Master volume - A little experiment.

kostein

Inspired
After reading Cliff's notes about keeping your master volume at lower levels I took the liberty of experimenting a little. Most of my presets are set to a high MV (6 and above). I started playing with one of them and I kept changing the MV without changing anything just to hear how different the tone would be with fw12. Here are my findings with this clip.

This is my Diezel Herbert patch. There are 2 clips here, one with the MV at 3.5 and one at ~7ish. Everything else is exactly the same. I didn't add any post EQ on the guitars this time so what you're hearing is the raw tone coming from the Axe. I'm not gonna reveal which is which yet as I am curious to see which one sounds best to you guys. So, same amp, same settings, different master volume. Which ones do you prefer? First clip or the second clip? :)



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Experiment Phase 2 - Post #46 for the full details.

I recorded the guitars with the MV set to: 1.00, 3.00, 5.00 and 7.44 which is where I have my preset. Two clips, one with a full mix and one with solo guitars.

Exhibit A - Full mix





Exhibit B - Solo guitars

 
Last edited:
i think the first one is a little more defined and sits better but the second has more low-end energy/thump going on....to my ears at least, using these crappy apple earbuds at a coffee shop right now.

i think they both sounds great.
 
I prefer the first one because of openness and definition. Second has the thickness I associate with high master volume.
 
Love the first one over the second, though both are great in isolation.

The first has a grit and edge that says "in your face" and easily cuts through the mix.

The second one sounds great too, but its like its being played behind a closed door IMHO.

Soooo ... tell us! Which is which! ;)

BTW - I never thought of myself as a metal head - but awesome patch and clip! :encouragement
 
I'd think 1st one has the higher master volume do to the fact that it sounds more compressed (in a nice way) and the mids sound thicker. But Im on my mac book so Im working uphill on this one. Preparing to be wrong in 3..2...1.... :)
 
I think the first has more range (less compressed).. I would think the second is the higher MV.

I prefer the first.
 
prefer first one, the second one is more compressed duller bassier; However one quandry if you are cranking mv, that may indicade the higher mv is the first as it has more volume both in the mix and when you cut all other tracks. In other words, is it a fair comparison when the guitar volume is less in one clip due to lower master volume. When looking at the wav or whatever file it appears the guitar only peaks are less in the second one.
 
Opps ... they are both the AXE FX Chris ... this is a MV A/B test with MV A=3.5 and MV B=~7ish. :)

Is it possible that the 2nd one has the higher MV and is somehow more compressed as a result?

sar·casm noun \ˈsär-ˌka-zəm\
: the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation, or to be funny
 
They both sound good.

Not being an aficionado of this style of music, (and assuming you're going for the das-brootalz), the second has more 'knock your dick in the dirt' thump to it. I'd say that one was the high MV.

But honestly, I liked the definition and 'hop choppy cut through' of the 1st one. It's the one I prefer.

IMO.
 
This is my Diezel Herbert patch. There are 2 clips here, one with the MV at 3.5 and one at ~7ish. Everything else is exactly the same.....

So, same amp, same settings, different master volume.....



The one setting you should have changed (besides the Master Volume) is the Amp sim's Level control (or the Output level control on the Layout's mix page) so the 2 patches are both at the same perceived volume level. Given the guitar is much louder in the first part of the clip, I'm guessing you didn't do that and that the first part is the higher Master Volume setting. When you turn the Master Volume up, the patch gets louder, so you have to turn the overall volume level down to compensate. Not really a fair comparison otherwise.
 
Last edited:
First without a doubt. Second is lacking definition and almost somewhat muffled.

Both are good sounding, though.
 
The one setting you should have changed (besides the Master Volume) is the Amp sim's Level control (or the Output level control on the Layout's mix page) so the 2 patches are both at the same perceived volume level. Given the guitar is much louder in the first part of the clip, I'm guessing you didn't do that and that the first part is the higher Master Volume setting. When you turn the Master Volume up, the patch gets louder, so you have to turn the overall volume level down to compensate. Not really a fair comparison otherwise.

I should have clarified that I did that. It's not so much of an issue though because you have to balance the volume in the mix anyway. When you add all the post processing in the equation they sound pretty even. Clip 2 is quieter when it's solo'd because it's much more spiky than the first one so I had to lower the output volume to prevent clipping. The solo parts are just the raw sound coming from the Axe without any post processing at all.

...and the answer to the million dollar question is...
Clip 1 - MV at ~7ish
Clip 2 - MV at 3.5

It's quite interesting to see the outcome of a blind test. Most of you preferred the first one it seems but I think that's mostly because it's dialed in. I'm gonna try to dial a tone at a lower MV and post my findings. I did it last night but I didn't delve into it much. Hopefully I'll have some free time to do it tonight.
 
They have a difference in volume so its hard to answer without being biased by this. I tend to like the first one and I think caused by this...

I would like to hear to this comparison with just the raw sounds and perfectly leveled.
 
Back
Top Bottom