SOLVED: Presets sound crap after firmware.

Ahmed Badreldin

Ahmed Badreldin

Inspired
Honest truth maybe not the last update, but one before ( so many I can't remember ), I see people on here raving about he new amps and presets. Most of my Marshall ones sound absolutely terrible!

What usually changes when firmware is done? My jumped up Marshalls also sound really bad. Only the factory presets that came with model seem to sound okay. Where would I start to edit? Drive, Cab?

So many variants don't know where to begin.
 
Well my Marshall presets sound with the update betther than ever bevor - the new reverb makes them very tasty - i don't think there was any changing on the Marshall amps - we've got a new one now, the SLP59 which sounds fantastic...
 
tell me about it mate, seeing people raving about new amps and cabs! My setup doesnt change, always plugged and ready to go so nothing wrong there, just don't know where to start. I update and save as should be done.
 
I feel your pain. I went through this (well still do but with a different expectation now) long ago. You have to read the release notes and patiently update your presets after each update. Sometimes you won't have to do much if anything at all. Other times some presets require a complete do over. It's the nature of the beast. I've accepted that if I want to retain a certain sound, I must use a specific firmware. In the studio, this isn't the end of the world but for performers, it can be a huge challenge.

Don't worry about the people raving. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to rave about but honestly, I think most of the raving after each firmware is not based on reality. Basically don't believe it until you hear it yourself.

It doesn't sound like you went from 16.3 to 16.4 b/c I don't think there were any changes that would cause what you describe. Tell us the upgrade path that you took.
 
Cheers mate just had a play and the main ones are 076 Jumped Plexi ( all the jumped patches sound terrible ) and things like Wrecker sound awful. Plus many of the patches are constantly in the red output clipping zone. They sound like a speaker has blown or something, the volume changes are pretty wide too. I'm really stuck as to what happened, this happened a while back and recent firmware has not corrected it. I'm playing Gibson Les Paul Traditional 57 pickups through a Mackie Thump by the way.
 
Reset the model, deselect and re-select in the amp list, and reset the values by double clicking the bypass (think its' bypass, not sitting by mine at the moment). (all front panel). Sometimes the models change drastically, just part of progress. Personally I think the marshall amps sound better, the new plexi with the new cab Cliff gave us is kick ass.
 
Which firmware are you on now?
Which factory presets are loaded (i.e. did you get the latest banks from Fractal's site and update them?)?

The factory presets may be out of wack to some degree with the latest firmware. Fractal periodically updates them but to be honest they won't always be consistent. It's a daunting task and may be best not to rely on the factory presets.

Also, you may want to post audio of what sounds bad (and before the firmware update if possible).
 
dpeterson said:
Reset the model, deselect and re-select in the amp list, and reset the values by double clicking the bypass (think its' bypass, not sitting by mine at the moment). (all front panel). Sometimes the models change drastically, just part of progress. Personally I think the marshall amps sound better, the new plexi with the new cab Cliff gave us is kick ass.
Click to expand...

Reset quite often will fubar the sound relative to what it was. I view reset pretty much as start over.... I stayed out of the "reset" threads before but couldn't resist putting my 2 cents here.
 
The 2 blocks that are naturally I think the most influential in any preset are amp and cab.

If the factory Marshall style presets sound better to you now, then copy a couple of your own presets to new temporary locations and then copy the amp and cab blocks from the factory presets to them and experiment.

The factory presets generally have their drive blocks not engaged by default - so if all your presets use a drive block always on then thats an area to look at too.
 
Ahmed Badreldin said:
Cheers mate just had a play and the main ones are 076 Jumped Plexi ( all the jumped patches sound terrible ) and things like Wrecker sound awful. Plus many of the patches are constantly in the red output clipping zone. They sound like a speaker has blown or something, the volume changes are pretty wide too. I'm really stuck as to what happened, this happened a while back and recent firmware has not corrected it. I'm playing Gibson Les Paul Traditional 57 pickups through a Mackie Thump by the way.
Click to expand...

Disable blocks one at a time to see what is causing the clipping. Then adjust that blocks level. Also double check your input level.
 
grape said:
Reset quite often will fubar the sound relative to what it was. I view reset pretty much as start over.... I stayed out of the "reset" threads before but couldn't resist putting my 2 cents here.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. just wanted to rule that out.. I've had patches that they said I didn't need to reset the amp, and I reset it and it's totally different, cant even re-adjust it to sound like what was saved. Yes I hate the start over as well, one HUGE disadvantage for the AxeFx imho. Then you will get people saying, hey don't update... really? To get new features you have to update. Not sure what to do next other than suck it up and try to tweak it or stay on the older one (uggh).
 
Sounds like power amp modeling is bypassed.
Go into the Global menu and switch global amp modeling off and on again.
 
Always could just roll back to the what ever FW your patches sound good on.

New FW adds cool features, but if you don't like the tone, then what advantage is new features really ?

If your totally happy with what you've got, I'd say just stick with it and enjoy playing
 
Several dozen upgrades and I'm yet to encounter this. Worst case is my main presets are a bit off and need slight adjustment. As Cliff continues toward perfection and the amps sound more and more like the originals (if not better for my use), it's generally just (usually) lowering the gain or small tweaks to the tone controls. I don't edit very deeply (don't know what 1/10th of those other knobs really do) and I've never had to turn power amp modeling back on.

Most often it's that simple. But if you are hell-bent on re-attaining your old sounds...you might have to work harder or roll back. Like my vowel-challenged brother above - just get happy and keep playing. I embrace the change and get happier all the while and play even more. To each his own.
 
After updating to 16.03 my presets didn't sound too different but yet "felt" a bit off. After some investigation it appears it was due to the compressor blocks. Readjusted to taste and all is magnificent again.

edit: I believe I went from 15.07 to 16.03 directly when I noticed this.
 
unfortunatelly need to agree my patch that uses TMB sounds awfull and there is no chance to recreate it with current FW...
 
My presets with the VH4 and HBE100 no longer sound great after upgrading from 16.02 to 16.04. They sound fizzy and don't feel the same at all. Not sure what changed, but I haven't been able to get them back to the way they were before.


Posted with TapTalk for iPhone, please forgive the spelling errors.
 
Ahmed Badreldin said:
Where would I start to edit? Drive, Cab? So many variants don't know where to begin.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with you. For most part I have no clue what the advanced parameters really do nor do I care. I don't like the constant re-tweaking of presets either with each FW update. Just takes too much time. That's why I don't do all the updates. I only update once in 6 months or so or when I feel I miss something new from the effects section (like the new reverb algorithms). But that's how it is when changes/improvements are made. Not every improvement is good for everybody though. My suggestion; only update when you are not happy with the sound you already have or when you can't resist the temptation of some new goodies.
 
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