Low Gain

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rel

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I've got my Axe Fx III delivered couple of days ago, but I'm still struggling with the gain issue.
Somehow all my guitars sound like they catastrophically lack gain on all presets.

I realised it when I was watching this YouTube video on Mesa amps -

I played with exactly the same amp/cab settings and the difference was devastating.
Yes, I can put a drive pedal and crank up the the input volume, but that's not the fix for the issue.

Did I miss something during the set up?

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Disclaimer: I've lurked the forum and googled the issue extensively for the past 2 days.

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My setup:

Guitars:
1) Ibanez w/ EMG 81 9V pickup
2) Gibson Flying V w/ a set of Darkmoon Overkills
3) Fender Am Fat Strat with stock pickups

PA: Yamaha HS8
Amp for testing: Orange TH-30
Cables: Planetwaves

Axe Edit: 1.0
Firmware: 1.16beta2

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Some things that I've already tried:

1) Changing the firmware. 1.15 -> 1.16beta2 -> 1.15 and back.
2) Resetting the settings.
3) Changing cables.
4) Pluging back into my amp - all guitars sound with proper gain, without drive pedals with all settings 12 o'clock.
5) Changing input levels to "tickle the red". Changed it all the way up and down - it solved nothing, and it should not as it was mentioned in the manual.
6) I've tried different guitars, it happens on all my guitars, that's why I believe it's something related to Axe FX
7) Tried different instrument inputs, both front and back - it's all the same


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I will try to record the track with a stock preset later and post it here.
Thanks.
 
MSS said:
Battery?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!

Fresh new battery in EMG. Tried both replacing the battery, and plugging in 18V mod. Still low gain on Axe Fx and normal on my old setup (Orange TH-30)

Additionally, Fender and Gibson pickups are passive.
 
It sounds like something is amiss.

A couple ideas..

How does your di signal sound? Try just running shunts from an in block to an out and have a listen

Also on a factory preset, tab to the meters display which shows the in and out levels for each block and have a look

I'm assuming you e tried different presets, but make sure the input trim in the amp block is at defualt,
 
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Are you using the front input? Is the output level of your input block at 0 db? Is something panned hard left or right by chance?
 
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Thanks for the replies!

Tahoebrian5 said:
It sounds like something is amiss.

A couple ideas..

How does your di signal sound? Try just running shunts from an in block to an out and have a listen

Also on a factory preset, tab to the meters display which shows the in and out levels for each block and have a look

I'm assuming you e tried different presets, but make sure the input trim in the amp block is at defualt,
Click to expand...

Put on BYPASS preset, listened to the DI of guitars - sounds pretty much normal, no clippings, normal volume.

Checked the tab with meters, looks pretty much OK, maybe the input is usually in the lower quarter, please find the photo attached.

IMG_1226.jpg

Screen Shot 2018-10-07 at 11.48.10.png

Screen Shot 2018-10-07 at 11.48.14.png

Screen Shot 2018-10-07 at 11.48.18.png


Screen Shot 2018-10-07 at 11.48.24.png
 
bloodninja said:
Are you using the front input? Is the output level of your input block at 0 db? Is something panned hard left or right by chance?
Click to expand...

I've used both front and back Instrument inputs, no difference.

The output level of Input block is at 0.00 dB as you might see on the picture above.
 
I've recorder two sample tracks with the exact same preset as seen at 01:30 in this video:

The sound difference is just huge, I'm lacking gain by the margin of one good tubescreamer.

Two sample tracks:
1. axe_fx_v_recto1.mp3 - Gibson Flying V + Darkmoon Overkill humbucker in E Standard tuning
2. axe_fx_ibanez_recto1.mp3 - Ibanez + EMG 81 in B Standard tuning

Guitar -> Cable -> Front Instrument Input of Axe FX -> USB -> Logic Pro

As forum does not allow MP3 uploads, I've created a temporary soundcloud account with these two tracks: soundcloud{.}com/michael-polovko

Appreciate the help!
 
I recorded the same thing, using an Agile 7 string with Blackouts tuned to B, first with the default settings and then with LT's settings in the preset attached to the video you linked. With the default settings, I think my recording sounds similar to yours. With the LT settings, I think there's too much gain honestly, and I would back it off about -1.0 to -1.5. I have a few patches that I use for both guitars with active pickups and passive pickups. I always set it up to sound good with actives without any drive or boost, then I kick the drive on when I use a guitar with passives.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your AF III or setup, but if you want me to test anything else I'd be glad to.

Here are my recordings:

https://soundcloud.com/john-koch-911108615
 
Still an ongoing issue, seeing people simply plug in guitars and get tons of gain from factory presets:



Found a separate thread with the same issue, but no solution: -https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/amp-sims-have-low-gain-and-little-to-no-distortion.151470/page-2
 
shemihazazel said:
You're better off uploading the preset here so people can test it on their rigs.
Click to expand...
That is the 015 Recto 2 preset that everyone has. Scene - S03 Orange Modern.

Whatever guitar I plug into Axe-Fx III, in whatever Input, with absolutely fresh firmware and factory reset, I still have a very low amount of gain, basically a warm clean signal.

I tried multiple guitars and cables.

Edit: Yes, I know I can increase gain in multiple ways by cranking boost and input trims, that is not the case. I want Axe Fx to sound hot out of the box like it does for everyone else. This is basically the last check before sending the device back.
 
rel said:
That is the 015 Recto 2 preset that everyone has. Scene - S03 Orange Modern.

Whatever guitar I plug into Axe-Fx III, in whatever Input, with absolutely fresh firmware and factory reset, I still have a very low amount of gain, basically a warm clean signal.

I tried multiple guitars and cables.
Click to expand...
Can you send a screen shot of the amp basic page in axe edit?
 
rel said:
Whatever guitar I plug into Axe-Fx III, in whatever Input, with absolutely fresh firmware and factory reset, I still have a very low amount of gain, basically a warm clean signal.
Click to expand...

What firmware are you running?

Edit: Saw on the other thread you did a system reset and uploaded the latest which is 11.01 at the moment.
 
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None of the stock factory presets have as much gain as the YouTube videos you posted. I see on the third photo you posted that the input boost is not on. Try turning that on. If you need more gain turn up the input drive. If you have a low output guitar you can also turn up the input trim. Also go to I/O > Input, and adjust the input level until the red led on the input meters is lit briefly when you play the hardest. I play a vintage Stratocaster with low output pickups and I can get more gain than I would ever need. Low gain is not a problem at all with the Axe FX. You can tweak whatever preset you are using to sound however you want it to.
 
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Have you contacted Fractal Support about this? You might have a defective unit, and it’s been like this for over a year now, right? I just got my AXE-FX III and I’m using my Gibson R7. Both units totally stock. TONS of gain, and all I’ve done is plug in, turn it on and start playing.
 
I would also try reinstalling the current firmware or updating to a newer firmware. I had an odd issue when I first installed firmware 11.0 where none of my presets sounded similar to how they did before, and certain blocks were behaving strangely (e.g., raising drive in a drive block would increase the overall volume of the preset by an extreme amount). I reverted back to the previous firmware and then installed 11.01 when that came out. Once I did that, I no longer experienced any of the issues I had when I first installed 11.0. Not saying this will definitely fix your issue, but I think there's a chance it might help.
 
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