How to Increase Volume?

[jbhyers]

I have the fender amp pack and using the twin reverb. I would like to get a clean tone out of the amp that is louder but so far it is very quiet through the headphones and my studio monitors. Are there settings to get this headroom up on the software without distorting the sound? How can you make your clean tone much louder without adding in a bunch of EQ pedals or turning up all the volume knobs to 10. The twin reverb is not a quiet amp and should be loud. Thanks for any replies!

[garfy]

Hi jbhyers

Can you run us through what you are doing so far. As long as you have a healthy signal going into your audio interface and AT4, and the output level in AT4 is fairly high without hitting the red, then this should be plenty loud enough.

If this is the case, without meaning to sound glib, can you not just turn up the volume of your headphones/monitors? What interface are you using?

[dlgebert]

Are there settings to get this headroom up on the software without distorting the sound?

My suggestion would be to get the amp sounding exactly how you want it, then use the plugin master volume (not the amp master volume) to increase the overall output of plugin.

You can try using a compressor in the "rack" section for post processing, if you want a "real world" solution, that would emulate what might be done with physical equipment.

Dave

[Blistery18]

I have found the same issue to get excellent clean tones. Volume is a tad too low, and tweaking Master Volume, the Input/Output settings only works to a certain point before the tone starts loosing some quality. I have discovered excellent results by using a real “Clean Boost” pedal plugged in before my audio interface. I use the Tc Electronic Spark Mini Booster at a low setting to achieve the tone at the volume I am looking for. I have found the Slash Booster in Amp 4 good however tone quality deteriorates rather quickly when working on low gain amps. I use a Yamaha THR10 as my audio interface, an excellent low noise, low latency interface. Hope this helps.

[jbhyers]

I have found the same issue to get excellent clean tones. Volume is a tad too low, and tweaking Master Volume, the Input/Output settings only works to a certain point before the tone starts loosing some quality. I have discovered excellent results by using a real “Clean Boost” pedal plugged in before my audio interface. I use the Tc Electronic Spark Mini Booster at a low setting to achieve the tone at the volume I am looking for. I have found the Slash Booster in Amp 4 good however tone quality deteriorates rather quickly when working on low gain amps. I use a Yamaha THR10 as my audio interface, an excellent low noise, low latency interface. Hope this helps.

I didn't even think of putting the TC spark mini in front of the audio interface! That's a great idea. I don't want this signal to break up and turning up knobs of master and input ruins the tone.

[jbhyers]

Hi jbhyers

Can you run us through what you are doing so far. As long as you have a healthy signal going into your audio interface and AT4, and the output level in AT4 is fairly high without hitting the red, then this should be plenty loud enough.

If this is the case, without meaning to sound glib, can you not just turn up the volume of your headphones/monitors? What interface are you using?

I am using the Scarlet Fire 2i2 audio interface. if I turn it up too much it turns red and starts clipping. Also if I hit the master and input too much it will break up the tone. A real twin reverb should be plenty loud at 3 or 4 when going through two 100W studio monitors or a decent pair of headphones. I shouldn't have to turn everything up to 10 to get it louder.

[garfy]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but a Mini Booster (or any other booster for that matter) is just adding gain to the signal hitting your AI. In turn you will just end up turning the input gain down on the 2i2 to compensate, making it about the same level as you have now.

I shouldn't have to turn everything up to 10 to get it louder.

No, but if your gain structure inside the plugin is good and you have the tone you want, then you need to turn up your 'real' amplification ie your monitors or headphones to make it louder to you. There is no 'volume' inside the software, just a bunch of 1s and 0s. The level you hear is down to your AI and speakers.

[Blistery18]

To clarify my first post, I understood that JB could get higher volumes however the tones he was after suffered as a result. I agree with Garfy, that a Boost pedal is just another form of gain, however in my own experience I found that form of gain improved volume while at the same time maintained the clean tone I wanted. There is definitely a learning curve with amp/fx simulation software and find there is a delicate balance to get the best tone. Especially when throwing different guitars with different pick up outputs into the mix. For my higher output guitar pickups, I don’t need to do the boost pedal work around. Hopefully this clarifies my original post

[dlgebert]

I think it also depends on how AT4 is being used. My response was geared toward recording inside of a DAW using the plugin. In that context, the plugin has more than enough volume to "print" out to a track.

If you're looking for an audio interface with amazing clean headroom, I fully recommend IKM's AXE I/O. It's got a great mic pre-amp as well and it's built super solid, a lot better than some of the Boss stuff I've owned.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/axeio/

Dave