Presenting... The Axe-Fx III

[chris]

Congrats Cliff and company!
Does the III have a built in mic preamp on one of the inputs for vocoder type stuff and for those who want to add effects to a mic-ed talk-box?

there is no mic preamp. they are line level XLR inputs.

here's what Matt had to say:

This is because they are line level inputs, not mic inputs.
Two awesome options for between a mic and Axe-Fx III are the Summit Audio TBA-221 and the FMR-RNP. A nice inexpensive choice is the Rolls MP13. With one or two of these, you could sell the interface.

 

[John Tisdale]

Personally, I automate most everything that makes sense. I still want a footcontroller, though, because I use expression pedals, and control a DAW, so I want it small, so the smaller FC looks like it will be perfect.

 

[chris]

i'm VERY excited for an FC that can fit in my guitar bag. no need for another huge case.

 

[NeoSound]

Hopefully footswitch setup will be as easy as it is on the AX8?

 

[Shredology]

As I was saying:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...-firmware-release.127619/page-49#post-1548693

nailed it!

 

[Sharka]

But regardless, what's gonna happen to my KickTags?

You have a refrigerator... right? They'll look great!

 

[Carl]

*sigh....

Suddenly, my Axe FX II just seems kinda...dreary...bland....boring....un-exciting...old fashioned even!

*sigh...

 

[Sonofiam]

I just love all the comments from non-beta testers that know what it will and will not do.

 

[barhrecords]

Looks amazing.

The view of the grid where each block is represented by meters... loving that!

 

[tjontheroad]

Congrats FAS!!! That sucka looks freakin’ awesome. More POWER to ya’ all

 

[GreatGreen]

I was going to ask if the Axe-Fx III can tie into Global Blocks via MIDI this time around in some way. I always wanted to do this with the Axe-Fx II because it would mean you could have footswitch access to, even with only one Amp block on the grid, 10 amp "channels" in a single patch.

However even without this, 2 amp blocks per patch at 4 channels each means every patch can have up to 8 different amp channels instantly available.

Wow. Almost makes you dizzy.

 

[JayCM800XL]

Me: I have bad news...(point at picture on screen)... Axe Fx III has been released! 4 processors, more inputs and outputs, thousands of stock IRs!
Wife said (singing a lyric from one of our songs): I don't understand, it's all gibberish to me

I'll take that as a yes!

 

[chris]

Me: I have bad news...(point at picture on screen)... Axe Fx III has been released! 4 processors, more inputs and outputs, thousands of stock IRs!
Wife said (singing a lyric from one of our songs): I don't understand, it's all gibberish to me

I'll take that as a yes!

that is the clearest "yes" possible, i'd say.

 

[GreatGreen]

So I see in the Axe-Edit pic, there's dedicated blocks for In 1, Out 1, Out 2:

Is this mandatory for every patch or will each patch just default to "Instrument In" input and "Output 1" output?

edit: also, what's that "Quick Build" button on the top left do?

 

[iaresee]

Is this mandatory for every patch or will each patch just default to Instrument In and Output 1 out?

You have to place input and output blocks in every preset. There’s no default input and output done at the far left and right sides of the grid.

 

[chris]

Is this mandatory for every patch or will each patch just default to Instrument In and Output 1 out?

Cliff spoke of the flexibility having the 4 Input and Output blocks. you need to have Input and Output blocks to get sound in and out, but it's completely up to you where and what you use. this alone is HUGE.

 

[barhrecords]

You have to place input and output blocks in every preset. There’s no default input and output done at the far left and right sides of the grid.

Love this concept, but may I suggest a forum "hot key" for a canned reply to the "No sound" posts?

 

[GreatGreen]

You have to place input and output blocks in every preset. There’s no default input and output done at the far left and right sides of the grid.

Cliff spoke of the flexibility having the 4 Input and Output blocks. you need to have Input and Output blocks to get sound in and out, but it's completely up to you where and what you use. this alone is HUGE.

Gotcha. Ok that explains the 14 block grid width over the old 12 block grid width.

If I may... it might be a good idea to let people set a default "Input/Output" default grid layout that automatically pre-populates for every new patch. My default layout would be as simple as "far left = Instr In" and "far right = Output 1" but it would be a huge workflow boost and quality of life improvement if I could just set that part and forget it.

Then again I suppose you could just create that patch and copy / paste it to all 512 patches once and you'd be good to go.


Now that I think about it though, it would probably save Fractal Audio a lot of headache and a ton of support phone calls to send the unit from the factory with pre-populated input and output blocks, and then expose the "new patch template" to users who want to customize their ins and out blocks for new patches.

 

[JayCM800XL]

that is the clearest "yes" possible, i'd say.

Haha, she's also my bass player/singer... I just got her a Darkglass M500... she's learning Gear Is Good For You

 

[chris]

Love this concept, but may I suggest a forum "hot key" for a canned reply to the "No sound" posts?

it really should be clear when setting up presets from scratch. yes, it will take some adjusting since it's different. but it's not THAT different from making sure people put a block in the first column. i've answered that "no sound" question many times - they just put blocks in the middle willy-nilly.

You just know folks are going to complain about that / request this feature because they'll see it as tedious to have to do it every time they want to build a new sound.

i think this would be really limiting, and cause many unnecessary shunts to fill all 16 columns. i honestly think this won't be necessary. if you don't see an input and an output, you won't get sound. pretty straight forward.