Is the Axe Noise Gate as good as Decimator Rack unit?

Hi guys, I have never really experimented with many gates, I just play with something and if it works it works. Before the axe I typically just used the Boss Noise Reduction pedal and that did the job. So, I have seen and played on a Decimator Pro Rack G noise reduction unit and it was absolutely fantastic. You could take the noisiest amp and put use the Decimator and it would eliminate ALL of the hum. You could play super soft without the gate cutting you off, you could let a note ring out into complete silence without a cutoff at all.

Do you guys know if the gate on the Axe FX II can achieve this same quality? If so, any advice on how one would set it?

Thanks

Dan
 
I've had both. I'd argue it's better. Sometimes I forget that I have it engaged. I tend to use a lot of gain, and the intelligent gate annihilates the preamp noise without killing dynamics, high end, or giving unpleasant note decay artifacts common in noise suppressors. It's that good.
 
I think the Fractal gate holds up well against the Decimator.

You get the built-in input gate plus gate blocks too. So you can put the gate at different positions and even use multiple gates at the same time and control them with scenes etc. Pretty flexible.
 
It is as good, but I would say that neither are perfect. At extreme gain the settings of both will cut sustain slightly. Both are better than anything else I have tried.
 
I've had both. I'd argue it's better. Sometimes I forget that I have it engaged. I tend to use a lot of gain, and the intelligent gate annihilates the preamp noise without killing dynamics, high end, or giving unpleasant note decay artifacts common in noise suppressors. It's that good.

Good info. I'll have to try the intelligent mode. I typically stick around the -30dB area. What kind of ratio are you using?
 
I've had both. I'd argue it's better. Sometimes I forget that I have it engaged. I tend to use a lot of gain, and the intelligent gate annihilates the preamp noise without killing dynamics, high end, or giving unpleasant note decay artifacts common in noise suppressors. It's that good.

Also have used both with gain monsters. Similar/same findings.
 
It's all about understanding the different controls in the Axe-Fx noise gate. Keep the ratio low if you want it to work more like a Decimator.
 
It's all about understanding the different controls in the Axe-Fx noise gate. Keep the ratio low if you want it to work more like a Decimator.

Hm, I've found the opposite - I get the best results when I leave Threshold at its default value but rather play with the Ratio control, moving it up to 3 or 4 depending on the amp.

Nevertheless, I agree with the posts above - I've found the gate in Axe as good or better than the Decimator.
 
It's all about understanding the different controls in the Axe-Fx noise gate. Keep the ratio low if you want it to work more like a Decimator.
That's how I've been using it. I usually set the threshold around -30dB and the ratio at 2.
 
And you can side chain the gate so you can put it at the end of a chain but have the gate work off the input signal and stuff like that.

That's how I use the Gate Block and one of the main reasons I bought the Axe-Fx II. I only use the input Gate for clean and low gain presets and turn it off for mid and high gain presets and put the Gate Block after the Cab Block or after any FX that make noise like Chorus, Flanger and before any FX that sustain like Delays and Reverbs. I set the Gate Block's Side Chain to Input 1.


I was using an ART Pro Gate with my old Mesa Boogie TriAxis and 290 rig with way too many patch cables and actually just sold the ART Pro Gate last week.
 
Hm, I've found the opposite - I get the best results when I leave Threshold at its default value but rather play with the Ratio control, moving it up to 3 or 4 depending on the amp.

Nevertheless, I agree with the posts above - I've found the gate in Axe as good or better than the Decimator.

With the real Decimator I didn't experience much of that crackling when hitting the threshold. With higher ratios I get a lot of that crackle when sustaining a long chord. So for that reason I've actually recently started to use ratios under 2. 1.5 is where it's at right now. That way I can have a much tighter threshold with a fast attack and release and rather than completely cutting your sound to silence I feel like my amp sims are more dynamic. That's just the way I prefer to have it. I think I just started using noise gates again last week. I stopped using noise gates in general about a year ago. :) I just don't like the sound of them that much.
 
Absolutely no need for an external noise gate with the AFX; it would bring nothing to the table.
 
When I got my Axe-Fx last year I went from a Marshall JVM and ISP Decimator ProRack G. I was never able to dial in the ISP to where it was quiet and didn't clamp down really hard (which was one reason I decided to go Axe-Fx).

The Classic gate in the Axe-Fx works amazingly well in the Axe and I have super high-gain presets with virtually no noise and no "clamping" like with the ISP.
 
I stopped using noise gates in general about a year ago. :) I just don't like the sound of them that much.

Depends on the music you play, what kind of attack you want, and where you put the gate. I've typically used the input gate. I probably use more gain than anyone here, and less than -60db threshold starts unnaturally reducing signal strength. It messes with the attack, too. (I do set the release at 20 or less.) The difference between Classic and Intelligent seems to be treble attack, Classic being....brighter. The gate/expander seems to be in between these in that regard. Putting the gate/expander pre or post boost gives about the same effect as using the input gate. Putting the gate/expander post amp/cab makes it clamp down, so lower settings are better.

Regarding side-chaining: it seems like it's on by default, unless it's set for something other than Block L+R or input 1, but only makes a difference if the gate/expander is the second gate in the chain. I typically haven't liked cascading gates, but just now I've found there's a range of 'breathing' that happens if using settings where both are somewhat the sum of using one.

The biggest thing here to me is that at even rehearsal volume, it only has to be so quiet.
 
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