My Quick Guide to where to start with FW v.17

Rex said:
It's those KRKs. :)

When I upgraded from my Rokits to Event ASPs, I heard all sorts of stuff that was buried by the Rokits.

A little volume wouldn't hurt, either. It's especially noticeable in a mix.
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Lol...
Could be. :)
Will try it with head phones also which are more revealing.
 
Utility button menu ?

The age-old issue of how to balance your output levels between all your presets relative to your cleanest preset volume is now addressed - IN THE BOX. A wickedly simple and crazy useful utility now resides in the Utility button menu, tab over a few times to see it. Use the A button to change the level of your presets and have them all average at the 0 mark (which is really -20db) and allows for your boosts, etc and headroom so you never clip. The key is to find your average RMS over a strum; not peaks. Don't get too stuck trying to be perfect here; this is the 'get in the ballpark' but it's amazingly accurate and useful. An age-old issue... fixed.
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Where is the Utility button menu?
hmm could not find it.... are i'm blind?
or is this a Axe FX XL only feature?
I'm still on Axe FX II

Where is this Utility Menu in Axe Edit?

many thxxx
 
AFAIK, no way to get to this in Axe-Edit. Usually works best to pause communications in Axe Edit (F8 key or click upper left box in Axe Edit) prior to checking levels in the AFX box itself, using the Utility button.
 
Question. Scott talked about the new feature in the Utility menu that allows you to balance the output levels of all your presets. I just updated to the latest firmware and my presets (factory and my own) are crackling pretty bad, particularly in the low end if I'm playing like a palm muted note or any chugging kind of riff, but it also does it just on a clean tone strum. I'm not clipping the output, not even close, never seen a hint of the red lights. I'm not high up on CPU and it is every guitar I own which is several. In this new Utility menu feature if I go down to -10 or -12 db it starts to clear up. I'm setting it on a strum like Scott suggested. Should I be trying to set them all to be hitting the 0 db line or is it normal to be at -12 or so? Crackles really bad at the 0 line, but I'm not clipping at all according to the front panel of the AxeFx. Does it have something to do with firmware 17 because this problem has never happened before until I updated? I did the update amps all presets feature but it didn't help. I'm mostly just a factory presets guy right now with just a few presets I've made myself. I use factory presets and I update firmware so I'm confused as to why it is crackling so bad all of a sudden. Any help would rock.
 
BrickGlass said:
Question. Scott talked about the new feature in the Utility menu that allows you to balance the output levels of all your presets. I just updated to the latest firmware and my presets (factory and my own) are crackling pretty bad, particularly in the low end if I'm playing like a palm muted note or any chugging kind of riff, but it also does it just on a clean tone strum. I'm not clipping the output, not even close, never seen a hint of the red lights. I'm not high up on CPU and it is every guitar I own which is several. In this new Utility menu feature if I go down to -10 or -12 db it starts to clear up. I'm setting it on a strum like Scott suggested. Should I be trying to set them all to be hitting the 0 db line or is it normal to be at -12 or so? Crackles really bad at the 0 line, but I'm not clipping at all according to the front panel of the AxeFx. Does it have something to do with firmware 17 because this problem has never happened before until I updated? I did the update amps all presets feature but it didn't help. I'm mostly just a factory presets guy right now with just a few presets I've made myself. I use factory presets and I update firmware so I'm confused as to why it is crackling so bad all of a sudden. Any help would rock.
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Check your Output1 Boost/Pad setting. Should be zero for normal use. My guess is that it's at +12 or higher.
 
Weird thing is that I played for a few hours right after I did the firmware update a couple days ago. I used the new feature Scott mentioned that day, set a couple presets to the 0 line in the new feature, and everything sounded amazing. Haven't touched the Axe until today and as soon as I fired it up everything is crackling.
 
BrickGlass said:
Weird thing is that I played for a few hours right after I did the firmware update a couple days ago. I used the new feature Scott mentioned that day, set a couple presets to the 0 line in the new feature, and everything sounded amazing. Haven't touched the Axe until today and as soon as I fired it up everything is crackling.
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Then it must be something downstream clipping. Either your audio interface or something else.
 
FractalAudio said:
Then it must be something downstream clipping. Either your audio interface or something else.
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Would it make sense if it is something downstream that lowering the level in the new utility menu feature to roughly -12 DB would eliminate the crackling? I mean I'll go buy a new interface tomorrow if that is necessary. I know it isn't the speakers because they sound great on everything else I put through them. Just want this crackling to go away.
 
BrickGlass said:
Would it make sense if it is something downstream that lowering the level in the new utility menu feature to roughly -12 DB would eliminate the crackling? I mean I'll go buy a new interface tomorrow if that is necessary. I know it isn't the speakers because they sound great on everything else I put through them. Just want this crackling to go away.
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That sounds like something downstream clipping. If you lower the level you reduce the output of the Axe-Fx which in turn reduces the level into whatever it is connected to which in turn reduces the likelihood that that thing will clip.

Clipping occurs because the signal level into something is too strong. Reduce the signal level and the clipping will diminish. You need to figure out what is clipping and adjust the input gain/level on that device.

A common mistake is to run the XLR outputs into a mixing board designed for microphone levels. The signal level out of the Axe-Fx is far too strong for a microphone input.

Read the manuals that come with your gear and understand their operating levels and how to set the various input and output levels.

Perhaps if you described what you are using and how it is connected people can help you. Running out and buying another interface won't necessarily fix things if you got something connected wrong.
 
BrickGlass said:
Would it make sense if it is something downstream that lowering the level in the new utility menu feature to roughly -12 DB would eliminate the crackling? I mean I'll go buy a new interface tomorrow if that is necessary. I know it isn't the speakers because they sound great on everything else I put through them. Just want this crackling to go away.
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If your Axe does not clip internally, you need to watch the levels into whatever is after it in the signal path. I did it once, had plugged line level outs into mic level inputs ...

EDIT: Just saw Cliff answered this while I was typing
 
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Thanks for the help guys, this place is great, seriously appreciate it.

I go out from my Axe II from the unbalanced R into a Digidesign MBox Mini 2 and I go into the Line/DI input. I go from there into my Yamaha HS7's and I have a 2012 iMac. If I keep my output level on the Axe pretty low(somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock) I can crank up the Mbox volume either with the main volume knob or the input 1 knob and not have crackling take place. I've never had to keep my Axe output so low and turn my Mbox up so high to play at my typical volume. I can adjust the volume levels on the back of the Yamaha's but doing so hasn't effected the crackling one way or the other. I also use the MFC with two Mission pedals. Only other thing I plug in is the USB so I can use Axe-Edit. Don't always have this plugged in though.
 
It sounds like you're clipping at the input of your MBox. You're going into the MBox's TRS jack, right?

Turn on the pad on the MBox's input 1 and see what happens.

If that doesn't work, try using input 2.
 
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