Axe-Fx II "Quantum" Rev 1.00 Public Beta

I noticed improvement in the low end. And I mean huge improvement. I always had to dial low end out almost completely or in advanced parameters I had to raise the low cut frequency to like 500 hz or so to tame the bass.

Now with everything on noon I have the right amount of bass right away. There were couple of models where I messed with it, but the low end is just beautiful for me now.


With that being said, I was also suspicious that this might be just a placebo effect of Cliff giving us Quantum firmware, while there is nothing new in the firmware actually :)
 
Update sounds awesome. Great job. I didn't read this entire thread, I did read a lot though. Didn't see anything about the user cabs getting bumped around. Was a little surprised when I turned on after update and my main preset sounded like shit. It was then after digging in that I saw my cab got switched. I have, I mean had a lot of presets with user cabs that are now changed. I did add 20 to a few of them and that put me on probably the correct cab, or at least it made sense. But some presets were entirely out of the ballpark. I have never done anything globally so none of my cabs have anything to do with that. Never used global setting, never even been on that page more than 2 seconds. Also, I had 2 cab packs loaded into my axe which are still there in the correct places but on axeedit they show up as factory cabs. It shows 500-600 factory cabs, I didn't look at the exact number, and now all the user cabs are blank. But, on the axe, as I said, it's all correct. Please let us know if this cab thing can or will be addressed with final version as I may want to revert back to 19 and use my back up to get all presets loaded back up with correct cabs and then update. As of now, I'm really just guessing and starting over with the cabs. Not a big deal but if if its something I don't have to do, that's means more playing time. Again, update is rocking, the Hbe amp was great before, now its insane awesome.
 
More importantly, I noticed that the Plexis hold together dimed (MELT FAC).


Yep, liking this. In passing, has the input gain always clicked over to MELT FACE on max??? I'm not a super high gain freak and noticed it for the first time today on the factory petrucci preset???

I'm finally starting to 'get' the mk 11 with this beta. The bright/deep model with a generous spoonful of post 'mark' eq. Hmmm. Tasty.
 
since this thread is so long, i'd like to share my video again. this is an excerpt from a live stream where Cliff, Matt, and Mikko happened to come by and offer some insight while we all tried QFW 1.00 together for the first time. there's a lot of talking, sorry, it was a live stream, but you can skip around to find the demo sections.

Axe-Fx II BREAKING NEWS - "Quantum" Firmware 1.00 Public Beta Released! | AxeFxTutorials.com

That was a lot of fun, Chris. I look forward to the next Twitch experience.
 
Am I only imagining things but why doesn't drive affect volume? Doesn't do that on Plexi 100W at least. Also hearing a lot less hiss.

Once the preamp drive starts overdriving the power amp on non mv amps (or when running high mv settings) the overall volume doesn't go up much.
 
I've noticed the pick attack the most, it encapsulates the notes with that glassy chirpy kinda sound only a great tube amp can do. Eq harshness on some frequencies is gone. Note separation is great. The only negative is that many amps are closer to each other than before?, some of their distinct character is less? and for all I know may be truer to the original amp?

Is there a parameter that can increase or decrease quantum theory :) or is it completely baked in?
 
Update sounds awesome. Great job. I didn't read this entire thread, I did read a lot though. Didn't see anything about the user cabs getting bumped around. Was a little surprised when I turned on after update and my main preset sounded like shit. It was then after digging in that I saw my cab got switched. I have, I mean had a lot of presets with user cabs that are now changed. I did add 20 to a few of them and that put me on probably the correct cab, or at least it made sense. But some presets were entirely out of the ballpark. I have never done anything globally so none of my cabs have anything to do with that. Never used global setting, never even been on that page more than 2 seconds. Also, I had 2 cab packs loaded into my axe which are still there in the correct places but on axeedit they show up as factory cabs. It shows 500-600 factory cabs, I didn't look at the exact number, and now all the user cabs are blank. But, on the axe, as I said, it's all correct. Please let us know if this cab thing can or will be addressed with final version as I may want to revert back to 19 and use my back up to get all presets loaded back up with correct cabs and then update. As of now, I'm really just guessing and starting over with the cabs. Not a big deal but if if its something I don't have to do, that's means more playing time. Again, update is rocking, the Hbe amp was great before, now its insane awesome.

So if I update, all my current Presets will have their Cabs moved around to different locations ?
 
I usually wait till the full non-beta release of firmware. Cliff hooked me with the “Quantum” and also the fact that there were no release notes. Couldn’t resist. Let me say a huge thank you to Cliff and the development team too for the hard work put into this update. It is incredibly appreciated. Another huge thank you, Cliff, for whatever realization that allowed you to conceive this new modeling. I don’t even think of it as modeling anymore after what I’m hearing. Which is…

….very clear note articulation on chords and arpeggios even with high gain amps such as Atomica, Deizel, Fryette D60M, Hot Cat (these are the ones I’ve tried thus far on studio monitors). Its an increased midrange clarity. Note separation and clarity are important to me. I would often pair a high gain amp with a med gain amp (HIWATT) to bring out the note clarity and definition. This is completely unnecessary now. The high gain amps I’ve tried so far (above) sound so ridiculously great. I love that just by backing off the volume control I get even more clarity with no change in the character of the sound. The HIWATT jumpered (not even G3'd yet, BTW) by itself which I run at medium gain exhibits similar characteristics.

There is a low end bounce, feel, chug…whatever that really has to be played and experienced to understand. Its like the effect of the dynamic depth control but more pronounced, just like a real amp. On a maybe unrelated whim, I found that dropping the variac to 75% has more of an effect than previous firmwares particularly on the Atomica and Dirty Shirley amps. There is even more of that juicy bounce.

Dynamics….yes, the way the guitar responds to volume control and especially touch is better than ever before. It was there before just fine but now its like ultra-touch sensitive.

I've tried this on my own presets thus far. I use both studio monitors and power amp-cab set ups. Haven’t even tried it yet with the latter set up but Cliff says the improvement will be even more noticeable. Wow.

Cliff, if you are reading….I cannot put into words how absolutely great this particular firmware sounds. The firmware updates are always excellent. Quantum is in another league. As someone said already, “a new paradigm.” I believe it.

Well done!!!
 
So if I update, all my current Presets will have their Cabs moved around to different locations ?

i don't have full details, but i believe it's only for XL/XL+ units, and only if you use the Global Blocks feature with your Cab Block, from what i've read. it MIGHT affect the number/location of all factory cabs, but i'm not sure about that.

just make sure to have time to audition presets and make changes. no idea if there will be a "fix" for this for the official release; similar issues on the MFC required manual changes or factory reset. but who knows!
 
Guideline to enjoy your Quantum Trip:

- Update to Quantum Firmware.
- Plug your guitar.
- Turn on your Tube Power-Amp just to get that smell from the tubes cooking.
- Start playing.
- Now you have the full experience. The tone from the Axe and the smell of the tubes... The missing link.



Awesome stuff FAS. Thanks.

I think Cliff needs to find someone that can make "tubes cooking" scented air fresheners....
 
i don't have full details, but i believe it's only for XL/XL+ units, and only if you use the Global Blocks feature with your Cab Block, from what i've read. it MIGHT affect the number/location of all factory cabs, but i'm not sure about that.

just make sure to have time to audition presets and make changes. no idea if there will be a "fix" for this for the official release; similar issues on the MFC required manual changes or factory reset. but who knows!
Thanks Chris I might have to wait ..... I have some big shows coming up....
 
Any reports on how this update affects clean tones?

Thanks.

yup, they are more "spanky" and feel more immediate - not in EQ, but more like response. hard to put in words of course. you can check the video i linked to a few posts back and look for where i demo clean stuff. super clean to very heavy is all affected in positive ways with this one, i feel.
 
I was pleased with some of the factory presets that I tried with the new firmware after sticking with v19 since I got the XL+ a few months ago. Glass Castles (with pitch turned off) and EJ Clean have been my favorite factory cleans I've found so far and I like the improvement the new firmware brings. Pick attack/feel and harmonics in particular seem to have been improved.

But my own rock and metal presets where I used user cabs now have the wrong cabinet selected. Does anybody know of a way to find out which cabs I had selected previously so I don't have to go and audition them all over again? I guess I could restore my backup and find out, but is there an easier way?

Thanks!
 
Can't wait to try this.

As an aside: I'm a software engineer by trade and recent events have brought up the idea of project 'continuity.' I don't know if Cliff is the sole engineer/coder, but considering the progress he's created in digital amp modelling and effects in general, I really hope he has the important stuff documented so that if/when he wants to hand over, it's possible. That said, long live Cliff!! :)
 
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