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Headphone sound thin and weak


firehawkkwah
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When I have the Firehawk FX played into my amp, it sounds great. Love it.

 

But when I plug in my headphones (into the Firehawk), it sounds crappy. Decent headphones, too. Sounds the same plugged into headphone output of the amp.

 

I know that it won't sound the same in the headphones as from the live amp, but it sounds pretty thin and bad.

 

1) is there some switch or setting I'm missing?

2) is that crappy tone what I'll get if I plug it into an FRFR (or PA, or laptop)?

   2a) or do I need to set up my patches so they sound good in the headphones, even though it might not sound as good in my live amp?

3) I've played with the patches and can't seem to make anything sound good in the headphones. Just sounds like there's no amp or cabinet modeling or anything. Sounds like what I heard in my phone's back before I had the Firehawk, which leads me back to question 1...

 

Thanks!

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You're facing a common situation for users who connect any Amp/cab modeling device to a guitar amplifier. If you select a cab model in your preset and then route the output to a guitar amp you then essentially have two cabinets in the signal chain - the modelled one in the device and the physical one. That rarely sounds good. You may even be using two amps if you connect the FH output to your regular guitar input on you amp.

 

The fact that the sound from your amplifier sounds good suggests that your preset is configured to use no cabinet model, and perhaps no amp model. Hence, when you use headphones in the Firehawk you are hearing exactly what you describe: "Just sounds like there's no amp or cabinet modeling or anything." - because there probably isn't. And yes, this is what it will sound like if you connect your current preset output to an FRFR/PA speaker.

 

The solution requires you to be aware of your signal routing and configure your preset accordingly. If you're using headphones (or connecting directly to FRFR/PA) you need to use an amp+cab model in your preset. If you are connecting to the guitar input on your amp your preset needs no amp or cab model. If you are connecting to the rear input on your amp (bypassing the preamp and using just the cabinet of the amp) then your preset needs an amp model but no cab model.

 

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Yeah, I've been essentially running two amps (and cabs). One virtual and then my physical one (set flat and clean) It has sounded great (well, a select few that I use regularly, the other ones not so much). I wanted to record some stuff but in the headphones and on the computer it sounds nothing like what I hear from my combo amp. ANd I don't want to mic my real amp, that was part of the reason I got the Firehawk FX! Ha 

 

The clean tones (or little distortion) sound good. But the "metal" presets and tones of that ilk are not great. I guess I'll keep trying to set some patches that sound good in the cans, and then use my other patches when I plug into my real amp. 

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