Atomic Ampli-Firebox Mark II

[tobijohn]

I don't know if it just comes with the modeling territory and this is normal but with the high output amp models or just about any other with more than a little boost or gain and the guitar volume no more than half way up, I get a cracking or hissing sound through either headphones or a FRFR monitor. This might be normal but it's really annoying. I've opened a support ticket with Atomic hoping it's a hardware issue and is repairable for a reasonable cost...

[Chocol8]

I don't know if it just comes with the modeling territory and this is normal but with the high output amp models or just about any other with more than a little boost or gain and the guitar volume no more than half way up, I get a cracking or hissing sound through either headphones or a FRFR monitor. This might be normal but it's really annoying. I've opened a support ticket with Atomic hoping it's a hardware issue and is repairable for a reasonable cost...

Is this an edge of breakup situation or when fully distorted? There is a phenomenon called blocking distortion in real tube amps that causes a crackling sound as you go up and back across the breakup threshold. For better or for worse, Atomic has modeled this well. The amp models master volume has an impact on the amount and level of this distortion so you might want to play with that and see if that is what you are hearing.

[tobijohn]

Is this an edge of breakup situation or when fully distorted? There is a phenomenon called blocking distortion in real tube amps that causes a crackling sound as you go up and back across the breakup threshold. For better or for worse, Atomic has modeled this well. The amp models master volume has an impact on the amount and level of this distortion so you might want to play with that and see if that is what you are hearing.

Thanks for the response, there's no way to upload MP3/wave files to AGF so later tonight, I'll try to find some other site to upload to and I'd appreciate it if you give me your opinion. I've tried playing around with EQ and different volume levels for the amps, boost options and cabs but no luck. On some of the high gain amps, you can hear it even if you turn the gain down to 1. I just can't believe that's normal...

[tobijohn]

OK, here's the link. Anyone with an Amplifire or any other modeling gear, let me know what you think, TIA:



And if you do have an Amplifire, here's the preset i used. If you can, please download it and tell me if you have the same issue, thanks:

[Chocol8]

I don’t have time to play with the pre-set tonight, but that sounds sorta like bd but it’s worse than normal.

What does your amp block look like for level and MV?

[tobijohn]

I don’t have time to play with the pre-set tonight, but that sounds sorta like bd but it’s worse than normal.

What does your amp block look like for level and MV?

I don't recall what the master volume was at when i recorded that but no more than 7 and the gain under 5. However, even with ithe MV under 5, the Gain at 2-3 and the level under 0 dB, you still get that. FWIW, that was using the Freedman HBE model but I it happens as well with any of the Marshall models and just about any of the other models as well, especially with the Fuzz option. In fact, the Fuzz option is pretty much unusable because of that...

[Chocol8]

Try with the MV both cranked to 10 and turned down to 2-3. Change the amp block level control to compensate to keep the volume about the same. Don’t change anything else and see if it makes a difference.

[tobijohn]

Try with the MV both cranked to 10 and turned down to 2-3. Change the amp block level control to compensate to keep the volume about the same. Don’t change anything else and see if it makes a difference.

It's still there but with the Gain set at 4 or lower, and the MV at 10 vs. 2-3, it actually cleans up a bit and sounds better. Still, the presets i downloaded from Atomic that use the high gain amps or any of them set to higher gain or with different boosts have that same background noise, even after a firmware upgrade and factory reset. That's why i think there might be something physically wrong with this unit, I just can't see Atomic putting out a package with presets that sound like this. Also possibly worth noting is it seems that higher output pickups exacerbate the issue...

[Chocol8]

It definitely sounds worse than the normal blocking distortion. I think something is wrong. That said, Atomics presets are horrible.

They started life as really bad presets, then through several firmware updates that changed how the settings respond, the presets which were never updated got worse.

Look for presets posted by Jace Nubeck in the last two years on their forum. Those were made with new firmware and are much better.

[tobijohn]

It definitely sounds worse than the normal blocking distortion. I think something is wrong. That said, Atomics presets are horrible.

They started life as really bad presets, then through several firmware updates that changed how the settings respond, the presets which were never updated got worse.

Look for presets posted by Jace Nubeck in the last two years on their forum. Those were made with new firmware and are much better.

Thanks, I'll give that a go. I believe that's the same guy in tech support that I opened a ticket with...

[tobijohn]

FOLLOWUP:

I heard back from Atomic and they said that under the circumstances, that sound I described is completely normal, there's nothing wrong with the unit. They reached me just in time too as I was about to begin disassembly and give it a good soaking of De-Oxit. While I have a long history of taking things apart, the history of reassembling whatever it was and actually working again is very short...