Looking for Suggestions on issue using FXII into a PA

M

mikeymadness

New Member
Hi all
I have been a proud owner of an FXii for the past 5 months. Up till now I have been patching the left and right outputs of the FX into a stereo effects return of my solid state Fender amp and loving the sounds even with the cab modeling off. Recently I have talked our sound guy into taking the
XLR output directly into our PA when playing out live to get an overall better mix with the whole band.
The issue I am having is I have noticed that the sound out of PA is distorted regardless of which patch I am using. It sounds great from my amp but seems to be overdriving the PA. The FX is not clipping (no Red LED's lit while this happens) and I have checked the preamp levels on our PA and even tried lowering them while this happens with no change. Again happens even with a clean patch.

Any suggestions on what area I should focus on to solve this would be appreciated as I am still learning my way around the FX.

Thank you in advance for any reply,
Mike.
 
sounds like a MIC vs LINE In issue ... I have tried it with no issue, but i did make sure line in was selected ...
 
are you sending the cabinet simulations (cab block engaged) to the PA system? Does the distortion go away if you lower the AxeFx output to the PA system significantly, or pad the output from the AxeFx (input/line pad on the mixer's channel strip) as insalacom has suggested?

do you have a powered speaker or monitor wedge that accepts an XLR input? If so, do a troubleshoot exercise by taking the XLR out (1) of your AxeFx and plug it directly into the XLR (line level, not mic level) input of your powered PA cabinet, and then see if the problem persists. You should be able to get distortion-free sound this way. If not, something weird is going on. Also, just curious, but what does your guitar's tone sound like thru the headphone out of the AxeFx?
 
Yeah, to spell it out, some mixers have a pad button on the input. You need that engaged because you are sending a line level signal to the mic input/preamp on the mixer. Line level is much hotter than mic level so without pad engaged you can overdrive the mic input.

If your mixer has no pad switch for mic channels then try a guitar cable (TS or TRS) from the axefx to the mixer instead of a mic cable. This will sometimes automatically switch the mixer to using line level for your channel instead of mic level.

Alternately there are ways to lower the output levels in the IO menu of the axefx. Let us know how your tests go.

PS, no offense but any halfway decent sound guy should know how to handle this.
 
sam said:
PS, no offense but any halfway decent sound guy should know how to handle this.
Click to expand...
yeah.. basic trims settings.
If no pad, turn the trim/gain all the way down, then bring up AF2's OUT1 level until the inputs on the mixer are set. Do not touch the AF2 levels after that.
If you have too much signal in the mixer with trim and Af2 OUT1 settings both down, then you will need to go the DI route, and use 2 of them, with 1/4" cables from AF2 OUT1 L/R to each DI (most DI's are single channel).
 
sam said:
Yeah, to spell it out, some mixers have a pad button on the input. You need that engaged because you are sending a line level signal to the mic input/preamp on the mixer. Line level is much hotter than mic level so without pad engaged you can overdrive the mic input.

If your mixer has no pad switch for mic channels then try a guitar cable (TS or TRS) from the axefx to the mixer instead of a mic cable. This will sometimes automatically switch the mixer to using line level for your channel instead of mic level.

Alternately there are ways to lower the output levels in the IO menu of the axefx. Let us know how your tests go.

PS, no offense but any halfway decent sound guy should know how to handle this.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the fast replies.

The PA does have PAD button and as part of setup I made sure it was engaged and the levels were set correctly for my input.(FX2) The PA also has an additional setting on the input which is suppose to allow a wider dynamic range for the input. Neither make any difference. I have the cab simulations to PA shut off and it does not help at all.
Also it does appear that if I keep the output level very low from the axe the distortion does go away and its clean.
Keep in mind that I simultaneously use the left and right outputs into my solid state amp and that has no distortion whatsoever.

I will try the following action items as suggested and report back;
a). I am going to look further into the IO menu settings
b). See what my guitar's tone sound like thru the headphone out of the AxeFx as I haven't tried that much.
c). I will try taking the XLR out (1) of the AxeFx and plug it directly into the XLR (line level, not mic level) input of your powered PA cabinet.
(I don't have a self powered monitor but do have an older Nady Audio monitor amp which has XLR inputs I can try).

Thank you to all who replied so quickly.
Mike
 
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FractalAudio said:
You want the cab sims ON!
Click to expand...
Orly.jpg


yes!

curious, why the OP thought to turn them off at all?
 
Try to get your AxeFx close to the mixing desk and patch into the channels with short known good cables. Just to eliminate any faulty wiring between the stage and the desk.

Check to see if the mixing desk has a line / mic switch or different jacking for line level vs. microphone. The AxeFx outputs should be connected to line level inputs if you have them.

If no line level inputs, see if the mixing channels have a pad. If so, turn it on for the AxeFx II channels.

If no builtin pad, try setting the channels inputs gains / trim lower. This can get dicy if they are too low it might impact the S/N ratio.

Last resort buy inline pads. These will reduce the signal level inline.

On the cheap: A15AS In-line Switchable Attenuator | Shure Americas

More elegant and cool: ATTY Stereo Attenuator, Studio Volume Control, Line Level Volume Control, A Designs Audio
 
The OP has been using the effects return on his amp and playing through amp power section and speakers. Therefore he might have had power amp and cabs bypassed.

Now that you are splitting your feed to send to the PA, you will either want to create a preset that routes the guitar chain along with a cabinet to output 1 and stops before the cabinet and splits to output 2. You'll plug output 2 jacks to your amp's effects return for on-stage use without the cabinet simulations. Output 1 XLR or 1/4" will go to the PA mixer.

Since I use my effects loop for effects, I don't have Output 2 available. I create presets for use going directly to the PA, but I still plug send 1/4" from output 1 into the effects return of my Marshall AVT275. It doesn't sound all that bad. I've become proficient in knowing how to create a sound that will sound good through a PA, by listening to it through the combo amp, even though I'm double filtering with cabinet sims going into a 2x12 sealed back amp.

I have to make do with what gear I have to work with.

The AVT has an acoustic sim channel, and I've suspected the 2x12's are not normal 12" but some sort of full rangy type of driver, so the double filtering of cabs is not as gnarly as it would be with a standard combo.
 
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