My AxeFX III sounds bad, and I don't know why

Break_Animal said:
I have just recently purchased an AxeFX III Mk I and so far I'm completely blown away by how muddy and fuzzy it sounds in my setup. When I tried out the Axe with the previous owner, and I'm pretty sure it sounded completely different.
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If you purchased the Axe FXII used I suggest that you start by installing the most current firmware and presets.
Make sure you have the most current versions of Axe Edit and Fractal Bot.

If you don't like the stock presets, then create your own. Pay particular attention to choosing the ir that sounds the best to you, as a bad cab choice will make it almost impossible to get a good sound.

Preset from other people will not sound the same for you unless you have the same guitar and same pickups that was used creating the presets and demo videos of the presets.

What you are using to monitor your Axe FXIII with will color what you are hearing also. Poor monitors equal poor sound.
Like you, I also have the Beyerdynamics DT 990 headphones and they sound good.

If you are a new user be sure to check out the Axe FX Wiki. There are answers to almost everything you could think of .
https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Axe-Fx3
 
@op.... While I am not well versed with those types of guitar sounds, for me, it was very easy to hear the difference between the stuff you posted of your self and that youtube video-probably not the correct terms but what I hear in the video is so much more clarity and definition. I wish could lend a hand but these guys are much better at that than me. Good luck-as long as the Axe is OK, which it must be since you like the tone at sellers house. I know these guys will get you there! Hang in there!
 
Break_Animal said:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/jf3ue1hw8xwe1uj3p3rji/h?rlkey=6q8p7htkkltxpkk6lnxwt86at&dl=0
Including two seperate taken stereo DI's (for left and right panning) and a backing track for that particular part of the song.
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The DIs didn't line up with the backing track so I manually aligned them. When bouncing stuff like this make sure everything starts on the same beat so all the tracks line up when dropped into a DAW. Also everything was at 44.1k so since I'm reamping with SPDIF I converted them to 48k. So these reamps are coming out of the DAW and thru the Fractal digitally with no conversions or mic pres or anything else in the chain.

Here's a reamp with Factory Presets Das Metal and 5153 hard panned:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/anv0...eamp.m4a?rlkey=dcacfuyym7vzjm10ws5lolipq&dl=0

Here's another using Factory Presets Triple Crest and Cameron CCV:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7r1e...mp-2.m4a?rlkey=gi2fw88imxr0645kfemf8kxwv&dl=0

I'm not really familiar with metal tones so I didn't try to tweak them at all aside from picking a scene with a high gain sound and turning off any wet fx. So you should be able to reamp them with USB and get identical results. They're not really like the tones in the video you posted but they're certainly useable. Definitely needs the Andy Sneap C4 treatment in the low mids on the chugs. But I'm sure there's tons of presets out there for the Periphery djent thing once we make sure your unit is functioning properly.

Have you done a factory reset on your unit and installed the latest set of factory presets?
 
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From what I've heard from your Axefx3 sounds fine, it just sounds like an issue with dialing it in and expectations about tone/eq/how it sits. The DI had a bit of EMI but nothing egregious, the general tone of the pickup is good and the EMI can probably be mitigated if you record away from the computer (or find a good spot in the room).

I dont have a FAS unit on me atm but I whipped this up in STL Amphub in a couple mins. I've used a 5153 RED channel here with a TS9 tubescreamer and just quickly flicked through my IR's to find something that fits.
1702884967306.png

I had to make some quick EQ cuts to the IR as well to make it fit how I wanted against the backing track. So much of this stuff is contextual so its hard to talk in specifics... But the IR and EQ adjustments to the IR will make a HUGE difference to the overall tone so if you want what I'm using here just DM me and I can send it. As an example here's the fine tuning I did, roll off lows and highs and then some other moves to try and tuck it into the mix as best as possible. I'm by far no expert but the tones you want are in my wheelhouse so I have a good idea of what you're going for.

1702883313444.png

If you want some extra tidbits of information, for actual Erra records and other bands in that genre they will METICULOUSLY record those DI's to get the performance and takes as clean as possible, they'll get edited tastefully to a grid and eventually compressed tastefully and run through analog gear. If you took the actual DI's from that session you could probably put them into an amp sim from 15 years ago and they'd sound amazing, the amount of engineering that goes into the DI is off the chain. When we're at home recording its just never going to be as good unless you go down the rabbit hole of everything (it can be done to some degree but it will take a mountain of knowledge and practice to get there).

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pumf...demo.mp3?rlkey=taduwyd8du1nf6mj5olrrlr6f&dl=0
 
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strabes said:
The DIs didn't line up with the backing track so I manually aligned them. When bouncing stuff like this make sure everything starts on the same beat so all the tracks line up when dropped into a DAW. Also everything was at 44.1k so since I'm reamping with SPDIF I converted them to 48k. So these reamps are coming out of the DAW and thru the Fractal digitally with no conversions or mic pres or anything else in the chain.

Here's a reamp with Factory Presets Das Metal and 5153 hard panned:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/anv0...eamp.m4a?rlkey=dcacfuyym7vzjm10ws5lolipq&dl=0

Here's another using Factory Presets Triple Crest and Cameron CCV:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7r1e...mp-2.m4a?rlkey=gi2fw88imxr0645kfemf8kxwv&dl=0

I'm not really familiar with metal tones so I didn't try to tweak them at all aside from picking a scene with a high gain sound and turning off any wet fx. So they're not really like the tones in the video you posted but they're certainly useable. Definitely needs the Andy Sneap C4 treatment in the low mids on the chugs. But I'm sure there's tons of presets out there for the Periphery djent thing.

Have you done a factory reset on your unit and installed the latest set of factory presets?
Click to expand...
Especially the first one definitely goes into the right direction! It feels like it just misses that crispness in the highs and a little less mud in the mids, I guess some EQ could do wonders there.

Yeah, I made the mistake of not aligning the DIs with the backing track upfront, my apologies!
 
I think the last 2 examples sound really friggin good for guys that are not metal players
Another amp combo that will likely work well is the new Stealth blue or red with and Horizon in front and gain rolled back
 
[Nathan] said:
From what I've heard from your Axefx3 sounds fine, it just sounds like an issue with dialing it in and expectations about tone/eq/how it sits. The DI had a bit of EMI but nothing egregious, the general tone of the pickup is good and the EMI can probably be mitigated if you record away from the computer (or find a good spot in the room).

I dont have a FAS unit on me atm but I whipped this up in STL Amphub in a couple mins. I've used a 5153 RED channel here with a TS9 tubescreamer and just quickly flicked through my IR's to find something that fits.
View attachment 131538

I had to make some quick EQ cuts to the IR as well to make it fit how I wanted against the backing track. So much of this stuff is contextual so its hard to talk in specifics... But the IR and EQ adjustments to the IR will make a HUGE difference to the overall tone so if you want what I'm using here just DM me and I can send it. As an example here's the fine tuning I did, roll off lows and highs and then some other moves to try and tuck it into the mix as best as possible. I'm by far no expert but the tones you want are in my wheelhouse so I have a good idea of what you're going for.

View attachment 131537

If you want some extra tidbits of information, for actual Erra records and other bands in that genre they will METICULOUSLY record those DI's to get the performance and takes as clean as possible, they'll get edited tastefully to a grid and eventually compressed tastefully and run through analog gear. If you took the actual DI's from that session you could probably put them into an amp sim from 15 years ago and they'd sound amazing, the amount of engineering that goes into the DI is off the chain. When we're at home recording its just never going to be as good unless you go down the rabbit hole of everything (it can be done to some degree but it will take a mountain of knowledge and practice to get there).

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pumf...demo.mp3?rlkey=taduwyd8du1nf6mj5olrrlr6f&dl=0
Click to expand...
The STL Plugins always deliver. Sounds really good!
I guess it has to be the 5150/6534 with a good EQ and a nice IR. Feels like I need to fiddle that one out. Since I'm completely new to IR's, I need to check the thousands of free IR's flying around. Are there any specific you feel like would be fitting me? I guess, anything through a 4x12 Recto cab would be absolutely suitable.

I know that their production and level of engineering is off the charts. Jesse Cash is an absolutely stunning good guitarist and songwriter, so obviously he plays a thousand times better than I could ever do. I just did a simple one take for the DI, without editing to the grid obviously, that's not my goal for the moment. I want to use the AxeFX as a modeler to give me the closest tones to my favorite mix's, which I cover a lot. I just think Erra has the most "living" rhythm tone, without being near castrated of all crisp frequencies, like in some other Metalcore productions.
So basically, everything about the AxeFX is tonematching for me. I will have to get a starting point, possibly a lot of YouTube tutorials and self experimentation to do, as I did previously with my Kemper Profiler.
If you are interested in how I got my Kemper to sound with a EVH 5150 Profile:
To be fair, it took me quite some months, maybe years to find this sound. In the end it was a tweaked stock profile with a custom cab. I just hope I get a similar sound out of the Axe, with more tightness in the high's and less mud in the mids, that was my main problem all these years.

I'm just happy that there seems nothing to be broken or catastrophically wrong setup on my end, you guys helped me so freaking much with that, and I really do appreciate all of you taking your time for my incompetence!
 
Break_Animal said:
Especially the first one definitely goes into the right direction! It feels like it just misses that crispness in the highs and a little less mud in the mids, I guess some EQ could do wonders there.

Yeah, I made the mistake of not aligning the DIs with the backing track upfront, my apologies!
Click to expand...
It sounds a little bit like Gojira
Silvera
His tone with all those harmonics and open string things .
His settings if you wanted to try Red Stealth , change your power tubes to EL34 JJ
Gain 4 , Bass 4 mids 6 treble 6, pres 8 or 9 depth4
He uses low gain pickups so you may have to adjust a few things but I thing your on the right track
Good luck
 
What is the firmware version?
On Cooper Carter's video - FW12 (Ares). Ares sounds bright and poisonous. There are new algorithms inside Cygnus and they are darker. It looks like the speaker is covered with a blanket. You need to make a LowCut (up to 125-250Hz) in the Preamp section of the Amp block. and +3dB at 2k frequency in OutupEQ. In the Drive block, you can also make a LowCut up to 400 Hz. And +3dB
 
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Break_Animal said:
Especially the first one definitely goes into the right direction! It feels like it just misses that crispness in the highs and a little less mud in the mids, I guess some EQ could do wonders there.

Yeah, I made the mistake of not aligning the DIs with the backing track upfront, my apologies!
Click to expand...
I used factory presets so you could reamp through the same presets and compare to my results. That would tell us if something is wrong with your unit. You can reamp digitally with USB since your interface doesn’t have SPDIF. Once we establish that your unit is working fine then we can start trying to match the tone which shouldn’t be too hard.
 
@Break_Animal I am into the same music and sound as you. ;)

For IR recommendations, I use the Bogren down tuned pack. IMHO the best IRs for low stuff like drop F.

I tune my presets with a grafic eq, little cut in the low mids and little bump in the high mids. I also use lowpass and highpass in the cab block.
 
Anton Karelin said:
What is the firmware version?
On Cooper Carter's video - FW12 (Ares). Ares sounds bright and poisonous. There are new algorithms inside Cygnus and they are darker. It looks like the speaker is covered with a blanket. You need to make a LowCut (up to 125-250Hz) in the Preamp section of the Amp block. and +3dB at 2k frequency in OutupEQ. In the Drive block, you can also make a LowCut up to 400 Hz. And +3dB
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I'm on 23.05, updated from 17.x.
strabes said:
I used factory presets so you could reamp through the same presets and compare to my results. That would tell us if something is wrong with your unit. You can reamp digitally with USB since your interface doesn’t have SPDIF. Once we establish that your unit is working fine then we can start trying to match the tone which shouldn’t be too hard.
Click to expand...
Good idea, I will get onto that later, when I'm back at my place!
_ikarus_ said:
@Break_Animal I am into the same music and sound as you. ;)

For IR recommendations, I use the Bogren down tuned pack. IMHO the best IRs for low stuff like drop F.

I tune my presets with a grafic eq, little cut in the low mids and little bump in the high mids. I also use lowpass and highpass in the cab block.
Click to expand...
I just bought some other presets, but they all sound kind of the same muddy fuzz to me unfortunately. You got a preset to check out somewhere?
 
Whenever I hear "muddy and fizzy" I think of volume. Not necessarily Master Volume (although that is something you may want to check), but rather the output level to your monitors or your headphones. On headphones for example, if the impedance is higher (e.g., 250 ohm) then you'll need to turn the output level up. Also your ears will adjust and reset to whatever you're listening to. So let's say you find a preset you like then go to another preset at roughly the same level, you may notice immediately you no longer liked the sound you were just enjoying. This happens to me all the time.

A process of elimination is also helpful, but I like to use a methodology of building a signal chain relative to level. So if you want to play to a backing track for example chances are the backing track will be mastered and therefore much louder than your preset. I use Sonarworks and route all my playback through that, I usually decrease the output between -14 to -16 dB's to before even touching a preset. I then select an amp I like, an IR I like and begin to build knowing my taste and get the levels roughly on the Preset Level meter to establish a reference point. When it sounds good at that level against a backing track, I know I'm at least in the ballpark.

It also helps to know what you like. But if you're looking at metalcore or heavier styles a 5150 style amp with a Mesa V30 IR using an SM57 (try the Mesa DynaCab with Dynamic 1/2) is a good starting point, then start to play with output level and the master. Again, I'd recommend using meters to help you determine when something sounds reliably good because you can get to a point where you're arbitrarily changing parameters for the sake of it and may be getting further away from what you want.

So to surmise, I think you would benefit a lot from building a preset from scratch using an amp/cab block, turning on the Preset Leveling tool and adjusting the Master and output level to a reference point. It may not always produce the results you want, but sometimes it can be better. Also, you're not alone in not finding the presets to sound as someone else gets them to sound. Usually it's monitoring and other fundamental variables (i.e., the player, their gear, acoustics, level, impedance, volume, etc.) that get them there. Also, your ears are just going to be different. A sound in a mix vs a sound on it's own may surprise you. Knowing the difference can save a lot of trial and error.

I believe Marco once said something along the lines when you use a Fractal "you're entering the audio engineering world" or something to a similar effect. So be mindful of that and the basic principles, you should be fine.
 
I spent a few minutes this morning messing with this bc it's kinda fun and bringing me back to my metal phase 🤘

Here's a reamp with FAS 6160 > DynaCab 412 Recto Slant on one side and 5153 100w Red > DynaCab 412 5153 on the other. One issue you're going to have is that the tones in the video you posted are finished guitar tracks, not the raw output of the amps/modelers, so I did a little treatment in post.

Plugins:
  1. The Andy Sneap C4 thing grabbing a bit on the chugs between 90-350hz.
  2. High shelf +4.5db at 1300hz, Q is 1. The amount of high end in these guitars is insane, I never realized how much high end is in these modern metal tracks. Didn't spend a ton of time on this, just used the rough shelf approach to get more high end.
  3. 1176 comp doing just a bit on some transients, like -5dB max gain reduction.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u9gy...mp-3.m4a?rlkey=cops4izg3e5a4yo9yffr2z5hj&dl=0

Probably could use a little more distortion from the amps I guess.
 
Break_Animal said:
I just bought some other presets, but they all sound kind of the same muddy fuzz to me unfortunately. You got a preset to check out somewhere?
Click to expand...

I am not talking about presets but IRs though. Presets from other people never sounded good to me on my setup. It all came together when I started doing my own presets. You should try that too.
 
Break_Animal said:
The STL Plugins always deliver. Sounds really good!
I guess it has to be the 5150/6534 with a good EQ and a nice IR. Feels like I need to fiddle that one out. Since I'm completely new to IR's, I need to check the thousands of free IR's flying around. Are there any specific you feel like would be fitting me? I guess, anything through a 4x12 Recto cab would be absolutely suitable.

I know that their production and level of engineering is off the charts. Jesse Cash is an absolutely stunning good guitarist and songwriter, so obviously he plays a thousand times better than I could ever do. I just did a simple one take for the DI, without editing to the grid obviously, that's not my goal for the moment. I want to use the AxeFX as a modeler to give me the closest tones to my favorite mix's, which I cover a lot. I just think Erra has the most "living" rhythm tone, without being near castrated of all crisp frequencies, like in some other Metalcore productions.
So basically, everything about the AxeFX is tonematching for me. I will have to get a starting point, possibly a lot of YouTube tutorials and self experimentation to do, as I did previously with my Kemper Profiler.
If you are interested in how I got my Kemper to sound with a EVH 5150 Profile:
To be fair, it took me quite some months, maybe years to find this sound. In the end it was a tweaked stock profile with a custom cab. I just hope I get a similar sound out of the Axe, with more tightness in the high's and less mud in the mids, that was my main problem all these years.

I'm just happy that there seems nothing to be broken or catastrophically wrong setup on my end, you guys helped me so freaking much with that, and I really do appreciate all of you taking your time for my incompetence!
Click to expand...

For the Axe3 preset just go IN --> Drive --> AMP --> Cab --> NoiseGate --> Out

Drive use a 808, Level max, gain 0, tone at noon
Amp - 5153 Red/Lead - Put presence at 7/8, leave the rest at default, will revisit
NoiseGate - Set your source to the INPUT so its doing things the modern metal way (tighter)

Once all that's set start IR hunting. If you picked up some packs then audition those but if you're using all Fractal then you're right, look for any kind of MESA combo of IRs that seem to be in the ballpark. Probably pretty bright sounding but not "too much" fizz. Once youve got something you think will work go back and start messing with the basic amp controls. The screenshot I posted from STL is kind of extreme but the controls are in the ballpark of what I'd set a real 5153 or the FAS 5153 to.

Best to do all of this completely by ear and NOT with a guitar in your hand. If you're reamping you can loop a section in the DAW and do it that way, otherwise use the looper block in the Axe, super handy to be hands off when dialing.

You'll probably stuff it up and you'll probably go back to what you make in 2-3 days and think something is broken because how could you make a tone so weird :D , but its all part of getting better. The more you do it the more you'll know whats good and what sucks, what kind of IRs you gravitate to. Maybe a 3rd party pack is all you need, maybe you want to use dynacabs every time to fine tune, you really have all the options under the sun, its just about finding what works for you... and thats gonna take time and practice.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/w8us...Test.wav?rlkey=z86kwm72lzv7o16hdyisvjckf&dl=0

Thats the best I can currently come up with. Preset I used for this one is (of course!) a 5150 preset by SinMix. If you are interested in checking it out, its the freebie he gives out! ( https://www.brickwall.pl/store/index.php?id_product=130&controller=product )
I feel like I need some different equalizing as it lacks some clarity I think. There is really not much EQ going on here, just a slight scoop on the high-mids and a little boost on the low mids, high pass and low pass filtering and a slight boost in the top highs.
What do you guys think, is some proper EQing enough to make it work kind of, or is it too muddy?
 
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