zenkick
Inspired
Part of my process after upgrading my firmware is to audition the factory presets, assuming a release included them. I then take copious notes, identify any new amps I may want to create new presets from, and integrate what I've learned into my modest collection of presets. I've been doing this since v5.
I use a beat-down 90's strat with Kinman Woodstock's as my go to for stepping through the presets (I'm always comparing apples to apples) and quickly checking new amps, and either my headphones or my Mackie HR824's for listening, depending on what time of day it is. I'll typically walk through all pickup combinations on each patch.
With each major iteration, I've noticed solid improvements with the factory patches. For me, v9 was the best so far.
v10 on the other hand is very painful to my ears (in my headphones and Mackies.) To me most patches seem very piercing and harsh -- like the presence is cranked to 11 on everything, and there is a mid peak in the EQ or something. The patches *look* fine though.
With all the accolades and bow-downs regarding the new release, I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if something is wrong with my unit. I've only seen a couple mentions in the plethora of v10 posts of people reporting similar displeasure with the v10 presets -- so I'm hopeful it's *something* on my end. I've only seen one user with a possible hardware issue rendering his unit without audio ("bad data storage for MIMIC" or the like.)
I've tried re-installing the firmware with and without the bot a few times now, and reloading the v10 patches with and without axe edit a few times. I've reset my system settings as well. I've tried changing the global modeling version, too (although that's counter to my point.) All to no avail - I have the same harsh sounding results. My next step is to backup and wipe all my user cabs with the reset sysex floating around here, although I doubt that'll have any effect.
Now I know I can go back to v9, but I'm not at that decision point yet. I'm kind of hung up on "why the hell can't *I* hear how good v10 is" and be able to gush about it. I just can't get past that. Maybe it's my ocd, maybe it's my engineering background -- who the hell knows, it's my hangup.
Hopefully others can shed some sane and constructive thoughts on this.
I use a beat-down 90's strat with Kinman Woodstock's as my go to for stepping through the presets (I'm always comparing apples to apples) and quickly checking new amps, and either my headphones or my Mackie HR824's for listening, depending on what time of day it is. I'll typically walk through all pickup combinations on each patch.
With each major iteration, I've noticed solid improvements with the factory patches. For me, v9 was the best so far.
v10 on the other hand is very painful to my ears (in my headphones and Mackies.) To me most patches seem very piercing and harsh -- like the presence is cranked to 11 on everything, and there is a mid peak in the EQ or something. The patches *look* fine though.
With all the accolades and bow-downs regarding the new release, I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if something is wrong with my unit. I've only seen a couple mentions in the plethora of v10 posts of people reporting similar displeasure with the v10 presets -- so I'm hopeful it's *something* on my end. I've only seen one user with a possible hardware issue rendering his unit without audio ("bad data storage for MIMIC" or the like.)
I've tried re-installing the firmware with and without the bot a few times now, and reloading the v10 patches with and without axe edit a few times. I've reset my system settings as well. I've tried changing the global modeling version, too (although that's counter to my point.) All to no avail - I have the same harsh sounding results. My next step is to backup and wipe all my user cabs with the reset sysex floating around here, although I doubt that'll have any effect.
Now I know I can go back to v9, but I'm not at that decision point yet. I'm kind of hung up on "why the hell can't *I* hear how good v10 is" and be able to gush about it. I just can't get past that. Maybe it's my ocd, maybe it's my engineering background -- who the hell knows, it's my hangup.
Hopefully others can shed some sane and constructive thoughts on this.