Revelation while adding a graphic EQ!

cbellanga

cbellanga

Inspired
just have to share this as I assume there are a lot of new folks using the AX8 and it just changed my life!
I've been the whole week working on getting a decent sound from my Mackie DML8 and actually even from my Rokit6 monitors .. It has been a frustrating week but today I've decided to add a graphic eq at the end of my path and play around rolling off frequencies and suddenly everything started to sound amazing!

I applied the same eq to my monitors and everything sounds much better .. the drives that were sounds very harsh are rounded now.. not sure if that's a standard solution but I'm very happy to have found that for my setup! happy days and hopefully a bit less time tweaking knobs / more time playing now!

This is what I did:
Screen Shot 2016-02-24 at 23.23.52.png
 
Glad to hear you're digging it. Everyone's reference monitors , be it powered PA speakers , amp cabs , or others , - are different , therefore the use of many different EQ's available within the unit , allows each of us to customize our sound. In another thread here , someone lists over 10 different EQ's you can add !

I think the more neutral , or ( better ) your monitors are , the less you will have to make EQ adjustments , especially as drastic as you're showing , but if it works with your speakers , IT WORKS . It's a great unit , and this is a great place to learn about it . Congrats.
 
@cbellanga this my friend is the essence of electric guitar sound.

Midrange boost.

You can achieve that by boosting the mids or cutting the lows and highs as you show here.

The end result is the midrange frequencies more dominant.
 
Nice one! I've found a single GEQ after my amp with a specific shape curve gives me a sound I can't achieve with any other EQ mechanism (from my own experimentation). Important thing is that you find something that works for you and go for it!
 
Yup I always high los cut in cab blk. For years I did 120 low and 6 or 7k high. My high has changed to either 12 or 15k but my low is still 120. It was a key change many years ago and I have never stopped doing it
 
brokenvail said:
Yup I always high los cut in cab blk. For years I did 120 low and 6 or 7k high. My high has changed to either 12 or 15k but my low is still 120. It was a key change many years ago and I have never stopped doing it
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....so you would always cut in the Cab block first , if it needs it ?

In another thread about using all the EQ's , I asked public opinion about where everyone "starts" first , as they incorporate the use of so many options. No one replied. Lol
 
barhrecords said:
@cbellanga this my friend is the essence of electric guitar sound.

Midrange boost.

You can achieve that by boosting the mids or cutting the lows and highs as you show here.

The end result is the midrange frequencies more dominant.
Click to expand...

Complete newbie here so please elaborate. I was always under the impression that heavier tones were the result of "scooping" out the mids. And boosting up the mids was only to be used in pursuit of clean jazz tones.
 
UpscaleBlight said:
Complete newbie here so please elaborate. I was always under the impression that heavier tones were the result of "scooping" out the mids. And boosting up the mids was only to be used in pursuit of clean jazz tones.
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Here's an oversimplification. Mesa-style amps do the scooped mids that a lot of metal players prefer. Fenders, Marshalls, Vox (and all the boutique variations of those) mostly have an emphasis on midrange and highs. Hitting those amps with an overdrive pedal will usually boost the mids even more, which is a popular technique in rock, pop, blues, and country.
 
thanks for the tips reg. where else I can achieve the same effect .. I was just thinking about using the global EQ but maybe fixing it via cab + amp EQs simplify things, will give it a try!
 
1poorplayer said:
....so you would always cut in the Cab block first , if it needs it ?

In another thread about using all the EQ's , I asked public opinion about where everyone "starts" first , as they incorporate the use of so many options. No one replied. Lol
Click to expand...
I must have not seen your post. I always do my cutting in the cab block. I will take it a step further I don't even audition anything without cutting in the cab blk first.

Many people have said 120 low cut is a lot (on an AC30 patch years ago I was cutting 180 from the lows). I am trying to make my patches mix ready not good by my self in my room ya know? I am used to playing in an environment with one or two key board players who are playing 88 key boards and bass players with low B's I need to keep those lo frequencies clear for them.

One time I experimented and changed my low cut to 100. Sounded good alone. First song in sound check the next day sound guys says hey did you do something to your tone? It is little deeper and I prefer it the way you usually have it for our mix. He could have easily cut it himself but he know I like to be mix ready and have a solid idea of what I sound like in FOH.
 
UpscaleBlight said:
Complete newbie here so please elaborate. I was always under the impression that heavier tones were the result of "scooping" out the mids. And boosting up the mids was only to be used in pursuit of clean jazz tones.
Click to expand...

The 6 string electric guitar in standard tuning is a predominantly midrange instrument. That was the basis of my remark.

Nothing wrong with scooped tones. For me, scooping out the prominent frequencies would be used to leave room in the mix for something else. Wide panned scooped distorted guitars are popular but that's not my style.
 
brokenvail said:
I must have not seen your post. I always do my cutting in the cab block. I will take it a step further I don't even audition anything without cutting in the cab blk first.

Many people have said 120 low cut is a lot (on an AC30 patch years ago I was cutting 180 from the lows). I am trying to make my patches mix ready not good by my self in my room ya know? I am used to playing in an environment with one or two key board players who are playing 88 key boards and bass players with low B's I need to keep those lo frequencies clear for them.

One time I experimented and changed my low cut to 100. Sounded good alone. First song in sound check the next day sound guys says hey did you do something to your tone? It is little deeper and I prefer it the way you usually have it for our mix. He could have easily cut it himself but he know I like to be mix ready and have a solid idea of what I sound like in FOH.
Click to expand...

I'm on board with where you're going. I'm new with Fractal, but my FOH sound for years is quite the same as yours in regard to both gettin away from the bass player , and cutting thru the mix. What sounds good alone and what sounds good with a full band is rarely ever the same ,......if ever. IMO.
I WILL try cutting the cab now first. Thanks.
 
the global eq is the easiest way to go. you won't have to edit all your existing patches, or remember to make the changes to new ones you make. you could also try an experiment - play some music through your mackie via the ax8 (with all blocks bypassed, or use a blank preset)and see how it sounds. this will reveal any undesirable frequencies and then use the global eq to try and get the monitor sounding as "flat" as you can. then try playing some guitar through it. it's much easier to get a picture of how a monitor is altering the sound when you play some program material through it.
 
cbellanga said:
I've decided to add a graphic eq at the end of my path and play around rolling off frequencies and suddenly everything started to sound amazing!

I applied the same eq to my monitors and everything sounds much better .. the drives that were sounds very harsh are rounded now.. not sure if that's a standard solution but I'm very happy to have found that for my setup! happy days and hopefully a bit less time tweaking knobs / more time playing now!
View attachment 30537
Click to expand...

Finally got around to doing this. It's a game changer for sure! I'm using Rokit8s.
 
barhrecords said:
The 6 string electric guitar in standard tuning is a predominantly midrange instrument. That was the basis of my remark.

Nothing wrong with scooped tones. For me, scooping out the prominent frequencies would be used to leave room in the mix for something else. Wide panned scooped distorted guitars are popular but that's not my style.
Click to expand...

Yep, definitely not my style. Rock tones are not scooped. Metal tones with a scooped midrange are a sure fire way to get lost in the mix in a live setting. Turn up those mids, not the volume!
 
ethomas1013 said:
Metal tones with a scooped midrange are a sure fire way to get lost in the mix in a live setting.
Click to expand...
So true. I've seen quite a few metal guitarists whose wicked, bad-ass scooped tones disappeared when the band kicked in.
 
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