Why does my Axe FX XL sound different?

In my experience, someone else's patches never translate. The clips you listen too have been compressed/messed with in conversion to a format that plays on the net. Everyones idea of what sounds good is different Every "space" messes with sound differently, every bit of kit sounds different.

I tried in my early days with the AFX back in 2008. Wasnt overly keen on many factory resets, and didnt think any patch I loaded that others had created sounded good at all.

The only way to get things working correctly is to program them yourself, to your tastes, with your equipment. Hell - I go amp/cab mostly and even with juts a raw amp block and nothing else, my patches sound a lot different on a friends AFX. The only different being the cab he used. Just so many variables.
 
Chris,
The Tascam I have is among the cleanest possible interfaces I have heard - 24 bit, 192Khz, with Burr-Brown converters, almost zero audible noise. Sounds as good as the heavy hitters out there. I'd assume it's far from being the reason for my problems.

Again,

Main problem: I'd love to be able to make my Axe FX a bit warmer and tube-like - both in sound and feel. I have several tube amps - Fenders, a Boogie, and a Friedman - and my Axe FX is far from there, I have to admit.

Then comes the other question - assuming that people's interfaces and DAWs contribute minimally to any variations in sound I can hear, why does my machine sound colder and/or more digital/nasal/muffled than the demos I hear... certainly much further away from any variations mentioned above... there has to be some kind of setting I can tweak out there.
Take the Axe to your friends house. Run the same preset, with the same guitar, directly into the same speakers.
That's the only way you can know if the preset is the same or not.

Interfaces, etc do color the sound, so you can not assume that tbh. I see you hook up to your interface the analog way. With XLR? If so, you're going through a mic preamp. Mic preamps color the sound. Some times it does it a lot. Some times it's wanted, other times not so much.

Can you post an example of a recorded guitar with the axe and some of your amps. It's hard to suggest anything, if i/we don't know your preferences. What you hear as a perfect-ish sound may not be what others go for.

Cheers
 
Also I found my Axe sounds best with the output at about 12.

That's strange. As far as I know the Axe (front hardware knob) output doesn't change the sound at all. So it shouldn't matter where you set it.
Also the output settings vary by the level you set in the preset.
 
That's strange. As far as I know the Axe (front hardware knob) output doesn't change the sound at all. So it shouldn't matter where you set it.
Also the output settings vary by the level you set in the preset.

I was meaning more that it sounds better than running the Axe on a few percent and speakers flat out . Better to reduce speakers a bit and increase the axe fx output. YMMV
 
I was meaning more that it sounds better than running the Axe on a few percent and speakers flat out . Better to reduce speakers a bit and increase the axe fx output. YMMV
Actually in just about every audio application the exact opposite would be true. You would usually run the power amp flat out and control volume with the "pre amp" devices. Such as with a PA, you would run your amps flat out and control your sounds levels with your console. In this case the recording interface would act as your console.
IMO you should have your monitors flat out, set your axe levels appropriately so that you are getting correct levels in your DAW, and then control volume with your interface and faders in your DAW. This is digital after all that we are talking about, so running your output on the AXE higher or lower should not make any difference. It's not as though you are getting any saturation or drive from the axe by running it at a higher volume.
Again all just my opinion.
 
Yes I sort of agree in part, but you're dealing with a line level device so you would usually keep it at unity to maximise signal to noise. But anyway it is just things for the OP to try, right or wrong it might just help him isolate the issue. All just IMHO, we are all here to try and help as best we can.
 
Last edited:
i notice the same on my axe fx. in many cases, the soundsamples on the net sounds nothing alike as the preset on my axe fx with me playing the guitar, so here are some reasons i discorverd why thats maybe the case:

- FW is a big one, a different FW Version -> a different sound

- also the guitar itself matters.. i have a couple of guitars and the presets i made for myself, all sounds different with each of my guitars..sometimes i must make preset alterations per guitar to have them work more consistent

- also check the global EQ settings, maybe you dont have set a global eq, but the person who made the preset did have one?

- perhaps the soundsamples on the net were altered, (put some more EQ/Saturation after recording in the DAW) that can quite make a difference

- a guitar played solo does sound / feel different than a guitar in a full mix or played onto a backing track.. can be huge difference, even if the source sound is still very similar, it feels different

- each room sounds different, play your AXE FX in Room A, then in Room B, most likely the sound and feel will be different, somestimes just a bit different, sometimes huge difference

- the output on the front is for the headphone, you rather shall use the line outputs on the rear panel, perhaps there is a kind of impedance missmatch that alters the sound

- a different UR/IR is used

- if your are going Mono, check that your presets are setup mono and route them hard left or hard right in the axe FX matrix and set them straight to output 1 left or output 1 right but not both
if you dont care about that and just collapes them from stereo to mone, phase cancelation can happen and alter the sound too. many presets are setup in stereo, also sometimes with 2 cabs spreaded out, those will not sound the same when collapsed to mono without further treatment
 
Last edited:
It's 95% the fingers and your picking touch, also the guitar and PUPs, even if you don't want to hear that.
I'm not saying that you're playing worse than the preset's builders, but different.
 
I'm in the process of upgrading everything from FW15.02 to Q2.01beta2 and invited a friend of mine round who is much better at guitar tones than me, plus he's a monster player. We had my Axe-FX II running into a pair of CLRs and using my PRS Custom 24. He played through it and sounded fantastic; I played through it and it sounded good, but not fantastic. Only variable was fingers, pick and technique.

I found this most frustrating indeed!
 
It is one of these, eliminate each, one at a time to get closer to someone else's tone:

1. The firmware revision is not the same.
2. The IR is not the same.
3. The system or global settings are not the same.
4. The guitar is not the same.
5. The strings are not the same.
6. The pickups are not the same.
7. The pickup height is not the same.
8. The playing style / pick / technique is not the same.
9. The guitar is not connected to the Fractal the same (e.g. wireless vs. wired, different cable)
10. The audio interface is not the same.
11. The Fractal is connected to the audio interface differently.
12. The audio interface settings are not the same.
13. The DAW is not the same.
14. The DAW settings are not the same.
15. The DAW plugins / settings are not the same.

If you are not recording but monitoring with speakers / headphones:

16. The headphones are not the same.
17. The monitors are not the same.
18. The monitor levels are not the same.

It's possible to make everything identical except #8.
 
Actually in just about every audio application the exact opposite would be true. You would usually run the power amp flat out and control volume with the "pre amp" devices. Such as with a PA, you would run your amps flat out and control your sounds levels with your console.
That is so wrong and not accurate at all. !!!
You should properly gain stage your system to maximize output on a PA. You should NOT arbitrarily run your power amp "flat out" and control volume with "pre amp" devices. If you do, you can easily let the smoke out of your speakers.. Learn how that stuff works!!
Those "volumes" knobs on an amp are input ATTENUATORS not "volume" controls. They control how much input signal level is processed by the amp. If that signal is "hot" enough, you can still get the amp to generate "rated output" levels even with that "volume" level almost off. Conversely, if the amp is wide open it takes much less input level to reach rated power. Either way, your speakers can go "poof"..

Learn how to properly gain stage your system.
 
Dear Kriig,

I appreciate your constructive support, since you don´t treat requesters as getting first time in contact with guitar and guitar´s gear.

Kriig … “Can you post an example of a recorded guitar with the axe and some of your amps. It's hard to suggest anything, if i/we don't know your preferences. What you hear as a perfect-ish sound may not be what others go for.”

This is exactly the right way to support VNGuitar in getting his basic patch, he than might adapt according his final taste and belongings.

Thanks again … Egon
 
Guys, I truly appreciate your suggestions. Some of them are very interesting and I will definitely try them. I already had some luck resetting my entire system. It sounds better and I am definitely moving in the right direction. Some of the downloaded patches sound way better, so I assume the system reset paid off.

I read somewhere that Mark II C+ - which is the amp I am so desperately trying to dial in - is a notoriously hard one to duplicate. Back to #1 of my initial questions: how do I make this thing sound more tube-y?

While I understand the plethora of issues when it comes to downloading and emulating other people's patches, faithfully recreating tube warmth has been my main issue ever since I got my unit, and this is something I can isolate and work on by myself, so let's focus a bit more on that. Many of my patches - both clean and dirty - sound a bit cold. It just doesn't feel like I am playing through my real amps.

I've had my unit for two years now and I know it fairly well, so skip the basic stuff. Any suggestions and strategies how to get more faithful tube warmth would be sincerely appreciated. What is it that makes your patches sound realistic and organic?

Many thanks in advance!
 
If you are using an external clock, make sure it's in 48Khz, otherwise the modelling in the axe gets screwed up and sounds off.

I have a suspicion that sometimes firmware installs fail, and that results in a working unit that sounds incorrect, or something like that. Which is why sometimes people have bad results with the axe and complain about it. I've seen people have weirdly huge differences with the same patch on different units and it's weird...
So, try different firmware, or try reinstalling the same firmware again.... Make sure your USB cable is fully functional...
The best way to figure out whether it's the axe's fault or the guitar or anything else, is to use the same DI through SPDIF or USB on two different units with the same preset and see if they sound different.

On the normally functioning Axe FX, the Tube-ey feel and sound you are after is there by default. I don't have to dial that in manually at all...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The only advice I can really give here is that presets from other people almost never work for me. I've got a good friend that has tested the same IRs with me, and we've shared presets back and forth. We both play seven string baritone guitars with BKPs. We both play in the same tuning (drop a flat). We both use about the same gauge strings, and we both play in a similar style (progressive hard rock/metal with ambient cleans whatnot). Our tones, by his own words, are pretty much "kissing cousins".

We have traded presets on numerous occasions. We gave up because nothing - absolutely NOTHING - we sent each other worked with our guitars. Like disastrously bad. Hilariously bad. What would sound totally badass or perfectly pretty on his end would sound hopelessly muffled and saggy on my end. Anything I sent him that sounded badass on my end was edgy, crispy, and piercing on his end.

Guitars and pickups, and yes, the person behind the guitar, make an INCREDIBLE difference in the overall sound of the axe-fx II. It is my opinion that presets can be a great learning tool for seeing how certain sounds are created, especially when dealing with effects-based presets, but other than that... you pretty much have to tune your presets to your gear.

If you posted some sound samples we'd have a better idea of where you're struggling. Without them it's all a bit relative and subjective what "tube" sound really is. Good luck and hopefully we'll hear some stuff from you soon.
 
It's 95% the fingers and your picking touch, also the guitar and PUPs, even if you don't want to hear that.
I'm not saying that you're playing worse than the preset's builders, but different.
I don't buy this. It sounds super cool and wise and all but further down in the thread the OP is saying he can A/B a tube emulation device against a corresponding physical tube device (he mentions having Fenders, a Boogie, and a Friedman on hand) and it does not measure up. He is hearing that quality in clips and has tried loading the presets but to no avail. If it were simply his technique, he should be able to load the corresponding AFX model and directly A/B against his physical device to verify the models authenticity. It sounds like he has found it lacking in this completely normalized context: same fingers, same technique.

OP: If you HAVE NOT done this, you should. Dial your AFX against known good 'tubey' settings on one of your real amps; from scratch selecting the closest IR you can.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom