Just took the Axe FX plunge...

Question - if I reduce my rack down from 8 spaces to 6, that would have the Axe sitting right on top of the Fryette 2502 power amp. The Fryette doesn't exactly give off space heater levels of heat, but still, it gets warm. Is there any reason to be concerned about having the Axe racked directly above the power amp?
 
TommyVonVoigt said:
One thing I already caught was that my input level was WAYYYY too hot. It was at the default of 50%. I had to bring it down to about 8% to finally get it to stop hitting red. I dare say that it actually sounded a little better after I addressed that, btw.
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It's ok to hit the red occasionally at the input block. The Axe has been calibrated like that. Barely hitting the red when you're playing your hardest is about where you want to be. If it stays lit all the time then the guitar is probably too hot but if it doesn't light at all it might be too quiet.

Also, I'm glad you're working with EQ before and after the amp block. It's one of the most valuable tools available to guitar players but I don't see it talked about nearly enough. How are you setting the EQ before the amp block?
 
TommyVonVoigt said:
Question - if I reduce my rack down from 8 spaces to 6, that would have the Axe sitting right on top of the Fryette 2502 power amp. The Fryette doesn't exactly give off space heater levels of heat, but still, it gets warm. Is there any reason to be concerned about having the Axe racked directly above the power amp?
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I would definitely try and leave at least 1 unit space between the two. The axe might be able to cope with the extra heat, but I can tell you as a professional soundengineer over 25 years, the number one reason rack gear stops working, besides being bumped around, is because they have lack of ventilation.
 
GreatGreen said:
It's ok to hit the red occasionally at the input block. The Axe has been calibrated like that. Barely hitting the red when you're playing your hardest is about where you want to be. If it stays lit all the time then the guitar is probably too hot but if it doesn't light at all it might be too quiet.

Also, I'm glad you're working with EQ before and after the amp block. It's one of the most valuable tools available to guitar players but I don't see it talked about nearly enough. How are you setting the EQ before the amp block?
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Some subtle tweaks here and there, but the most important thing is a nice boost at 800hz, in the Para EQ that is before the amp. I will say that it's tricky to get that kind of boost right, since going too far will make the tone boxy and sound small. It's such a fine line with that.
 
TommyVonVoigt said:
Some subtle tweaks here and there, but the most important thing is a nice boost at 800hz, in the Para EQ that is before the amp. I will say that it's tricky to get that kind of boost right, since going too far will make the tone boxy and sound small. It's such a fine line with that.
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Makes sense. I often go for a treble boost and bass cut to the front end of the models I use. Helps to tighten things up and add some extra aggression if I need it.

Oh hey this might be useful for you, there's a small single-band parametric EQ section in the Input EQ tab of the Amp block in Axe Edit. If you're just cutting or boosting a single frequency, you could save yourself a block on the grid by just adding an 800hz boost there!
 
I know what’s going on with me - it’s all in my head. I keep not trusting the tones, since I know it’s basically a super computer I’m plugged into. So when I hear weird EQ things, or when it sounds bad at low volumes, or an iPhone recording is not very complimentary, I have a little gremlin in the back of my mind saying “it’s cause there’s no tubes in there!!!” If this was a tube preamp, or a traditional head, I’d attribute things I don’t like to any number of other reasons…EQ isn’t right, room is weird, volume is too low, just an off day, etc. But since I know this is digital, I keep getting hung up on that.

It’s rather ridiculous, admittedly.
 
TommyVonVoigt said:
I know what’s going on with me - it’s all in my head. I keep not trusting the tones, since I know it’s basically a super computer I’m plugged into. So when I hear weird EQ things, or when it sounds bad at low volumes, or an iPhone recording is not very complimentary, I have a little gremlin in the back of my mind saying “it’s cause there’s no tubes in there!!!” If this was a tube preamp, or a traditional head, I’d attribute things I don’t like to any number of other reasons…EQ isn’t right, room is weird, volume is too low, just an off day, etc. But since I know this is digital, I keep getting hung up on that.

It’s rather ridiculous, admittedly.
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"When it doesn't let out the magic smoke and light up the stage with a lightning storm inside the bottles, remember - it's cause there are no tubes in there...."
--The gremlin in yer head
 
TommyVonVoigt said:
One thing I already caught was that my input level was WAYYYY too hot. It was at the default of 50%. I had to bring it down to about 8% to finally get it to stop hitting red. I dare say that it actually sounded a little better after I addressed that, btw.
Click to expand...
That setting is only for optimizing the A/D converters. It's a compensated control and has no effect on the actual sound unless you set it at values of 5% or less (according to the manual).
 
unix-guy said:
That setting is only for optimizing the A/D converters. It's a compensated control and has no effect on the actual sound unless you set it at values of 5% or less (according to the manual).
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It most definitely has an affect on the sound. If it is set too high (red LEDs lighting constantly) the A/D converter is clipping. Depending upon the guitar, picking style, strings, etc. you may need to lower it to 10% or less.
 
FractalAudio said:
It most definitely has an affect on the sound. If it is set too high (red LEDs lighting constantly) the A/D converter is clipping. Depending upon the guitar, picking style, strings, etc. you may need to lower it to 10% or less.
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So the manual is wrong or has been misunderstood for a long time? As mentioned, that's what it says:

6FC418AB-2E8A-47DC-91FB-D3F0C5DCF743.jpeg
 
FractalAudio said:
You aren't understanding what it says and the purpose of the adjustment:
"... you should check that your guitar is not clipping the inputs."
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Thanks for clarifying...

The part in the manual that says "so what you hear is not affected by how you set these controls" seems to me a bit misleading, in that case.

Edit:

It totally makes sense that clipping the A/D converters would affect the sound.
 
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