Output to amp: Muffled Sound?

[Karl Houseknecht]

Originally Posted by alfaphlex

Karl, the main volume knob can control the Main outs, the Amp1+2 outs, or all of them together. It's the "Volume Control" setting in the User Options (pg. 104 in the manual).

Excellent! Mine was just set to control the main outs. I will set it to Amp2 and see if I can get some good volume.

Now if I can get rid of the blanketed sound when going into the effects return of my amp, then I'll be all set.

[derker]

Karl; If you're running to the FX return, use the Main outs instead of the Output to Amp. The OTA outputs are designed to feed the front end of an amp, and run at guitar level. FX returns are usually line level, and so are the Main Outs. If you don't have an XLR->1/4" cable, you could use the FX sends on the 11r (they can be set to line level) but you will have to put the FX loop in the right place of your rig signal chain, turn them on, and set the levels appropriately.

I don't know if this is contributing to the muffled sound you're hearing though. If the cab sims are off and your master (in the amp block) is set low (to avoid poweramp sim coloration) then I would try messing with your Mesa to see if anything changes. I don't know much about the Express series, but lots of Mesas' poweramps change depending on the channel selected. Try selecting a different channel, or messing with the presence. Presence controls are usually tied to the poweramp section.

[Karl Houseknecht]

Originally Posted by derker

Karl; If you're running to the FX return, use the Main outs instead of the Output to Amp. The OTA outputs are designed to feed the front end of an amp, and run at guitar level.

Interesting. I tried running the output to amp into the front the Mesa set clean. It produced horrible white noise, distortion, hissing, etc. Like it was way too hot of a signal for the front of the amp.

[alfaphlex]

Originally Posted by Karl Houseknecht

Now if I can get rid of the blanketed sound when going into the effects return of my amp, then I'll be all set.

The reso feature helps with that. (User options->Output to Amp->NoCab->Reso)

Someone reported a bug a couple of days ago where the reso is disabled when you turn the unit on even if it appears to be on. To turn it on, turn the reso off, then turn it back on and you will hear the difference.

(this bug has already been confirmed by the staff, so I'm sure it'll be fixed soon).

[derker]

Originally Posted by Karl Houseknecht

Interesting. I tried running the output to amp into the front the Mesa set clean. It produced horrible white noise, distortion, hissing, etc. Like it was way too hot of a signal for the front of the amp.

Weird. I know that you have a good amount of experience with modelers so I'm trying not to stoop to elementary tips here I'm sure you're well aware of the importance of proper gain staging, placement of blocks in the signal chain, etc..

I would guess that your noise problem may have something to do with a ground loop or setting levels too hot, or something simple you may have overlooked. If you're running into the guitar input, I would disable everything in the rig signal chain to make sure the signal going into your Mesa is kosher, and then start turning stuff on, one by one. I would also do similar things if running into the FX return; disable everything except the amp block (with cabs disabled, obviously) and check the levels before turning on FX and cranking stuff up.

Also, make sure you try and switch channels on the Mesa while you're running into the FX return. On most amps it usually won't make a difference, but lots of Mesas switch components in the poweramp when the channel is changed. I had a similar experience with an Egnater modular setup into the FX return of a Mesa Dual Recto; the tone was anemic and lacked balls until I switched to the clean channel. Even the Orange and Red switches sounded different. The Express definitely has similar switches so it would be worth flicking them around to see if/how it affects things.

[Karl Houseknecht]

No worries. Be elementary, I'm obviously overlooking something here. I'm new to this particular unit.

[Karl Houseknecht]

Originally Posted by alfaphlex

Karl, the main volume knob can control the Main outs, the Amp1+2 outs, or all of them together. It's the "Volume Control" setting in the User Options (pg. 104 in the manual).

Thank you, this definitely solved the volume problem.

Originally Posted by derker

Karl; If you're running to the FX return, use the Main outs instead of the Output to Amp. The OTA outputs are designed to feed the front end of an amp, and run at guitar level.

And this definitely solved the blanket problem. I played around just a tad with the input gain on the clean channel of my amp and fed the signal into the front. Worked great. I also dug out an XLR - 1/4" converter and ran into the return with the main outs. That worked great too!

Thanks for all your help guys!