Reamping. Any suggestions to boost dry signal

While recognizing that the DI signal is weaker, as it should be, because it is a replication of the direct guitar signal I, for the first time, experienced an anomaly that some of these folks talk about. I don't use the direct record method that often but I have used it several times and I have to say without issue.

Most times I use a 3rd party plug such as Amplitube or Guitar Rig just to play it back to see how it sounds, not necessarily to use it as a final product as I primarily use analog out wet versions of tracking.

In experimentation in using aggregate devices to track via Apollo SPDIF while simultaneously tracking DI Dry on 3/4 from the Axe a couple of nights ago and I will say the signal was extremely weak.

On playback I tried Amplitube for the reamping and found a terribly weak sound, then switched to Guitar Rig and encountered the same. The only thing that I could see changing, since I was not even using an interface, is that I had upgraded to 3.03 since the last time I used this feature.

Apollo Quad FW, OSX Yosemite, Logic 10.2.4, FAS 3.3
 
I figured the Neve bringing it to line level would work. I'm not a tech wizard obviously.. but i thought line level was what it wanted.
 
"On playback I tried Amplitube for the reamping and found a terribly weak sound, then switched to Guitar Rig and encountered the same. The only thing that I could see changing, since I was not even using an interface, is that I had upgraded to 3.03 since the last time I used this feature."

I actually just used the waves abbey road console plugin and a tiny bit of softubes saturation knob for a dirty signal & it sounded great for the 3 second solo i was reamping. I could have used amplitube but it sounds like a joke now after using axe fx for so long.
 
As much as I LOVE my AF2, the one chief complaint is that reamping is not easy, or hasnt been for me. It was one of the big selling points for me when i bought back in 2012.
 
I figured the Neve bringing it to line level would work. I'm not a tech wizard obviously.. but i thought line level was what it wanted.
The Neve is expecting instrument level. The signal out of your interface isn't, it's line level.
 
Any advice is welcome!

Can you provide more info?

What Computer OS are you using?
What DAW are you using?
Are you using the Axe-Fx II through USB to reamp or are you using another interface to reamp with SPDIF?

If you have a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Audio Interface and Cakewalk SONAR X3 or Platinum DAW and follow my Tutorial below, you will get perfect reamp tracks that are 100% digital copies of what is coming out of the Axe-Fx II. If you don't have the same audio interface or DAW, you can still get an idea of how to correctly reamp by reading my tutorial. The great thing about reamping with SPDIF is that your can tweak your sound while listen to the mix at the same time. You can't do that when reamping with the Axe-Fx II USB.

Here's the link to my Dropbox - Axe-Fx II ReAmp with Scarlett 6i6 Shared:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7y0d1t78py5e4ri/AACbtdbjE5KZMQSS2Z_RI6Iha?dl=0

It contains the Tutorial, Scarlett 6i6 MixControl config files you can load for each step in the process, Screenshots of each process and how to convert WAV files to 48K 24bit.

Make sure to backup your Axe-Fx II before following my Tutorial!!!
 
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You don't want to boost the signal of the dry guitar. If you look at the last page of the owner's manual you will see that the digital and USB output of the AxeFXII goes through a small buffer and then straight out. When you send that signal back into the unit it is inserted right after those buffers and into the original signal path, just as if it was coming from the guitar and through those little buffers.
http://www.fractalaudio.com/downloads/manuals/axe-fx-2/Axe-Fx-II-Owners-Manual.pdf

If you increase the gain you will not get the same exact sound and you risk overdriving the input (I believe that there are limiters in there though).

I've reamped many times using the USB of the AxeFXII and at least 3 different audio interfaces digitally both AES and SPDIF in multiple configurations. The dry guitar signal is supposed to be low.

I made a guide for this a few years ago: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threa...th-external-sound-card-audio-interface.97771/
 
The dry guitar signal is supposed to be low.
Yes, I understand that.

What's wrong is that I can record a wet track with a preset through the spdif out.

I can then record the same riff and send that as a DI through spdif out.

Then, I can send that DI track out of the interface using spdif into the Axe-Fx using the same patch and that wet reamped track will be lower in volume compared to the original first wet track.

That shouldn't happen.
 
Yes, I understand that.

What's wrong is that I can record a wet track with a preset through the spdif out.

I can then record the same riff and send that as a DI through spdif out.

Then, I can send that DI track out of the interface using spdif into the Axe-Fx using the same patch and that wet reamped track will be lower in volume compared to the original first wet track.

That shouldn't happen.

As you might realize, that's not an ideal test. Two performances will always have differences. It would be better to capture one DI while recording with the looper, then record the looper playback. (100% mix, 0 dB level will match the original level) Finally reamp that DI to record the second wet track.

If you want to keep troubleshooting, here's what I'd check/test:

1. When recording the DI via SPDIF, did you do this by setting USB/DIGI Out source to "Input"? (The alternatives would be Output 1 or 2 then shunting/bypassing blocks or placing FX Loop, which introduces more variables.)

2. What "Input 1 Mode" setting(s) were used? Was it set to "left only" throughout, or did it have a different setting at any time?

3. Have you checked any DAW pan law settings? These could cause the problem if your DI track is centered. Verify the pan law is 0 dB, or work around the (potential) issue by panning the DI track left. Also pan the master track left if that's what you assigned to SPDIF out, and you're reamping by soloing the DI.

4. Try reamping a DI over SPDIF again, but set USB/DIGI Out Source to "Input". Your new recording should be the same level as the first DI. You could also remove the Axe-FX from the chain for this test, and use 1 cable from interface SPDIF out to in.
 
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