Right and Left sides sound different when using 2 processors

T

tony

Member
Not sure how to explain the differences except that the right side sounds perfect, very full, lots of harmonics, sweet, smooth, etc. The left side sounds thinner, out of phase, not as complex, less bottom end.

I have one Standard and one Ultra hooked up together with both unbalanced right outputs going to a mixer and then to a power amp and both unbalanced left outputs going to a mixer and then to a power amp. I have checked all the cords, moved the outputs around, both speakers are identical and broken in well (also switched speakers around just to make sure it wasn't the speakers), switched mixers from side to side, and tried both sides of the power amp. Still the right outputs always sound awesome compared to the left. Same thing on all patches.

Just wondering if this is an issue that someone else has figured out before I start messing with the I/O parameters.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Tony
 
tony said:
Not sure how to explain the differences except that the right side sounds perfect, very full, lots of harmonics, sweet, smooth, etc. The left side sounds thinner, out of phase, not as complex, less bottom end.
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Please bear with me while I try to understand what you're describing.


tony said:
I have one Standard and one Ultra hooked up together with both unbalanced right outputs going to a mixer and then to a power amp and both unbalanced left outputs going to a mixer and then to a power amp.
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You have a Standard and an Ultra connected together (how?). The left outputs (output 1 or 2?) of both units go to one mixer, and the right outputs go to another mixer (correct?).


tony said:
I have checked all the cords, moved the outputs around, both speakers are identical and broken in well (also switched speakers around just to make sure it wasn't the speakers), switched mixers from side to side, and tried both sides of the power amp. Still the right outputs always sound awesome compared to the left. Same thing on all patches.
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The left outputs of the two Axe-FX units always sound worse than the right outputs (correct?). If the above assumptions are correct, then we need to narrow down the list of culprits. First, pick one of your Axe-FX units, and disconnect it from everything. Create a blank preset, and just insert an amp and cab sim — no stereo, no panning, no effects, no nothing. Now connect this unit to power amp and speakers. Give a listen; swap speakers and give a listen; swap power supply channels and give a listen. Is the problem the same, or has it changed?
 
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Rex said:
Please bear with me while I try to understand what you're describing.



You have a Standard and an Ultra connected together (how?). The left outputs (output 1 or 2?) of both units go to one mixer, and the right outputs go to another mixer (correct?).

Output 2 on the front panel is the knob that controls the signal going to the power amp. The cords that carry the signal from the Fractals to the mixers are plugged into the output 2 unbalanced jacks. Yes, the right outputs of both Fractals go to one mixer and the left outputs go to another identical mixer. Also, in the I/O, Output 1 is copied to Output 2.


The left outputs of the two Axe-FX units always sound worse than the right outputs (correct?). YES, this is correct. If the above assumptions are correct, then we need to narrow down the list of culprits. First, pick one of your Axe-FX units, and disconnect it from everything. Create a blank preset, and just insert an amp and cab sim — no stereo, no panning, no effects, no nothing. Now connect this unit to power amp and speakers. Give a listen; swap speakers and give a listen; swap power supply channels and give a listen. Is the problem the same, or has it changed?



OK, will try this later today and report back as soon as I have an answer. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
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Rex, I just finished testing the way you described and other than the "normal" subtle differences from one side of a power amp and or speaker to the other, things seem to work fine with just the Ultra by itself and only one amp and one cab with no stereo.
Tony
 
tony said:
Rex, I just finished testing the way you described and other than the "normal" subtle differences from one side of a power amp and or speaker to the other, things seem to work fine with just the Ultra by itself and only one amp and one cab with no stereo.
Tony
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The Mixers are unique to each side (left/right) so don't overlook swapping those. Put the mixer from the "better sounding" right channel(s) over on the left channel(s). Yes I understand they are identical, but something is different and these should not be overlooked.

enjoy
 
tony said:
Rex, I just finished testing the way you described and other than the "normal" subtle differences from one side of a power amp and or speaker to the other, things seem to work fine with just the Ultra by itself and only one amp and one cab with no stereo.
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Cool. Now we know that the Axe-FX has no hardware issues between the left and right channels. The differences are coming either from your external gear or from the patches themselves.

Now hook things up the way they were originally. But this time, instead of running two Axe-FX units, just run one, with the mono-amp-and-cab patch you made earlier. If the differences between channels are still there, then something in your outboard gear doesn't match from right to left. If the differences go away, then it's something in your patch that's causing the difference.
 
Boogieman said:
The Mixers are unique to each side (left/right) so don't overlook swapping those. Put the mixer from the "better sounding" right channel(s) over on the left channel(s). Yes I understand they are identical, but something is different and these should not be overlooked.

enjoy
Click to expand...

I had already switched the mixers from side to side but thank you for your input because I need all the help I can get on this one. The channel that does sound great is so good that I will probably quit searching for anything else if I can get the other one sounding that way.
 
Rex said:
Cool. Now we know that the Axe-FX has no hardware issues between the left and right channels. The differences are coming either from your external gear or from the patches themselves.

Now hook things up the way they were originally. But this time, instead of running two Axe-FX units, just run one, with the mono-amp-and-cab patch you made earlier. If the differences between channels are still there, then something in your outboard gear doesn't match from right to left. If the differences go away, then it's something in your patch that's causing the difference.
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OK, I'll get on that ASAP and report back again. THANKS!
 
No differences with just one unit using the amp/cab only patch. I jumped ahead and went back to just one unit with my regular patches and that seems to be ok too. The problem starts when I plug into both units at the same time. I am using a Radial JX-2 Switchbone to split the input signals. Maybe that is the problem?
 
Rex, I read your last post again just for clarity and I think you are saying since there was no difference that the problem may be in the patches. I looked through my patches and the majority of them have stereo enhancer. Is it possible that might cause frequency cancelation issues when 2 units are used together the way I have them hooked up?
 
tony said:
No differences with just one unit using the amp/cab only patch. I jumped ahead and went back to just one unit with my regular patches and that seems to be ok too. The problem starts when I plug into both units at the same time. I am using a Radial JX-2 Switchbone to split the input signals. Maybe that is the problem?
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So the problem only crops up when you're combining both signals (correct?) Does the problem still exist when you combine two identical mono-amp-and-cab patches? If so, then your external hardware is the culprit. If not, it's your patches.

I can't be sure yet, but I'm suspecting phase cancellation somewhere on the "bad" channel. The switchbone offers opportunities for out-of-phase signals, as do the stereo enhancer and other parameters in the Axe-FX patches. Try the above test and see what results you get.
 
Rex said:
So the problem only crops up when you're combining both signals (correct?) YES Does the problem still exist when you combine two identical mono-amp-and-cab patches? I'll try this next. If so, then your external hardware is the culprit. If not, it's your patches.

I can't be sure yet, but I'm suspecting phase cancellation somewhere on the "bad" channel. The switchbone offers opportunities for out-of-phase signals, as do the stereo enhancer and other parameters in the Axe-FX patches. Try the above test and see what results you get.
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I have tried the phase switch on the switchbone but the problem is still there. I didn't know about the out of phase options on the enhancer but I will try the test you described and report back tomorrow. Thanks again!

 
Hey Rex, I got side tracked for a couple of weeks but got back to this problem tonight. I found that the Enhancer was the main offender in the patches so I went through and bypassed it in all of my patches. With one processor on the Enhancer sounds fine but when 2 processors are running the Enhancer doesn't play well with others. Even the patches where only one of the processors had the Enhancer on caused a problem. When both of the processors were running patches with Enhancers, it was really bad. I don't know why this is but I am glad that it is over and I can't thank you enough for helping me track it down!!!
 
tony said:
Rex, I read your last post again just for clarity and I think you are saying since there was no difference that the problem may be in the patches. I looked through my patches and the majority of them have stereo enhancer. Is it possible that might cause frequency cancelation issues when 2 units are used together the way I have them hooked up?
Click to expand...

This is likely your issue.
 
Yeah, it seems to work a lot better with the Enhancer off and there is plenty of thickness running two processors anyway so the Enhancers were kind of just overkill. Sometimes more isn't always better. I love the way everyone here pitches in to help each other out. Great forum!
 
Cool! I'm glad you've solved your problem, and things are back to normal and sounding good. Have fun!
 
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