New Axe II arrived last night!!! Having problems with tone.

Muzick

Experienced
Hey guys,

I've only had 2 hours to spend with the unit since receiving it. I should be able to spend a lot more time with it tonight. I run the axe through my computer monitors, and through bose L1 Model 1's (two of them for stereo).

The cleans sounds ok and for some reason the chrunchy dirty sounds flubby and like it has no meat to the sound. I've messed around with my instrument input settings within the axe and can get it so it's usually in the orange, but i've never seen the light 'tickle' red.

Based around the recordings I've heard on the forums it sounds no where near as nice. I'm sure it's a matter of educating myself to get it to sound right.

Any suggestions?

One other thing. My value knob seems to 'skip' sometimes. Meaning if I go from one preset to the next, it jumps 3-4 presets before stoping somtimes. Also, this may be due to the way my axe was handled in shipping, my D quick control knob is bent slightly downward to the right and is significantly harder to turn than the others :( Should I contact fractal about this via email?
 
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We might be in the same boat, except I feel like i've spent way too much time trying to figure it out lol...
 
I received mine last night too... and was only able to run it thru headphones... and had the exact opposite experience. WOW, did it sound good!!! Can't wait to run it thru my EV ELX112 FRFR speakers tonight.

Do you have a decent set of headphones? If so, give 'em a try... see if you have the same issue.
 
Hey guys,

One other thing. My value knob seems to 'skip' sometimes. Meaning if I go from one preset to the next, it jumps 3-4 presets before stoping somtimes.

This is a feature of the Axe II that allows you to blow through patches quicker as you turn the dial more quickly...like an iPod wheel.
 
Just FYI--the times I played my old Ultra through a Bose L1 system were the worst two experiences I had with it. There's something about those things that bring out the worst in the Axe-Fx IMHO.
 
I will try the headphones soon. Here's an update:

My signal chain:
Amercian Stratocaster Deluxe -> Mogami Instrument Cable -> Axe FX II -> USB -> Cubase

I've uploaded a track to sound cloud and a video to youtube:

In the video I'm demonstrating the fact that even though my instrument input is set at 100%, the light never 'tickles' red. Additionally I point to the virgin output from the axe to Cubase. (Meant for reamping) It barely touches -19.0 dB w/ instrument input set to 100%. Is that normal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2DP3TvpDk

Here's the output from Cubase to mp3, then uploaded to Soundcloud.

http://soundcloud.com/bornintomusic/axe-fx-ii-test (Please excuse the sloppy playing)

Thoughts?

By the way I'm still trying to figure out how to embed videos/soundcloud files. I've copied the embed link but when I paste it into this chat box it just shows a very long link...any help?

Thank you!
 
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Um. How does it sound if you go directly into monitors. No interface, etc?

I say so because I plugged my Axe II directly into Atomic powered monitors 1st time, and with minor input tweaking, I was there. Starting to see a pattern of folks going into Cubase, Reaper, ProTools, Logic, and having issues with tone. This is the most plug and play machine I've been around, so when I hear these things...it is usually something simple that's missed.

If you have great tone coming out of Headphones, then I'd look at your recording input/output levels, settings, etc. If you don't, then look at the I/O section of the Axe 1st. (Quick notes on the headphones is that they are VERY HONEST. FX will *generally* need to come up in the mix.)

The knob behavior seems normal to me. It's never been instantaneous as things like that are delegated to 'housekeeping' tasks...as not to take away from audio performance. As far as the bent knobs...I'd take a pic and send it off to Fractal. UPS had done me this (lousy) service as well long ago...Fractal will make it right should it be an issue.

Ron
 
Sounded to me like you have two problems. First, it sounds like the output level is way too hot or the gain in your recording software is set too high. I noticed the levels in the waveform are right at the edges all the way through. Second, that patch you used for the recording could use some serious EQ adjustments It's very bass heavy, and that will definitely cause some issues. Be sure to check your output levels in the Utility menu and check it on each block in the patch. I've found that with some of the cabs, you have to drop the level anywhere from -4 to -10 to keep the levels under control. You can check that by disabling the cab and playing, then enable it and listen for a noticeable volume bump and adjust accordingly.

And symphx...nice edge on that tone. Sounds really cool. :)
 
Might have to reduce the gain in your DAW or drop the output of the axe, just as DLM said.
 
Additionally I point to the virgin output from the axe to Cubase. (Meant for reamping) It barely touches -19.0 dB w/ instrument input set to 100%. Is that normal?
Totally normal. Your dry (reampable) signal is much lower than your wet signal, because...there's no amp involved. :)

Edit: but mainly because the Axe's output is at line level, and your guitar's output is at instrument level, which is much lower. You wouldn't want to reamp with a signal that's way hotter than your guitar's signal, because you'd overdrive everything.
 
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I agree with the above. My strat barely ever tickles the RED leds even when hitting really hard on the strings with the input setting in the I/O on 100%. This is slightly more input level than I used on the standard (which of course had a hardware input knob) so I'm not too concerned. Also, the dry signal for reamping will always be much, much lower. I do agree however that my dry signal usually seems REALLY low, but not concerned because I've tested the reamping and what I'm putting in is what I'm getting out.
 
I received mine last night too... and was only able to run it thru headphones... and had the exact opposite experience. WOW, did it sound good!!! Can't wait to run it thru my EV ELX112 FRFR speakers tonight.

Do you have a decent set of headphones? If so, give 'em a try... see if you have the same issue.

Congratulations! Got mine on Monday. Haven't had much time to spend with it yet, but enough to know I will be doing much tweaking going through my PA and guitar cabs. Haven't had a chance to listen to it through headphones yet.
 
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