WOW! What A Difference This Change Made!! UFB

TSJMajesty

TSJMajesty

Fractal Fanatic
So I've been only using my new headphones through the Axe Fx III, yet even with the wonderful help I received here, on dialing in a Global EQ to compensate for their frequency response, after working my way thru ~100 factory presets, tweaking a few to sound better..., I realized that they all still pretty much had that "overly-saturated" sound that prompted me to ask for help. Plus, I noticed that there didn't seem to be very much variation between many of the amp models. What I was hearing, that I didn't like, seemed to be very similar sounding across, well, I guess, all of the presets, so I figured, maybe try to change some global settings.

What I did was to turn off Amp Modelling, and OH.MY.GOD! Unbelievable! Sure, the levels were all over the place, but now it's like they all have these really cool, very different, characteristics! (I'm totally new to modelling, and still using Mesa amps and speakers, but mostly headphones since I bought them.) Last night was the first time since getting the AF3 6 months ago that I began to truly appreciate what all the hype is about. Some of the high gain amps had this biting, articulate, pick attack..., blues-type models had this "growl", and I found a clean model that is hands down the most crystal clear tone I've ever heard!! Chimey, smooth, etc. I turned on the chorus and delay and got effin GOOSE BUMPS! Oh, and one of the models (don't remember which) had such a searing, silky, crystal clear, lead tone... Did I say WOW? Oh yeah, I did. Well, WOW, again! I'd go for a high note bend, and the harmonics would immediately kick in... A liquidy, organic, eargasm.

I thought, is it possible the on/off switch in the Amp Modelling is somehow backwards in my unit? Nah, that doesn't make sense, since it's not physical wires connected to a physical switch. Whatever. It sounds freaking aMAzing! Kept me up til almost 2AM (I get up at 630 for work.)

That's all. Just wanted to share that experience. Time to play mah geetar!
PS I'm still on FW15, waiting for the factory presets to be updated for Cygnus (hint hint, Cliff, ya listening? How's that coming?)
 
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Not sure if trolling or......

Are you sure your axe isn't just driving the headphones super hard? 🤔 I had a similar experience with headphones and that was the culprit. What cans are you using?

Also, try playing through FRFR - if you have the same experience I'd say something was wrong somewhere......if you didn't, I'd say it might just be your headphones
 
They're Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro, 250 ohm. Other than confirming I'm not clipping the levels, how would I know if the AF3 is driving the headphones super hard? I used the EQ graph from github, and the last setting was the level, which I believe was to set it to -7.5dB.
 
Strange, I'd say the opposite actually (a lot of amps lose their character when turning off the P.A. modeling).
Maybe you had master volume set too high?
Or maybe you just need to boost the mids? (P.A. modeling off also defeats the impedance curves)
 
DLC86 said:
Strange, I'd say the opposite actually (a lot of amps lose their character when turning off the P.A. modeling).
Maybe you had master volume set too high?
Or maybe you just need to boost the mids? (P.A. modeling off also defeats the impedance curves)
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1st sentence: Yes, that's what I experienced when I first started playing the AF3 thru my Mesa amps & cabs (trying different combinations, since I'm not planning on buying FRFR.
2nd: If by MV you mean in individual presets, no. I'm still mostly auditioning factory presets as is. If you mean the Output knob on the front panel, I keep that pretty low, since I'm using headphones and don't want to hurt my ears. In the Global Out 1 EQ, LEVEL is -7,5dB, per github frequency correction curve for my DT880's.
3rd: Nope, cuz I'm FINE with where everything sounds now!
 
TSJMajesty said:
1st sentence: Yes, that's what I experienced when I first started playing the AF3 thru my Mesa amps & cabs (trying different combinations, since I'm not planning on buying FRFR.
2nd: If by MV you mean in individual presets, no. I'm still mostly auditioning factory presets as is. If you mean the Output knob on the front panel, I keep that pretty low, since I'm using headphones and don't want to hurt my ears. In the Global Out 1 EQ, LEVEL is -7,5dB, per github frequency correction curve for my DT880's.
3rd: Nope, cuz I'm FINE with where everything sounds now!
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I meant master volume in the amp block, if you haven't edited factory presets there's a good chance it might be it. You can easily tell if that's the case by looking at the Headroom meter in the authentic tab (in axe-edit, amp block), if it goes straight to 0dB while you play then MV is too high, turn it down until you get a few dB under 0.
 
DLC86 said:
I meant master volume in the amp block, if you haven't edited factory presets there's a good chance it might be it. You can easily tell if that's the case by looking at the Headroom meter in the authentic tab (in axe-edit, amp block), if it goes straight to 0dB while you play then MV is too high, turn it down until you get a few dB under 0.
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I wish it were so easy as using that dB meter, but at least for getting the sims to match with the amps I have, I'm always running the sims without headroom.

I'm using real cabs and a neutral PA amp. The 5150 and 5152 sims, for example, don't start to sound as thundering as my actual 5150 and 5152 until the sim master is close to 4, but the real amp volumes are pretty consistent sounding between 1 and 2, which is typically where I am.

But the Brit 800 sim is way too compressed for me by that point. Somewhere around 3ish matches what I hear from my 2204 running around 2 or so.
 
DLC86 said:
I meant master volume in the amp block, if you haven't edited factory presets there's a good chance it might be it. You can easily tell if that's the case by looking at the Headroom meter in the authentic tab (in axe-edit, amp block), if it goes straight to 0dB while you play then MV is too high, turn it down until you get a few dB under 0.
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Depends. Many (most) amps benefit from some power amp distortion. The headroom meter allows you to see how much power amp distortion you are getting. If you back off the MV so you are always a few dB below 0 you'll never get any power amp distortion.

Amps like Plexis and Fenders get almost all their distortion from the power amp.
 
FractalAudio said:
Depends. Many (most) amps benefit from some power amp distortion. The headroom meter allows you to see how much power amp distortion you are getting. If you back off the MV so you are always a few dB below 0 you'll never get any power amp distortion.

Amps like Plexis and Fenders get almost all their distortion from the power amp.
Click to expand...
Yep, I read the OP is a Mesa guy and for some reason I assumed he was talking about only high gain models. Pardon
 
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