XL sounds way different from my Mark II (solved)

parlopower

Inspired
I have a problem:
I used to own a Mark II. Sold it last year and got an XL instead last week. Last firmware I an on the Mark II was Quantum 2 I thin, I installed Quantum 8.02 on the XL.
Now all my patches (I loaded my old ones from back then) sound way different. I compared with recordings I made with my Mark II, used the same guitar, and the XL sounds, well, actually quite bad compared to the former recordings. The sound is harsh, scratchy, the patches distort much earlier and much more than sued to, the highs are chopped off a lot (neck humbucker for rhythm sounds totally unusable which wasn't the case before).
I reset all global settings, re-installed the firmware, still the same.
One thing I noticed: When I adjust the AD input levels, the instrument input control does not make much of a difference. I have to turn it all the way down before the sound gets any softer.
Is this a matter of the new firmware? From Q2 to Q8 it shouldn't change in the way I describe, should it? Is there a global input setting that I overlook that overloads the input? Is there any difference between the input level from the Mark II to the XL?
 
When I adjust the AD input levels, the instrument input control does not make much of a difference.

That's by design. See manual for more details.

Can you recall using any user cab slots in these presets, or adjusting global amp gain on the Mark II?

Can you post one or more Mark II presets and a recording of how it sounds on the XL?
 
Yeah that had nothing to do with the unit, it's because the firmware has changed a lot since then. Plus as mentioned if you were using aftermarket cabs they may not be in the same slot as they were before.
 
You skipped 5 whole versions of firmware, of course it's gonna sound different. You will probably have to rebuild the patches.
 
One easy thing to check is whether your presets are referencing the correct cabs. Because there is a different number of factory cabs on the XL+, the user cab references may be off.
 
The first thing I would do is load the old Q2 firmware that the patches last sounded good with into your new Axe-Fx. If they now sound as they should, then it's the change in firmware that causing your patches to sound bad. If they still sound bad, then it must be something else.
 
Yeah, don't panic. I went from a II to an XL+ on the same firmware and didn't hear any difference except for no fan noise
 
I apologize.
Turns out, I made the wrong comparisons. I either played the patch with a different guitar or different PU etc. Just mere muddleheadedness. When I picked out specific old tracks and re-played them with the same guitar, the difference vanished.
And regarding some patches sounding very bad in my opinion, well, I think some combinations just don't work - e.g. don't run a PRS MM baritone with a Bareknuckle Painkiller into a Fender Champ and expect it to sound good (and a wave of facepalms broke loose... and rightfully so...)
Thanks to everybody chiming in and commenting.
Case closed.
 
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i still think you should reset the amps though. if you're not using X/Y, then copy the amp into Y and reset X. check the master, pres input trim, eq etc and compare. if you can hear a difference, then you should reset all of them
 
i still think you should reset the amps though. if you're not using X/Y, then copy the amp into Y and reset X. check the master, pres input trim, eq etc and compare. if you can hear a difference, then you should reset all of them

Hi Simeon, I have started anyway to create new presets from scratch since the new songs I am working on are quite different from my last project. I must say that in this case, preset programming has become real fun, I load up a Plexi and the factory 55 Pre-Rola cab and just a few tweaks... and I can't stop playing rock riffs! :tearsofjoy:
The whole story was good, though, for one thing: I have decided that I will swap the neck humbucker in my PRS baritone for a humbucker-sized Bareknuckle P90... didn't get the humbucker to sound good on a lot of stuff, just love the Bareknuckle Blue Note P90 at the neck of my Yamaha Pacifica 311, and want the same on my baritone for the low tuning!
 
yeah, i have a prs277 baritone with p90's. fantastic for cleans...not so good for dirty, as they're so noisy...but i love the tone. almost piano-like overtones on the open strings. lovely.
 
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