Official Axe-Fx Q&A thread!

[Triple7]

Sweet, I will have to find it online since I bought it used. Thanks for all your help Tom, it's true what they say, you really are Awesome

 

[TomAwesome]

 

[JohnIce]

If I am setting it up mono, on the back of the Axe-fx there is the section Output 1 which has left and right, which one do I go out of, and which input do I go into on the back of the Carvin?

The industry standard is that mono=left. On most stereo devices, if you only want to run mono you plug out of the left channel, unless it says otherwise. I don't think the Axe is any different, I use the left output with no issues so even if the right channel is fine too you might aswell make a habit out of using the left output.

 

[Necrophagist777]

The industry standard is that mono=left. On most stereo devices, if you only want to run mono you plug out of the left channel, unless it says otherwise. I don't think the Axe is any different, I use the left output with no issues so even if the right channel is fine too you might aswell make a habit out of using the left output.

If you are running mono go to I/O and Select L+R Sum instead of Stereo on Output 1. It adds the left and right sides together and sums them out to each output.

 

[Ola Englund]

Here you can listen to some Axe FX clips from an upcoming album with the band Scarpoint.

Producer/mixer Jocke Skog from Clawfinger:

Scarpoint - Done by me. Axe-FX content. - Ultimate Metal Forum

 

[Necrophagist777]

Here you can listen to some Axe FX clips from an upcoming album with the band Scarpoint.

Producer/mixer Jocke Skog from Clawfinger:

Scarpoint - Done by me. Axe-FX content. - Ultimate Metal Forum

+1 that's some savage tone and music

 

[Metalus]

+1 that's some savage tone and music

+1

Btw does anyone know if the Axe-Fx works with the Mbox 2? Would I be able to connect it via S/PDIF? Or would I have to connect it via it's XLR outputs?

 

[Ola Englund]

+1

Btw does anyone know if the Axe-Fx works with the Mbox 2? Would I be able to connect it via S/PDIF? Or would I have to connect it via it's XLR outputs?

I would recommend using the XLR outputs.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

I would recommend the SPDIF. Less DA/AD conversion.

 

[Ola Englund]

I would recommend the SPDIF. Less DA/AD conversion.

Quoted from Cliff at Fractal Audio:

"SPDIF sucks anyways. You get more noise and distortion due to clock jitter and cheap SRC chips than analog. Any Asian mixer is going to have the cheapest SRC chips that can be found and those typically have lousy distortion specs.

Staying digital would be desired in a synchronous system. However, in the OP's configuration the system isn't synchronous. The mixer is running at one sample rate and the SPDIF in must be matched to that rate. Even if the rate is the same (i.e. the mixer is 48 kHz) it's not synchronous and therefore requires sample rate conversion (SRC). In this case the SRC would, for example, be 48.001 kHz to 47.999 kHz. The point being the clocks aren't locked.

Once you put an SRC chip into the equation you start getting all kinds of potential nasties. First of all you have jitter on the recovered clock which will degrade the SRC performance. Then you have the actual performance of the SRC itself. No consumer or pro-sumer mixing board is going to be using, say a Burr-Brown SRC chip. Most likely an AKM or even worse. Add to that that most Asian companies don't seem to understand proper grounding and shielding and use the cheapest PC boards they can get away with and you have a recipe for PLL clock jitter in the SPDIF receiver.

A good SRC chip costs more than a good A/D. So if you go analog into a digital mixer at least you don't have clock jitter problems since the A/D in the mixer is running off the mixer clock.

SPDIF is so bad that the (I forget the name of the consortium, AC '97 perhaps) ruled in favor of abandoning the standard for modern computers. Yeah, it's convenient but the clock jitter typically degrades the quality more than an equivalent analog connection. On my PC here I have a SoundBlaster X-Fi and (to me) the analog inputs sound much better than the SPDIF input. So I use the analog."

end quote

 

[MF_Kitten]

how about the s/pdif on an external sound card though? i have an M-Audio firewire sound card, and it has two of those big s/pdif inputs/outputs (not the mini-jack ones on computers). my pod x3l has s/pdif just like it.

is this crap in the same way, or is he talking about the mini-jack computer ones? (i´m guessing he is, as i´ve had a Creative sound card in my pc that had an s/pdif digital input that was just another mini-jack, and not a proper plug)

 

[Necrophagist777]

I always use XLR, never liked the tone I got with SPDIF. Now in a super high end interface it might be a lot better but I'm happy with xlr right now.

 

[technomancer]

So is there an advantage to using XLR over the 1/4" outs?

how about the s/pdif on an external sound card though? i have an M-Audio firewire sound card, and it has two of those big s/pdif inputs/outputs (not the mini-jack ones on computers). my pod x3l has s/pdif just like it.

is this crap in the same way, or is he talking about the mini-jack computer ones? (i´m guessing he is, as i´ve had a Creative sound card in my pc that had an s/pdif digital input that was just another mini-jack, and not a proper plug)

It's the same signal regardless of the plug size so the same issues would apply.

 

[orb451]

So is there an advantage to using XLR over the 1/4" outs?

XLR output will be a few db louder. I believe it's 3db but I could be wrong. XLR's should also in theory (if properly wired) be quieter and less prone to noise/interference than an unbalanced 1/4" connection.

 

[Triple7]

The industry standard is that mono=left. On most stereo devices, if you only want to run mono you plug out of the left channel, unless it says otherwise. I don't think the Axe is any different, I use the left output with no issues so even if the right channel is fine too you might aswell make a habit out of using the left output.

If you are running mono go to I/O and Select L+R Sum instead of Stereo on Output 1. It adds the left and right sides together and sums them out to each output.

Thanks guys, my cab is in my practice space but I have band practice tonight so I will take it home afterwards and hopefully get it up and running


EDIT: I also need to hook this bad boy up to the computer, which I see is the current topic of discussion. My audio interface at the moment is a Line 6 Pod Studio UX2, on the back it has s/pdif. Would I be able to plug my Axe Fx in there, or do I need to purchase something else?

 

[Andromalia]

My audio interface at the moment is a Line 6 Pod Studio UX2, on the back it has s/pdif. Would I be able to plug my Axe Fx in there, or do I need to purchase something else?

No clue but stay tuned, I'll tell you when my axe fx arrives, as I have an UX8 interface I'll try using the SPDIF for midi if it can save me having to buy another interface. The thing should be there in two or three days tops, tracker still shows it in germany though.

 

[Triple7]

No clue but stay tuned, I'll tell you when my axe fx arrives, as I have an UX8 interface I'll try using the SPDIF for midi if it can save me having to buy another interface. The thing should be there in two or three days tops, tracker still shows it in germany though.

Awesome dude thanks, if I get a hold of a cable first I will let you know how that goes!

 

[technomancer]

No clue but stay tuned, I'll tell you when my axe fx arrives, as I have an UX8 interface I'll try using the SPDIF for midi if it can save me having to buy another interface. The thing should be there in two or three days tops, tracker still shows it in germany though.

You can't use SPDIF for MIDI... SPDIF is audio, MIDI is, well, MIDI

 

[Andromalia]

I wasn't sure, as I was having a look at various interfaces and saw this for exemple (see attachement): there is a plug labeled MIDI *and* s/pdif.

So I gather this wouldn't be a good one to use the axe fx with ?

 

[TomAwesome]

It looks like that MIDI/SPDIF port uses a breakout cable.