Leveling Presets and Output Level

rcv24

rcv24

Inspired
I'm going through my presets using the new leveling feature via Axe-Edit. Typically my rhythm scene hovers around 0dB. When I engage my lead scene (+3dB filter block), it moves into the red (since >0dB is in the red of course). Should I aim to have the 'loudest' part of the preset at 0dB to avoid the red?
 
I must be missing some subtlety to this question :)
You can't be asking if your rhythm sound should be as loud as the unit will go.
 
Dave Merrill said:
I must be missing some subtlety to this question :)
You can't be asking if your rhythm sound should be as loud as the unit will go.
Click to expand...

What Dave said! ;) Ideally you want your cranked lead to just tickle the red when playing hard then adjust your rhythm accordingly. 👍
 
rcv24 said:
I'm going through my presets using the new leveling feature via Axe-Edit. Typically my rhythm scene hovers around 0dB. When I engage my lead scene (+3dB filter block), it moves into the red (since >0dB is in the red of course). Should I aim to have the 'loudest' part of the preset at 0dB to avoid the red?
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t, unless it is clearly clipping. Really depends how much boost your lead has.

Rhythm stuff I put at 0, lead stuff over 0, quiet stuff under 0.
 
chris said:
I wouldn’t, unless it is clearly clipping. Really depends how much boost your lead has.

Rhythm stuff I put at 0, lead stuff over 0, quiet stuff under 0.
Click to expand...

No, definitely not clipping, it's just moving into the red 2-3 dB - which is why I never did anything about it... the question just occurred to me as I was leveling presets that if there was a best practice, now would be the time to implement. Sounds like I'm doing what you do though, as I always leveled the rhythm at 0, just added the +3dB for lead and never looked back. :cool:
 
rcv24 said:
No, definitely not clipping, it's just moving into the red 2-3 dB - which is why I never did anything about it... the question just occurred to me as I was leveling presets that if there was a best practice, now would be the time to implement. Sounds like I'm doing what you do though, as I always leveled the rhythm at 0, just added the +3dB for lead and never looked back. :cool:
Click to expand...
Yup. Red isn’t “bad” here. It just shows you’re over the 0 which is just a reference point.
 
I load a mix in Reaper to see how loud I can get with the guitar still sitting in the mix but the whole mix not clipping. That's my reference point.
In my case that means my rhythm needs to sit at around -6dB, leads getting as high as -3dB

If you don't record or play along to mixes, you can get as loud as you want without clipping as you're controlling the volume from your front panel
 
Think about the "red" being around -12db on a digital meter scale, where if you hit 0 on that same scale, very bad sounds/things happen. So there is some headroom built in.

So - you can go into the red a little and in fact if you set your levels right for some amps then low notes (like bass-heavy metal) will surge there then recede back under the red level on a sustained power A chord....watch for yourself.
 
Ce n'est pas facile de régler les niveaux sur le FM3. C'est même le parcours du combattant. Il y a tellement de potards Level dans la chaîne sonore (qui part de IN jusqu'à OUT au travers de tous les Blocks) qu'on ne sait même plus lequel tourner... Lorsque j'ai reçu mon FM3 j'ai joué au casque pour trouver des sons sympathiques. Le Level (potard OUT1) était au minimum. Lorsque j'ai joué sur mon ampli (QSC 500 watts + 2 HP SX300E d'ELECTRO VOICE) le potard OUT1 était presque à fond et je ne comprenais pas pourquoi le FM3 n'envoyait pas la sauce. Malgré avoir passé les sorties sur +4dB.
C'est vraiment une usine à gaz cette pédale FM3... Rien de simple. Tout est complexe.
 
Phil AMMELOOT said:
Ce n'est pas facile de régler les niveaux sur le FM3. C'est même le parcours du combattant. Il y a tellement de potards Level dans la chaîne sonore (qui part de IN jusqu'à OUT au travers de tous les Blocks) qu'on ne sait même plus lequel tourner... Lorsque j'ai reçu mon FM3 j'ai joué au casque pour trouver des sons sympathiques. Le Level (potard OUT1) était au minimum. Lorsque j'ai joué sur mon ampli (QSC 500 watts + 2 HP SX300E d'ELECTRO VOICE) le potard OUT1 était presque à fond et je ne comprenais pas pourquoi le FM3 n'envoyait pas la sauce. Malgré avoir passé les sorties sur +4dB.
C'est vraiment une usine à gaz cette pédale FM3... Rien de simple. Tout est complexe.
Click to expand...
As with anything, you need to learn how it works.

Use the Amp Level control to adjust the volume using the meters. That's exactly why it appears as a control in the Leveling panel in Axe-Edit.

Use the Out 1 physical knob to control how much of that leveled signal to send to the next device.
 
Last edited:
rcv24 said:
No, definitely not clipping, it's just moving into the red 2-3 dB - which is why I never did anything about it... the question just occurred to me as I was leveling presets that if there was a best practice, now would be the time to implement. Sounds like I'm doing what you do though, as I always leveled the rhythm at 0, just added the +3dB for lead and never looked back. :cool:
Click to expand...
Exactly what I do. +3db is just enough to kick a solo above the mix.
 
Whoo hoo! Did not know about this feature yet but am VERY happy to have found it.

Thanks everybody!!!
 
I typically use a post amp/cab, pre delay and reverb, 'Filter' block in my Solo scenes with a mid boost (1-3 dB at 450-1200 Hz?), some 'Low Cut' (100 Hz or higher) to keep the lows from clipping, and some extra 'High Cut' (8-10 KHz?) to reduce the extra 'hair' that the 'Drive' block may have added, and the 'Level' set to add a couple more dB, depending on the mid boost amount.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom