Tag: Fractal Audio

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Studio Diary #35: Reducing Noise With The Axe-FX III And The 4 Cable Method

When I listen to any demos involving the Axe FX 3 on YouTube, there’s no noise to be heard. But here, at home, and in my own demos that I’ve posted, there’s a background hiss whenever I let notes sustain.

I thought it was because I’m using the Axe FX 3 with my pedalboard, and it is. But it’s not the pedals causing the noise. And, thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to sort out.

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#CoffeeAndKlon 32: A Digital Klone In The Axe-FX 3?

#CoffeeAndKlon is my occasional Sunday magazine-style series, where I talk about whatever’s on my mind about guitars, gear, music and yes, sometimes my love of both coffee and the Klon pedal.

Fractal Audio recently released a digital Klon klone pedal for the Axe FX 3. Knowing Fractal’s reputation, it will have been meticulously modelled against a real Klon Centaur pedal – either one they own, or one they were able to borrow from the community.

Can a digital klone be a stand-in for the real thing? Let’s find out together.

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New Arrivals: May 2022

After a couple of months with no new (to me) gear, May has been a very busy month.

There’s a few items I’ve been after, both professionally and for home use. All of these things needed to be imported: some because they’re not sold in the UK, and some because they are sold here but are constantly out of stock.

With the UK government threatening to illegally break its own treaty and start a (doomed) trade war with Europe, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get them if I didn’t act now. On top of that, rampant inflation means that buying later means paying a lot more.

Now that they’re here, what do I think of them? And how was the import process? Read on for my First Impressions.

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Studio Diary #31: Attenuators Colour The Sound

This photo shows the front panel of my Fryette PS-100 Power Station attenuator. To one side, we can also see a glimpse of my Two Notes Captor too.
The Two Notes Captor and Fryette PS-100 Power Station

Attenuators are one of the reasons we can enjoy valve amps at home without upsetting the neighbours. I’ve never really thought about how they affect the overall tone … until now.

In this blog post, I’m going to look at the two attenuators that I have – the Two Notes Captor and the Fryette PS-100 Power Station – and work out what they sound like. And I’m including some sound samples, so that you can hear the differences for yourself.

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Fractal Audio X-Load LB-2 Load Box Demo

Burgs has posted a short demo of Fractal Audio’s new? reactive load box, the X-Load LB-2.

This looks a little different to the other reactive load boxes on the market. There’s a voicing switch on the front, to switch between UK and American speakers. Presumably that changes the impedance behaviour?

I’d be interested in putting one of these up against the Captor, to hear how much difference there is in practice. I think that’d be the only way to understand what problem the LB-2 is trying to solve.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Burgs’ video.