Unbelievable, but after 30 years, I sold my Marshall 1987x/JTM45 Plexis, THD Hot Plates, Marshall Code 100H heads, 4x12 cabinets with GB/MV30, and expensive Gibson/Fender/vintage guitars
and am I changed my FAS. I'm truly happier than ever! I highly recommend my gear:
and many great (mostly inexpensive Asian Rocktile, J&D Guitars, Epiphone, Harley Benton, Vision) self-tuned guitars. The pedals were built from old CryBaby wah-wahs and old Marshall footswitches.
You don't want an Amp In The Room sound, you want a Cab In The Room sound. You want the flexibility of IRs - use 12" cabs and use FRLR speakers. You have two ears - use stereo. You want details you never had before - add/mix it with studio monitors.
I prefer to mix the studio monitors with two 12" cabinets including two different FRLR (FRFR) speakers (F12 + F12M per cabinet), for hearing hifi music too. Studio monitors for detail and stereo, cabinets for amp/cabinet in the room sound, punch, and stereo (a kind of subwoofer/3-way speaker concept). I usually play at (bedroom) room volume (~65-70dB) and it sounds great, just like before, but now healthier for the ears. I compared Greenbacks and later V30 with the F12 plus IRs, no difference. Great!
In my opinion, for a great electric guitar sound, you always need two or more 12-inch speakers in one cabinet. I use both 12-inch speakers because both support some different frequencies and radiation behavior. I could imagine that studio monitors with subwoofers don't deliver the familiar wooden cabinet sound, and you need smaller speakers (for the details) and 12-inch speakers for the room pressure feeling (relexions) to achieve the desired result. A small cabinet with just one 12-inch speaker was and is not sufficient. Possible studio monitors with more >8 inch also work. But if you want a cabinet sound, why not to use cabinets. Forget about using standard mid-range guitar speakers without FRFR, like Greenbacks or Vintage 30s. You want the full flexibility of AXEFX based on Dyna Cabs (IRs).
You don't need a tube power amp - listen here:
https://www.bonedo.de/artikel/vergleichstest-gitarren-endstufen/
The SS amplifier isn't the problem, but the solution. The GPA-400 is affordable and great! You don't need an expensive (tube) power amplifier to change the sound. You would never buy studio monitors that "tweak" or change the sound. That's the job of AXEFX + IRs. It's the settings, the cabinet, and the FRFR speaker that make the difference. Take a standard guitar cabinet, install the Celestion F12/F12M, and you'll be happy, even happier if you mix it with studio monitors.
To check it again, I even bought a used 1x12 V30 cab, which now sits next to my 2x12 Celestion FRLR F12 mixed cab. Naturally, I have two of the same V30 presets on the AXEFX: one with CabBlock/FRFR output mode, and one without CabBlock/SSPwrAmp+Cab output mode. What can I say? It sounds almost identical. If I then adjust the high-cut for the FRFR cab from 8-10kHz/12-24dB to 4700Hz/12dB,+12% Air, I can't hear any difference. The sound is obviously a bit fatter, thanks to the 2x12 cab compared to the 1x12. But when I compare the sound with what I normally hear with my 2x2x12s and studio monitors, it's like night and day. Sorry, I don't like real cabs anymore. It sounds like mono tape vs. stereo CD. What makes me happiest is that my memory didn't fail me. I would have been surprised if a completely different sound had come out of the VA30. I had adjusted the presets from memory so that they also worked for me through FRFR. As I said, now with more subtleties and details, probably also due to the later high cut and the mic pickup directly in front of the speaker (IR). I'll keep the speaker now to remind me of that terrible past. I always wanted the detailed sound of the recordings, and now it's here. Thanks, FAS! Refer also to [
Link].
The best way to do this is to first buy an FM3 and two studio monitors, then later add an SS amp pedal (e.g., a Harley Benton Thunder 99) with an empty cabinet and add the F12 and/or F12M. Initially, the studio monitors should be set up in stereo, while the cabinet should be set up in mono.
At home I didn't optimize my room but I used in past a measurement microphone to generate IRs for my room/speakers and used the IR player before the outputs. The output of a test signal should be linear. For the bedroom volume (65ā70 dBA), I used 4 x 31 PEQ-band IRs for F12/F12M and KRKs to achieve the same level of noise in my simple room to achieve a truly flat/linear frequency response curve:
Pink diagram: My F12M/F12 cabinets
Blue diagram: My KRK studio monitors
Red: The result with 4x31 PEQ bands (REW, 1/48 smoothed, 4 IRs, stereo exported from REW to FXIII)
Currently I don't use these IRs anymore, because low/high cuts and the mix of the speakers solve the issue and it's already flat enough for me. I also prefer the sound. But it's good to know, that I don't need to optimize my speakers and room situation, just the settings of my presets. I just use the mic and REW for monitoring of my room volume level anymore. (
Link1 ) (
Link2 )
AKG K-701 vs Ollo Audio S4X 1.2
Shame on me: I couldn't resist and got used S4X 1.2. What can I say, a comparison with the AKG K701 with hi-fi music on my smartphone didn't show any major difference at first. Listening to classical, jazz and Rage Against the Machine on the AXEFX produced some strange sounds. Rage had too little bass, as did classical and jazz. I thought the Ollo was at fault. Then I listened to my AC/DC preset and immediately noticed frequencies that were too high. So the high cut from 8000Hz to 5000Hz. Then I adjusted the Dynacabs, mics, amp settings, etc. and the sound was just how I wanted it. I tested it with the AKGs, but they didn't sound good. Tested it with the KRKs, and they sounded very good. The same goes for the F12/F12M cabs. What can I say, the Ollos really do seem to be magnifying glasses that show exactly what's wrong. As soon as you get these problems under control in the Ollo, it sounds good elsewhere too, including on the Ollos. The Ollos simply show you what's going on, and you suddenly notice the difference, even with mic preamps and other settings. Before, it was hard to notice. The great thing is that the Ollos train your ear, and suddenly you can hear the problems and changes on the KRK too, just not as clearly. I hope I'm not wrong about optimizing my presets with the Ollos from now on. I think it's still better than measuring the room and putting your own IRs in front of the speakers. Without room optimization, I won't get what the Ollos do. So I can only recommend the Ollos. I've been missing that, and it would have made my life easier right from the start.
My prefered AC/DC Angus Young Live sound presets:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ive-sound-with-axe-fx-iii.199932/post-2492360 and
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...e-at-donington-1991-sound-with-axe-fx.199104/ and my B.B. King sound preset:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ed-on-labseries-l5-preamp.201734/post-2521267
General recommendation: Just try changing settings that are easy to change in practice on tube amplifiers.
nice sound.
