I don't "get" the VU meters...

+3dB = double the power.
+10db = double the perceived volume.

Our hearing is logarithmic so it takes 10 times as much power to double the perceived volume.
Don't worry about the numbers. Just get the meter to wiggle around close to the line on the meter. That line is a predefined sweet spot that ensures ample headroom for all of your presets. The meter is just a quick and dirty way to roughly balance preset levels. Actual levels will depend on the context in which they are used.
 
This must be the best feature ever... (well, almost...) Tried it out on a number of my new presets today and in literally no time at all, I get them almost spot on. This at bedroom level. I expect some more fine-tuning with band and stage level, but still.. flipping awesome!
 
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This feature is outstanding and extremely intuitive. I don't understand how you can mess it up if you've been playing long enough that the guitar is louder when you first hit it and decreases until either silence or attacked again. Distortion adds compression so there's less variance depending on how how much gain the preset has.

Literally cliff right now trying to make everyone happy: http://2.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/53/33/cbf1f899c49f64a1414070d104a8f8c0.gif
 
electronpirate said:
It's pretty simple:
-Go to Meter.
-Hit a semi hard chord.
-If it's over 0 on the meter, then dial back the 'A' button. Reverse if it's lower.
-Repeat until it's around 0.
-Hit recall and save the preset.

This seems to be the most simple thing we have, so I don't get how there is a problem. It's like tuning...keep pounding on the string, and the meter will BOUNCE.
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This right here^^^^^^ I was a little lost when I first looked that them but once you start to level your, presets nothing could be easier. I lowered my cleans just a bit and bumped up my disto patches because cleans always seem louder but only a couple db and everything sounds very balanced. Cliff did us all a huge solid with this feature.
 
The VU meters are nice to help rough in your preset levels! but you still need to listen to the presets to make sure that they work from one to the next especially when your shifting from clean and dirty.
 
Vign5440 said:
cause when someone doesn't "get" something, treating them as inept and imbecilic is helpful.
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Ok, this is the original poster here, and I did NOT feel that Cliff was treating me as inept. I believe Cliff was banging his head on the wall because, well, we all tend to get confused when things are new and misunderstood. Please, Cliff, bear with us. We're asking these questions respectfully, not to piss off anyone.

Yek: thanks for the link to the Wiki entry (boy, that got there fast!). The major point I had missed is:
WIKI said:
Be aware that the meter is offset by 20 dB, so when the meter reads 0 it’s actually -20 dB. This means that the "0" mark does not indicate clipping. This allows for sufficient headroom.
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Which I had confused with Cliff's point on December 6th:
FractalAudio said:
0 on the VU meter indicates onset of clipping. It's not the same as your plug-ins in that regard. The problem with plug-ins is that you don't know where the onset of clipping is since the headroom isn't specified. Our way is superior since 0 dB indicates the point where things are clipping. The other way you have no idea where things start clipping. So 0 dB on the Axe-Fx is NOT equivalent to 0 dB on a typical plug-in. I figured that should be obvious but I was mistaken.
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... so I was trying VERY hard to stay well below 0db, and having trouble doing that because of the jitter.

Still, these two statements (Cliff's "0db is onset of clipping" and Wiki's "offset by 20db") are clearly contradictory, no?
 
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Dpoirier said:
Still, these two statements (Cliff's "0db is onset of clipping" and Wiki's "offset by 20db") are clearly contradictory, no?
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Nope. Cliff is speaking about two different things here. Because the Axe-Fx now has "VU meters" in multiple places.

This thread (your thread) is about the new VU meters in Utility, which indicate the output level range of the current preset.

The 2nd quote is about different VU meters: the new ones in the Cab block's PREAMP page. Which indicate the effect of the selected "channel strip", including Sat / Drive / EQ.

Cliff explains that you should not set the cab preamp to go beyond 0 dB, because the signal will clip. This does not apply to the VU meters in Utility, because on that display "0" actually is -20 dB (lots of headroom).

Hope this clears it up!
 
yek said:
Because the Axe-Fx now has "VU meters" in multiple places........the new ones in the Cab block's PREAMP page. Which indicate the effect of the selected "channel strip", including Sat / Drive / EQ.
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Dude, I had no idea. I hit the utility button on the front panel and paged right i think 3 times, to see the horizontal VU meters.

Didn't know there were other VU meters in the cab block.

Will have to look at that when I get home tonight.

Thanks, YODA!
 
Keep up the good work cliff. The vu meters are awesome. And people will figure out how to use them. I think alot of you guys are just over complicating this. Like mentioned above.
1 strum
2 adjust level
3 save.
4 get back to jamming
I personally love this feature. Thanks cliff
 
steverosburg said:
It also doesn't seem to jump around too much for me when playing the same full chord over and over trying to keep the same attack. Once I get in the ballpark I do my fine-tuning of individual patch leveling by ear.
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+1

I am strumming a G or an A, and the lights do not hop around very much. Maybe, a little more hopping when I have a delay turned on before the amp block, and it pulses a repeat. But it is still a useful reference to get other presets within the ballpark. So often, I'm creating "scenes" that have intentional boosts or cuts in volume to fit the songs we are performing, that I'm not really interested in keeping the same volume, but the meters are helping to keep a baseline starting point, where I know I have headroom to boost if needed. That is the thing they are helping me with. I tend to "keep getting louder" and then I have nowhere to go eventually. The meters will help keep me at -0- to keep me grounded to homebase, and then boost or cut from there to match the song arrangement.
 
Dpoirier said:
Still, these two statements (Cliff's "0db is onset of clipping" and Wiki's "offset by 20db") are clearly contradictory, no?
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No . They are 2 different things , offset by 20db refers to the VU meters in the utility menu / 0 db onset of clipping refers to the cab block preamp VU meters !
 
kevrock said:
Keep up the good work cliff. The vu meters are awesome. And people will figure out how to use them. I think alot of you guys are just over complicating this. Like mentioned above.
1 strum
2 adjust level
3 save.
4 get back to jamming
I personally love this feature. Thanks cliff
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^^^ This
 
The VU meters do an excellent job of getting you close, but at the end of the day you still "always" have to use your ears! If a patch is too loud in a mix "turn it down till it fits" if it's to loud , "turn it up till it fits"
then they are balanced ! Over complication is the culprit here ,along with folks looking to the unit or Cliff to do it for them !

!" Ears are your Friend "!
 
yek said:
Nope. Cliff is speaking about two different things here. Because the Axe-Fx now has "VU meters" in multiple places.

This thread (your thread) is about the new VU meters in Utility, which indicate the output level range of the current preset.

The 2nd quote is about different VU meters: the new ones in the Cab block's PREAMP page. Which indicate the effect of the selected "channel strip", including Sat / Drive / EQ.

Cliff explains that you should not set the cab preamp to go beyond 0 dB, because the signal will clip. This does not apply to the VU meters in Utility, because on that display "0" actually is -20 dB (lots of headroom).

Hope this clears it up!
Click to expand...
Ah! Duh, I didn't realize this, sorry for having caused such a commotion with my question (though, on second thought, it would appear that I'm not the only user who confused the two). So this will help, I can now shoot for 0db with the Utilities/VU-meters, knowing that I'm safely away from clipping. I still wish there was a bit of a hold feature on the displayed values, but that's nit-picking. Thanks to everyone for your input, and sorry again that my question has irritated some.
 
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