Reminder--PLAY LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

symphx

Fractal Fanatic
Ok, this might seem obvious or ridiculous to even mention, but coming from a bedroom player with a family, I was reminded a month or so ago, that everything just opens up like the gods in heaven when you just add some volume;

I am so used to trying to get some edge and clarity, and often treble (without buzz, fuzz) in my sounds at low volumes, even with good equator desktops or my usual EV Powered speakers. I have countless IR's etc. but simply turning up the volume makes better use of all the built in sounds, parameters etc. I find I have to hunt less for non stock IR's and can do most within the amp block to get anyting I need.

So, when you just cant find the sound (yes Beth reference arrrrg), add some VOLUME AND START SHREDDING. (ps gives cab in room feel, chug on high gain etc etc) I add small edilon? ear plugs.
 
Make sure your in the main cone of the speakers development, as well. Nothing like sitting there going man I have no highs, than moving a bit and going wait now there are to many highs!!!!.
 
Volume is important for both sound & feel - that acoustic interaction between the speaker & the strings adds a lot to me (love that edge on feedback sustain especially with clean/edge on overdrive sounds).

I think so many people's complaints about lack of "in the room" sound & general dissatisfaction with modellers is that they are playing no where near levels that they would with an amp.
 
With axe fx, through headphones, adding volume gives an impression that there are more highs and way less "mudness."
I like the axe at higher volumes :)
 
With axe fx, through headphones, adding volume gives an impression that there are more highs and way less "mudness."
I like the axe at higher volumes :)
The Fletcher-Munson affect is a love hate thing for me. I love how it make the sound a lot fuller due to the highs and lows becoming more prominent, but on the other hand, I don't want to wreck my hearing playing at loud volumes.

I really admire those mix engineers who can use psychoacoustic trickery to make records sound fat when you listen at any volume.
 
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Couldn't agree more. People complain so much about FRFR or even headphone setups not sounding as "in the room". Volume man.

I really admire those mix engineers who can use psychoacoustic trickery to make records sound fat when you listen at any volume.

This is so true, I never noticed how important that was.
 
An SPL meter on your phone is your best friend for not causing irreversible damage.

Back in my mixing days, prior to smart phones, I purchased one for $200. Now I think I spent $5 for one in the app store that fulfills the purpose.
 
Not to be a pessimist, but I try to keep my db's level's between 80 and 90 whats a musician without hearing, we all can't be Beethoven.
Absolutely this. Half of the appeal of the FAS products for me is not having to be loud to get great tone. I'm not about to regress back to that thought process. Getting bands to have anywhere near reasonable volume can be hard enough.
 
Went through the same thing. Upgraded monitors really helped too though. Plus a little acoustics treatment in the studio.
 
Man this is spot on. I play at bedroom levels a lot and had a lot of EQ-ing on the high end to get the brilliance I wanted. I found that much of that EQ-ing isnt necessary if you just turn up your monitor volume.
 
It's true, headphones and small speakers don't have the same energy and EQ as a 12" speaker, be it a real cab or a FRFR amplification.
 
An SPL meter on your phone is your best friend for not causing irreversible damage.

Back in my mixing days, prior to smart phones, I purchased one for $200. Now I think I spent $5 for one in the app store that fulfills the purpose.
SO WHAT level wont hurt ears?
 
iu


That's a pretty accurate chart for it. OHSA has some guidelines as well.

As a second reference:
iu
 
I figured this one out a couple months ago. I'm primarily a bedroom player so I don't play at band volumes. In fact, I've usually stuck to fairly low volumes. But I wanted to see how loud I could be before annoying my neighbors, so I turned on the looper, played some loud palm-mutey stuff, and went outside to see how loud it is. I guess my house is better insulated than I thought it was, since I can't hear anything until I've turned it up to uncomfortably-loud-for-a-bedroom volumes.

So now all my bedroom playing is much louder. I had to re-EQ most of my patches (mostly pulling out treble), but its okay as they all sound roughly 1000x better now. Hooray for the fletcher-munson curve (or boo, whatever).
 
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