Axe-Fx III Firmware 28.00 Release

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FractalAudio said:
I hand-traced the schematic for the amp myself and the NFB is clearly off the speaker jack. I don't really care what internet says, all I know is what our reference amp has. If you want a different value you can change it.
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I’m not doubting what’s in your specific amp at all, and Friedman definitely wired the NFB from the speaker terminals for a while - just saying that Dave Friedman (RACKSYSTEMS in that post) himself says that from 2016 onwards they changed it to the 4 Ω tap and that’s the case in most people’s amps from that period onwards.

At 1:44:45 in this video Dave talks about it, says it’s something they used to do but not anymore:




It’s not internet speculation or conjecture, it’s from the horses mouth and is a well documented change that he’s mentioned himself a lot (which somehow skipped your specific amp). But as that amp has had different revisions and component values over the years, I don’t mind swapping the values in Axe Edit to the version I like best.

Just looked through my old photos for my BE100 gut shots which I believe is the same year as Cliff’s (4 toggle switches on the front). Annoyingly the angle of the camera isn’t ideal but it seems to be coming off the toggle switch (pink wire) on my amp.

IMG_1361_Original.jpeg
 
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FractalAudio said:
fwiw, this is the best sounding firmware yet. I had these new triode algorithms but I didn't think they'd run in real time. On a lark, I coded them and was surprised to see them run with sufficient overhead.
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Hint at need for Axe Fx IV? If algorithms risk maxing out the III, then...?
 
FractalAudio said:
  • New “VCA Bus Compressor” algorithm:
    • Based on a VCA feedback design (e.g., SSL Bus Compressor).
    • Dynamic time constants. Extremely fast attack times are achievable as the actual attack time is always less than the programmed time (decreases dynamically).
    • This algorithm replaces the Studio FB Compressor.
    • Auto Att/Rel has been removed as it is no longer applicable.
  • New JFET Compressor algorithm:
    • Based on classic JFET rackmount compressors.
    • Dynamic time constants.
    • The Attack and Release times are the “native” times of the detector. The actual Attack and Release times will be much shorter (about 5 times). The native range of Attack Time for an 1176 is 0.1 ms to 5.5 ms. The Release Time range is 59 ms to 1.1 s.
    • Due to the design of these compressors the minimum compression ratio is 4:1. Any settings below 4.0 will be clamped at 4:1.
    • Unlike the actual hardware the algorithm’s threshold is variable so instead of varying the input and output gains we give you a more convenient method (and Automatic Makeup Gain).
    • Due to the very fast attack times these types of compressors will distort. This is often used for effect. Low frequencies are distorted more.
    • The “Drive” control allows overdriving the output stage for added distortion.
    • Perfect for fattening up your sound and adding grit. Works well as a “finishing” compressor at the end of a chain (usually before time-based effects). Also great for vocals, bass and drums.
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2 questions -
  • should we manually set the compressor block to the attack and release we want within the above mentioned ranges? the above makes it sound like the algorithm will default to a value within the ranges described
  • setting the ratio to values lower than 4 changes the shape of the graph displayed in both the front panel and in axe-edit (v 1.14.11) should we be manually setting the ratio to the correct values? the above makes it sound like the jet compressor algorithms won’t go less than 4:1 like the 1176 hardware
 
FractalAudio said:
Updated default Negative Feedback value for Friedman BE/HBE models. … The models were also “remastered” as a result.
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Let’s goooooo
MirrorProfiles said:
At 1:44:45 in this video Dave talks about it, says it’s something they used to do but not anymore
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fwiw, I was the one who asked him that in that episode. This was during the period when I was trying to chase the tone of the Ares-firmware in the new Cygnus-based BE/HBE. But Cliff himself later clarified that the two models had differences in the preamp (location of the gain pot to be precise) which would make them sound and feel quite a bit different. I don’t know how much the new NFB values etc. will help get that older model’s tone but I can’t wait to try.
 
Cliff, what current compressor model would be closer to Pedal 2 or Pedal 3 of firmware 27? Just to have a reference/starting point.
 
flying_walrus said:
2 questions -
  • should we manually set the compressor block to the attack and release we want within the above mentioned ranges? the above makes it sound like the algorithm will default to a value within the ranges described
  • setting the ratio to values lower than 4 changes the shape of the graph displayed in both the front panel and in axe-edit (v 1.14.11) should we be manually setting the ratio to the correct values? the above makes it sound like the jet compressor algorithms won’t go less than 4:1 like the 1176 hardware
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re reading again, im going to assume @FractalAudio is describing the behavior of the actual hardware, not the algorithms, so i should manually set the values within the specified ranges
 
Well per the notes I had to track down where signal was being applied in my main gain preset. First though "reverb block" but not so. After a couple short minutes I discovered I had "room level" at 25% for one channel and that was the culprit. Did a quick check of other presets and should be good.

Posting in case anyone else needs to check there too :). Only had under an hour but it's been a blast.
 
Rex said:
That doesn't happen on mine. What screen did you come from just before you got to this one?
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mr_fender said:
Same here. Looks normal on my Mark I model.
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Thanks for taking a look Guys. I see that it's not on my current preset! I've been creating a ton of tones tonight, moving very quickly, so I can't tell you what I was on right before that. I wonder if I had just gone one page over then come back if the screen would've refreshed without the error.
 
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