Wish Intelligent Input Leveler

wtfoley3

Member
New AXE-FX III owner here. Seems like setting levels is the trick that most initially struggle with. Many of us have multiple guitars, some much hotter than others (I have 19, ranging from low output Telecaster to a Super Strat with active EMGs wired 18v. Understanding the recommendation that we set the input level for the hottest guitar played the most aggressively, there are distinct volume differences when I change guitars. I'd like to see an intelligent function added to the input level setting with two special capabilities. First, an "optimize" button that you hit, play aggressively for a few seconds while the unit listens and then it sets the optimal input level based on that. Second, I'd like to have 24 (yep!) memory settings into which I can save each input level value and assign a label for that guitar (ex: "Tele", "Orange Super Strat", "Les Paul Custom", etc.). Then, make it easy to switch between these settings on the AXE-FX III, in Axe-Edit or maybe even with the FC-6/FC-12 for when I change guitars. Whatcha think!?
 
Same here , I have +20 guitars here single coils to active 8 strings , and I m not against choosing in the input level which guitar etc etc . If we can save some settings per guitar better to built X different presets just to adjust this (or tweak everytime you change guitar )
 
I have read the thread ....
ok you can adjust it to your hotest guitar it works , but it can be ‘cool’ to determine which guitar do you plug with a small menu with guitars blocks etc etc . But as I read , it won’t happen 😅
 
Isn’t the point of having different guitars that the sound different ?

I have a few strats for example, and everything from hot Lace Sensors to weak vintage pups, and the whole point of that is that sound quite different with the same amp model.

if we normalized every guitar then it seems there would be a lot less reason to use different guitars, boosts etc, no ?
 
I just make patch variants for different guitars - same patch across the board expect for:

1) Input Trim in the Amp block gets tweaked for different pickups
2) I add a suffix to tell me what it's for (e.g. P = PAF, T = Tone, S = single coil, etc).

I can modify one patch or one block or one channel then resave the variant patch with the new block or channel data.
 
I see a few distinct issues:
1. Converter signal-to-noise ratio
2. Grid input levels
3. Grid output levels

1. It would be nice, maybe, to optimize the a/d levels for each guitar, not for only your hottest guitar. I think the current guidance only gets you the best s/n ratio for your hottest guitar. Maybe in practice the noise floor is low enough for this to not matter for quieter guitars though.

2. I don't want to change grid input level per-guitar differences from it's current behavior, for reasons Cliff has stated more than once. Guitar+amp is a unique thing that I choose for a reason. Different combos should interact differently, driving the signal chain more/less as is expected for that guitar. I get that stuff happens at gigs that might necessitate using the wrong guitar in a pinch... Emergency volume block, then? Input gain knob on the performance screen?

3. If you want to switch guitars and use the same patch but keep your output levels consistent, that's a different story. It's not hard to tweak the output level knob, but it might be nice to have presets per guitar here, too, maybe for the output block itself. You could use compression/limiting instead, if that's acceptable tone-wise.

What do you think, are these crazy thoughts? There's a lot of ways to control level in the Fractal gear.
 
New AXE-FX III owner here. Seems like setting levels is the trick that most initially struggle with. Many of us have multiple guitars, some much hotter than others (I have 19, ranging from low output Telecaster to a Super Strat with active EMGs wired 18v. Understanding the recommendation that we set the input level for the hottest guitar played the most aggressively, there are distinct volume differences when I change guitars. I'd like to see an intelligent function added to the input level setting with two special capabilities. First, an "optimize" button that you hit, play aggressively for a few seconds while the unit listens and then it sets the optimal input level based on that. Second, I'd like to have 24 (yep!) memory settings into which I can save each input level value and assign a label for that guitar (ex: "Tele", "Orange Super Strat", "Les Paul Custom", etc.). Then, make it easy to switch between these settings on the AXE-FX III, in Axe-Edit or maybe even with the FC-6/FC-12 for when I change guitars. Whatcha think!?

I/O > Input Level does not affect the guitar's output level into the grid.
 
I/O > Input Level does not affect the guitar's output level into the grid.

From the context of his wish, it's safe to assume he's referring to the input gain control, which does affect the level into the grid. It would be nice if the input level parameter was renamed to avoid the confusion about what it does and how it relates to input gain.
 
From the context of his wish, it's safe to assume he's referring to the input gain control, which does affect the level into the grid.

Referring to “recommendation that we set the input level for the hottest guitar played” suggests otherwise.
 
The name of the "input level" control could stand to be improved so that it doesn't cause this kind of confusion. Maybe something like "input dynamic range".
 
Referring to “recommendation that we set the input level for the hottest guitar played” suggests otherwise.
Yeah the OP seemed to be a little mixing up the details. I was trying to clarify. They also said "there are distinct volume differences when I change guitars", which indicates something else. /shrug
 
2. I don't want to change grid input level per-guitar differences from it's current behavior, for reasons Cliff has stated more than once. Guitar+amp is a unique thing that I choose for a reason. Different combos should interact differently, driving the signal chain more/less as is expected for that guitar.
I get that and I would never tell anybody who feels this way that they are wrong. But at the same time, we use a digital modeler precisely because it offers features beyond what is possible in a tube amp, so it doesn't make sense to me to reject a feature simply because that's not how a tube amp works. As I mentioned in the other thread, this proposed feature would solve a problem with preset sharing. As an optional feature, it would not affect somebody who chooses not to use it, so it's hard to see where there's a downside to it.
 
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