Ares FW update. Honestly can't tell any actual difference.

Ant Music

Fractal Fanatic
I updated my firmware on the weekend and I have to say that I honestly can't tell any significant difference at all. It still all sounds the same. I'm stoked with my tone as it is so I don't feel like I've lost anything by updating but yeah... Just saying I don't see what all the fuss is about. It all seems very subjective overall to me.
 
In my case, I experienced a difference. But you really have to look for it to experience it.
Don't expect much.
Like, if you already find it hard to hear a difference between a model and a real amp, the update is just somewhere in between that tiny difference, moving towards the "real amp" sound in a hyperbola curve.
 
Depends on what you're running through and the models youre using too - it's VERY noticeable on the high gain models - das metal, Herbie, triaxis, diezel to name a few.....the fenders also benefit greatly-I definitely noticed it on the bassman, tweeds, and there's a LOT more chime on the voxes. The friedmans, rectos and citrus not as much, but there's still a difference there.

I'm not so sure it will be as noticeable if you're using headphones, or power amp and cab, but on FRFR it's a night and day difference. It may also not be as noticeable if you are using a ton of gain - even on the high gain amps I don't use a lot of gain so it's very noticeable for me.
 
Depends a bit on the amp, the playing style etc. Some models didn’t change a lot, others had some nice improvements. Wasn’t a huge across the board change in every model.
 
did you do a soft reset on the amp blocks? i noticed some of the default values (especially round the cathode follower) changed
 
I updated my firmware on the weekend and I have to say that I honestly can't tell any significant difference at all. It still all sounds the same. I'm stoked with my tone as it is so I don't feel like I've lost anything by updating but yeah... Just saying I don't see what all the fuss is about. It all seems very subjective overall to me.

I don't hear any noticeable difference either. After every update I hear people go best ever! My presets now come alive! Like a blanket has been lifted off my speakers! Me, it just sounds the same. I don't even bother to adjust my old presets. I think I haven't changed them since what? Q.7? Then again, I must have built dozens of overdrive and big muff pedals before I got into the Axe FX, and to me most of them sounded the same as well. I would try out a new pedal build and go 'meh, sounds exactly like the one I was already using.' In the end I probably did it more for the fun of building things then for an actual quest for tone.

So color me indifferent whenever there is a new firmware upgrade, as I expect it to sound exactly the same. Color me even more indifferent when a new amp model gets added, because to me most amps are like most overdrive pedals, all the same as well. Color me very excited though when a new firmware upgrade comes with a new effect. But that only rarely happens.
 
Some people have more sensitive hearing. Just as some people have better/worse eyesight than others it's an obvious extension that all our senses vary depending upon the individual. If you can't hear the difference then that's either a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it.
 
Some people have more sensitive hearing. Just as some people have better/worse eyesight than others it's an obvious extension that all our senses vary depending upon the individual. If you can't hear the difference then that's either a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it.

I sometimes can hear things, sometimes I have no clue why people are raving about this or that.

Question. When you improving axe-fx FW and comparing to the real amp, are you ONLY doing it by instruments, measurements, software etc or are you using your ears too to compare amp vs modeling version for the final FW?
Not sure if you can disclose anything, but would be fun to hear about it
 
I play mostly high gain amp's, I am able to tell a big difference. I was playing last night and was thinking, how amazing the Axe II sounds now, it was already fantastic but now it seems polished in the low and high ends.
 
When I first installed 1.03 the other day, I noticed the lows and lower mids sounded more clear. There was less smearing in the lows/lower mids, which gives a tighter thump. It is not a dramatic difference, but enough it is noticeable. I mostly use the 5153 Red at high gain.
 
I don't hear any noticeable difference either. After every update I hear people go best ever! My presets now come alive! Like a blanket has been lifted off my speakers! Me, it just sounds the same. I don't even bother to adjust my old presets. I think I haven't changed them since what? Q.7? Then again, I must have built dozens of overdrive and big muff pedals before I got into the Axe FX, and to me most of them sounded the same as well. I would try out a new pedal build and go 'meh, sounds exactly like the one I was already using.' In the end I probably did it more for the fun of building things then for an actual quest for tone.

So color me indifferent whenever there is a new firmware upgrade, as I expect it to sound exactly the same. Color me even more indifferent when a new amp model gets added, because to me most amps are like most overdrive pedals, all the same as well. Color me very excited though when a new firmware upgrade comes with a new effect. But that only rarely happens.

Hah hah, I feel the same way. I barely hear any difference between different firmware versions or with real OD pedals and amps. IMHO, I think speakers/cabinet defines guitar tone much more than the amps themselves. Also the room that those speakers/cabinet are in. I've never done it but I'd be willing to bet that if you took a bunch of different high gain amps and plugged them into the same cabinet in the same location, they would all have a very similar sound to them, obviously with varying levels of gain since some amps are higher gain than others. But then with an OD/EQ, you could make them sound almost exactly the same.
 
I think there are subtle changes coming from Ares 1.01. Either way, i am actually relieved there are no more FW updates. Lately, i have found myself just playing a lot more like the old days rather than constantly fiddling with parameters Ad nauseum. My main go to presets are sounding great and i'll be content with this for quite some time.
 
Totally agree with Cliff here, everyone hears differently.

The speaker or sound system you're using makes a huge difference - the speaker is like 70% of your tone, and even with FRFR it makes a difference too

That being said, there's a lot more going on-that comes from the amp and pickups. This firmware made a noticable difference in both the tone and the FEEL as well....even if you don't hear a difference, pretty sure it felt more alive and expressive somehow....and that's just as important as the actual sound.....it affects how you play and how you react

It's amazing how easy it is to make everything sound the same too - for eg all Ola's tones sound great, but are basically the same sound...and I'm pretty sure I can get even a Marshall and a Fender to sound similar, but the FEEL would be very different. The more gain and drive and pedals you put in front the amp is the more everything will sound more and more similar.

The pickups are another reason everything might sound similar-single coils tend to highlight tone a lot more whilst humbuckers tend to sound more similar to each other for eg. If you can, try an amp like the ODS or Das Metal with single coils with the old and new firmware-the difference will be hard to miss
 
Might be worth also doing A/B testing with low volumes as the ear is more sensitive compared with high volume situations. That's for example how most of the mixing/mastering should be done with occasional high volume tests.
 
Did try the Beta version and definitely will need to adjust patches, even though I agree they sound good updated right from FW9.04
Just don't have the time right now. I also think changes are subtle at ear but, after rehearsal, much more profound than estimated at first listening as the compression at rehearsal level seems to react quite different than before on the global equalizing ranges and between rhythm and solo levels.
Definitely a perfect build to finalize Axe fx ii and guitaristic implementation not to be underestimated. Keep on rocking !
Thanks again.
 
Most people can also be trained as to what to look/listen for regarding subtleties. Once you train them to recognize the deficiencies they could not previously detect, they are sometimes not happy about it.
 
I don't always see a big difference after a new firmware, especially when there is a new one every week !

In the last one, there for sure something different with the vox.

I will say that the axe fx is a little like a child, if i can make such a comparison.
I don't see daily changes with my son. But in some years he changed from my little boy into a man.
In some years , small increment after increment, the axe ii grew up to become an incredibly reliable and powerful modeler
 
Some people have more sensitive hearing. Just as some people have better/worse eyesight than others it's an obvious extension that all our senses vary depending upon the individual. If you can't hear the difference then that's either a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it.

I like to think of it as a blessing. When you're not worrying about tone you can just focus on what's infinitely more important, writing good songs.

Hah hah, I feel the same way. I barely hear any difference between different firmware versions or with real OD pedals and amps. IMHO, I think speakers/cabinet defines guitar tone much more than the amps themselves. Also the room that those speakers/cabinet are in. I've never done it but I'd be willing to bet that if you took a bunch of different high gain amps and plugged them into the same cabinet in the same location, they would all have a very similar sound to them, obviously with varying levels of gain since some amps are higher gain than others. But then with an OD/EQ, you could make them sound almost exactly the same.

The most I did with cabs/IR's was play a riff into a looper and then cycle through all the factory cabs of the Axe. This had two advantages, you immediately hear any differences, and I selected two cabs that I haven't changed since, and also, because you immediately hear the difference, there is no time for subjective memory to color your judgment. When you change pickups on a guitar, or change pedals on your board, or change Axe FX firmware, there is always time between the last time you heard your sound and when you get to play again. There is no immediate A/B comparison. And since most people perceive new as always better, if only because you invested time, emotions and resources into the upgrade, new is often automatically perceived as better. Some user here made a youtube vid where he actually demoed every Axe-FX firmware playing the same riff, so you could actually hear the differences. Each time the difference was either unnoticeable, or very subtle (to me at least).

Most people can also be trained as to what to look/listen for regarding subtleties. Once you train them to recognize the deficiencies they could not previously detect, they are sometimes not happy about it.

That's because ignorance is truly bliss. ;):D
 
I sometimes can hear things, sometimes I have no clue why people are raving about this or that.

Question. When you improving axe-fx FW and comparing to the real amp, are you ONLY doing it by instruments, measurements, software etc or are you using your ears too to compare amp vs modeling version for the final FW?
Not sure if you can disclose anything, but would be fun to hear about it
He says he uses his ears extensively to compare amp vs. modeling:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ersion-5-00-beta-2.148664/page-3#post-1760858

In general with audio, what I've read is that if you can hear it, you can measure it, but the challenge is knowing what/how to measure. So my guess would be that once Cliff finds out there's a difference in what he hears, he then tries to figure out what to measure and implement in the modeling.
 
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