19.05 not working out

Ratbun

Ratbun

Member
i had gotten at least one maybe two updates behind when i installed 19.05

and now a lot of presets and scenes are very different. i checked the release notes where it flags certain models for auditioning. but this is beyond. large gain discrepancies and EQ changes. i keep looking for a single adjustment that will pull things back into focus, but so far it's like i'm starting over again on many presets. very depressing. so much lost time.
 
Ratbun said:
i had gotten at least one maybe two updates behind when i installed 19.05

and now a lot of presets and scenes are very different. i checked the release notes where it flags certain models for auditioning. but this is beyond. large gain discrepancies and EQ changes. i keep looking for a single adjustment that will pull things back into focus, but so far it's like i'm starting over again on many presets. very depressing. so much lost time.
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Have you updated the presets - 19.04?
 
I personally think i like 19.02 better. Especially through power amp and cabs.
Not completly sure though.

BTW: Only use my own presets.
 
I can’t agree, but I acknowledge your frustration. For me, I think I had the best tones I’ve ever had at our last gig with v19.05. Just some small changes to gain and EQ.
 
I'm sorry to hear that OP. I've thoroughly enjoyed my last year and a bit with my Axe3 as each update from Ares came out. Only 19.04 had me scratching my head as I found everything a bit trebly for my taste. A week later 19.05 was released and I was back to smiling at each amp I called up. I'm doing minimal tweaking to be where I want although I could spend a bit less time playing and a bit more time having fun deep diving into the realms of what is available beyond the limitations of 'real' amps which is basically all my unit is currently doing so well. I can as yet only speak for playing through studio monitors but its sounding so 'beautifully mic'ed up amp in the live room' that I could not be happier. I have no real advice except to try building some tones from scratch, assuming you haven't already. You might find less is more now, like I did.

EDIT: I reread your post more closely and by the sound of it you have more than a few presets to manage which I do not and I'm mostly just drive/amp/reverb/delay. Tonally I think 19.05 is excellent.
 
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chris said:
Please give specific examples of “large gain and eq discrepancies” if you’d like some help with this. I’ve not experienced anything like that and I’ve been through many, many presets. Some needed slight adjustments, but nothing “large.”
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Same experience here. No issues with my presets after upgrading firmware

You shall provide more details if you actually want some help. Share one of your presets that doesn't upgrade well. Revert to the old firmware, make a recording at the DAW, load the latest firmware and compare through re-amping, etc
 
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Weren’t there some fairly recent changes to the compressor that caused its output to be significantly hotter? That could explain the drastic difference in gain, assuming the OP has a compressor in a lot of their presets.
 
Pretty much the reason I don't update that often. I know I'm gonna be tweaking presets if I do. And I'm not a huge fan of tweaking presets. Everything sounds good right now, for me, no need to mess with it.
 
I usually run a PEQ near the end of the chain and noticed everything sounded very thin when I first loaded 19.05.

Bypassed the EQ and it was 99% there. 🤷‍♂️
 
Going from 16.xx to 19.05 trashed my kitchen sink preset. I've spent weeks trying to get it back and luckily I've had no shows to play. After revamping my preset signal chain order, auditioning dozens of IRs, hi cuts, lo cuts, speaker impedance curve tweaks, playing till my ears are wrecked only to come back the next day to find it sounding weird....

I think it's close now though - might be sounding better than ever.

For me, the factory presets sound ok in stereo, but in mono not so much. I don't play in stereo because it doesn't work on stage.
 
chrisxs2003 said:
Going from 16.xx to 19.05 trashed my kitchen sink preset. I've spent weeks trying to get it back and luckily I've had no shows to play. After revamping my preset signal chain order, auditioning dozens of IRs, hi cuts, lo cuts, speaker impedance curve tweaks, playing till my ears are wrecked only to come back the next day to find it sounding weird....

I think it's close now though - might be sounding better than ever.

For me, the factory presets sound ok in stereo, but in mono not so much. I don't play in stereo because it doesn't work on stage.
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There are some major modeling changes in those few releases. I would expect sounds to change a bit.

You can always revert if it’s too problematic.

But it sounds like you’re making headway in a positive direction. That’s always been my experience.
 
Since 19.05 I felt like I was the only one not happy with the new firmware until now. I've only been using the Axe III thru my Atomic CLR's at home. But 19.05 just wasn't right (for me).
I've made many presets (40) I keep it simple (amp - cab - dash of reverb) I'll use a variety of amps and guitars depending on my mood or needs.
But after going from 19.02 (which was great) to 19.05... everything changed tonally, even feel wise.

Best I can explain it is... my tones lost something. Grit, grind, bounce, dynamics. looseness, life, and feel. Basically, some of the terms we use to describe most tube amps. I remember seeing the words "smoother distortion" and "clarity" in the release notes.
I ignored these words and installed the firmware. I played different guitars, used different presets... it was everywhere. Again... playing at bedroom levels (I turned up a bit).. still there. My son confirmed what I heard. I reverted back, and everything was great again.

IMO, tube amps generally aren't smooth... tonally, or feel wise. It WAS great in 19.02... not in 19.05.

Most have said everything is awesome (as usual... and it usually is) but (for me) not this time, and not in one or two sounds. It's not something to 'fix' by adjusting some eq (as an example). But, not many are mentioning this regarding the last firmware. It cannot just be me.
 
I re-set all my amps and re-did all my presets when FW16.00 came out, then again when FW18.03 came out. Going though them last night with 19.05 all of the Marshalls and Friedmans sounded a bit off. I dialed them all back in and they sounded good to me again.

I had my Fenders dialed in for good clean sounds, but now I am having trouble getting completely clean sounds. Even with the gain only on 2 in some cases, the input trim on .5, and using a stock Statocaster with low output pickups. I have to pick very lightly to get totally clean sounds, otherwise it starts to distort. Even at really low gain settings.

Checking my Matchless and Vox presets they seem to have lost something I have not been able to dial back in so far. They don't have the sparkle they had before. I spent all night trying to dial them in and gave up.

It is always pretty easy for me to get good distorted sounds from the Axe FX. It's the pristine cleans that are sometimes not up to par to my ears.

Something I noticed a long time ago was that I need to listen to the Axe FX at a certain volume for it to sound right to me. The cleans in particular.
 
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Funny how it works. V19 is working great for me. I was using all sorts of eq and deep tweaks to tame the Cygnus thump that most people loved, but I can use V19 without touching much of anything.
 
favance said:
Make sure you install the new USB v1.11 release. I had missed this and It really made a difference!
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From the download link....
“This release improves the latency stability of the AXE FX III. This release does not resolve 100% of the timing/latency issues that users have reported but it does offer a significant improvement.”

It’s not possible this can improve nor address the sound of firmware 19.05 in any way whatsoever.
But I am beginning to hear some kind of magic fairy dust and for a second, I thought I saw a unicorn.

Happy April Fools Day.
 
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