Presenting... The Axe-Fx III

There's a saying where I'm from: "Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope!".

Nice saying. :cool:

You really can't please everyone. And I don't say that to denigrate them, but people really have different needs and wants. And over the years those have had plenty of time to crystallize and build up. And it sucks if your pet peeve could not be addressed. Personally I would have liked multiple independent FX loops, so I could hook up a few favorite pedals as separate loops, eliminating the need for a switcher. Who knows, maybe I still could with all those connections. I'd have to read the manual.

Any chance Cliff would explain the choice to increase the size to 3U?

If I remember correctly it was because of the front control panel viewing screen.
 
Sure, if you unload one amp and then load another, and have to do it every time you need to change sound, that's what you get.

So the workaround would be having more than two amp blocks. Or keeping the "channels" loaded but bypassed. I have no idea whether that's possible.

Either way, 35 ms isn't "seamless" for sure, so the gap is not speculation.
 
Sure, if you unload one amp and then load another, and have to do it every time you need to change sound, that's what you get.

So the workaround would be having more than two amp blocks. Or keeping the "channels" loaded but bypassed. I have no idea whether that's possible.

Either way, 35 ms isn't "seamless" for sure, so the gap is not speculation.
Feels seamless to me (and faster than any of my channel switching amps) but everyone has different definitions.
 
The "gap" is arbitrary (and set at 35 ms) and is simply the time to fade down the old amp and fade up the new amp. You HAVE to do some ramp-down and ramp-up or you'll get artifacts as the gain can be completely different. If you just instantly switch from a clean amp to a distorted amp or vice-versa you'll get a pop. That's just basic signal processing. About the shortest you can make ramp-down/ramp-up without introducing clicks and pops is 15 ms so the total time is 30 ms (plus 5ms as a safety margin).

Is it possible the current Axe-FX II ramp up is longer than intended, or able to be reduced? I started a thread about it recently, because it's over 100 ms. The actual gap (total silence) isn't even that long, it's just the fade-in that really makes that first note sound weak or like something is malfunctioning.

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/amp-xy-preset-change-fade-in-unnecessarily-long.133263/
 
Feels seamless to me (and faster than any of my channel switching amps) but everyone has different definitions.

Like I said, it hurts more when you use automation.

Any chance for more amp blocks or, better yet, keeping channels always loaded and cross-fading while switching?
 
If it has two blocks then there's not much difference from the II with regard to avoiding gaps. It's okay if you need two sounds per song, or three that you change in one direction, but it doesn't always work, unfortunately. Whether the blocks have X/Y or 4 channels doesn't change anything whatsoever.
The number of channels can actually make a difference if you meticulously plan your channel switches in the various scenes (for example by loading the "next-to-use" channel in the amp while it's being muted, one scene in advance) and if you always use scenes in a certain order.
 
The number of channels can actually make a difference if you meticulously plan your channel switches in the various scenes (for example by loading the "next-to-use" channel in the amp while it's being muted, one scene in advance) and if you always use scenes in a certain order.

It can only go so far, and in one direction. Or you have to use more scenes. Which has problems of its own.
 
It can only go so far, and in one direction. Or you have to use more scenes. Which has problems of its own.
Yeah sure, everything has its downside, just like the seamless switching causing pops. I guess most users would prefer 35ms of silence to a loud pop.
 
Wondering if the IR mixing in the cabinet block would be like in Cab-Lab, with the volume staying constant (which I would be great !), or like in the Axe-Fx II, in which when you lower the volume of one of the IRs in a stereo cab, the general volume goes down. Logically, I think it would be like in Cab-Lab !

Pretty excited by the (possible) eight scenes controllers, and the virtual possibility to control any parameter in real time. Just to setup pad chords in the synth blocks through the various scenes, for those crazy presets I like so much, would be awesome
 
Wondering if the IR mixing in the cabinet block would be like in Cab-Lab, with the volume staying constant (which I would be great !), or like in the Axe-Fx II, in which when you lower the volume of one of the IRs in a stereo cab, the general volume goes down. Logically, I think it would be like in Cab-Lab !

Pretty excited by the (possible) eight scenes controllers, and the virtual possibility to control any parameter in real time. Just to setup pad chords in the synth blocks through the various scenes, for those crazy presets I like so much, would be awesome

The volume stays constant.
 
27067831_10155493573721374_7642957781425427400_n.jpg
 
The III can be controlled by any MIDI controller so controlling it with a MMGT should be no problem.

However... the communication protocol between the III and the FC's is proprietary and not MIDI-based. The FC's are sort of "dumb terminals". All the they do is tell the III "button #3 was pressed" and the III responds by saying "light LED ring #3 blue" or "display 'My Preset' on the main LCD". This way all the configuration data is on the III and when you backup you backup the foot controller as well. It also means if a foot controller fails you don't have to reprogram a new one (which is a big deal for touring acts where the gear gets hammered on and last second change-outs are common).

Cliff, the old MFC protocoll was MIDI based: Switching on/off a Axe-Fx IA send`s actually the correspondent CC#. By setting up block bypasses in the CTRL MIDI Menu to the same CC#, a let`s say DRIVE1 bypass MFC Axe-Fx IA could also result in a on/off switch off a filter block behind the Amp (to compensate volume increasement for example). So the question:
Will the FC6/12 controllers (respectively the AxeIII) allow such "press one button = run two (or more) actions"? Without the need of a workaround via Scenes?
 
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