ewrath wrote:Hi - just got my Axe, basically to see if the guitar rigs are worth it. I managed to tweak the Logic setting to get a good distorted guitar tone, but getting bored with one tone!
For reference, I have an iMac running MacOS Catalina and Studio One 5 as my DAW. I've been using my AXE I/O not long after it came out.
Sorry for the long post 
, but there has been some confusion with what the AXE I/O and Amplitube 4 roles are. Based on your post, I wanted to define the role the hardware and software we are using, even though we use different DAWs, starting with input source thru to output to the AXE I/O headphones jack. Apple Logic is your host DAW for the Amplitube 4 plugin and you shouldn't have to tweak it to get a distorted guitar tone,
that all happens in Amplitube 4.
AXE I/OThe AXE I/O is not a guitar processor in the traditional sense, where you plug in your guitar and all the processing is done inside the hardware unit. The real magic happens in Amplitube 4. There are absolutely no amp/effects processing capabilities in the AXE I/O firmware. That doesn't include the tone shaping capabilities found on instrument channel #1 (Z-TONE, pickup selection and Pure/Bold JFET selection).
The AXE I/O [
GAIN] knob is not like Gain found on an amplifier, which the AXE I/O is not. The [GAIN] knob is for ensuring the input source, like a guitar, microphone, or balanced line input device are at a proper level before routing the "
clean" signal to the analog output jacks, or to the analog to digital converter (ADC) and sent as a digital data stream via USB. In the AXE I/O User Manual, they suggest trying to get the level to around -3db, although I like to keep it around -6db. This metering check should be done in the AXE I/O Control Panel software.
ewrath wrote:PS I ave to have the gain on Axe channel 1 very low to avoid clipping, a little under 9 o'clock - is this normal?
If you have "hot" passive pickups, that's not too bad. If you have active pickups, then change the pickup selection switch to [ACTIVE]. One thing to keep in mind is that the AXE I/O has XLR microphone capabilities and if you are recording vocals, mic'ing a guitar amp, or recording an acoustic guitar, those will need considerable more gain than an electric guitar.
ewrath wrote:Hi - just got my Axe, basically to see if the guitar rigs are worth it.
So, to sum up our AXE I/O section, the AXE I/O is an interface for taking an analog input source, performing some tone shaping on (Instrument channel #1 only), adding gain to achieve a proper input signal and then, for the purpose of this post, converts the "
clean" analog signal to a digital audio stream to be sent via USB to our Macs.
MacOS DriversI'm totally skipping all the "computer" hardware stuff that happens before this... The digital data stream is passed thru the MacOS class compliant drivers (no external driver like ASIO4ALL needed). The digital data stream is exposed to MacOS as a USB device named "AXE IO" "2 ins / 6 outs". At this point, our original analog input signal is just data in a buffer on our Macs, ready for a program to consume it.
DAW SoftwareSince you mentioned Apple Logic, I'm not going to mention the Amplitube 4 standalone program. Above, I mentioned, "ready for a program to consume it". In our case, we are using DAW software (Apple Logic and Studio One) to consume this data.
ewrath wrote:I have the Monitor knob on the Axe turned all the way to DAW.
That's good, because we just want to hear that rock'n, kick axe guitar tone.
But, if you recall, at the moment we just have a clean analog input signal that was converted to digital audio and it is now waiting in a buffer that our MacOS is managing for us...
In our DAWs, we are selecting [
AXE IO] as our input and output audio device. In Studio One, they are called "Recording Device" and "Playback Device", respectively. We create an audio track and turn on "Input Monitoring". The meters in our DAW's respond when we play, but what do we hear? It's just a clean guitar... what gives? If we recall, from above, at the moment, we just have a clean analog input signal that was converted to digital audio from our AXE I/O. Now we need another piece of software to do something with that data stream now that it's in our DAW programs.
Amplitube 4 Software PluginOk, now we need to get that data stream into Amplitube 4. That's where the real magic happens, and it's all happening in our DAWs on our Macs.
None of the Amplitube 4 magic is done in the AXE I/O.
Since we're using a DAW, IKM created a plugin version of Amplitube 4, which relies on the host DAW software to bring in the data stream from our MacOS data buffers. In the DAW world, there are usually "Instrument" plugins and "Effect" plugins. Instrument plugins usually generate their own sound from samples (like SampleTank 4) or thru modeling (like MODO Bass). Effect plugins generally only "process" buffers of data passed to them by the host DAW.
I've never used Apple Logic, but I've used about a half dozen other DAWs over the years, and how this next part is done, can differ, but generally we need to direct the "clean" buffer of data that we now have into Amplitube 4. In Studio One, each track that is created has an "Insert" module, like you'd find on a hardware mixing board. I simply drag the Amplitube 4 plugin into this module and then the Amplitube 4 GUI appears in a window and I can choose which amps, cabs, effects, etc., I want to use.
This is the part you seem to be struggling with... If you recall what I said above, that "effect plugins generally only process buffers of data passed to them", then that is all Amplitube 4 is going to do, crunch data. No "sound" is created at this point, only manipulated digital audio. In Studio One, because I used an "Insert", the previously "clean" data is processed thru Amplitube 4 and sent back to the track I created earlier. If I selected the "Jet City JCA100H" amp model, then the result is a very nice sounding amplifier. I'm not recording anything at this point, just "realtime" listening.
If I do press record and play some power chords thru this cool sounding amp and then stop the recording and remove the Amplitube 4 plugin from the "Insert" module, what is on the track we created? Just a clean guitar... what gives? Most DAW software will only record the input signal, and from the AXE I/O, it is just the clean signal we've had all along.
None of the Amplitube 4 magic is done in the AXE I/O.
Some people like to keep their recordings in the "clean" state, and then they can change how that clean signal is processed at a later time. I like to have the processed signal in my tracks after they've been recorded, which is usually called "rendering". In Studio One, I select "Transform to Rendered Audio", which in the background, "plays back" the recording many times faster than realtime thru the Amplitube 4 plugin and when it's done, removes the plugin and the result is the processed digital data stream,
but the track still only contains data.Alas, both the DAW and the Amplitube 4 plugin can only read/manipulate/write data. Most importantly, they can pass this data back as a stream to the MacOS. In the track we created earlier, we selected [
AXE IO] as our output audio device. This instructs our DAW to pass the data stream back to the MacOS, and then our MacOS sees that the data is for a USB device named "AXE IO" "2 ins / 6 outs", and the data stream flows back to our AXE I/O via USB and then our AXE I/O uses its digital to analog converter (DAC) and now the data stream is finally something we can hear, for example, using headphones plugged into the AXE I/O headphones jack.
This can ALL be skipped, if we turn the AXE I/O [MONITOR] knob away from DAW, but then we would just hear our clean signal, because none of the Amplitube 4 magic is done in the AXE I/O.
Back to our data stream in our DAW and Amplitube 4. That data stream can be processed in realtime using our favorite Amplitube 4 amp/cab/effect, like we did when we enabled input monitoring on our track in our DAW:
Instrument In Analog -> AXE I/O Digital -> MacOS -> DAW Track Input -> Amplitube 4 -> DAW Track Output -> DAW Master Output -> MacOS -> AXE I/O Digital -> AXE I/O Analog Headphones
If we play back our "rendered" tracks, our DAW mixes all of the data on the tracks to a stereo data stream:
DAW Summed Tracks -> DAW Master Output -> MacOS -> AXE I/O Digital -> AXE I/O Analog Headphones
If we play back our single "non-processed" "clean" track and have Amplitube 4 process the data stream in realtime:
DAW Track -> Amplitube 4 -> DAW Track Output -> DAW Master Output -> MacOS -> AXE I/O Digital -> AXE I/O Analog Headphones
ewrath wrote:But when monitoring or recording in Logic, there is a persistent "Clean tone". I have the Monitor knob on the Axe turned all the way to DAW. Interestingly, if I drag a recorded region from the Axe channel to a channel set up with my Logic guitar preset - no clean signal! So it's gotta be some where in the software, but can't find anything in the AmpliTube Plug in...
All of the previous discussion was to help answer your question. We know the issue is not in the AXE I/O, because you have the [MONITOR] knob turned all the way to "DAW". We know that none of the Amplitube 4 plugin magic happens outside of your DAW. I've presented several data flows and we know there is only data manipulation inside your DAW. In Studio One, once I've inserted the Amplitube 4 plugin, I only hear the processed data and no longer hear the clean data. I know the clean data is still coming in from the AXE I/O, but Studio One is
not streaming the clean data back out to the AXE I/O, just the processed data.
I don't believe the clean data is being mixed in with the processed data in Amplitube 4. Apple Logic must be streaming the clean data and the processed data back to the AXE I/O so that you are hearing both. The only other cause I can think of would be if the AXE I/O [MONITOR] knob is
not turned all the way to "DAW", which means you would hear a mix of the clean analog signal and the return of the processed signal from your DAW and Amplitube 4, but you said it was turned all the way to "DAW"...
Dave
