New vamp2 today. Not amazingly pleased. Also wierd buzzing..

Swirly · #1 06-19-2003, 03:54 PM

Hi there.

I got my new Vamp today and i have a few questions to ask.

Firstly, its not really bringing out the tones how i expected, a lot are fuzzy and crap.

Thats more of a rant , than a question. But if you felt yours wasnt that good and then figured out how to get some better tones from the presets please let me know.

What i was more after was an anwser to another question.
Its to do with a wierd buzz on my guitar. Basically whenever i play anything on the thick bottom strings, the vamp brings it out as really thick and muddy,and somthing i find it very annoying when i play somthing and then go to place my palm on the strings to mute them and theres a buzz for about 5 seconds after.
At first i thought it was my pickups (standard V7/V

, but i tried all pups and theres still this buzzing type sound that, and also a lot of unwanted noise at times. Im not sure what its due to, but i wouldnt of thought the v amp would of caused this wierd deep buzzing?

Drew · #2 06-19-2003, 04:36 PM

does it sound like the kind of hiss you pick up from pickups near a computer or TV? ARE you near a computer or TV? My guess is it's the noise gate closing, set to a slow gate so as not to bite off sustained notes, so it's just taking a few seconds to cut off after your last note decays, and is picking up the radiation coming out of your TV or computer screen.

Am I close?

As for the tones, check to make sure cab emulation is on, and what are you monitoring through? It could make a difference.

-D

Swirly · #3 06-19-2003, 04:55 PM

Hmm, im not really close to a tv or computer. Not sure what is causing it.

What is the cab emulation? I dont know much about it yet as i only got it a few hours ago, and ive been going through all the presets. And so far i cant find one decent distored sound, there all muddy and crap rather than being nice and clear. Ive got small recordings of mates using a vamp2 for stuff and its great, mine just sucks.

Drew · #4 06-19-2003, 05:03 PM

Ok, start by memorizing the manua. You'll want to, when you start doing custom patches anyway- might as well now.

Define "not really" close.

And what are you using for monitoring? Headphones? Computer speakers? your amp? Your stereo?

-D

Swirly · #5 06-19-2003, 05:45 PM

Hmm. Im probably a few feet away from my comp, but normally everythings ok through my amp, it just seems that the vamp makes it muddy at times.

And for monitoring i tried using the computer (hooked up to the hifi) then tried through the amp, both sound the same basically.

Swirly · #6 06-20-2003, 05:25 AM

Hmm. I tried playing around with it even more last night, but i still havnt had any luck. Basically all of the distortion presets suck ass, its all very buzzy and muddy and nothings comming through well. The clean sounds are clean...but thats about it.
I thought it might be my **** soundcard so then i tried plugging it into my amp but it still sounded like ****e.

A mate of mine on here sent me some sweet recordings and his tone rocked. The only difference to his rig is he was using a Tonezone in his RG and i still have the standard. But surely that isnt making the tone suck so bad...

I might put a recording of it up to show people what it sounds like, although my playings about as crap as the tone so...

microdmitry · #7 06-21-2003, 12:57 AM

You're using it with the headphones, right? Then I'm afraid pretty much anything available on the market will suck. Try running it through a power amp.

Swirly · #8 06-21-2003, 08:18 AM

No, im using it though my comp and my amp. And it generally sucks

Drew · #9 06-21-2003, 12:21 PM

There should be a global "cab emulation on/off" control. Going through your amp (what is it, by the way?), shut the cab emulation off, as you're already going through a speaker cab. Through the computer, leave it on.

Also, have you tried editing any of the presets yet? It could be your sound card... But my J-Station sounded WAAAAY too muddy in the context of the mix when I first started using it. Trading the 4x12 cab models for the 1x12's did wonders to tighten up the bass.

Also, don't you think if you're having trouble with settings, your friend might be the one to talk to? Have him bring his over and run it through your gear, and see how it sounds. Also, get a few of his patches from him, and see how they sound.

-D

Swirly · #10 06-24-2003, 10:52 AM

I managed to get a nice tone from the vamp when going direct into the computer, but i have to turn the volume on the vamp right down, so much so that i can only hear what im playing when i replay what ive just recored.I tried looking at the volume settings and line in settings, but im not sure how to get it so that i can listen to it through the computer speakers at a good enough volume so that i can a)hear it well enough to play and b) not have to turn it up, as it distorts everything and that is what keeps causing the buzzing.

Anton · #11 06-25-2003, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swirly

A mate of mine on here sent me some sweet recordings and his tone rocked. The only difference to his rig is he was using a Tonezone in his RG and i still have the standard. But surely that isnt making the tone suck so bad...

haha thanks man

, you know they suck though...anyway dude , I only use the default presets , not bothered editing them or anything , and i'm 99% certain its your soundcard , I can get a sweet tone going direct through mine but when i crank it up , the tone just dies.. it's what the soundcard can handle , im no expert on this but thats what I think anyway. I'm not sure why it sounds balls through your amp but its not really meant to be played through your amp anyway , its a amp modeller , you know all this anyway though

. The best tone I can get out of mine is when I use my brothers headphones , 150 dollar sennheister headphones , really cool quality through them , but if you play through a ****e pair , then i will sound bad, I haven't tried going direct into a cab / PA or anything , thats probably your best bet though to check the thing is working as it should do..
.Good luck

XenoWang · #12 06-25-2003, 02:04 PM

Swirly, I have a V-Amp2 and believe me, decent rhythm and lead tones ARE obtainable with this little blue gem. The key is to tweak, tweak, and tweak some more. Don't rely on the factory presets as they are nothing to write home about. Test out different amp models, check out the different cab models (I recomment 12 and 15 for tightness in rhythm distortion), moderate gain, and tweak the EQ a lot. When running this thing through my BOSE sound system, I can range my tones from a warm jazz tone, a spanky yet sparkly clean, a slightly scooped thrash metal sound, and even a liquid-smooth John Petrucci-esque lead tone. TWEAK IT!

gkelm · #13 06-25-2003, 03:25 PM

I think Drew's rights...using an amp make sure the cab emulation is OFF, and run into the effects return (use only the power amp section). Should be like any other POD, etc. and sound OK through headphones.

This guy has quite a few sample tones online:
http://www.dthraco.com/competition.htm

Greg

Swirly · #14 06-26-2003, 06:13 AM

Cheers guys, ill try and play around with the presets later and edit some of them.

I still have the problem of not being able to hear it when going direct into the computer though. Im not sure what it is, but if i turn it up so that i can hear it comming through the speakers, then when when i play it back after recording its muffled and ****, so i have to turn the master volume right down in order to get the full tone to come up when playing it back.

Anyway, cheers for the advice, ill play around with it later.

Drew · #15 06-26-2003, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swirly

I managed to get a nice tone from the vamp when going direct into the computer, but i have to turn the volume on the vamp right down, so much so that i can only hear what im playing when i replay what ive just recored.I tried looking at the volume settings and line in settings, but im not sure how to get it so that i can listen to it through the computer speakers at a good enough volume so that i can a)hear it well enough to play and b) not have to turn it up, as it distorts everything and that is what keeps causing the buzzing.

Bingo, we've got the problem. You're turning it up to levels that you can monitor at, but because the recording level is set higher than the playback level for your line input, when you di this you're getting SERIOUS digital clipping when you record.

Try this- fuind an audio editor that lets you monitor playback levels while recording- most can do this. Then, pull up the recording interface, and either use your sound card properties or the v-amp's level control to set it so that it's recording at about -3 to -6dB. This will stop that fuzzy, brittle, harsh distortion sound.

I can't believe i didn't think of this before.

-D