studio monitors?

O

Oscarraap

Member
Hey guys!

I've been trying to get some good lead tones out of the axe XL for quite a long time. I have made some progress, it's ok-ish now, but hardly the stellar sound I was expecting. I have tried lots of parameters and 3rd party IR's, which is another topic.

Somehow the distortion sounds harsch and unconvincing to me. But lots of people seem enthousiastic about axe fx. So Im thinking whats going on? Is the rest of the world deaf? I refuse to believe that. There must be something wrong. Perhaps its my setup.

I have passive Alesis Monitor One driven by an old yamaha hifi amp. Its certainly not high end (I bought them years ago for 200 euro a pair), but I do love them for just listening to music. Perhaps they are not a good match.

Any recommendations? Im thinking about Yamaha HS7 for example. I appreciate any help you can give me.
I do like the concept of axe fx, but I haven't been able to make it work. This will probably be my last attempt to fix things before I sell it and go for a triaxis or recto pre instead.

BTW I have a Music Man JP6 guitar.

Cheers!
 
I have a set of Adam A7X's that I could not live without. They are not that cheap, but there are certainly more expensive monitors out there. I will say though, that probably more important to the monitors (in my case at least) was the time it took me to just to get used to hearing a guitar rig through monitors and not through a cab in the room. I took a long time honestly. I also use the dephase button in the cab block almost all the time.

This doesn't answer your question directly- I know it's hard to find the right set of monitors. But I would say just be patient. The flexibility of the Axe is ridiculous and whenever I got frustrated I would just think of the thousands of people using successfully and made myself determined to learn more.

Good luck!
 
The HS7's would be fine.

Did the demos you listened to on YouTube or elsewhere sound a lot better than the results you're getting? Also, have you tried plugging headphones directly into the Axe's headphone jack?
 
Absolutely, the youtube stuff of other players sounds fantastic on thesame monitors. I tried headphones as well (high end Shure) and its thesame result, the youtube tones are a lot better than what Im getting.

At first, this made me think its about the patch. But when I download a patch of someone who made a nice recording, its nearly always a disappointment. Perhaps its both. If my monitors are the problem, than it would be logical to struggle with creating patches.
 
Oscarraap said:
Absolutely, the youtube stuff of other players sounds fantastic on thesame monitors. I tried headphones as well (high end Shure) and its thesame result, the youtube tones are a lot better than what Im getting.

At first, this made me think its about the patch. But when I download a patch of someone who made a nice recording, its nearly always a disappointment. Perhaps its both. If my monitors are the problem, than it would be logical to struggle with creating patches.
Click to expand...

It could be your monitoring, sure. I'd be interested to hear a sample of what you're hearing. Can you upload one?
 
Old set of Tannoy
But don't neglect converters and the room they are in. I have a lot of diffusion to knock down early reflections.
 
Last edited:
I like powered monitors.

For studio use i'd say HS5's or HS8's
The HS7's are good for a little more bass- but i think either will do-

If you have a full studio i'd look into the HS8 but if you're primarily dialing in the guitar the HS7 might be good choice.
 
I was about ready to give up on my Axe at one point. As the last thing I wanted to try, I invested in a good FRFR (Atomic CLR), and now I am pretty happy. IRs made a huge difference. I use RedWirez, they are outstanding.

Yamaha HS8 simply didn't cut it for me; I was never happy with the tones.

It is also possible that room acoustics make a difference with the HS8.
 
Having owned darn near everything under the sun, I've found I'm happiest with my Atomic CLR for actually playing guitar, and then my Presonus Sceptre S6 desktop monitors for recording, mixing et al. The S6 are a coaxial speaker design, like the Atomix CLR, and the stereo image from them is unreal
 
FRFR is tricky.

I am able to get a greta tone from my JBl SLRs, but through other PA powered speakers I have been dissaopointed. Just as you say harsh and hollow. So I figured I would just go back to power amp and guitar cab. For high SPL and quality tone with FRFR, you have to drop some serious cash, I would say around $2k+ for stereo. Some people swear by the Yamaha DXR10/DXR12, but I cannot confirm or deny on those.
 
Neumann kh120As are best speakers for their price imho. (I'm a mixing engineer if it changes anything :) )
 
there are many who would steer you to Equator D5s or D8s if you are budget-conscious, my new D8s really are as aurally pleasing as my CLR IMHO for Axe tones....(at moderate volumes...obviously CLR goes to the gig...)
 
CBoothe01 said:
I also use the dephase button in the cab block almost all the time.
Click to expand...

Sorry for a slight derail here but I am curious, what do you find the dephase feature does for your tone that you use it all the time? I have messed with it a little but not enough to make it a go to adjustment for me. So I am curious what your methodology is when dialing it in.
 
It would help knowing your budget.
Since I got my Focal Solo 6Be, I haven't looked at any other monitors.

Amazing monitors.
 
Pwrmac7600 said:
Sorry for a slight derail here but I am curious, what do you find the dephase feature does for your tone that you use it all the time? I have messed with it a little but not enough to make it a go to adjustment for me. So I am curious what your methodology is when dialing it in.
Click to expand...
To me it makes it a bit darker and reduces some of the wooliness(?) I am terrible at describing tone, but it seems more "cab in the room like." I have also played with it a lot but maybe I'm just kind of used to hearing it now. For what it's worth, I don't play out so it's almost always just me and he guitar tone without other instruments, unless I am recording. Maybe if I had to fit into a mix I would use it differently.
 
acidfrost said:
It would help knowing your budget.
Since I got my Focal Solo 6Be, I haven't looked at any other monitors.

Amazing monitors.
Click to expand...
I have these too and they are great, but IMO a little too pricey , my 600$/pr of Equator D8s give me equal pleasure when just using my Axe....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom