Input Gate and Gate/Expander Block

trancegodz

Fractal Fanatic
I'd love to hear how you guys prefer to set your Input Gate, and/or your Gate/Expander block for different styles of music.

I was wondering about the proper way to set all parameters for the input gate.

How is the best way to set it so it doesn't kill your sustain, or add noises when you stop playing?

How do you turn the input gate off completely if you don't want to use it at all?

How do you prefer to set each of these parameters?
Which settings work best for which different styles of music?

Threshold
Ratio
Attack
Release
Level

Also how do you prefer to set your Gate/Expander block if you use one?
Which settings work best for which different styles of music?

Threshold
Ratio
Attack
Release
Hold
Scsel
Lowcut
 
before anyone answers, they should say their definition of "noise." :)

Noise is noise. Hiss, etc. The reason Rocktron invented the Guitar Silencer years ago. Every guitar player who has ever played loud knows what I'm talking about.
No definition necessary.

What I meant specifically by "or add noises when you stop playing" is the little after note sounds that are added sometimes when you use gates.

I'm not trying to solve a specific problem, just wanting to learn the proper way to set these blocks for different styles of music. I am guessing a lot of people here don't know how to set gates correctly. I was hoping some of those who do know would share their knowledge of the subject with those who don't. I know you'd set these things differently for country, blues, classic rock, heavy metal, etc.
 
Level on the GTE page actually isn't a noise gate control, but an overall input level control.
It is included in the global block settings for that page, which can come in handy if you want to adjust the input level in multiple presets after switching guitars.

With clean or mildly dirty sounds, I don't use the input gate anymore. Threshold is set to OFF which saves some CPU too.

With higher gain sounds, Threshold is between 80-75%, Ratio somewhere between 2.30-2.60. Attack always at 1 (gates need a fast attack) and Release at default.

Not using the separate GATE block a lot, but when I do it's after the Amp block, with SCSEL set to the left input. This way it works like the great ISP Decimator.
 
Level on the GTE page actually isn't a noise gate control, but an overall input level control.
It is included in the global block settings for that page, which can come in handy if you want to adjust the input level in multiple presets after switching guitars.

With clean or mildly dirty sounds, I don't use the input gate anymore. Threshold is set to OFF which saves some CPU too.

With higher gain sounds, Threshold is between 80-75%, Ratio somewhere between 2.30-2.60. Attack always at 1 (gates need a fast attack) and Release at default.

Not using the separate GATE block a lot, but when I do it's after the Amp block, with SCSEL set to the left input. This way it works like the great ISP Decimator.

Thanks Yek!

You say "release at default". What is the default setting for release?
 
I try to use the gate as little as possible. I don't like how it affects the tone, kills sustain, and makes the feel stiffer.

Generally, for lead patches I leave it off completely.

If I'm on a high gain patch and there's some hiss I'll put the thresh around 60, ratio around 1.5. Basically, I just raise the ratio just to the point where the hiss is cut when I'm not playing.

Sometimes if I'm recording and doing some modern palm mute chunk stop/start kind of stuff I'll raise the ratio considerably higher. Saves me some editing in the DAW.
 
I usually have the gate set with a low threshold and high ratio. It only cuts in a when turn down the volume on my guitar or put my hands across the strings.
I use a very high ratio (8:1 and up) so I can lower the threshold without chatter. I set the attack and release to balance between chatter and a smooth cut off.

On noisier patches I might have to change this up, but in general I will play the quietest I would ever play a patch (this varies on the patch) and set the gate so that it does not kick in during the quiet passages but does when I stop playing.

I think of it as a limiter for environmental noise (stuff from the guitar and environment that gets in at the input). Since the amp blocks and drives in the Axe-fx only amplify the signals coming in from the A/D converters. They are dead quiet when there is no input so I can set the gate (placement and settings) differently than I would a traditional rig where I would have to contend with noise coming from a lot of different devices.
 
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I use a very high ratio (8:1 and up) so I can lower the threshold without chatter. I set the attack and release to balance between chatter and a smooth cut off.

Thanks. In general, what attack and release settings do you prefer to achieve a balance between chatter and a smooth cut off?
 
Level on the GTE page actually isn't a noise gate control, but an overall input level control.
It is included in the global block settings for that page, which can come in handy if you want to adjust the input level in multiple presets after switching guitars.

With clean or mildly dirty sounds, I don't use the input gate anymore. Threshold is set to OFF which saves some CPU too.

With higher gain sounds, Threshold is between 80-75%, Ratio somewhere between 2.30-2.60. Attack always at 1 (gates need a fast attack) and Release at default.

Not using the separate GATE block a lot, but when I do it's after the Amp block, with SCSEL set to the left input. This way it works like the great ISP Decimator.

Whats SCSEL?
 
I usually find most presets from other users way too noisy. Some amps (even mild gain amps) in the Axe are very noisy so for my taste they really need a noise gate especially when recording. With high gain amps using a gate block instead of the noise gate can really help and in some cases is preferred.

Don't like cutting sustain or dynamics but also hate noise so it is a dilemma. You can have all the dynamics in the world but if it is covered with a lot a noise it is still not nice to listen to. It is all about finding the right balance between workable noise and not losing dynamics. Not easy.
Interesting topic. Also curious how other people handle the noise.
 
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I usually find most presets from other users way too noisy. Some amps (even mild gain amps) in the Axe are very noisy so for my taste they really need a noise gate especially when recording. With high gain amps using a gate block instead of the noise gate can really help and in some cases is preferred.

Don't like cutting sustain or dynamics but also hate noise so it is a dilemma. You can have all the dynamics in the world but if it is covered with a lot a noise it is still not nice to listen to. It is all about finding the right balance between workable noise and not losing dynamics. Not easy.
Interesting topic. Also curious how other people handle the noise.

I don't use the Axe-fx's gate for recording. I can gate things a lot more accurately and precisely with a DAW where you can use plugins and your ears/eyes to fine tune things. It is also non-destructive so you can change it if you don't like it.

The added thing with Axe-fx. The noise is not coming from the amps, it is coming from the environment and guitar (mostly). The less EM interference, the less noise. The less noise going in the less it is amplified and the less you need to gate.

If you want to hear how quiet the amp block really is cut off its input by either removing the block before it (that is essentially what the gate is doing), it really has no self-noise unlike a real amp.
 
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The noise is not coming from the amps, it is coming from the environment and guitar (mostly). The less EM interference, the less noise. The less noise going in the less it is amplified and the less you need to gate.

Right, and as a 'hot' signal is an amplification, everything is amplified.

I find that the level of gating is dependent on response relative to music style, and chops. The greater the chops, the less need for gating. When I'm playing well, I keep mine at -65, ratio around 3, 1ms, 100ms. When I've been tone chasing (wanting to absolutely remove hair), I'd mess with the attack and release, and while those will shape the tone and stuff, they do affect the response. Ultimately I prefer a smooth and round response. I've found other more effective methods of tone shaping in parts of the amp block, and so I'm back to my standard mentioned.

Something else I've noticed is some amp designs seem to 'gate' themselves, perhaps with certain settings making this more so. The Herbie 3 is one of these. The HBE is in a way, too. In essence, you can make amps behave certain ways, but they seem to have innate charactistics before this.
 
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