Master volume - A little experiment.

kostein said:
Clip 1 - MV at ~7ish
Clip 2 - MV at 3.5
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Nice to know that my ears are not deceiving me. The first clip has an "even" quality to it that is coming from the pleasing sounding saturation of the power amp (essentially compression). It results in thicker mids and a spongier feel and sound! Very, very nice! Its compression without all the shitty side effects :)
 
Second one sounds crunchier to me I believe but I'm listening through a plantronics headset. lol

FWIW, they both sound great. Without the A/B, I'd be satisfied with either.
 
guitarzpt said:
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.
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I won't have time to experiment with the MV today but I'm noting this down for when I have time.
 
Kostas, it would be great if you could do this. I too found it difficult to answer based upon the differences in volume level. I *think* I preferred the tone of the lower master volume clip, but not 100% sure because of the volume level issue. Thanks for this, BTW! :)
 
The frequency response is very different for each clip. They don't appear to be level matched, the second one is quieter. Maybe they have the same SPL but the dynamics and frequency response affect the perceived loudness. They both sound good but the first is clearly superior with my PC speakers, ears and taste. The second clip is dull and while it has a full low end it sounds muddy and undefined and the mid-range and high frequencies are lacking. The first clip also seems to have better dynamics, breath and pick attack. I'd probably boost the low end a bit with clip one. This is a very interesting and worthwhile thread.
 
I like both, but the second one seems far more condensed. Makes the mix smooth - makes it right, to me. I'm going to say one is low, two is high.

By the way, that clip is better than in your recent vid.



** Edit **

Ahh, and I'm wrong. Well, intially, the grit in one said 'high MV', but then the 'depth' and apparent compression of the second made me think perhaps that was high MV. In any case, the second one is more white collar, the first one more blue collar.
 
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shredi knight said:
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.
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das what I said...
 
kostein said:
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.
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Ok, that makes sense then. I was going by the raw parts of the clip and naturally jumped to the conclusion that the first part was louder because it had the higher Master Volume setting.





symphx said:
das what I said...
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Sorry, I just shimmed the responses before posting and missed that you brought up the same issue.:roll
 
That a great Friggin riff man!!....O and thx a ton for all the presets, they are all fantastic!! I'll do a donate to your site this weekend!!
But again really kewl riff!
 
To be honest Mr. Kostein, I wouldn't change a damn thing you are currently doing. Your presets already sound great. Fun to experiment, but you already dialed in some magic in your presets.
 
looks like i'm late to the party....but i'll give my two cents; i use the master volume as a midrange/compression control. if you listen to just the raw guitar clips, you will hear the added mids on the first clip. some amps add mids and compression in a musical way.....others add mud. it's important to experiment with the master volume to find what you like.
 
Singtall said:
looks like i'm late to the party....but i'll give my two cents; i use the master volume as a midrange/compression control. if you listen to just the raw guitar clips, you will hear the added mids on the first clip. some amps add mids and compression in a musical way.....others add mud. it's important to experiment with the master volume to find what you like.
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Which is basically what MV does. It compresses the bass and treble thereby adding mids. The reason the bass and treble are compressed is because they are boosted by the impedance curve of the speaker so they clip earlier. See my post "About Speaker LF Resonance".
 
As hinted by others, unless you match the apparent level of both clips, any comparison is meaningless. We always perceive a louder sound to be "better", "more exciting", etc.

You can't use meters to level match, you have to use your ears.
 
FractalAudio said:
Which is basically what MV does. It compresses the bass and treble thereby adding mids. The reason the bass and treble are compressed is because they are boosted by the impedance curve of the speaker so they clip earlier. See my post "About Speaker LF Resonance".
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Is that why you get the cool bass "bloom" with heavy palm muting, stemming from proper MV settings as the compression naturally releases?
 
I also prefer the higher MV even on high gain amps.........and then lower the main drive and adding some lowcuts ............that said : I hear that same kind of sound in your first sample , so I choose that one as the higher MV :)
 
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