They went digital and the sound is so not as good

Techdeth said:
Everyone hates my tone to play on it , it’s so tight and there’s a fight but the kelps the tone how I want . But ya the feel of my amps people really hate
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That makes sense. It’s prob possible to adjust that on the AXE but I’m sure that requires an engineering degree lol
 
Shask said:
Again, yes. I have had them over 15 years.

??
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Sorry, I thought you were telling some obscure physics/fractal joke lol. Not many people have more than one FAS modeler. I ask b/c so many people with no experience hold very strong opinions about this stuff. That why I appreciate the real opinions. I haven’t had a modeler in several years, I never found the lead/rhythm imbalance
 
tallcoolone said:
Sorry, I thought you were telling some obscure physics/fractal joke lol. Not many people have more than one FAS modeler. I ask b/c so many people with no experience hold very strong opinions about this stuff. That why I appreciate the real opinions. I haven’t had a modeler in several years, I never found the lead/rhythm imbalance
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I bought an Axe FX Standard back in 2009, I bought an Axe FX II in 2013 that I still have, and use as an effects units with my tube setup, and I bought a FM3 in 2021. I also have an LB-2, and an EV-1.

I LOVE my Fractal gear, but I am also critical about certain things. I don't think it is 'perfect' as many people make it out to be. It has its pros and cons just like anything else. I do think they effect the dynamics, which is just a side effect of the AD/DA converters. I dont like to run my tube gear right through them because it changes the dynamics. It makes them less punchy, and kind of smooths and blurs the low end together. Because of that I run my Axe FX II through a parallel mixer.

I notice this same sort of feel when using the FM3 by itself. However, keep in mind I am talking for high gain super tight tones. Think Meshuggah on Destroy, Erase, Improve. This is less noticeable with less gain, or less 'stabby' styles.

However, those are negatives, but the in the big picture, a Fractal can do a ton of things nothing else can. I can EQ everything to death, modify the feel and dynamics by using advanced parameters, route effects in all kinds of crazy ways, etc.... Nothing is even close. It just doesn't have that last 3% a big tube setup has. However, it is getting closer. The last update really cleaned up the low end and lower mids in a way I really like. I have always been the most critical of the low end and how chugs sound and feel.

Also, I have still never been a fan of running direct. I just dont like 'direct' tones. I want an amp to sound and feel like an amp, not like a recording of an amp.
 
Shask said:
I bought an Axe FX Standard back in 2009, I bought an Axe FX II in 2013 that I still have, and use as an effects units with my tube setup, and I bought a FM3 in 2021. I also have an LB-2, and an EV-1.

I LOVE my Fractal gear, but I am also critical about certain things. I don't think it is 'perfect' as many people make it out to be. It has its pros and cons just like anything else. I do think they effect the dynamics, which is just a side effect of the AD/DA converters. I dont like to run my tube gear right through them because it changes the dynamics. It makes them less punchy, and kind of smooths and blurs the low end together. Because of that I run my Axe FX II through a parallel mixer.

I notice this same sort of feel when using the FM3 by itself. However, keep in mind I am talking for high gain super tight tones. Think Meshuggah on Destroy, Erase, Improve. This is less noticeable with less gain, or less 'stabby' styles.

However, those are negatives, but the in the big picture, a Fractal can do a ton of things nothing else can. I can EQ everything to death, modify the feel and dynamics by using advanced parameters, route effects in all kinds of crazy ways, etc.... Nothing is even close. It just doesn't have that last 3% a big tube setup has. However, it is getting closer. The last update really cleaned up the low end and lower mids in a way I really like. I have always been the most critical of the low end and how chugs sound and feel.

Also, I have still never been a fan of running direct. I just dont like 'direct' tones. I want an amp to sound and feel like an amp, not like a recording of an amp.
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The low end is my biggest critique as well on many amps etc, so I get that. I’ve been hyper critical lately and been doing alot of things in the box I never used to do to get the low end to sit just like I like, but having good monitoring is crucial for this. A lot of my amps seem to have a super resonant annoying frequency around 172hz or so, and I would never do extremely narrow cuts in the low end. Namely, phase coherency in the low end. But using the right clean eq and being able to hear it, I’ve done some massive clean up down low, it’s all over those morin clips I posted actually. The low end is still huge and hyper resonant but crystal clear where it often gets muddy in that 180-240 area. I’m rambling, but I can understand being hyper critical about low end. It’ll make or break your mix as well. I don’t have those issues with the axe and I go after extremely similar tones, but I get it.
 
VESmedic said:
The low end is my biggest critique as well on many amps etc, so I get that. I’ve been hyper critical lately and been doing alot of things in the box I never used to do to get the low end to sit just like I like, but having good monitoring is crucial for this. A lot of my amps seem to have a super resonant annoying frequency around 172hz or so, and I would never do extremely narrow cuts in the low end. Namely, phase coherency in the low end. But using the right clean eq and being able to hear it, I’ve done some massive clean up down low, it’s all over those morin clips I posted actually. The low end is still huge and hyper resonant but crystal clear where it often gets muddy in that 180-240 area. I’m rambling, but I can understand being hyper critical about low end. It’ll make or break your mix as well. I don’t have those issues with the axe and I go after extremely similar tones, but I get it.
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Yeah, I like a fat chunky low end, yet tight and dynamic. It is a hard balance to get right. Think Nevermore, or Dino type tones on Divine Heresy or Brujerizmo, older SYL, Heartwork, Evisceration Plague, White Zombie, etc.... For standard tuning, something like Master of Puppets.

With my tube gear I will run a 5 band rack parametric and cut around 350hz to 550hz or so, and that goes into a 200w KT88 Poweramp. Pretty massive sound. I kind of do the same thing in the FM3. If I could find some oversized Mesa Recto cab IRs that gave the huge sound and feel like I was sitting in the room with it I could maybe start living with direct tones.

Of course, I have my Fractal advanced parameter tweaks I like to make.
 
tallcoolone said:
Not surprising you have trouble feeling at home through 6" monitors lol
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Lol. My thing lately has been using a 2 channel Triple Rectifier into a Fractal LB-2 Reactive Loadbox, going into a rack mixer with an Axe FX II in a parallel loop for delay and reverb, then going into a 200w KT88 power amp going into 2 212 cabs in stereo. Massive sounds at low volumes.
 
Bram576 said:
First - I dug what Oli did way more back in the day… RIP

Second - I think the overall production here is the problem not the axe fx. Can easily make the axe fx sound indiscernible from the real deal. It’s a great product. Everyone ragging on IRs… yeah, maybe shitty over eqd IRs. If you use a good IR you absolutely cannot tell the difference at all between an ir recording and the real deal.

Everything else here production wise is just meh in my opinion. Modern sterile typical production. The real vs fake drums thing always gets brought up in these. I dig a hybrid approach like this… samples are used from the kit recorded minus the kick being fully triggered. Because it’s death metal.

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Sampling off the actual drum kit (mostly the snare) is old school and can be very effective. I remember in the early 90’s using a 2290 to capture a primo snare shot and have it be triggered from a heavily gated, parallel track of the snare drum.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
I like ATR quite a bit but man that new track is a wank fest. Fucking garbage. I miss Oli Herbert.

Also, some of you guys are a bunch of bored, whiny ass drama queens. I’ve seen the vids you posted on here in the past of bands you like and the guitar tones are hardly any different than what is posted. How about we continue to discuss what’s more played out than modern metal guitar tones…the same fucking drum samples used on seemingly every metal album the past 10 years. Thats what really kills all these songs from the get.
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Oli thought Jason was the God of guitar . Ya it’s pretty wanky but Oli pretty much picked Jason
 
Nothing beats real drums. Huge change of feel! I am glad we can still tell the difference
 
DanTravis62 said:
The only "True crime" here is metalcore/deathcore production since the late 90s

And no, it's not because it's digital, it's because digital has reduced the cost of entry to the point where every jackoff on earth thinks they're a producer, unfortunately

Bands want to save money. So they hire cheap "producers" who's extensive knowledge of engineering is to use a project template, the 5150 model into Mesa OS Toan Pipeline, steven slate plug-in drag and drop replacement, melodyne, and O-zone.

Hence, every band heavier than Imagine Dragons has sounded like a glenn fricker video for the last 20 years or so.

Digital gear gets the hate, but the digital gear isn't really the problem
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this.
 
VESmedic said:
The low end is my biggest critique as well on many amps etc, so I get that. I’ve been hyper critical lately and been doing alot of things in the box I never used to do to get the low end to sit just like I like, but having good monitoring is crucial for this. A lot of my amps seem to have a super resonant annoying frequency around 172hz or so, and I would never do extremely narrow cuts in the low end. Namely, phase coherency in the low end. But using the right clean eq and being able to hear it, I’ve done some massive clean up down low, it’s all over those morin clips I posted actually. The low end is still huge and hyper resonant but crystal clear where it often gets muddy in that 180-240 area. I’m rambling, but I can understand being hyper critical about low end. It’ll make or break your mix as well. I don’t have those issues with the axe and I go after extremely similar tones, but I get it.
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Yesterday I took one of my direct presets and added a -5db cut about 211hz, I think 4.3Q. Along with some other changes I got a pretty killer direct sound. That seemed like a step in the right direction. I would still like to find some IRs that give that big, in-the-room sound.

I also took an in-the-room preset and ran it through my Matrix poweramp instead of my KT88 poweramp. I haven't used the Matrix in a year or so. I was able to get some very good sounds out of this as well. I am thinking the last updates which cleaned up the low end really made a big difference because I was getting better results than I ever have in these scenarios.
 
skoora said:
I think that’s my problem with this stuff. It’s anything but heavy to me. Heavy is more in the attitude and vibe for me than how distorted the guitars are and how much double kick and sped up Maiden riffs are involved. All this stuff with whiny boys trying to be tough and the cliche’d attempt at clean sing songy, vocals against the the screamo stuff is as heavy as a dollop of cool whip. All just IMO of course.
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Dude, you F'ing nailed it. So many of these bands these days think distortion and whipping your head around is "heavy". I saw a 70' something Glenn Hughes live a few months ago and he was doing Deep Purple songs and just oozing heavy, bravado, and awesome. That there is the shit.
 
Shask said:
Yesterday I took one of my direct presets and added a -5db cut about 211hz, I think 4.3Q. Along with some other changes I got a pretty killer direct sound. That seemed like a step in the right direction. I would still like to find some IRs that give that big, in-the-room sound.
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Big problem with a lot of IRs out there in that scenario are the guys eq the absolute shit out of them prior to releasing them so they’re mix ready. Several of them have HARD HPFs at 100 hz or more. Idk where this thing started about high passing guitars 100-130 hz. It just sounds like ass lol. Check out the Titan audio ones. VES steered me onto those and they’re killer. Josh Middleton are good too.
 
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