Sonic Signature?

zack

zack

Inspired
Do you think the AxeFXII has one?

In my opinion I think it does.*

How about you?

Zack

* disclaimer: I love the AXE FX II.
 
"Sonic signature" is a combination of many elements.
My old Marshall Plexi had a sonic signature as much as the Axe's model of a Mershall Plexi.
Same thing with my old SLO 100.
In my humble opinion, the Axe is the best tool that a guitarist can use to load up the palette with a ton of different colors.
Your sonic signature will depend on how you dial it in and how your hands make your guitar sing.
 
zack said:
Do you think the AxeFXII has one?

In my opinion I think it does.*

How about you?

Zack

* disclaimer: I love the AXE FX II.
Click to expand...

It can actually have more than one Signature, but it entirely depends on you.
 
Hmm. I think the point of the AXE is to recreate the signature tones of other devices which are very colored, not neutral by any means and have a desirable coloration regarding their sound. IMH estimation, the AFX has a pretty neutral traditional audio "preamp" capability and extremely sophisticated audio processing technology. Their may be a signature tone or color to the axe fx "raw" hardware processing and amplifier sections, which actually should be a pretty simple test (TMA an AXE?). But I think the digital processing capabilities are sophisticated enough that they would overcome and essentially "difference-out" any colorations in the AXE system itself. (If you were to TMA an AXE, there are other significant considerations, such as cables, power supplies, external circuits, etc.) I'm not a philosopher, engineer, or theoretical physicist. Hell, I'm not even a musician. But in my opinion, the Axe can adapt itself to the point that it can practically hide it's own sonic coloration and therefore must be transparent. I believe it's that close to being right.
 
I look at my Axe II as my tool to create MY OWN sonic signature!!!

Does it have a sonic signature for example like a Neuman U67 does.....nope I don't think so.
 
That's a tough call. Given the numerous ways by which the axe can be used (FRFR with IRs, through a tube poweramp into a cabinet, slaved to an amp, DI with IRs for recording) I think it's going to be hard to nail it down and say the Axe-fx has a "signature". Does the modeling have a certain "sound" to it? Yes. But with 9.02 I'm finding that modeled sound is starting to blur out a little bit, and I think future FW iterations will pretty much tuck that baby into bed.

Keep in mind that if you're recording or playing live with IRs, a lot of the signature will come from what IRs you use.
 
I say definitely not. I, for a while thought so too but it turned out to be the signature sound of my headphones, a peak in the 2kHz and 8 kHz.
 
To me the Axe is flat/neutral compared to other devices - that, with the extended frequency response, could be considered a 'sonic signature' as comparatively it sounds different than other devices.
 
It could be a simple thing as a favour for certain pickups that really do color the sound people get out of their axe? Or that some people tend to favour certain cabs or cab types?
 
Kinda. The Standard and Ultra definitely sound different from the II. So you could say they do have their own sound but you still wouldn't be able to tell "yes, that's the Axe" on some random recording.
 
I don't think the A/D, D/A or the analog circuitry has a sonically identifiable "sound".

The rest of the sound, aka the modeling algorithms, efx algorithms and IR's are subject to change.

For that reason alone, I can't pinpoint any one thing that I could spot to identify it was an AxeFx II vs. some other gear.

Richard
 
Scott Peterson said:
I sort of chuckle at that question.

Find any two Axe-FX players using the Axe-FX. Tell me you'd recognize that they are playing essentially the same rig. Now describe what the 'tell' is. I'll wait... ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your patience :)

The 'tell' for me is difficult to describe and I can only describe as a 'brittleness' in the top end - which sounds a derogatory description but I really don't mean it as such - I just don't know any other way to describe it... I hear it through all IR's and overdriven amps to lesser and greater degrees.

I'm quite happy to accept it may not be the Axe but something else in the chain (or just me being wrong) , but I've just changed my monitoring quite drastically lately and I still hear it and I hear it on the clips that are posted here.

One thing I have found with the Axe is that I listen to 'it' more intently than any other modeler/preamp/amp I have ever owned, I probably should just get on and play the damn thing without analysing what it's doing so much!
 
I have a pair of JH Audio JH-16 Pro in ears. They are very very detailed, especially the highs. I use them when I gig. I use a par of Beyer DT880 Pro cans when practicing/learning songs at home. I got in to the habit of dialing in my sound at home using the DT880s. It would sound killer. No ice pick high end (which I loath). Then I would gig with the JH-16s and that high end brittleness you mention would hit me like a brick wall. Now I've started dialing in all my patches with the JH-16s. The key is using models that still sound smooth and warm in the JH-16s. I find myself gravitating to the the warm and vintage amp voicings and rolling off 6500k and above with a PEQ for this reason. Surprisingly what I dial in to sound good on the JH16s still sounds excellent on the DT880s and through FOH.

My point is........try dialing in your presets to make your new monitoring sound good. Then see if those presets don't translate elsewhere. It worked for me. In my case I was dealing with the sonic signature of the JH-16 Pros......and yep they definitely have one.
 
Yes, I think it does. There's something in the attack and/or clipping/distortion character that I find typical for the Axe.

Also, the front input has its own character. That's mostly an eq thing though (try comparing front and rear inputs, they sound quite different), but when playing a distorted patch, using the front input, the Axe actually gets "microphonic"!
 
I'd say the goal for the axe-fx would be not to have a sonic signature... get it? Like if you could change between all the amps in the axe-fx and not have anything in common, something like a sonic signature, would not that be what we want?

no type of "blanket" or anything colouring our sound, but pure amp-simulation from our guitars input - to the axe-fx output. I mean it kind of is "modeling" how it would be like to plug into all these different amps right? in a physical and hardware "plug into all these different amps-situation" the amps would not have anything in common except maybe for being in the same room (acoustics).

are you with me? :)

Just some thoughts more than an actual answer maybe.
 
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