I love Quantum , but...

eljodon

eljodon

Experienced
When I installed Quantum on my Axe Fx 2, I decided to give IRs another try(15th time) and for the 1st time I actually liked the tone I was getting. I own tons of IR's and I ended up liking the latest Ownhammer Marshall 1960b with different Celestions speakers.
After a 3 year hiatus from playing live, some of my old friends that I used to play with were talking about playing again. I've always use the Axe Fx 2 with my Mesa Boogie 2 90 and one or 2 Marshall cabs or a custom maid 2 x 12 with several Scumback speaker models. My favorite is 2 BH75 and 2 M75.
When I tried Quantum with my usual set up, I didn't like what I was hearing at all. It sounded like the 1 to 2kHz are was overemphasized and the Marshall's sounded muddy even after and 1hr or so of tweaking. I switch back to Fw 19 and the tone was so much better! But when I use Ir's with FW 19 it doesn't sound as good as Quantum! I've been using Fractal stuff since the Ultra days and know it quite well, and the starting point when you change amps always had a pretty good basic tone.

Anyone that doesn't use IR's noticed this? The Quantum sounded so good with Ir's that I actually started thinking on using it in my studio. I always use my collection of real amps in my studio for tracking, but I only used the Axe Fx 2 for live playing, jamming in my living room and once in awhile for some clean tones. I would hate to change FW every time I want to use the Axe Fx 2 for live playing.

Besides the obvious changes in Quantum, is their any reason why the change in tone when using a real speaker cabinet? I just don't want to buy full range speaker just to play a couple of times a month. Any comments would be greatly appreciated except for the usual " I'm using a similar set up an my Axe Fx sounds great" with out giving me any info! Thanks
 
I use the FRFR option, so I want to preface the reply by saying I am just venturing thoughts!

I can't think or a reason for the difference in perception between FW 19 and Quantum except that they actually do sound different. As an FRFR user, Quantum seems (to my ears) more open sounding, especially in cleaner tones and with certain effects. It's possible that this difference in sound is equating to a less pleasant sound in your personal setup, which might actually sound better with a stock setting on the old firmware, on your gear.

I said that to say this: With the many great players getting stellar tones live and recorded with the Quantum update I don't think it is a question of capability, but of setting. I've found I have to resort to "setting with my ears and not my eyes" often on a firmware change, or when running into a different set of speakers. This might mean you have to have two versions of each preset, one for studio and one for your live rig.

As an example of the wrong way to do the above, I tried last week (on a small gig) to just run my Axe Fx into my vocal monitor with the presets I use for my RCF FRFR. It was, frankly, pretty crappy sounding. Thin, buzzy, AM radio-ish. Plug back into the NX12, and the world spins on its proper axis again and the guitar sounds full and compelling. If I plan to do that again, I will need to adjust everything to accommodate that vocal monitor's way of reproducing guitar tone. Two sets of presets, as noted above: one for the vocal monitor and one for the RCF. What I am hopeful of is that someone is using a very similar rig to yours and may have some specific suggestions on settings to share. I'm really confident you can get there.

As I said, just venturing thoughts... but I encourage you to keep chasing the tone you want in the Axe Fx.
 
That power amp is very colored. Are you turning off Power Amp Modeling when using the power amp?
 
With everything you've got going on to try to hammer a square peg into a round hole, it does not make any sense that you wouldn't at least try an FRFR set-up to get into the Axe and .irs the way they're supposed to be experienced. I think you owe it to yourself to give active FRFR a shot. I really think that once you do, you'll find that the world becomes a lot simpler - and better sounding.
 
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