Official Axe-Fx Q&A thread!

[LeviathanKiller]

Is there a big difference in the amp simulation quality between the ii xl+ and the iii? I don't really use effects other than a noise gate and boost so I don't know if the extra processing power is worth it. I can get the xl+ for $1200 locally but I kinda want a iii but I'd end up spending $800 more for one used.

I upgraded expecting there not to be almost any difference at all. I just wanted more IR space and the screen and such. I was wrong. I like the sound of the III a lot and feel it was a noticeable improvement over the II XL+ I had. I had no complaints against the quality of the II XL+ though. It was only once I upgraded that I noticed room for improvement as evidenced by how the III brought improvement. Basically, it's just how much do you want to spend. Either choice is going to be a good choice.

 

[lewis]

any talk yet about this last AX8 firmware update to match the last II update that was released?

 

[broangiel]

any talk yet about this last AX8 firmware update to match the last II update that was released?

I don’t believe there’s one coming. The guy who handled all the Ax8 stuff left Fractal. That’s been part of the FM3 push—unite the code base so that doesn’t happen again.

 

[Lax]

I was bored the other day, so I was messing with my Axe-FX II in terms of tweaking my master preset. I decided to remove the X/Y switching, and put additional blocks and bypassed them with scenes instead (used a second block for a clean amp, etc....). I always had a dropout when switching scenes with my Behringer FCB1010...

I was bored the other day so I redid my main preset with some IRs browsing and tho I already had zero X/Y changes, I modded my post cab effects routes (parallel delay etc) and realized that I was using it wrong, meaning some sounded wrong before and spillover and effect tails weren't complete, I felt stupid not realising that at rehearsal at full volume

Now I'm back to the struggle of choosing between delay and reverb on clean sound, how to have a ballsy main crunch sound (I use the enhancer block) that doesn't feel weak as soon as I turn on one modulation effect on it...

 

[c7spheres]

I just saw a YouTube vid that was posted only a few days ago of a guy giving examples or seamless channel switching and spillover delays. I understand this is a weakness in the AxeFX and it discouraged me from looking further into it. This guy was giving examples and saying even though it was a very small delay it was better. Upon hearing/seeing what he's talking about, I have a new hope for this unit with this because although it was very small, it was still acceptable to my ears in a performance situation, and certainly seemed as good as any tube amp it would seems. How this performs under the scenarios I would use it under I don't know, but it seemed very usable to me. I'm still struggling with the whole IR thing. I just don't like the sounds of them. Upon hearing the far field IR's it seemed more promising, and now a second farfield IR set is coming out from what I understand. Also saw a vid on a guy mixing near and far field IR's and that seems promising too. It re-peaked my interest and I'm keeping my eyes/ears open.

 

[Andromalia]

There's a shitton of cabs in the III, and they're preeeetty good. I felt the need to buy third party ones for the II but won't for the III. And I didn't even listen to all of them. (There's *hundreds*)
It's worth checking the various 2x12, seems lot of people jump to the 4x12 directly and theyre missing a lot of good stuff

 

[lewis]

There's a shitton of cabs in the III, and they're preeeetty good. I felt the need to buy third party ones for the II but won't for the III. And I didn't even listen to all of them. (There's *hundreds*)
It's worth checking the various 2x12, seems lot of people jump to the 4x12 directly and theyre missing a lot of good stuff

only aftermarket cabs I bought were the official Misha djent USA pack

Been using it for ages, then last week changed my amp block for the Energyball II for a change, and decided to try the stock Orange cab (Citrus V30) and the tone is SICK
Very impressed with the stock IRs

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Yeah, if I hadn't already purchased some when I was using the II, I would probably be fine using the stock cab IRs on the III. There's sooo many and a lot of commercial freebies in there too.

 

[Andromalia]

It's made way easier by the fact that you can blend them inside the unit. I have a patch using the same cab with 3 different microphones and I just adjusted the volumes to get something that was really good. Maybe we could have a separate reference thread with recommended internal cabs.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

It's made way easier by the fact that you can blend them inside the unit. I have a patch using the same cab with 3 different microphones and I just adjusted the volumes to get something that was really good. Maybe we could have a separate reference thread with recommended internal cabs.

An open Google Doc would probably work. Just list the one you recommend and what amp(s) you like it with.
A thread is not a bad idea it's just that having a separate one for that would get messy pretty quick and all of the good recommendations would be lost in the mix.

 

[mnemonic]

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-ii-ares-rev-2-00-firmware-release.154149/

Surprise axe FX II firmware update

 

[lewis]

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-ii-ares-rev-2-00-firmware-release.154149/

Surprise axe FX II firmware update

And still no Ax8 updates.

 

[mnemonic]

And still no Ax8 updates.

This is a real shame, the last update was a great improvement in my opinion. The AX8 wasn’t a thing when I got my Axe II, but if it was I would have got one.

I hope cliff ports it to AX8, I figured after all this time that it won’t happen, but I guess we were explicitly told no more Axe II updates a while back, so who knows.

It makes me hesitant to try an FM3, as it seems clear the flagship unit is number one, and other units are an afterthought.

 

[lewis]

This is a real shame, the last update was a great improvement in my opinion. The AX8 wasn’t a thing when I got my Axe II, but if it was I would have got one.

I hope cliff ports it to AX8, I figured after all this time that it won’t happen, but I guess we were explicitly told no more Axe II updates a while back, so who knows.

It makes me hesitant to try an FM3, as it seems clear the flagship unit is number one, and other units are an afterthought.

This is why im so frustrated.
Everyone told me that Fractal are amazing with their continued support even after newer products release - therefore i picked up the AX8 thinking that level of customet service was invaluable.

Annoyingly within 6 months of me buying one new, they were discontinued and the FM3 was ushered in. Now at first i wasnt THAT worried because of what i had been told about continued support.

However since then the Ax8 has 100% become an afterthought and collected dust in this respect. I feel slightly duped tbh and had i know this would have happened i would have probably bought another Kemper instead.
These updates make a huge improvement. My band mates II sounds loads better than my Ax8 now thanks to these updates. (Initially they sounded identical)

I dunno i just feel annoyed by it all now.

 

[fremen]

It's not that Cliff don't want to update the AX8, it's that he can't - the available space/memory for the firmware is already 100% used. There's no space left to add lines of code.

 

[Shask]

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-ii-ares-rev-2-00-firmware-release.154149/

Surprise axe FX II firmware update

I was REALLY surprised by this, and thought it was fake, lol.

Have you tried it yet? I read a few people say the low end improved even more, which is great to hear. The low end was always the weak link in the "realness" of the chuggs

 

[mnemonic]

I was REALLY surprised by this, and thought it was fake, lol.

Have you tried it yet? I read a few people say the low end improved even more, which is great to hear. The low end was always the weak link in the "realness" of the chuggs

Not yet, only saw it late last night and I’m in seminars for work all day today. Might not be until tomorrow when I try it.

 

[Shask]

This is a real shame, the last update was a great improvement in my opinion. The AX8 wasn’t a thing when I got my Axe II, but if it was I would have got one.

I hope cliff ports it to AX8, I figured after all this time that it won’t happen, but I guess we were explicitly told no more Axe II updates a while back, so who knows.

It makes me hesitant to try an FM3, as it seems clear the flagship unit is number one, and other units are an afterthought.

Yeah, I would have gotten the Ax8 also if it existed when I bought my II. Oh well, it has proven to be a good piece of gear to have regardless, and never been a huge fan of floorboards since I don't travel with them.

 

[c7spheres]

It's not that Cliff don't want to update the AX8, it's that he can't - the available space/memory for the firmware is already 100% used. There's no space left to add lines of code.

I never owned any Fractal units but have always had my eyes on them. I've noticed the majority of experienced users usually end up settling on a handful of thier favorite amp and cab models. It seems there would be a way for Fractal to make a variable architecture where a user who knows exactly what they want but just want to try out new stuff could erase all the stuff (like what? 80%) they never use and then load in a limited, or customizable version of the new more powerful Ares stuff. A way to basically delete stuff you don't want and add an amp or effect or two, with full Ares power, that really interest you, so you coulld try it out. It would be slower to try out all the models, but still possible and also have the older units almost become demo units for the newer stuff too. Obviously the hardware is different so even doing this might not be worrh it. It may only be worth doing it with the AxeII etc. Maybe that's why nothing yet? It would be like a limited scope user-editable firmware, because even with all the features these modelers have I'm only really interested in a few models. I'd rather have all the power dedicated to a few amp channels, more powerful IR's and effects. What if all the power in the Axe 8 or other unit say was dedicated to modelling a Recto or something with a couple pedals, but ridiculously high res or something? At what point does it not matter any more? Just a thought.

 

[Shask]

I never owned any Fractal units but have always had my eyes on them. I've noticed the majority of experienced users usually end up settling on a handful of thier favorite amp and cab models. It seems there would be a way for Fractal to make a variable architecture where a user who knows exactly what they want but just want to try out new stuff could erase all the stuff (like what? 80%) they never use and then load in a limited, or customizable version of the new more powerful Ares stuff. A way to basically delete stuff you don't want and add an amp or effect or two, with full Ares power, that really interest you, so you coulld try it out. It would be slower to try out all the models, but still possible and also have the older units almost become demo units for the newer stuff too. Obviously the hardware is different so even doing this might not be worrh it. It may only be worth doing it with the AxeII etc. Maybe that's why nothing yet? It would be like a limited scope user-editable firmware, because even with all the features these modelers have I'm only really interested in a few models. I'd rather have all the power dedicated to a few amp channels, more powerful IR's and effects. What if all the power in the Axe 8 or other unit say was dedicated to modelling a Recto or something with a couple pedals, but ridiculously high res or something? At what point does it not matter any more? Just a thought.

What a lot of people dont understand though is that amp models are different memory than the actual modeling. You can throw like a million amp models in there and it wouldn't matter much in terms of space, because (as I understand it), they are basically a list of parameters that tell the actual modeling what to do. Removing amp models does not free up space. IRs are in different memory as well, and removing those does not free up space for more firmware. They are all different things. The core code that is taking up all the memory is all the Math that drives how the modeling is accomplished. The core Math that models how a resistor works, how a capacitor works, how a Tube works, etc.....

EDIT: Let me end with.... "As I understand it from Fractal posts through the years, I assume this is what is happening, as no one really knows other than Cliff...."