I can't seem to get ANY good tones?

Jason Scott said:
If you've played with these controls and every stock IR still sounds muffled, it's not the IR's.
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+1

I dunno.
When I listen on my headphones, Beyer Dynamic DT 990 Pros, it sounds very much like it does through my CLRs or my HS80Ms.
Not as good, but not bad.
Definitely no extra blanket over the amp tone going on just with the headphones.

There are lots of reasons why headphones will never sound the same as listening to real speakers but none of them have to do with any blanket effect.

I think the OP and some of the other folks with the same issue must be doing something else wrong.

To the OP...

What's it sound like if you bypass your Cab Block?
If it doesn't sound tons brighter and fizzier on the top end (with more extreme bottom end too) then something else is going on that has nothing to do with IRs or the Cab Block settings.

If it only sounds dull when using the Cab Block, then maybe you've got your hi cut control (on the Advanced page) at minimum by accident?
Maybe you're using an unusually dull sounding IR?
Maybe you've selected one of the virtual mics and you've got the Proximity control cranked?
Maybe you've accidentally engaged the virtual console preamp in the Cab Block and you've got the highs turned down?
Other than that, maybe you've got a defective unit?
 
The AX8 sounds amazing through studio monitors. Best modeler I've ever heard, and I've been around. Be patient, and watch some tutorials.
 
joegold said:
There are lots of reasons why headphones will never sound the same as listening to real speakers but none of them have to do with any blanket effect.
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It might be good to have a better understanding of what the OP means by "blanket." Does it mean lack of highs? Too much fuzz around the edges? Or something else?
 
I second what others have said - there is something wrong - with your reproduction chain (power amp/speakers) or your unit (whether a global setting or much less likely hardware, like the headphone out).

When I started using the AFII years ago it was overwhelming - it was easy to get all sorts of tones that were pleasing in one way or another, even things that I never would have thought of or would never use for my musical tastes. Like going to the ice cream parlor and being confronted with 6 billion flavors. It is possible to get sounds that some might consider unpleasant, but I have always found the defaults pretty musical and many need only small changes to be ideal for the guitar or musical purpose at hand.

So, no, I don't think it should be that hard - and I'll be curious to see how it goes with powered monitors. FWIW I get what I consider great sounds from any of the outputs, but I most enjoy - and feel most at home - with a big power amp and either big FRFR monitors (I've used greenboy bass cabs, PA monitors, and CLR with good results) or an actual guitar cabinet (as opposed to studio monitors). Even the finest headphones won't be quite the same, I think.

pepsodent said:
Expecting to be blown away by this unit (Axe FX2), I've found myself fighting it most of the time.

I haven't found a single high gain factory preset that I've liked enough to linger with, even with tweaking (laying off the gain, cranking the master, careful with highs and lows etc) and I've tried many combinations that hasn't worked out, which other people seem to love. I've played around with the FAS modern through an Uber, the Friedman amps through TV mix and Basketweave cabs, I've tried the USA's. Nope. All I end up with is a muddy, slightly boomy tone with weak attack.

If I manage to get something good sounding going, it's still covered in what sounds like a thick blanket and I can't seem to get rid of it with any amounts of tweaking or EQing and I'm starting to wonder if it's really supposed to be this hard to get a good, clear, creamy sound out of this thing - like the clips on Youtube that sold me on it.

None of the user presets I've downloaded (or bought, for that matter) that sound fantastic from the author sound the same in my unit, and I can't tweak them to where I want them. I've reset the unit to factory settings, as suggested by some. Nothing. Time to make a thread about it.

I'm playing through a PRS CE24, with headphones (a couple of old Denon AH-D750's). I have the Yamaha HS50M monitors in mind, suspecting what I really need are some good monitors.

I know the fractal community is polite because I lurk, and I could really need a helping hand here :(
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FractalAudio said:
Throw away the headphones and get some good quality monitors. Better yet, throw away the headphones and get some reference-quality monitors.
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If you can swing it Cliff's input here is worth consideration.

I use headphones (Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro's, DT990 Pro's, DT250's, and/or Philips Fidelio X2's, and I use dedicated headphone amps, not the headphone out on the AxeFX) to play/practice when quiet is needed at home but I build presets at volume through a pair of Atomic Amps CLR powered monitors. I have found, as many have suggested on this forum, that presets built through reference quality monitors translate well through a variety of monitoring systems, even very colored monitoring systems, including headphones. A pair of Atomic CLR's may not be a practical answer at somewhere around $900 a pop. There are a number of powered nearfield monitors that will do well for under $600.remember to take into account the size of the room you play in at home to determine what size monitors to go with.

Without some form of quality FRFR monitoring system it's going to be difficult to make headphones work for you.

IMHO, YMMV, and all that. Here's hoping you find an ideal solution, one that fits your needs.
 
Look at it this way: The speaker(s) you listen through are the most important part of your rig, they are after all the only thing other than the guitar which actually makes sound. Yes, the speaker is more important than the Axe FX, spend money on good monitors first - I'd highly recommend Adam A7X's if you're doing studio work.
 
This is one of the main reasons I am keeping my JMP-1 and Triaxis.

My axe fx sounds different day to day and week to week without changing anything in a preset. I'm still tracking it down.

I have had days where there is no need for a gate and the presets sound awesome, then next day I go to same presets and they are noisy and sound bad.

I am using a Tripp lite transformer, Ebtech xlr noise exterminator, Furman power conditioner. This keeps the output quite. I learned the noise come right at the begging of the grid. Which is weird. So I started looking at correlations to Active pickup use since I have two guitars with active pickups. I am starting see evidence that axe fx flakes out with active pickups. When it does flake out you can get it unflaked. It's like the intelligent noise gate goes into some mode to address the active pickup input then sort gets locked in that mode. Then everything sounds like crap from that point forward.

By the way all that equipment I mentioned only fixes the ground loops and powerline noise. It does not fix the noise problem generated by the axe itself. Bottom line, when it's noisy the tone sounds crappie too so it's a double whammy.

When it's working right nothing sounds better. I can use the highest gain amps on highest gain settings with no gate. But when it flakes out that same setting is so bad you can't even gate the noise.












pepsodent said:
Expecting to be blown away by this unit (Axe FX2), I've found myself fighting it most of the time.

I haven't found a single high gain factory preset that I've liked enough to linger with, even with tweaking (laying off the gain, cranking the master, careful with highs and lows etc) and I've tried many combinations that hasn't worked out, which other people seem to love. I've played around with the FAS modern through an Uber, the Friedman amps through TV mix and Basketweave cabs, I've tried the USA's. Nope. All I end up with is a muddy, slightly boomy tone with weak attack.

If I manage to get something good sounding going, it's still covered in what sounds like a thick blanket and I can't seem to get rid of it with any amounts of tweaking or EQing and I'm starting to wonder if it's really supposed to be this hard to get a good, clear, creamy sound out of this thing - like the clips on Youtube that sold me on it.

None of the user presets I've downloaded (or bought, for that matter) that sound fantastic from the author sound the same in my unit, and I can't tweak them to where I want them. I've reset the unit to factory settings, as suggested by some. Nothing. Time to make a thread about it.

I'm playing through a PRS CE24, with headphones (a couple of old Denon AH-D750's). I have the Yamaha HS50M monitors in mind, suspecting what I really need are some good monitors.

I know the fractal community is polite because I lurk, and I could really need a helping hand here :(
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SteveW said:
Ditch the headphones. I don't find headphones sound good at all with the Axe.

I'm playing through a real 4 x 12 Mesa Traditional with V30's. It's sometimes a challenge to get a great tone and takes a fair bit of work, because playing through a real cab, means one basic cab tone...and you need to massage and massage to get great tones, but it's doable.

I have built some great sounding patches (from scratch) using Friedman, Recto Modern Red (Mesa Boogie Dual rectifier 3rd channel). Working on Marshall tones now, which prove to be more challenging for me.

Amp EQ and tone controls are your friends! Also, more advanced controls like pressure, depth, dynamic pressure, dynamic depth will dramatically change your muddy tones...and make them bite crystal clear, if that's your aim.

Master volume, cranked way up will seriously dirty your tone on some amps. I use +3-5 db max...

And like what's been said here, get a good set of FRFR's!

It's not as simple as 1-2-3 when building tones/ patches...certainly not as simple as some say, especially if you're a novice at this, like me!
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sounds very interesting. I am also a real cab user with V30 inside. Real cab patches are rare to find. I would really appreciate if you would not mind sharing a few of them just too see how does someone else gets there. The fractal has it but challenge is to get it there :).... Its very easy to do things that seem to eat away your tone or that make it muddy or whatever...hard to find what is wrong ...there are a lot of parameters around ....Found some good advice on the forum here and there...lucky the forum is there ..:). Just to stay in the tread, strange enough for me when working with headphone and cab sims on....its very easy to get good tones , even the stock ones...Sometimes I really doubt should I really go full FRFR?....would that be the holy grail of tone for stage work where you do not have a FOH , eg. small pubs etc....
 
knjaxefx2 said:
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My axe fx sounds different day to day and week to week without changing anything in a preset. I'm still tracking it down.

I have had days where there is no need for a gate and the presets sound awesome, then next day I go to same presets and they are noisy and sound bad.
Click to expand...

Huh? One of the major features of the AFX is the consistency of the presets, which is why I sold my amps/cabs... best move I made!
 
knjaxefx2 said:
My axe fx sounds different day to day and week to week without changing anything in a preset. I'm still tracking it down.
Click to expand...

Some said it couldn't be done. But Fractal has accomplished it. They have simulated that *really* annoying problem with tube amps where they sound different depending if they're hot or cold, inside or outside, generally finicky, working with fluctuating power, etc.

Just wait until you blow your virtual power tubes at a gig. The screen shows a melting tube and slowly fizzles out. Then the Axe-FX makes you run back home or to the store to simulate having to grab a power tube that you invariably forgot.

The Kemper and the Helix can't do this.

:)
 
knjaxefx2 said:
This is one of the main reasons I am keeping my JMP-1 and Triaxis.

My axe fx sounds different day to day and week to week without changing anything in a preset. I'm still tracking it down.

I have had days where there is no need for a gate and the presets sound awesome, then next day I go to same presets and they are noisy and sound bad.

I am using a Tripp lite transformer, Ebtech xlr noise exterminator, Furman power conditioner. This keeps the output quite. I learned the noise come right at the begging of the grid. Which is weird. So I started looking at correlations to Active pickup use since I have two guitars with active pickups. I am starting see evidence that axe fx flakes out with active pickups. When it does flake out you can get it unflaked. It's like the intelligent noise gate goes into some mode to address the active pickup input then sort gets locked in that mode. Then everything sounds like crap from that point forward.

By the way all that equipment I mentioned only fixes the ground loops and powerline noise. It does not fix the noise problem generated by the axe itself. Bottom line, when it's noisy the tone sounds crappie too so it's a double whammy.

When it's working right nothing sounds better. I can use the highest gain amps on highest gain settings with no gate. But when it flakes out that same setting is so bad you can't even gate the noise.
Click to expand...
I've experienced this as well and assume it's the poor grounding of the house I'm renting. But I've never used a guitar with active pickups through the axe and still notice it. I wouldn't say my presets sound different tonally, they just seem to have more noise occasionally even though my setup is the exact same and in the exact same place.
 
If you're getting different noise at different times, something is turning on and radiating interference into your guitar. Hunt that down and turn it off.
 
yves vanmeenen said:
sounds very interesting. I am also a real cab user with V30 inside. Real cab patches are rare to find. I would really appreciate if you would not mind sharing a few of them just too see how does someone else gets there. The fractal has it but challenge is to get it there :).... Its very easy to do things that seem to eat away your tone or that make it muddy or whatever...hard to find what is wrong ...there are a lot of parameters around ....Found some good advice on the forum here and there...lucky the forum is there ..:). Just to stay in the tread, strange enough for me when working with headphone and cab sims on....its very easy to get good tones , even the stock ones...Sometimes I really doubt should I really go full FRFR?....would that be the holy grail of tone for stage work where you do not have a FOH , eg. small pubs etc....
Click to expand...
I don't use cab patches...and you shouldn't be either. You CAN build some nice tones using the CAB you have!

I, like you, also debated going with FRFR's, but once I started really playing around with amp effects, (just minor tweaks), I got the tones I wanted!

I'm travelling now and have no access to my patches, but I'll flip some to you once I'm back next week.
 
UPDATE.​

Monitors purchased (Yamaha HS80M's).

Now that's more like it. As I suspected, and as many of you pointed out. Managed to get good sounding tones with minimal effort.

For any headphone users with the same issues as me that might be reading this after the event; invest in some monitors. And of course, thank you for all the helpful input guys. Hopefully some of the suggestions that weren't relevant for me might help out someone else down the line.
 
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