2 Sound men say I have a 5k "sizzle" that needs to go..

  • At the last 2 gigs, both sound men (both guys that I trust) have said that I have a spike at 5k that they have to cut out and that my guitar doesnt sound "fat". I am playing exclusively with MBritt Marshall profiles. (70's Marshall mainly). I dont believe that I've changed the profiles since i started using them over a year ago however I know when I first set them up I adjusted the treble on them a bit as they didnt have much bite. I use in ear monitors and take a feed from the monitor out on the Kemper and go directly into my in ears so I am not hearing what is coming from the board. They sound great in my ears.


    So...what may be going on? I have a bit of time now between gigs so its time to pull this thing out again, connect it up to my computer and figure out what the issue may be (and honestly "relearn" how to adjust this thing.) I dont recall if there is a global setting I may have adjusted somehow....?

  • Perhaps you can find a location that will allow you to run at live volumes, then play into a looper, go out and listen from the audience perspective.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • Perhaps you can find a location that will allow you to run at live volumes, then play into a looper, go out and listen from the audience perspective.

    Actually, what I plan to do is plug this thing into my small little Berhinger mixer thats plugged into my PC and do a quick recording to see if I'm hearing the same thing. I just have to get time to do it. (Kitchen remodeling taking up all my time).

  • My guess is your IEM headphones are a little bass heavy, and/or have less high end than the FOH, and you boosted the Rig treble/presence to compensate. Those boosts may be causing the issue.


    You could adjust the EQ on your Rigs to suit the FOH, and then globally increase the Treble/Presence as needed for IEM using the Monitor Output EQ.

    Good ideas. I originally set the settings wearing my nice Grado headphones well over a year ago. My EIM's (nice 3 ways) sound pretty similar. Rather than adjust each rig...I'm assuming it may be easier to do a global adjust. I guess my big question is is it possible for EQ to be different on FOH vs what is being sent to the monitor output? (or headphone output)

  • I’d probably run the parametric and just notch out 5k with a fine Q. If you need to thicken the sound up, around 300hz is usually a decent starting point. Below that is a bit boomy, and once you get around 500hz it starts to get into the cocked wah sound.

  • I don't know if those two comments came from the same venue or not but sometimes you can't win, something about the electrical wiring of some places makes your equipment more susceptible to hiss. Try to ask if your hiss is everywhere or just from certain rigs. Try recording your rigs to see if the problem is you, then troubleshoot: try ground loops switches, different guitar/cables, disable effects. Maybe a noise gate could be more effective than an EQ.

  • MBritt’s profiles are generally tweaked for live use, with him using time at soundcheck etc. to set them for whatever PA his band plays through. Sometimes this gives a less than satisfactory personal monitoring sound, as his tweaks will have been made at gig volume, where the highs tend to need taming. Boosting them then, as you have, will likely be why your sound men have said that your tone is fizzy. I’d go back to the way he set them, then use the monitor output EQ, as Paul suggested, to dial in a bit more high end for your IEMs.

    Edited once, last by sambrox: Typo ().