most of the preset sound like i had guitar tone down to 0-4 value

[RevDrucifer]

In my experience with presets I didn’t make myself, tweaks are necessary based on the system I’m on and very dependent on the pickups being used. When I first got my AxeFX III I thought something was wrong with my unit because the factory presets just didn’t work well with the high output Dimarzio Evolutions, but when I used a single coil Strat, they sounded great and I felt a bit dim for not realizing there was that much of a difference between pickups.

Really, just goes to show how much of the guitar’s tone is able to come through on a Fractal unit.

What sounds great with a single coil often sounds dark and muddy with a hot humbucker, especially if the amp/preset is strongly relying on the Master Volume for the distortion. It just hits it too hard and ends up muddying the waters.

And even when playing through an actual guitar cab, I sometimes have to make some ‘extreme’ cuts in the EQ of the amp block to make up for what the speakers sound like. In my case, the Retro 30’s I use are mid-heavy and if I’m going for a scooped metal tone, I need to cut them way back on amps I normally wouldn’t have to. Not any fault of the Fractal stuff, just how the speakers sound naturally. They were the same way when using an actual 5150, Dual Rec or XXX head.

 

[utkanos]

In my experience with presets I didn’t make myself, tweaks are necessary based on the system I’m on and very dependent on the pickups being used. When I first got my AxeFX III I thought something was wrong with my unit because the factory presets just didn’t work well with the high output Dimarzio Evolutions, but when I used a single coil Strat, they sounded great and I felt a bit dim for not realizing there was that much of a difference between pickups.

Really, just goes to show how much of the guitar’s tone is able to come through on a Fractal unit.

What sounds great with a single coil often sounds dark and muddy with a hot humbucker, especially if the amp/preset is strongly relying on the Master Volume for the distortion. It just hits it too hard and ends up muddying the waters.

And even when playing through an actual guitar cab, I sometimes have to make some ‘extreme’ cuts in the EQ of the amp block to make up for what the speakers sound like. In my case, the Retro 30’s I use are mid-heavy and if I’m going for a scooped metal tone, I need to cut them way back on amps I normally wouldn’t have to. Not any fault of the Fractal stuff, just how the speakers sound naturally. They were the same way when using an actual 5150, Dual Rec or XXX head.

Thanks for the commentary, glad to know I'm not alone in experiencing this. Thanks for the useful tips!

 

[utkanos]

The global way is to correct the response of your headphones using the global graphic EQ setting for Output 1.

You can look up your headphone model from here: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results

Then you can plug in the graphic EQ settings presented into the output EQ options on the FM3. While headphone quality still matters, this helps make the pair you have closer to flat.

If they still sound dark then you would need to edit the presets. At that point better to just make your own.

This is excellent info, thanks so much for this! I'm using a trusty pair of Senn HD280 pros so I will try to dial in based on that list

 

[skolacki]

The global way is to correct the response of your headphones using the global graphic EQ setting for Output 1.

You can look up your headphone model from here: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results

Then you can plug in the graphic EQ settings presented into the output EQ options on the FM3. While headphone quality still matters, this helps make the pair you have closer to flat.

If they still sound dark then you would need to edit the presets. At that point better to just make your own.

I’ve calibrated my Senn 58x per the correction on that page. That guy has put a lot of work into the project and I am appreciative. My goal was to get my presets close with the phones to where it would be close running through FR. So I have an eq block for the phones, and bypass the block for FR. And it’s closer than before but usually the phones are brighter than my speakers. I’m going to wing it on the corrections on the higher frequencies, try to tune it by ear. Not concerned with accuracy, I just want a close approximation between phones and speaker.

As for going from singles to buckers I do have some presets that seem to work with both. But best results for me are to have scenes for pickups. And I always have presets tailored for specific guitars. This is one of my favorite things about Fractal, is being able to set up presets to accommodate all pickups on a guitar. I have no explanation for what the OP is experiencing. Perhaps the varying gain levels between pickup styles results in the eq changes is all it is.

 

[framos]

The global way is to correct the response of your headphones using the global graphic EQ setting for Output 1.

You can look up your headphone model from here: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results

Then you can plug in the graphic EQ settings presented into the output EQ options on the FM3. While headphone quality still matters, this helps make the pair you have closer to flat.

If they still sound dark then you would need to edit the presets. At that point better to just make your own.

IME, "Correcting for heaphones" and "correcting the headphones" are different things.

The autoeq is great to make the heapdhones neutral, but correcting the patches for headphones is a different beast, mainly because of the effect of volume (that you get on FRFRs and cannot get on Headphones.) on our perception of lows and highs.

YMMV.

 

[skolacki]

IME, "Correcting for heaphones" and "correcting the headphones" are different things.

The autoeq is great to make the heapdhones neutral, but correcting the patches for headphones is a different beast, mainly because of the effect of volume (that you get on FRFRs and cannot get on Headphones.) on our perception of lows and highs.

YMMV.

True words there. I’m probably one of those people that will never be 100% happy with headphones. But I’m getting better at getting close with the phones. And yes volume has everything to do with it. To maintain the peace of the house I try to minimize my endless tweaking to the phones. And it works. When I get a chance to lay on some volume it’s usually just quick eq adjustments and it’s good.

 

[laxu]

IME, "Correcting for heaphones" and "correcting the headphones" are different things.

The autoeq is great to make the heapdhones neutral, but correcting the patches for headphones is a different beast, mainly because of the effect of volume (that you get on FRFRs and cannot get on Headphones.) on our perception of lows and highs.

YMMV.

Oh absolutely. But the way I see it, if your headphones are having a significant effect on the sound because of their EQ curves then you are unlikely to get good results to start from. I find that with correction both my headphones translate pretty well to studio monitors (also room corrected) for example.

Headphones still need to be treated as their own thing. They don't have the reverberating space that a real room has whether you are playing at home or stage volumes. So without also using room reverb it tends to sound like you stuck your head where the mic sits.

 

[utkanos]

I have fantastic results with headphones in general, way more than I thought. The output sounds like a polished guitar track to me and it records exceptionally well already in my testing. I will try another guitar I have with a different set of humbuckers, WRHB are their own beast after all.