My ears must suck or something

nellings6

nellings6

Inspired
I just havent been able to really be satisfied with a tone for a long time, have read the manual multiple times and such. But the main thing is from watching videos of people running through the stock presets, mine still sound nothing like it. Im not sure if it could be my monitors, or the way that they're set up inside the I/O
 
What specifically do you not like about your tone? Does it change from preset to preset?

One thing about the Axe- it really matters that your guitar is set up well- if there is any funniness going on with pickup height, electronics, etc., it'll pick it up. This is a good thing really- the Axe is a pretty clear and high quality system.

Have you tried downloading others presets? Try some of the smilefan presets- they're great!
 
Yeah, I mean I've had it since last August but there always seems to be too much hiss, or too much low end on everything. It never goes away no matter how much I tweak
 
Perhaps you could provide some of your preset .syx files, and maybe a link to a high quality recording of your guitar WITH processing thru the AFX, and DRY WITHOUT processing for others to use as a "re-amping" source. Then they could tweak your preset according to their tastes and send you back the adjusted .syx file. (this would be awfully generous of the forum community, but you never know...it's happened before.)

Or, reach out to other AFX users in your area and set up a meet and greet where you can all swap ideas and listen to each others' speaker setups and presets. Just throwing ideas out at you.

On first blush at your gear list, I'd say your speakers would be a good place to look at upgrading. Before jumping to conclusions, you may want to hear what the AFX sounds like on a better quality, louder set of speakers. Do you do any live gigs, or home studio only?
 
Can you post some clips?? Might give us better view into what you are hearing...
 
I'll grab some clips when I get home and post them up before tonight. I would love to find an axe owner in Northern VA so I could possibly get some input from what they're doing as well.

For right now I only have stuff for my home studio, looking at getting an FRFR once I get the cash for it. All I have for now is my M-Audio Bx8a deluxe pair and KRK 6400 headphones
 
On Stock Presets I usually have to turn up the Noise Gate Threshold.
I like Threshold:74, Ratio:3, Release:100, Attack:10
I typically will also change the CAB Low Cut to around 120 Hz so I sit in the Mix Better and not step on my Bass Guitarists Mix.

I run QSC K8 FRFR Setup and Direct to the PA.
I use Flat and Turn on the External Sub that is not there on the QSC's and they Match my FOH (PA)
 
It's your M-Audio BX8a's. I tried a pair and they are way too hyped of a sound and over exaggerate the Lows and Highs causing the mids to sound scooped. The older BX8's used to have switches on the back to adjust the lows, mids and highs. I used to use a Behringer ECM8000 Measurement Condenser Microphone with a Behringer Ultracurve to flatten out the frequency response.
 
First off, how does other music sound on those speakers compared to your guitar tone? That should help determine whether its the speakers or the preset right away.
 
GotMetalBoy said:
It's your M-Audio BX8a's. I tried a pair and they are way too hyped of a sound and over exaggerate the Lows and Highs causing the mids to sound scooped. The older BX8's used to have switches on the back to adjust the lows, mids and highs. I used to use a Behringer ECM8000 Measurement Condenser Microphone with a Behringer Ultracurve to flatten out the frequency response.
Click to expand...

Thats what Ive been thinking, and I've been looking at getting rid of them for some KRK 6s

As far as other music, the bass is a bit boomy and makes it hard to hear the clarity of most songs.

Through my headphones, they sound a bit fizzy on the high end and can't hear the lows all that much, but Ive heard that the headphone jack on the Axe isnt the greatest way to tell.
 
Your soundcloud links are broken. Yeah maybe replace the speakers then, headphones always seem to lack bass. Well maybe not lack bass, but you can really crank the bass in headphones to the point that it sounds massive in the phones, but muddy on speakers.

In the mean time before you get your NEW speakers, you could always just throw an eq plugin on the master out and put on a cd that you think sounds good normally and eq until it sounds good on the woofy speakers. Then just use that eq on the master while you track, and take it off before you print the track final mix.
 
toolfanem said:
Your soundcloud links are broken. Yeah maybe replace the speakers then, headphones always seem to lack bass. Well maybe not lack bass, but you can really crank the bass in headphones to the point that it sounds massive in the phones, but muddy on speakers.

In the mean time before you get your NEW speakers, you could always just throw an eq plugin on the master out and put on a cd that you think sounds good normally and eq until it sounds good on the woofy speakers. Then just use that eq on the master while you track, and take it off before you print the track final mix.
Click to expand...

interesting method, I'll give this a shot today and see what I can come up with! Thanks for all the input guys
 
The soundcloud links are broken, but I listened to the End of Heartache track you have up there.

I think I hear what you're hearing and why you're unsatisfied. Turn the gain down a bit and the master volume up a little to let some of the power amp do the work. That'll clear up a lot of mud without sacrificing bass or low mids. I'm not sure if you're double-tracking the guitars (2 performances, not the same performance in 2 tracks) in that, but I would definitely recommend doing that, but with much lower gain settings. When the layers stack up, you'll get all the gain you want, but it'll be much more clear. You may also want to try different tones for the different parts to add some separation in the voicing.
 
hmm, idk why they're broken. I set them to private but they should still work. I'll go try to edit them

Yeah that cover was double tracked, I'll try turning down the gain a bit. Is there any tone around that I could use as an example that would be good, for double tracking etc. I feel like I keep trying to make the patch sound full, which then is "too much" when recorded.

fixed the links to soundcloud
 
GotMetalBoy said:
It's your M-Audio BX8a's. I tried a pair and they are way too hyped of a sound and over exaggerate the Lows and Highs causing the mids to sound scooped. The older BX8's used to have switches on the back to adjust the lows, mids and highs. I used to use a Behringer ECM8000 Measurement Condenser Microphone with a Behringer Ultracurve to flatten out the frequency response.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. I have no idea why M-Audio would do this, and I haven't owned the BX8a's, but this would be what I would expect based on other gear I've owned by M-Audio. They hardly cater to audiophiles. It is very difficult to correct "spicing-up". It would be like getting food with MSG or overblown amounts of spice on it, and trying to go in and remove the spice from your food. Why not get un-spiced food (something with flat response and good projection) and add your own to taste.
 
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nellings6 said:
hmm, idk why they're broken. I set them to private but they should still work. I'll go try to edit them

Yeah that cover was double tracked, I'll try turning down the gain a bit. Is there any tone around that I could use as an example that would be good, for double tracking etc. I feel like I keep trying to make the patch sound full, which then is "too much" when recorded.

fixed the links to soundcloud
Click to expand...

That's the beauty of reamping with the axe fx. Solo a track and turn the gain just to breaking up. Turn the master volume up to where you start hearing the gain really "heat up" so you're pushing the power amp. Then go back to the gain and bring it up where you want the saturation to be, and back out off slightly. Mute that track and do the same thing for the second track. Then turn them both on (watch your levels so you don't tear your face off). fine tune them with both on. Err on the side of lower gain if you have other guitar lines that need to fit.

you can also try to dial in one focusing on the low end and one on the highs. The idea is to use complimentary tones "fill the gaps" and get all that juicy saturation without losing clarity.
 
nellings6 said:
I'll grab some clips when I get home and post them up before tonight. I would love to find an axe owner in Northern VA so I could possibly get some input from what they're doing as well.

For right now I only have stuff for my home studio, looking at getting an FRFR once I get the cash for it. All I have for now is my M-Audio Bx8a deluxe pair and KRK 6400 headphones
Click to expand...
Have the same monitors,My ultra doesn't sound as good thought those,but my akg k240 mk2 headphones sounds awsome:)
 
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