More headroom at gig vs. at home using the same output settings?

The defaults for the Yamaha appear to be pre-fader (After EQ & Dynamics according to their docs). This is the most common setup. I can't imagine sending a mix to IEMs without this, it would sound harsh for vocals, drums, non-modelers, etc. This might not be the main problem, but I suspect it's influencing what you hear to a degree.

I'll have to ask again how we have ours routed. When I've asked previously, I thought they have said only the board gain level affects our ears, but I'm not a techie so I may have misunderstood. I'll ask again this weekend.

I'm probably imagining it, but I feel like switching the outputs to +4dB today at home resulted in a slight increase in headroom through my studio monitors (which are connected directly to the Axe outputs). I checked the manual, my monitor's XLR inputs expect +4dB, and I had the Axe outputs set to -10dB until today. I'm wondering if it was the -10dB setting, and the board obviously handles whatever is given to it, while my monitors expected to see a non-variable value?
 
The output levels wouldn’t give more “headroom” to the input of the amp in regards to drive or gain settings. I still think you were just louder at the gig and played the guitar lighter due to the louder volume. It’s a natural response. Really none of the settings on the mixer would affect amp gain levels since that’s all after the amp stage. But being louder would make you play the guitar more lightly.

When people first sing with IEMs, they hear themselves so well for the first time that they sing much lighter and can’t get their usual high notes because they aren’t pushing as much air since it’s so “loud” to them. Very common, almost everyone does it. I always have to teach my partners to mix their vocal a bit lower than they might want so they still have to work for the note and sing normally.
 
The output levels wouldn’t give more “headroom” to the input of the amp in regards to drive or gain settings. I still think you were just louder at the gig and played the guitar lighter due to the louder volume. It’s a natural response. Really none of the settings on the mixer would affect amp gain levels since that’s all after the amp stage. But being louder would make you play the guitar more lightly.

When people first sing with IEMs, they hear themselves so well for the first time that they sing much lighter and can’t get their usual high notes because they aren’t pushing as much air since it’s so “loud” to them. Very common, almost everyone does it. I always have to teach my partners to mix their vocal a bit lower than they might want so they still have to work for the note and sing normally.
I've been using IEMs (custom molds) for 8 years, so I don't think in ear volume of my guitar is a factor. I set my in ear mix up like a studio mix... I have everything in my ears (instruments panned like a produced CD track), and I have my guitar set to ride slightly on top of the mix.

I never said I had more headroom at the input, just that I had to gain the amp up a bit to duplicate the volume change I was hearing at home cycling through my gain stages. Sorry if I haven't been clear about that... it's hard to articulate what I experienced, and there are lots of potential variables. Apologies if I've been unclear. I'm just wondering if the studio monitors, which expect +4dB at the XLR inputs, didn't handle -10dB as effectively as our board's mic pre's?
 
I never said I had more headroom at the input, just that I had to gain the amp up a bit to duplicate the volume change
hmm i'm not understanding how changing amp gain doesn't equate to more headroom at the input of the amp.

i'm gonna stick to my original analysis of this issue. i don't see how anything after the axe-fx would affect input gain in the amp block. since it's not being considered, for now i'll bow out of this one. good luck finding the solution.
 
hmm i'm not understanding how changing amp gain doesn't equate to more headroom at the input of the amp.

i'm gonna stick to my original analysis of this issue. i don't see how anything after the axe-fx would affect input gain in the amp block. since it's not being considered, for now i'll bow out of this one. good luck finding the solution.
Sorry if I've been unclear, but I think you're misunderstanding what I experienced. I dialed everything in at home to get my normal volume bump with each gain pedal (all outboard effects) with the amp's input gain set to 1.8 (Match D30 EF86 model) and with the Axe outputs at their default -10dB value. At the venue, the volume bump from each gain pedal was noticeably more than it was at home. In order to get the same volume bump with each gain pedal that I was getting at home, I had to increase the amp's input gain from 1.8 to 2.2.

So... with the amp's input gain the same, I had noticeably more "headroom" or volume increase with each gain pedal (all from my pedalboard, no Axe drives) than I had at home - at the same settings. In order to match the volume increase I had at home, I had to increase the amp's input gain from 1.8 to 2.2.
 
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Absolutely loving the Axe III! Have used it live twice now, and noticed something yesterday that has me puzzled... I had significantly more headroom live yesterday than I have at home, using the exact same settings, and I'm not sure why. It was so noticeable, that I was able to increase the Input Drive on the Matchless DC30 EF86 from 1.8 to 2.2 to mimic the headroom I have at home. That's a fairly significant jump on that amp model and takes it from relatively clean to breaking up.

All settings in the Axe were the same, including the output level. I run my pedalboard in stereo in front using the front input and the 2R input on the back, and used the same connections in both locations (same cables, same inputs). Input level on the I/O page is 15% for input 1, and 50% for input 2 (this is perfectly balanced L/R for me). Output is set to -10dBu for both outputs.

The only differences between home and the venue yesterday are:
  • At home I run XLR out to a pair of Kali LP6 studio monitors
  • At the venue, I ran XLR out to the FOH console. The signal then hits the console's mic gain stage, and then goes directly to Dante, then to LiveMix to our in ears monitors (this takes the rest of the board's channel strip, including effects and fader level, out of the equation).
  • The increase in headroom was apparent both through FOH and through my IEMs.

Anyone have any theories on why that would be the case with everything on the Axe III being equal in both locations.

Pics of my setup for attention:
View attachment 63120View attachment 63121
@boyce89976 Output 1 has much less Headroom than output 3 or 4.
In global setting they have different db out. output 1 has -10db or +4db and output 3 has 0, 6, 12 or 18db boost.
 
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