Just got my Axe II and is does not sound right

[funny_polymath]

I cannot believe what I'm reading! Would it be possible that two working units sound differently? Why? That would explain why some users are not happy with the sound while others dig it.
I've read a lot of threads about Ultra sounding better or people wanting to go back to Ultra after trying the II. Let's convince Cliff to release a firmware that would make our II into Ultra. I would like to see what's all about.

Furthermore, is there any possibility for us to find out what was wrong with the offending units (like the Hellraiser's unit)?

Just one more idea: If we own offending units, I think even the mother of FW 6.0 won't do any good...
Peace

OF COURSE two units can sound different! It may be a DSP device, but it's stilling to A2D and D2A.. so anywhere in the analog section or in the converters could be the reason.

 

[Trazan]

I cannot believe what I'm reading! Would it be possible that two working units sound differently? Why? That would explain why some users are not happy with the sound while others dig it.

Apart from firmware, not likely. A user may have this experience, but that doesn't mean its real. Humans are extremely unreliable measuring instruments. They interpret, they feel, are moody...and often mix it all up. Ya need to apply appropriate filters when interpreting others 8)

 

[henryrobinett]

Well I have to tell you. Mine didn't sound good right out of the box either. It didn't sound BAD. It wasn't defective, I don't think. AS I said, I'm still working on it. The Ultra however sounded great out of the gate.

 

[adrianni]

OF COURSE two units can sound different! It may be a DSP device, but it's stilling to A2D and D2A.. so anywhere in the analog section or in the converters could be the reason.

Not sure this is acceptable.

Apologies all around for hijacking this topic with my own issues, I will try to refrain from posting any more comments.
The fact remains, more than one user did not get good sounds from the II out of the box regardless of the guitars used. The sounds I get from it - not sure they're ok, especially after listening to other users clips. I've never loaded a patch from the forum that sounded good with my Axe nor is there one single preset that is usable in my unit. The guy who started this thread complained about the 57th preset (Cliffs of Dover). Reminded me why I bought the Axe in the first place and that I've never heard a good Cliffs of Dover sound out of the II. But I remember I heard an excellent one out of the Ultra...

I am tired of people telling me to check the levels, cables, do a system reset, change the monitors, check this, check that, like I'm stupid or something. It's not rocket science.

 

[quonsar]

It's not rocket science.

No, but apparently it is brain surgery.

 

[funny_polymath]

Apart from firmware, not likely. A user may have this experience, but that doesn't mean its real. Humans are extremely unreliable measuring instruments. They interpret, they feel, are moody...and often mix it all up. Ya need to apply appropriate filters when interpreting others 8)

This is absolutely true as well: humans cannot accurately A/B two signals even 30 seconds apart accurately.

And then there's the subjective mind's tricks: there was a post on an audio site not long ago with comparison clips of the high-end Zoom recorder (H4n, I beleive) and Sony's high end recorder. Oh, everybody LOVED the more expensive Sony and trashed the Zoom until.. someone noticed it was the SAME clip - same name, same location, same duration. The poster fessed up that he'd screwed up, and everyone had just let the 'label on the bottle of wine' distort their perceptions.

That said.. it is still certainly possible for ANY analog section (and perhaps even some sort of memory board glitch that corrupts firmware) to alter the sound of an Axe FX II.

For my part, even though I've had it for a month, I've barely played it - too many gigs, too much other stuff - and I can't swap it inmy rack until I've dialed in at least approximations of my 'go to' Ultra patches. But so far: the cleans are WARM and luscious, not strident or antiseptic at all...

 

[jimfist]

Well, I'm glad it baffles you just a bit, because I was really baffled. And maybe some others too.
I am glad you didn't have to go through this situation of having a unit that doesn't sound as you expected. I hear experienced users, long time Ultra users that have issues and yes, I cannot believe that some defective units got past quality control.

Now, back to troubleshooting. Change the power cord and let us know how it sounds.

yeah, you totally missed the point of my post then. I'm baffled that someone would hang on to an expensive piece of gear that they really aren't happy with, hanging all of their hopes on firmware updates, and apparently content to be a dissatisfied user. Most people just move on or sell the gear. Nice luxury to be able to hang onto gear that doesn't perform for you. Does your gear really NEED to perform for you, then?

 

[jshirkey]

joetdc: I don't know if you've had a chance yet to respond, but a couple guys had suggested trying to hook up with someone else near you who has an Axe 2 to try to sort things out. Are you in the US?

Your current woes and adrianni's experience(s) concern me a lot as a potential customer. Not that you aren't getting a lot of support and advice; you are. I'm actually hoping that you have a defective unit, or there's something obvious that everyone here has managed to overlook, since that would be the best outcome. I find it very hard to believe that an Axe 2 could sound that bad otherwise.

Again, good luck.

 

[jshirkey]

yeah, you totally missed the point of my post then. I'm baffled that someone would hang on to an expensive piece of gear that they really aren't happy with, hanging all of their hopes on firmware updates, and apparently content to be a dissatisfied user. Most people just move on or sell the gear. ?

Trying to play mediator here...

It's one thing to hang onto gear that is in proper working order, but, for whatever reason, doesn't quite live up to the buyer's expectations.

But it's another thing to purchase a top-of-the-line processor like the Axe 2 (or *whatever* brand it may be...Eventide, etc.), and discover that it sounds so bad that the only plausible conclusion is that it is either defective, or there is some other user-end issue to sort out.

If I suspected the latter scenario was the case, I think I'd hang onto it to try to get to the bottom of things.

 

[jimfist]

fact is, not everyone who plays the lottery wins. The AxeFx has a very high percentage of "winners" who've had mostly positive experiences with the AxeFx. As with most things in life, you simply cannot have "winners" 100% of the time. This is the reason for the 15 day refund policy.

 

[jshirkey]

fact is, not everyone who plays the lottery wins. The AxeFx has a very high percentage of "winners" who've had mostly positive experiences with the AxeFx. As with most things in life, you simply cannot have "winners" 100% of the time. This is the reason for the 15 day refund policy.

Buying a piece of gear like this is nowhere near the same thing as playing the lottery. It either sounds really, really good and is worth the money, or it's not. There's not much middle ground, if any.

 

[jimfist]

Trying to play mediator here...

It's one thing to hang onto gear that is in proper working order, but, for whatever reason, doesn't quite live up to the buyer's expectations.

But it's another thing to purchase a top-of-the-line processor like the Axe 2 (or *whatever* brand it may be...Eventide, etc.), and discover that it sounds so bad that the only plausible conclusion is that it is either defective, or there is some other user-end issue to sort out.

If I suspected the latter scenario was the case, I think I'd hang onto it to try to get to the bottom of things.

my post was in response to Hellraiser's comment:

Then I changed the Unit via Support, the second Axe sounds a bit better but also not real good.

When you've gone through 2 different units and one is only performing marginally better than the first "defective" unit, the either the AxeFx is not your cup of tea OR you're doing something wrong IMHO. Very unlikely that you'd get two defective units, and then, why would you hang on to it if it is clearly not working as expected and at the high price tag? Sorry, but this makes very little sense to me, unless you've got plenty of disposable income, in which case...it must be nice!

 

[FPFL]

joetdc: I don't know if you've had a chance yet to respond, but a couple guys had suggested trying to hook up with someone else near you who has an Axe 2 to try to sort things out. Are you in the US?

Your current woes and adrianni's experience(s) concern me a lot as a potential customer. Not that you aren't getting a lot of support and advice; you are. I'm actually hoping that you have a defective unit, or there's something obvious that everyone here has managed to overlook, since that would be the best outcome. I find it very hard to believe that an Axe 2 could sound that bad otherwise.

Again, good luck.

And you'd be right! The support you get on this forum fro the community and from Fractal officially is second to none that I've seen - from the big name brands to other mom and pops.
The idea of the AF isn't for everyone, taste is taste and jimfist is right, but the reality of Fractal support - community or official should be the dead last thing you worry about. It gets no better.

I hope it works out but the unit is either defective or something else is wrong, there is no third choice here. I had a Standard for years and now have an AF2. They sound different but not so different that I can understand how someone loves one and hates the other without some external issue or part failure.

 

[jimfist]

Buying a piece of gear like this is nowhere near the same thing as playing the lottery. It either sounds really, really good and is worth the money, or it's not. There's not much middle ground, if any.

yes, and that pretty much is the point I was making, whether the analogy is clear or not. You play and win...you play you lose. That's all.

Waiting for the OP to chime back in as this has gone waaaay too far off topic.

 

[jdolll]

Every time I read a "it doesn't sound as good as my jcm or 5150" thread it makes me question the posters ears, I'm really not trying to cause a stir, but you really think those amps sound good? The fact that you misunderstood the bassman preset for a bass amp preset further supports my suspicion.

 

[jshirkey]

Every time I read a "it doesn't sound as good as my jcm or 5150" thread it makes me question the posters ears, I'm really not trying to cause a stir, but you really think those amps sound good? The fact that you misunderstood the bassman preset for a bass amp preset further supports my suspicion.

I understand your point, but the OP has to know what amp(s) sound(s) good to him, and he said he was really happy with the Ultra. So, if his Axe 2 isn't anywhere close, I don't think I'm going to question his ears.

Also, isn't the Bassman model called "Bassguy"? If the OP isn't particularly interested in vintage Fender (or classic, old-school) amps, I could see how someone might see that name and think it was for a bass. Just sayin'...not everyone knows every amp under the sun, no matter how famous.

 

[Space Firebird]

I'm intrigued about adjusting the Hi Res to five and limiting the speaker FR.
I just got my AXE II and it sounds fine to me, perhaps because I never had the Ultra.
I'm going to try it out just to hear the difference.

 

[shasha]

@joetdc
I'm with you on this thread. I've had the Axe2 for 6 months now and still wondering if my unit is defective. I did not have an Ultra before to compare but I have plenty of preamps and amps (JMP1, Rockmaster, Ada MP1, Triaxis and several amps and cabinets). I started few threads bringing this into forum members attention. So I have been through all steps to try and see what was wrong. To me, the unit sounds like it is out of phase somehow, the sound is not pleasant to the ears, it still gives me headaches when used for more than 20 minutes and yes, the factory presets seem unusable. As soon as I switch to using my preamps, the sound becomes fuller, balanced in frequencies, it warms up the room so to speak and I can play for hours. When I switch back to the Axe, the sound is scooped, muddy and unpleasant, disturbing.
That being said, I tweaked my unit to hell until I got some sounds that I could record. Here is an example:

I used a Jeff Beck signature strat and the clean sound and the first drive sound are both on the neck pickup
Let me know if you need the presets, I will send it to you to try and see if your unit sounds the same. I know the presets don't translate well from one unit to another (because of different guitars plugged in) but in this case we're talking neck pickup on a strat so what can go wrong?

If you search my threads, you will see that we're both experiencing something similar with our units.
I am using Adam A7X monitors, I have changed the cables over and over but here's a thing:

GIVEN THE SAME GUITAR AND TWO AXE2 UNITS, ON THE SAME PRESET THE UNITS MUST SOUND THE SAME WHEN RECORDED VIA USB REGRDLESS OF WHAT THEY MAY SOUND THROUGH MONITORS, HEADPHONES OR OTHER SOUND SYSTEMS.

One member said earlier in this thread that the unit output may be wired wrong, out of phase. I don't think this would influence the recorded sound through USB. But yes, my unit sounds like it is out of phase somehow. And it sounds the same when I listen the recorded wav file through my computer speakers. But if I listen to a clip from youtube, it sounds way better...

Edit the Amp block and change input trim to 4 instead of 1. You will see the units wakes up a bit. Do this for preset number 80 (Pride and Joy).
Let us know what you think.

Adrian

The playing is fantastic, but the whole clip sounds like its out of phase to me or something. There's no bass hitting at all (not that its a rap song or anything), but it's really thin. I'm not just talking about the guitar, I think that you've got something screwy going on somewhere in there.

 

[joetdc]

Wow I really started something here. Once again thanks to everyone for their support. Most of the stuff that was suggested was already a default setting. Cables and speakers are good because the Ultra still sounds great. I'm starting to think based on other peoples experience that the II may not be defective, just not great out of the box. At least for me. Very subjective. The good news is I have 6.0 to look forward to. I think I will keep the II because of the future updates. The Ultra is done. I read in Slashes' book that they used all the same equipment, studio room, right down to the batteries to recreate the same sound as appetite for destruction. They failed and did not know why. Humidity, chemistry? Who knows. I am not the first or last guitarist that will struggle with his tone.
I live in East Orlando Florida if anybody is down here and has time to hook up. I will bring some beers with me. LOL I will try to get a short video going with some power chords and riffs if I have the time. I am not a professional musician and my work keeps me busy. Plus I have a 3 1/2 year old. So you know how it goes.

 

[joetdc]

Jdolll I made the mistake with the bassman because at the time I was frustrated and did not think it through. That and the fact that my guitar sounded like a muddy bass even on the higher strings led me to believe it was a bass preset. When I realized what amp was being emulated, I became concerned. I do know what a 5150, Recto and brit 800 sound like too. Even the Jazz chorus sounds crappy to me on the II I have not posted because I was working until 7 then went out. This was the first chance I had to respond. Sorry.