Amp settings, low vol vs high vol...

[carbz]

Just wondering how many of you may use your gigging/recording amp for home/practice use as well and have found that your settings must be completely different for each use? I realize in a live or recording situation you would most likely play at much louder levels so the vol would obviously be set much higher but how about your eq and gain settings? I normally play at talking volume and set it accordingly but I went to record a clip earlier and wanted to push some air, I found I had way to much gain and not enough high end. As I turned the vol up the high end strated to lessen and was getting way to much feedback squeal. Its amazing how much less gain you need when pushing air!! It seems to be kind of difficult to get a great saturated crunch (ala VH brown sound) with clarity thats somewhat controllable at very cranked volumes. Anyone feel the same? Any comments?

[Tread]

IMO ...I think you'd probably get more answers to this question in the amps and cabs section.
Good Luck!:BEER

[jezzzz2003]

I personally disagree on that one.
I find playing at high volumes more natural sounding and more organic, whilst still feel clarity is still very good, depending on amp ofcourse.
Pedals on the other hand work well for me at low volumes.

[Timbre Wolf]

The dynamics of a loud amp are different than those of a quiet amp. So, yes, to try to re-create the feel of a louder amp, at apartment volumes, one generally would tend to overdo overdrive. It is best to make amp settings at performance volumes.

There's also the ear's changing response to different frequency ranges from low to high volume. The Fletcher (http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/handbook/Equal_Loudness_Contours.html)-Munson (http://www.allchurchsound.com/ACS/edart/fmelc.html) curves express the kinds of changes one expects. Simply stated, at low volumes, we tend to raise the low and high frequencies ("scooped" eq), but when that eq setting is cranked, it sounds overly flubby in the bass and bright in the treble. So louder volumes sound better with a relative mid-boost. You can learn to anticipate this effect, and compensate for it.

- T