Axe-Fx II "Quantum" 2.00 Public Beta Deux

Only explored the Fenders and the Plexis last night, but "wow" ... that's about all I can say. Christmas in late- January! Realism re-imagined and well executed by the incredible black box.

Both are easily modulated with the guitar volume knobs, but the Fenders are better than ever. I never wanted to play them for some reason, just didn't quite do it for me but last night the double verb was "alive". Previously, I used the Lux quite a bit, but didn't have chance to play it much yet in Q2. Eager to get back to it later today.

But the Plexis! Wow!

Spent hours just rolling thru the list. Used a few to replicate some Billy Gibbons sounds and jammed along with the power trio for a bit.

Beautiful work FAS. :cool:
 
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Q2 is totally stunning - across all amp models. Massive thumbs up to Cliff and the team. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
hey guys, so this is a very rough edit of my over 2 hour stream from last night. i tried to cut out major off-topic parts, but this is a live stream so we were figuring things out in real-time. i demo all the new amps from the release notes and make some discoveries along the way. there is always more to learn and i definitely don't know everything, not even close. so hopefully you have fun learning things with me!

 
This firmware sounds a little bit harsh to me... But I'm not sure yet.
Yes I also think so.

The response is better, faster. Seems that the notes get a little bit quiet first ( with Plexi 100 W high) after attack?

The Fenders sound more full, but with a hard attack - seems like some has pushed the Pick Parameter.

The new Plexi sounds ok, but not really different to the others - with factory cab 54 as Cliff to much bass to my ears.

Mesa IIC+ - what´s happened - lots of gain and very harsch?

The savage has a good bass response, very fast.

The Vox are very open now, lots of "air".

Spawn 1 - to less bass response, I think it was much better in 1.06.

I will go back to 1.06.........have to play gigs this weekend, there will be a lot of tweaking time. Sorry - I don´t like yet.
 
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One thing I did notice: when I turn the knobs on some parameters, like gain in the new plexi for instance, there's some crackling. Never noticed that before.
 
Just got my XL+ a couple of weeks ago and did my first firmware update last night. I'm totally floored by how many good sounds are in this thing, but also how easy it is to get a good sound despite how deep the editing goes. I guess in about 10 more years, almost nobody will use "real" amps anymore.
 
I don't understand ppl talking about the attack is too fast!
You can easily... slow down it... and go to a rounded tone (but I ear around a lot of muffled tones!)
To me Q2 is a Double-Quantum leap to realiZm!!!
 
I don't understand ppl talking about the attack is too fast!
You can easily... slow down it... and go to a rounded tone (but I ear around a lot of muffled tones!)
To me Q2 is a Double-Quantum leap to realiZm!!!

Minority opinions are welcome. Our ultimate goal is always realism and if moving towards that goal moves the unit away from someone's idealized tone then that's the price of progress. Those of us who grew up on tube amps and appreciate the beautiful subtleties will appreciate Q2 the most. Idealized tone inevitably leads to sterilized tone.
 
Try the Plexi 100W 1970 with Factory Cab 54. Be sure to dial it in like you would in 1970, i.e. turn the Mid, Treble and Presence way up; turn Norm Drive and Bass down a bit.
I just spent an hour with this incredible Q2b2 and plexi ! This is remarkable, all the nuances of the play are transcribed !! the sound is well balanced with a nice punch!!!
I also feel that my own IR sound better ?! subjective?
thank you for this constant evolution of your products!...
 
Minority opinions are welcome. Our ultimate goal is always realism and if moving towards that goal moves the unit away from someone's idealized tone then that's the price of progress. Those of us who grew up on tube amps and appreciate the beautiful subtleties will appreciate Q2 the most. Idealized tone inevitably leads to sterilized tone.

I think I have noticed the improvement in the base tone with this FW than all the previous ones. I have a one output going to a FR212 and the other to a 1936 cab with CL80 and V30 and now get both cabs so sound like they are coming from a real marshallesque or Engl valve amp in the room. To me its the most convincing real valve tone we have had yet, esp with the marshall cab. Am super pleased with this. Every fw update make me less likely for me to want to plug in my Engl Blackmore and I love that amp. Just wish I had a few days off work to turn into a tone hermit.
 
The previous firmwares were based on theoretical tube models. One thing I began to notice is that the theoretical models simply weren't agreeing with measurements. So after much research we realized that the theoretical models are just that, theoretical and that real tubes do not behave exactly as theory predicts. I can't reveal the details of what aspects don't agree and why those aspects are important.

Q2 is based on the actual tube curves which gives a different character to the distortion and a more bouncy and responsive feel.
 
The previous firmwares were based on theoretical tube models. One thing I began to notice is that the theoretical models simply weren't agreeing with measurements. So after much research we realized that the theoretical models are just that, theoretical and that real tubes do not behave exactly as theory predicts. I can't reveal the details of what aspects don't agree and why those aspects are important.

Q2 is based on the actual tube curves which gives a different character to the distortion and a more bouncy and responsive feel.

This alone is a major step forward in the modeling evolution of the unit.
 
The main thing I noticed on my custom amp settings (that I based on the Twin model) is that after the firmware update, when I apply vibrato with my finger on a note (without plucking the string first), it now goes into sustain much more quickly and loudly than before...like when I use my actual Twin Reverb. Is this from the firmware update or am I just imagining it?

It definitely sounds great.
 
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The previous firmwares were based on theoretical tube models. One thing I began to notice is that the theoretical models simply weren't agreeing with measurements. So after much research we realized that the theoretical models are just that, theoretical and that real tubes do not behave exactly as theory predicts. I can't reveal the details of what aspects don't agree and why those aspects are important.

Q2 is based on the actual tube curves which gives a different character to the distortion and a more bouncy and responsive feel.
So the actual tubes in the modeled amp will matter more now?
 
Sometimes I want to be suspicious and just think that Cliff simply puts out a firmware with everything just a hair louder, so that everybody thinks it sounds better - just to fool us - because it seems that it should not get better. I don't know if I am riding on placebo wave or what, but, when I played my guitar yesterday, I thought I needed to change strings. Today I updated, played my preset with Keith Urban Fender amp and I felt like I just changed strings on that guitar. With all that closing the gap towards realism, I might end up buying a tube amp ...

But on the other hand - why? I have hundreds of them and they keep getting better ... and more realer .... :)
 
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