characteristics of two similar OTs.. or, say, two different makes of EL34's.. but we can get in a "ballpark" (at least).

However!!! The Axe does also afford those "transient" values.. those bits of "in between," and manners of constructing that which is difficult, improbable, ridiculous, etc with a real amp. But, I also see this as an ability to engage and celebrate imagination. This is yet another way in which I personally celebrate my Axe-Fx II as not replacement of anything, but augmentation. It is.. what my tube amps are, and are not capable of. It is my "pedal lab" without a tangle of cables to wrestle with. It is my rack of effects without archaic, cryptic interfacing. But, once again, it is not replacement. 'Cause sometimes, I want to see and feel the glow of tubes. I want to wreck neurons with the smoke of my lead filled solder. And sometimes I welcome the frustration of a "pedal cable rodeo."

If my tube amps are my crayons, the Axe is my paints.
 
kerrlehr said:
OK - The challenge to "Record it" was made repeatedly through this thread, including by Cliff. YOU DELIVERED! I am biased, and honestly, not in the favor of the "Fizz" crowd so far.... BUT, I honestly do hear it with out a doubt. I would be ignorant to claim otherwise. What I hear can be described as this; Imagine laying a 4x12 cabinet on the ground speakers faced straight up. (OK on some bricks so the thing could be plugged in) Then take a splash of sand and drop it on the cones of each speaker. Then play while listening and looking. Hearing with the visual assistance of the sand. You can barely hear the sand particles dancing around on top of each cone. You can look and literally see the sand lightly dancing on the speakers jumping maybe 2" or so like those little football players on our old vibration football games. It is very light, but it is there. The plexi's were not as strong as perhaps the USA 13 where it was pretty pronounced. In no case a deal killer, but in almost every clip in the series, it was faintly audible. I m hearing sand though, not tearing paper.

Thanks for helping to put a face to the audio picture. Hmmmmmmm.... I do hear that on my tube amps too to varying extents. But as I listen, I do hear the absolutely identical sound in varying amounts on all of the clips you posted. I am still scratching my head and on the fence on this one. Going to watch and learn from here. Beyond my pay grade.
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That's a pretty good analogy......it's a kind of fizz that 'sits' on the sound.

I think if I could dial it back to about 75% I'd be perfectly happy. I know it's there, and that it makes an amp awesome, I just don't want it to be THAT prominent.....
 
jon said:
That's a pretty good analogy......it's a kind of fizz that 'sits' on the sound.

I think if I could dial it back to about 75% I'd be perfectly happy. I know it's there, and that it makes an amp awesome, I just don't want it to be THAT prominent.....
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Try turning down the transformer drive if you have not already. It seemed to significantly hn I tried. At least on the USA clean.

Also, as has been said, fine tuning the amp resonance also helps a lot.
 
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transformer match down,less fizz
good for some,bad for other´s
the most important thing is to give us fizz haters,a chance to have a parameter to take away
some of the fizz.
would it really be such a big issue to the greater ears of amp purity in here ???
 
I haven't read this whole thread but I can state from my own experience that my (long gone) Tone King Comet had the fizz on top of the note. I still own a Two Rock Custom 50 that has it also.

I don't like this sound but real tube amps do this, even expensive hand tweaked ones.
 
RichHowe said:
Man, I knew there was something wrong with my Axe-Fx II! My Axe-Fx II does not have any of the fizz my old GT-8 did. Cliff, do you have any suggestions as to how I can get my Axe-Fx II to also produce this fizz? Maybe you could add it in to a future firmware release for those of us who are missing out on it.

Sorry for the sarcasm, I couldn't resist, but seriously, I think the incredible accuracy of the 3.0x firmware has really brought out the highs and lows that were previously hidden/muffled before. To me, the 3.0x firmware seems to be much more dynamic and I found that I had to lower the input level of my Instr In, it still tickles the red but just barely. That made a big difference in the sound of the amp models to my ear, especially with the high gain models, which were sounding too compressed before I lowered the value. Also, I'm sure you all know this, but playing with high volume and especially high gain (even at low volume) really brings out the imperfections in your guitar. Subtleties like fret buzz, spring buzz, knob crackle, out of tune strings, and incorrect intonations are magnified and much more noticeable. I'm not saying that any of these are the cause of the issues described in this thread, just mentioning that due to the clarity of the new firmware it's possible that you may be noticing things that you did not before. And, these things could produce sounds that could be perceived as being digital artifacts.

Some suggestions...
  • Make sure you're on the latest versions of the firmware, presets, USB driver and Axe-Edit.
  • If using Axe-Edit and the 3.04 firmware, after selecting a preset, make sure that the Power Tube Hardness is set to 4.250 and the Triode Hardness is set to 3.500. These are the correct default values for all amps and should reduce some harshness and possible fizz.
  • Pick a favorite high gain preset (I used FAS Modern and Das Metal) and adjust the Instr In up and down in small increments until it sounds "right" to your ears. Then check that setting against a few other presets (another high gain one, a medium gain one and a clean one). Try to find the setting where different gain structures all sound good (for me it's at 54.1).
  • Try resetting your Axe-Fx II.
  • I know I don't need to say this but I will for the record. Always tune your guitar every time before you play. Slight changes in temperature and humidity can easily throw it out of tune.
  • Check your guitar setup regularly. Again, slight changes in temperature and humidity, especially this time of year, can impact your neck and cause fret buzzes and throw off the intonation.
  • Low action + high pickup height = high maintenance. If you're running this setup (like I am) you're prone to get neck and pickup noise, if you’re OK with this and know what you're doing then fine. If not, you may want to try lowering your pickup height a bit or raising your action.
Some questions for those of you with the "fizzies"...
  • Is your Axe-Fx II connected via USB when you hear the fizz?
  • Do you hear the fizz when not using headphones?
  • What is your signal chain? Are you FRFR, going through a cab, or running direct to a PC, mixer, recording device?
  • Are the global settings correct for your signal chain (i.e. power amp and cab sims)?
  • Have you modified the global EQs?
  • Do you experience fizz on high gain, medium gain, or clean presets or some combination of the three?
  • Does the fizz go away if you lower the volume on your guitar?
  • Does the fizz go away if you lower the gain on the amp model?
  • Do you hear the fizz if you mute the strings and play hard percussively?
Good luck! Please take this post positively; I really am trying to help you out.
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Hey! I get fizz with my headphones... why is that?
 
Rex said:
Hey, a new record! Thread resurrected after 7 years! :)

The answer depends on how you define “fizz.” Could it be that you dialed in a fizzy tone?
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Thanks for answering! For me the fizz is like a digital buzz sounding like grgggrgggrrgggjjjggg after you do a riff... it's not the sound of an amp, is like interference... the funny thing is that I hear it on the headphones but not recording... it decreases when you low down gain, boost, etc... it's still there but more subtle...
 
Yes, that’s interference, not fizz. It’s coming in through your guitar. You hear it after you play, but before the noise gate clamps down and shuts it off. You notice it more with headphones because they give you a more silent background, with speakers held right against your ears.
 
Rex said:
Yes, that’s interference, not fizz. It’s coming in through your guitar. You hear it after you play, but before the noise gate clamps down and shuts it off. You notice it more with headphones because they give you a more silent background, with speakers held right against your ears.
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It could be the computer, the interface, even the mobile phone... anything near could cause it? Is there anyway to eliminate it?
 
The EBTech hum eliminator and Hum X are designed to break ground loops, thus eliminating noise related to a ground loop. The first thing you need to do is figure out what is causing the noise you are hearing. The noise mitigation strategy you should use is dependent on the type of noise. You can have multiple types of noise in your signal, so you may eliminate one noise source only to find you still have noise issues.

Good thing to check is your cabling. I have had brand new, out of the box cables that added noise. Flipped them out for a different cable and the noise went away. I have eliminated all ground loops in my rig, eliminated all conducted noise, and at the moment am working to reduce the inducted noise from my guitar. Debugging noise issues is a process. There do not seem to be silver bullet solutions to tame noise in a rig.
 
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Capt Nasty said:
The EBTech hum eliminator and Hum X are designed to break ground loops, thus eliminating noise related to a ground loop. The first thing you need to do is figure out what is causing the noise you are hearing. The noise mitigation strategy you should use is dependent on the type of noise. You can have multiple types of noise in your signal, so you may eliminate one noise source only to find you still have noise issues.
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Is that a best practice? My chain is the guitar into the Axe and then into the pc. If i purchased this item I need to insert the hum eliminator between the guitar and the chain?
 
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