Official Axe-Fx Q&A thread!

[theo]

Thanks man. Yeah I'll def try that out.

I have discovered now however, after moving it around, unplugging everything, switching rooms etc. That everything works 100% fine when I unplug my laptop.

If the laptop is unplugged and just on battery power, there is dead silence. So for now I'm attributing it to my laptop. Maybe it has sub par components that aren't handling the current well? Or maybe there is an issue with my laptops power and my cheap shitty audio interface. Either way if I record I guess I'll have to unplug my laptop for a while.

I'll be investing in a new audio interface anyway because I want the midi option for Axe Edit, so I'll see if that helps.

I'll update this thread when that happens in case that solves it.

Laptops are powered with switchmode power supplies which are notoriously loud in an EMF sense. I have the exact same issue as you.

You can get some ferrites to put over your cables, they should filter out a decent bit of that interference and are super cheap.

 

[jeffofadyingbreed]

I'm curious if there are guides out there somewhere for emulating effects pedals using the axe fx. I've seen some tutorials for matching overdrives but I'm specifically looking to replace my Boss DD-7. I'm mostly interested in emulating the "Mod" setting. Thanks

 

[ElasticPancakes]

Laptops are powered with switchmode power supplies which are notoriously loud in an EMF sense. I have the exact same issue as you.

You can get some ferrites to put over your cables, they should filter out a decent bit of that interference and are super cheap.

I didn't know the terminology but I suspected it had something to do with the laptop cable and how it's different to a normal pc cable.

Luckily I have some of those ferrites that came with a television. Awesome.

Thanks mate, you have taught me some new words lol.

 

[ElasticPancakes]

Just an update to my above post. The ferrites worked a treat!

After I researched a bit about them on google I came across a post that mentioned if you loop the cord a few times and then attach the ferrite core it's way more effective than just one at each end. Lo and behold that helped a ton. I actually used 2 Ferrites in this way with 3 coils per ferrite core and it helped like crazy. I imagine if I even went and got another ferrite core it would help even more.

Not 100% gone, but way more manageable, barely audible and I can practically get rid of it all together with my interface controls.

So for anyone dealing with an interference problem, locate the source, (in my case, my laptop cable) and ferrite the shit of it!

Thanks again theo!

 

[theo]

I'm curious if there are guides out there somewhere for emulating effects pedals using the axe fx. I've seen some tutorials for matching overdrives but I'm specifically looking to replace my Boss DD-7. I'm mostly interested in emulating the "Mod" setting. Thanks

If you have a look on the fractal forum there are (I think) two megathreads devoted to effect pedal emulation. One of them is titled something along the lines of "The mother of all effect pedal emulation threads", Might not be that word for word but similar.

Just an update to my above post. The ferrites worked a treat!

Thanks again theo!

I'm really stoked it's helped so much for you! I love ferrites and I preach their goodness to ALL WHO LISTEN! hahaha

Cheapest and most painfree way of drastically reducing unwanted noise.

 

[mnemonic]

I'm really stoked it's helped so much for you! I love ferrites and I preach their goodness to ALL WHO LISTEN! hahaha

Cheapest and most painfree way of drastically reducing unwanted noise.

I don't have an axe-fx but I do have similar noise issues on occasion. I just ordered a ton of ferrites on amazon, am I good to use them on any and all cables around my computer, or are there certain things I should not add a ferrite to? Google doesn't help much for this question, which makes me think they're fine for anything.

 

[theo]

They will not harm anything, safe to use on any signal line.

 

[SamH678]

Got my axefx 2!
here's a tone test and I'm down to share tones if anyones interested.
https://soundcloud.com/samheilman/bare-knuckle-aftermath-tone

 

[FireInside]

What's got two thumbs and just ordered a new MFC-101 MKIII???

This guy!

Been waiting since October. Now I can sell my UNO FCB1010.

 

[EcoliUVA]

For those unaware: Axe Edit 3.0 is out and compatible with Windows 8! I am excites. Did a new PC build recently with Win8 and was pissed to find I wasn't able to use Axe Edit. No idea how long it's actually been out, I could be significantly behind the times, but I just found out and am beyond happy to go home and actually be able to talk to my Axe-Fx again. I will whisper sweet nothings into its USB.

Carvin Amp arrived today! Im going home to pick it up this weekend and Im also picking up a mesa recto 4x12 if all goes well!

Well darn. I was hoping to hear something positive from you about the Carvin + Recto 4x12. I'm currently strongly considering the exact same setup (I have the cab already). I've only heard good things about Carvin quality, and my other options are the significantly more expensive Matrix GT800 or mixed-reviews Rocktron V300. This decision is eating me alive, even more than the axe/kemper before I picked up the axe II.

 

[asher]

I've gotten Axe-Edit (the old one for Ultras) to work as well as it was working on 7 (aka not very) with 8.1, but sweet. I probably can't use it though since I bet it's the new version

So I FINALLY got a USB midi interface and I'm kind of itching, soon, to sit down with getting better cabs into my Axe. I run with a Mackie HD1221 and have been more and more noticing the gain feeling kinda.. boxy. At some point I acquired a giant pack of RedWire impulses, with shittons of microphone variations - way too many to try to compare. Do people have good recommendations?

 

[Syrinx]

For those unaware: Axe Edit 3.0 is out and compatible with Windows 8! I am excites. Did a new PC build recently with Win8 and was pissed to find I wasn't able to use Axe Edit. No idea how long it's actually been out, I could be significantly behind the times, but I just found out and am beyond happy to go home and actually be able to talk to my Axe-Fx again. I will whisper sweet nothings into its USB.

It's been out for a couple months now. Rumor has a new version that brings Axe-Manage back should be here soon.

 

[Andromalia]

Topic has been pretty silent for a lot because, for the most part, we get what we want from the axe II now. For myself I don't need anything more. Amp X or amp Y would of course be nice, but the unit is technically good enough that tech progress wouldn't really make an audible difference.

 

[Shask]

I haven't tried 12.03 yet, but I am wanting to check out that "preamp sag" control he said he added today. A lot of high gain players seem to not like 12.03 as much as 12.02 and this control lets you turn off the new stuff.

 

[taysil11]

basically what i want to use an axe-fx for is a substitute for an amp head. So i would go [axe-fx] => [power amp] => [cab].

my question is, how exactly do you plug the axe-fx into a power amp? most of the power amps i see have a single input, and it looks like the axe-fx only has stereo output. does it have a mono unbalanced output somewhere?

 

[theo]

The outputs on the axe fx are split into left and right sides.

I just send the left side of my patch to my poweramp and cab.

 

[Kristianx510]

So I recently got an Axe FX Ultra and have a small question. It seems pretty pointless, but I'm curious. So I'm plugging I to the front input, and whenever I play something the input 1 levels go up only on the left side. Is that normal? The reason I ask is because my friend recently came over, and when we used his guitar it came up on the left and slightly on the right side.

 

[Shask]

Yeah, that is normal when you plug into the front yourself.

 

[theo]

I have only owned an axe fx 2. But on that there is the option on the input for L only, stereo or L+R summed I think. I personally just use L only.

 

[Seanthesheep]

Second Carvin amp is a dud. Im getting my money back and buy a 5153 or 6505 unless the Fryette LXII ever happens