Questions for those who switched from the Ultra to the II.

MKeditor

Experienced
I have spent a few hours with the new box. Most of the dirty patches sound heavily muffled. I try dialing out the woof tone but they still sound compressed where the Ultra sounds open. I am trying to make the new and improved box sound at least sound as good as the old one...but it is not there yet. For example the HBE sounds far more open on the Ultra. The notes are clearer. Also...if I get the wet blanket off so that it sounds close being balanced, if I turn down the guitar it becomes ice pick and harsh. Normally if I turn down the guitar I lose a bit of highs. It is opposite on the patches I am trying on the II.

Anyone encounter this?
 
I've encounter just the opposite, I was really happy with the tone of the ultra, but struggled sometimes to tame the midrange. But on the II, I find the treble to be smooth and there is less midrange honk, easier to dial in. Have you tried some of the different cabs? I find the cabs really make a difference.
 
I noticed this and it seems the presence is turned down on a lot of factory patches, try turning the presence to 1-2 o'clock. Lifted the muffled sound for me
 
Anyone encounter this?

Something is not right in your chain. Check the manual and re-verify everything first.

I've seen about 32 threads talking about this, and in order, the problems have been: Input/Output configuration, Monitoring issues, phase issues. So far it hasn't been a problem with the II. The good news is that after a little research, it was solved easily...mostly due to a learning curve with the new box. Everyone seems to be going through it.

Ron
 
I've encounter just the opposite, I was really happy with the tone of the ultra, but struggled sometimes to tame the midrange. But on the II, I find the treble to be smooth and there is less midrange honk, easier to dial in. Have you tried some of the different cabs? I find the cabs really make a difference.

+1
 
What they said. My experience is 180 degrees from yours.

Note the presence control on the II is NOT like the Gen1 controls. It operates like a normal presence control and must be adjusted accordingly.
 
i found the II to be very pleasing. The Ultra was great but the II is definately a big step forward to my ears. All of the patches (dirty included) sounded great right out of the gate from factory presets.
 
The clean tones sound freaking phenomenal... I hear what you are talking about with the dark and muffled sound on high gain sounds... I haven't compared the Axe-fx II to a real amp just yet so I can't comment how it compares to the real deal... but for recorded tones I'm turning up the presence and in the EQ sections I'm kicking up 4k and 8k (in the amp block) by 3-6db to get some "clarity," then I'm kicking up the depth to about 3 (on amps that have zero, and about 5 to amps that have 2.5-ish) to give it more aggressiveness on the low-mid end... turning up the bias also gives it girth... Saturation escapes me because it just turns down the volume and sounds as if it compresses it (gotta read up what it's doing there and try this again)...

Cliff has most of the real amps to A/B against so I trust him when he says it's pretty much "100% spot on" when compared to the real amps... and as has been said... it could also be a "setup issue".
 
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Saturation escapes me because it just turns down the volume and sounds as if it compresses it (gotta read up what it's doing there and try this again)...

What I could find from the manual (not a whole lot):

SAT SWITCH – The Saturation Switch engages a popular mod between the preamp and the tonestack for
more aggressive distortion character.
 
What I could find from the manual (not a whole lot):

SAT SWITCH – The Saturation Switch engages a popular mod between the preamp and the tonestack for
more aggressive distortion character.

Nice! Definitely gotta get more familiar with that one... Thanks!
 
I definitely don't have this issue. Using XLR outs into my Yamaha HS10W, which feeds my HS80M monitors. Not boomy, even with a subwoofer in play...
 
Something is not right in your chain. Check the manual and re-verify everything first.

I've seen about 32 threads talking about this, and in order, the problems have been: Input/Output configuration, Monitoring issues, phase issues. So far it hasn't been a problem with the II. The good news is that after a little research, it was solved easily...mostly due to a learning curve with the new box. Everyone seems to be going through it.

Ron

Thanks Ron. I will recheck connections as you suggest but I have the Ultra plugged into the same mixer and FBT speaker as the II. I will say that I couldn't get any sound out of output 2. I switched to the 1/4 jacks of output 1 and it was fine. I need to solve that but I have far bigger issues to settle first. Why would there be a learning curve being that I have been using an Ultra since '08?
 
MKeditor: I'm watching this thread with interest since my random encounter with you in the Kirkland Guitar Center a while back introduced me to the world of AxeFx and was the primary reason for my Ultra purchase.
 
i found the II to be very pleasing. The Ultra was great but the II is definately a big step forward to my ears. All of the patches (dirty included) sounded great right out of the gate from factory presets.

I am amazed to read this. EQ for the "plexi treble" sounds like standing outside the door of a padded rehearsal room hearing an amp inside with the door shut. Turn the dial just one notch to Brit 800 and it sounds like the door was opened. How both of these patches could sound correct through any means of amplification is beyond my comprehension. The 59 bassman and the 65 bassman are very far apart too. I have very little experience playing through real bassman amps but I would be surprised if I set these amps side by side and they would be that far apart.

Having said that, there are some wonderful improvements. The Vox amps a so much better. I was never happy with the Vox amps in the Ultra. These are wonderful. The Fender deluxe is very cool as well. Some of the patches are so cool I find myself hanging out there for a while.
 
MKeditor: I'm watching this thread with interest since my random encounter with you in the Kirkland Guitar Center a while back introduced me to the world of AxeFx and was the primary reason for my Ultra purchase.

Hi Gerald. Glad it has worked out for you. I am making my way through the new black box. Some guys seem to find what they're looking for right away. It is rarely that easy for me. It look a long time to dial in the Ultra. It seemed like weeks of tweaking in the beginning. I had hoped with all the advancement and three years of living with Fractal methodology that getting up to speed would be very quick. No rest for the wicked, I suppose. I am confident I will get there though.
 
I played it exclusively and loved it. I'm not playing much at the moment (due to running a startup) so I sold it to someone who would actually use it and threw my name at the bottom of the waiting list assuming that it would be quite a while before they got to me (not sure that was a valid assumption at this point, but whatever..) In the meantime, on the occasion that I actually play a worship set I'm just using my old TonelabSE. My experience with the Ultra mirrored yours, hence my interest in the thread. I don't like tweaking.
 
Agree on the "Plexi Treble" setting and the change to Brit 800.

I am amazed to read this. EQ for the "plexi treble" sounds like standing outside the door of a padded rehearsal room hearing an amp inside with the door shut. Turn the dial just one notch to Brit 800 and it sounds like the door was opened. How both of these patches could sound correct through any means of amplification is beyond my comprehension. The 59 bassman and the 65 bassman are very far apart too. I have very little experience playing through real bassman amps but I would be surprised if I set these amps side by side and they would be that far apart.

Having said that, there are some wonderful improvements. The Vox amps a so much better. I was never happy with the Vox amps in the Ultra. These are wonderful. The Fender deluxe is very cool as well. Some of the patches are so cool I find myself hanging out there for a while.
 
The 59 bassman and the 65 bassman are very far apart too. I have very little experience playing through real bassman amps but I would be surprised if I set these amps side by side and they would be that far apart.

It's been quite a while since I played either, but a 59 Bassman is most definitely a VERY different amp from a 65. Both models in the Axe II sound pretty accurate to me.

I also thought the Plexi Normal preset sounded very dark and muffled. I really liked the Plexi I model in the Ultra but was disappointed with what I heard from the II with that amp. To be fair, I didn't spend any time tweaking it to my preferences an the cab IR in the preset was not what I prefer.
 
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