Owned Axe FX 2, 3, FM3, and sold them all. Couldn't get decent tones. What was I doing wrong?

[stub]

Perhaps the OP connected the headphone jack output to the input of the interface--- which being a balanced input would cancel center signal making it quiet and weird sounding. As others have said, the OP is better off using something more idiot-proof.

[EDIT: removed comment about OP not checking here first. I made an assumption. I suppose the OP could have mentioned their attempt(s) to seek help here in their initial post on this thread.]

 

[State of Epicicity]

The OP did ask for help long before this thread, and you can see it in their history. In one thread they created, they pose a request help and no one responded.

I still say the best option then is to contact tech support.

But the OP in this thread is of course not helpful to anyone. This forum is an unbelievably helpful resource; I’ve learned a ton from it, but it’s not a guarantee that you’ll find the answers. For something as fundamental as output level, that’s something tech support I’m sure would help troubleshoot in a nuanced way. Again, it could just be a bad cable, for all we know.

About people ganging up online, it’s a disease of our time, but I think the frustration most are venting on this thread has to do with the assumption the OP never asked for help previously. I say again, check their post history.

 

[bleujazz3]

Perhaps the OP connected the headphone jack output to the input of the interface--- which being a balanced input would cancel center signal making it quiet and weird sounding. As others have said, the OP is better off using something more idiot-proof. The fact that he bought all those and returned them before coming on here is another sign of the scattered nature of the process.

Well, being aware that the "adults in this group won't contend with the kids unless the kids blatantly misbehave, the kids are free to do what they wish."

I think that the OP returned his product before seeking guidance speaks volumes about his disregard for seeking accurate knowledge. Had the OP done so, we might not even be discussing this.

Meanwhile, enjoy your time here. I'll be sitting this one out with a bottle of water, cleaning up my kitchen, and doing my homework. Be well, and take care of one another.

 

[stub]

That's a totally fair point. My apologies to the OP.

 

[sprint]

Well, being aware that the "adults in this group won't contend with the kids unless the kids blatantly misbehave, the kids are free to do what they wish

"adults" have learned to interactively communicate and deal with challenges while kids may cry/run away at the first sign of resistance or expect mommy/daddy to make the world perfect for them.

 

[bleujazz3]

You know, it seemed like the FAS community was the defensive line and a bunch of guys swarmed through and sacked the guy with the ball. Somewhere under that pile of players is the guy with his helmet sideways and the ball clutched in his hands. Enjoy.

 

[bleujazz3]

"adults" have learned to interactively communicate and deal with challenges while kids may cry/run away at the first sign of resistance or expect mommy/daddy to make the world perfect for them.

Depends on the age of the kid. If the adult listens to the kid describe his problems, they bond together. They hug and pat one another on the back.

If it's only a little kid, yeah, the kid can't likely articulate his feelings and gets frustrated and cries. He's really asking for help when he does that though. The kid doesn't know how to ask until he learns how to ask.

And the parent listens and empathizes. Says "I'm sorry that happened to you." You know what, though? When you talk it out, things are seen in a better light.

 

[Whistler]

You know, it seemed like the FAS community was the defensive line and a bunch of guys swarmed through and sacked the guy with the ball. Somewhere under that pile of players is the guy with his helmet sideways and the ball clutched in his hands. Enjoy.

Depends on the age of the kid. If the adult listens to the kid describe his problems, they bond together. They hug and pat one another on the back.

If it's only a little kid, yeah, the kid can't likely articulate his feelings and gets frustrated and cries. He's really asking for help when he does that though. The kid doesn't know how to ask until he learns how to ask.

I’m from the UK which might have something to do with your comments being lost in translation, but I can honestly say I have no idea what your talking about.

 

[sprint]

Depends on the age of the kid. If the adult listens to the kid describe his problems, they bond together. They hug and pat one another on the back.

If it's only a little kid, yeah, the kid can't likely articulate his feelings and gets frustrated and cries. He's really asking for help when he does that though. The kid doesn't know how to ask until he learns how to ask.

yaa, but! what if the kid is 37 years old - what about that eh! then what eh?

(keep going - i want to get to 3000 posts by Dec 31 and only need 20 more - i think i get a badge or special award
or something).

 

[bleujazz3]

I’m from the UK which might have something to do with your comments being lost in translation, but I can honestly say I have no idea what your talking about.

No worries, you might have to scroll up several posts to follow the context of the discussion. My original post was regards how folks piled on the OP for his complaints of not being able to obtain good tone/sound from his FAS products. The FAS community was pretty swift in their defense of FAS, and really didn't allow the OP to state his case other than his original post.

yaa, but! what if the kid is 37 years old - what about that eh! then what eh?

(keep going - i want to get to 3000 posts by Dec 31 and only need 20 more - i think i get a badge or special award
or something).

I did say it depends on the age of the kid. I'd say the kid likely has to ask himself "Do I need to eat more of my Wheaties in order to make a defense of my statement?"

 

[sprint]

No worries, you might have to scroll up several posts to follow the context of the discussion. My original post was regards how folks piled on the OP for his complaints of not being able to obtain good tone/sound from his FAS products. The FAS community was pretty swift in their defense of FAS, and really didn't allow the OP to state his case other than his original post.

I did say it depends on the age of the kid. I'd say the kid likely has to eat more of his Wheaties in order to defend himself.

typo: "Wheaties to fend 4 himself"

 

[bleujazz3]

typo: "Wheaties to fend 4 himself"

If the kid can put a spoon in his mouth, he can do it.

 

[hippietim]

@bleujazz3 what was his response when you reached out to him directly to provide help?

 

[Admin M@]

What am I doing wrong?

I think the answer is easy. You're having a simple problem of levels, and then either not asking the right questions, or not asking them to the right people. I see your support tickets from the past but they're fairly mundane (which cable, sales policy, etc.)

Fractal Audio is here for its customers, whether this forum or in support. Let us know if we can help, that is, if you still have any of our products.

 

[pauly]

Hi @rich2k4
Just wondering about your input level - Did you set it so (when you play a loud passage), the red leds on your input just appear occasionally? Once you've done that, set your output as needed. Forget about leaving it a noon etc, just crank it up until it's right.
If you still have issues, check the level of the amp block. (When you get your next Fractal unit )

Thanks
Pauly

Kept coming back to see whether I was wrong but every time I felt the same.

I live in an apartment and play late at night, midnight, etc. Don't like using headphones so I would play through my JBL305 studio monitors at a low volume.

The tones just didn't feel right, especially clean tones.

My process was as follows:

Load up amp and cab

pull up the preset level meter and increase the amp level until I'm near the 0 db line.

A lot of times, even when I did this, the tones were still too quiet at times, on my audio interface (Scarlet 6i6) not even hitting -12 db.

Especially trying to get clean tones. I would be able to hear my guitar strings sometimes louder than the actual tones. Yet music and youtube videos coming out of my system were at a good volume.

Through headphones things would sound bad.

Some presets were so quiet, I couldn't even hear the effects on them if they were one of the weird ones with tons of effects. Presets that were ambient pads, I couldn't hear at all at times.

All of this coming out of OUT 1, with the knob at about noon.

I then switched to OUT 2, set the mode to "Unity Gain" dimed the OUT 2 knob to max (On FM3), set the preset level using the meter, but it would still be extremely quiet.

However if I were to record the tones into a DAW and play it back, it would sound better than what I was hearing live.

I would get so frustrated that I sold them. 3 different units, at 3 different periods of time. All sold.

 

[bleujazz3]

@bleujazz3 what was his response when you reached out to him directly to provide help?

If you're asking me if I reached out to him, my knowledge of FAS is far less than power users or those with greater technical knowledge. My comments were solely directed at asking the folks who piled on criticism to give the OP a chance to describe his situation before we judge the OP as a complainer or troll. No, I did not reach out to the OP, but felt those who could assist him should do so.

My feeling is that the OP is responsible enough to handle criticism, but not a barrage of it. Other social media platforms are known for this, but it shouldn't happen on this forum. Just asking folks to lighten up so the OP doesn't get too discouraged and bad-mouth FAS on other platforms. (Yeah, I did consider that could happen.)

 

[rich2k4]

Contrary to what most here believe. My post was legit. I actually purchased another FM3 recently to give it another go because I don't want to give up on modeling.

I haven't received the unit yet, but I'll be doing more testing once I do. I suspect my issue has been not using the out 1 knob correctly.

As nuts as it may sound, when I load up Guitar Rig 5 and pull up one of the first presets "80's shred" or whatever it is, I can get a full, "loud" tone, even when lowering the output knob on my interface to play quietly. The tone still sounds good. I am thinking because a good amount of output is hitting the interface even when I lower the global volume.

I haven't been able to get the same thing with pricier units. Both Fractal and Kemper. The hardest tone to get is cleans. It sounds weak, and a lot of times I can hear my guitar strings over it. And like I said, some presets, especially those that have a bunch of FX, I can barely hear the FX.

Either there was not enough output signal going out of the FM3 into the interface, or I am just playing too quietly. But what sucks is I can't play much louder, as I tend to play late at night, and I hate headphones, and I live in an apartment.

I hear all the time how these units are amazing for bedroom levels. Also when I hear peoples tones playing through my speakers it sounds good.

Maybe my guitar is crap? Right now I'm paying through a Peavey T-60, as some of my better stuff is in storage.

I also noticed that some presets that I would think would be higher gain, sound cleaner. For example I think there was a fractal preset for "Brown Sound" or "Eruption". I would assume it would be pretty saturated EVH stuff, but I remember loading it and the tone was a lot cleaner and dead, not as much gain as I hoped. And this is a guitar with humbuckers.

I'll be doing more experimenting later this week, and maybe post a new thread.

To be honest, I feel like I can't post anything anymore because I've been labeled a "troll" and I'm not welcome here anymore. I understand that my original post may have been in poor taste. I've just been frustrated that others seem to be having an awesome time with these units, yet I seem to be missing something.

 

[unix-guy]

To be honest, I feel like I can't post anything anymore because I've been labeled a "troll" and I'm not welcome here anymore.

I think your latest post goes a long way towards countering that.

Participate, answer questions, listen to the advice given and try to be open to what is being said and you'll be ok here.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Contrary to what most here believe. My post was legit. I actually purchased another FM3 recently to give it another go because I don't want to give up on modeling.

Hit and run postings aren’t cool, because there’s no opportunity to clarify or help, which we want to do, but, in a quick response such as yours it’s easy to reverse everything, so thank you! It’s seriously appreciated.

Many of us have long and sordid histories of using different amplifiers and equipment, and one way or another we’ve ended up with Fractal’s gear, most likely because we don’t want to sacrifice quality and features and the ability to bend our gear to our will. We’re aware of the paradigm shift these gizmos are and how difficult they can be to fathom and want to see you succeed in your own personal experiment with them.

I’ve read many of your past entries to threads trying to understand what was causing frustration for you. We want to help, so give us a chance to help straighten out the issues.

I think your latest post goes a long way towards countering that.

Participate, answer questions, listen to the advice given and try to be open to what is being said and you'll be ok here.

Agreed.

 

[Sashman]

Contrary to what most here believe. My post was legit. I actually purchased another FM3 recently to give it another go because I don't want to give up on modeling.

I haven't received the unit yet, but I'll be doing more testing once I do. I suspect my issue has been not using the out 1 knob correctly.

As nuts as it may sound, when I load up Guitar Rig 5 and pull up one of the first presets "80's shred" or whatever it is, I can get a full, "loud" tone, even when lowering the output knob on my interface to play quietly. The tone still sounds good. I am thinking because a good amount of output is hitting the interface even when I lower the global volume.

I haven't been able to get the same thing with pricier units. Both Fractal and Kemper. The hardest tone to get is cleans. It sounds weak, and a lot of times I can hear my guitar strings over it. And like I said, some presets, especially those that have a bunch of FX, I can barely hear the FX.

Either there was not enough output signal going out of the FM3 into the interface, or I am just playing too quietly. But what sucks is I can't play much louder, as I tend to play late at night, and I hate headphones, and I live in an apartment.

I hear all the time how these units are amazing for bedroom levels. Also when I hear peoples tones playing through my speakers it sounds good.

Maybe my guitar is crap? Right now I'm paying through a Peavey T-60, as some of my better stuff is in storage.

I also noticed that some presets that I would think would be higher gain, sound cleaner. For example I think there was a fractal preset for "Brown Sound" or "Eruption". I would assume it would be pretty saturated EVH stuff, but I remember loading it and the tone was a lot cleaner and dead, not as much gain as I hoped. And this is a guitar with humbuckers.

I'll be doing more experimenting later this week, and maybe post a new thread.

To be honest, I feel like I can't post anything anymore because I've been labeled a "troll" and I'm not welcome here anymore. I understand that my original post may have been in poor taste. I've just been frustrated that others seem to be having an awesome time with these units, yet I seem to be missing something.

I do fully understand your point.
But what you need to understand is that we are talking about professional gear.
Let’s say a formula one car compared to a regular car.
You can take a seat in a regular car and drive but in a formula one car you can’t even start that thing without reading the manual and studying the unit.
And that is what you need to do with the Fractal Gear.
We really would like to help you but please you have to specify your problem/problems and we need to know everything about your signal chain etc.
Cheers
Sash