New Axe-Fx III Sounds Dark/Muddy, Advice?

Try and select a different amp model and then back to the former one.. I remember I had a similar problem (around fw 12 iirc), and basically selecting a different amp and reselecting the former one brought life back into the tone.
 
kingskot said:
I still don’t understand why the YouTube demo of the unaltered presets sounds so much better (listening through the same Yamaha speakers, btw) than what I’m getting, even with guitars that have very hot passives or active pickups, but it seems like unfortunately there isn’t a good answer to that question.
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Just curious, check out how the Brit 800 sounds in this demo and tell me what you think.
The demo you keep referencing is pretty bright sounding and I think this demo sounds more similar to the tone you're getting.
In fact almost every video I can find of someone showing off the stock presets, all sound different to my ears.

youtube.com/watch?v=DHMMN-npgpY

And I think you might be over estimating the amount of tweaking you'll need to do. I feel like once you find a good amp/cab setup, you're really able to dial in tones easily without having to dig into the advanced parameters if you don't want to.
 
FWIW, any preset I download and try sounds completely different to the original clip.
Guitars, amps, speakers all make a huge difference. Especially IR's.

Also, check the Speaker Impedance Curve on the Speaker tab in the Amp Block. Some
of these are very bottom heavy.

Each amp behaves differently. Try rolling off the Bass first, then check the Input/Output EQ's
in the Amp Block. I usually set the Input EQ Low Pass to 80Hz or higher to reduce boominess.
I also sweep each control Min to Max to see what affect it has on the sound. Depending on the
Amp model, some controls are pretty subtle, others make a huge difference.

You might be better off, as stated above, to start from scratch and keep it simple to start.
Input-Amp-Cab-Output
I've been using Fractal gear since 2011 and I'm still tweaking.
 
I thought my AxeFX was on the fritz when I bought it as well, after running through the stock presets. None of them made sense to me until I tried them with a single-coil guitar a few months later.

It’s a common thing I see; the assumption that you can plug into an AxeFX and sound great right out of the gate. The only way that could happen is if you somehow stumbled upon a preset that for some reason works REALLY well with your guitar. It’d purely be coincidental and nothing more.

Your best bet is to start fresh with an empty preset, load an amp and cab block then tweak until you’re hearing results you dig.

You’ll figure out the best methods for dialing something in as you get more experience, but FWIW, I don’t settle for an IR that’s in the ballpark, I want the IR to get like 90% of the work done so I can fine tune the remaining 10%. If something is just too bright or too dark, move to a different one until it’s as close as you can get to what you hear in your head. There are more than enough of them out there and it only causes aggravation settling on one that‘s close to the ballpark.
 
kingskot said:
Thanks, this is very helpful. I feel certain that it isn’t the Yamaha’s, everything else sounds great through them. I can even get a nice, bright, high gain sound from them with the same guitars and using PG Bias Amp. I was hoping that the FX 3 would give me something even better than Bias Amp, and feel more like an amp. It seems like this is possible, but just a lot more work than I was hoping.

I still don’t understand why the YouTube demo of the unaltered presets sounds so much better (listening through the same Yamaha speakers, btw) than what I’m getting, even with guitars that have very hot passives or active pickups, but it seems like unfortunately there isn’t a good answer to that question.
Click to expand...

I've never been able to get the same tones Cooper Carter or Leon Todd get on their videos using their settings. I can get some pretty great tones using my settings, but I can never quite get the bite they get. My tones tend to be a bit fuzzier and softer on top. I always put it down to pickup type, and that they both downtune a lot which sounds very different from the normal tuning I use.

I don't think it's the Yamaha speakers, mine sound fine with recorded music and all my other instruments. Lots of people use them with the Axe.

I've been wanting to buy a really hot pickup to try, even though it's really not my thing, because I was certain that was the main difference. Now I'm curious why that doesn't seem to work for you.
 
Team.AppleJuice said:
Just curious, check out how the Brit 800 sounds in this demo and tell me what you think.
The demo you keep referencing is pretty bright sounding and I think this demo sounds more similar to the tone you're getting.
In fact almost every video I can find of someone showing off the stock presets, all sound different to my ears.

youtube.com/watch?v=DHMMN-npgpY

And I think you might be over estimating the amount of tweaking you'll need to do. I feel like once you find a good amp/cab setup, you're really able to dial in tones easily without having to dig into the advanced parameters if you don't want to.
Click to expand...
This is definitely closer to what I'm getting than the initial demo, but it still sounds notably better, IMO. Working on tweaking now, my first thought was to try to duplicate the same gear I use for my live sound but so far I haven't been able to get it close....
 
I also think the stock patches sound dark too.
The key is to find a good cab IR (or pair) that work for you. You can get insane tones with a minimal preset: input -> amp -> cab -> output

1. Install Cygnus beta firmware: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...nus-firmware-public-release-candidate.172027/
2. Create a new minimal preset
3. Try some of these IR combos: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/plexi-50w-6ca7-killer-factory-cabs.165353

You could also try this preset, it's NICE:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...c-120-metal-prog-preset-with-user-irs.163372/
 
Moke said:
Geeez.. I have the Instrument Input trim at 5% with my (stock) EBMM Axis and EVH Wolfgang Special. And sill 'tickles the red' pretty easily. I would run it lower, but it starts to affect the input gain of the presets.
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I'm at 5% with my JP12 and JP7 yep !

Kingskot : at which volume are you trying ? the HS8 are big ass chonky monitors, are you playing loud enough ?
In the axefx options, everything is fine ? like all sims are activated etc
Try to use the GEQ in the amp block to tweak the highest freqs and shape the lows.
When browsing IRs don't think about their name, choose with your ears, some are more breathing, sparkly or dynamic :)
Don't forget to reset blocks to avoid chances of a pot badly tweaked.

Don't quit, it's worth the hassle !
 
kingskot said:
This is definitely closer to what I'm getting than the initial demo, but it still sounds notably better, IMO. Working on tweaking now, my first thought was to try to duplicate the same gear I use for my live sound but so far I haven't been able to get it close....
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One thing that isn't obvious but will make a big difference is being aware of the Headroom level in the Amp block. Go to the Authentic tab of the Amp block and check the level of the Headroom meter when you play. If it's consistently peaking then try lowering the Master volume until it's just below peaking or not pegging the meter. In the Brit 800 preset, I lowered the Master volume from 5.83 to 2.00, then boosted the Level of the Amp block by several dB to compensate. If you need more gain, try turning on the Input Boost in the Preamp tab of the Amp block or add a Drive block. The point is if the Master volume is set too high, your tone sound can sound dark/muddy. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Jason Scott said:
One thing that isn't obvious but will make a big difference is being aware of the Headroom level in the Amp block. Go to the Authentic tab of the Amp block and check the level of the Headroom meter when you play. If it's consistently peaking then try lowering the Master volume until it's just below peaking or not pegging the meter. In the Brit 800 preset, I lowered the Master volume from 5.83 to 2.00, then boosted the Level of the Amp block by several dB to compensate. If you need more gain, try turning on the Input Boost in the Preamp tab of the Amp block or add a Drive block. The point is if the Master volume is set too high, your tone sound can sound dark/muddy. Just something to keep in mind.
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Ok, finally, this actually helped quite a bit, thanks! There's still a bit of a "boxiness" in the tone, but this is much brighter and cleaner sounding. The unit really does seem to have its own sound, at least for high gain tones, regardless of whether I tweak a preset or build something from scratch.
 
I looked through the thread, and nowhere do I see the actual preset you're working with, or what your system settings are. Those two things are really important when trying to debug this sort of problem so we are all able to work from the same sheet of music. As it is now, everyone is trying to visualize the settings in the preset and globals, so you're getting guesses. While you did say

the stock Brit 800 preset, scene 3, no adjustments. The drive block is turned on about half way through, also all default settings
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we need to be able to see everything. It's possible that your preset is corrupted or you accidentally adjusted something and didn't get it reset correctly.

Export the preset you're working with, then do a backup using Tools > Fractal-Bot and save the System + Global Blocks + FC, and attach them to your first post at the top of the thread.
 
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Jason Scott said:
Are you referring to the boxiness you mentioned?
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Yeah, there’s a distinct sound in the mid-range somewhere that I hear in all high gain tones that I’ve tried, and I’m having trouble getting rid of it. A lot of people seem to point to the stock IRs, and that may well be the case, but even if so at this price point I would have hoped that the stock IRs were high quality.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
I looked through the thread, and nowhere do I see the actual preset you're working with, or what your system settings are. Those two things are really important when trying to debug this sort of problem so we are all able to work from the same sheet of music. As it is now, everyone is trying to visualize the settings in the preset and globals, so you're getting guesses. While you did say


we need to be able to see everything. It's possible that your preset is corrupted or you accidentally adjusted something and didn't get it reset correctly.

Export the preset you're working with, then do a backup using Tools > Fractal-Bot and save the System + Global Blocks + FC, and attach them to your first post at the top of the thread.
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Ok, I can give it a shot, but again, I hear it in all of the high gain presets that I’ve tried. So, if there is a configuration issue somewhere, I would expect it to be a global setting rather than a corrupted preset. I do appreciate the comments that I’ve been getting.
 
kingskot said:
Ok, I can give it a shot, but again, I hear it in all of the high gain presets that I’ve tried. So, if there is a configuration issue somewhere, I would expect it to be a global setting rather than a corrupted preset. I do appreciate the comments that I’ve been getting.
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The boxiness is a product of the IR you use. A lot of the stock IR's work really well for a lot people but don't suit others. While a number of the stock IR's sound nasally to my ears, you can generally dial it out with a PEQ block. Try this, add a PEQ block after the Cab block and set the 2nd or 3rd band to around 660 Hz and the Gain to somewhere around -2 dB to start. If it still sounds boxy, lower the Gain another dB or so. That usually works for me.

You're not stuck with the stock IR's, though. You actually have one of the most powerful tone-shaping features in the unit at your fingertips: Tone Matching. Tone Match doesn't match the gain or other non-linear aspects of someone else's tone, but it can match the frequency response, which is a major part of any tone, in my opinion. I'd strongly urge you to learn about and try it.

Here are some example tone matches I've created in the past:


 
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