700+ Naked Amps TonePack for AX8 Release

[bradlake]

Your choice.

 

[iaresee]

one question about the austinbuddy presets,do you guys install all presets or only the presets you guys like?i have lots of great presets in my AX8 in that is why im asking.

I browse the bank files and audition them that way. Then I’ll save one in hardware and build my usual preset template out around the amp/cab pair.

 

[Manny Fufish]

I load them all, but I load and unload banks all the time in Fractal Bot. I load banks in bulk and user cabs in bulk and have these in directories ready to go. It only takes about 10 seconds to load up a fresh bank of Presets or a fresh bank of user cabs so I never sweat swapping one for another. Don't forget to back up what you have of course so you can get back to your current state. Full backups once and a while go a long way!

 

[NightWalker]

thank you bradlake,iaresee,Manny Fufish going to buy those presets soon but im think im going to follow iaresse advice.

 

[faulty_equipment]

As above I load up the browser in Axe-Manage Presets and audition them till I hit one I like and save it. I go back later and add effects as needed and ready to go. I gigged this past weekend with VibroVerb, Vox, and Capt Hook 2A presets from this pack. It was on fw 9.01 - per Austin Buddy advice I ran Spkr Comp up to 5 and left the rest alone. BMT to taste - I generally ran Treble up a bit - my JP15 is pretty dark tone wise.

 

[Gene]

Would anyone happen to know what would be the top 5 amps or presets in this list for clean country tones? My guess would be a Fender twin, deluxe reverb, Matchless DC30 and a Dr.Z 38 types perhaps.
I would appreciate your input. I'm about to build a basic chicken pickin country patch on the AX8 using one of the presets in the cleanish list from Austin Buddy.

Thanks, E

 

[chrisjnyc]

YES!

Just as Cliff said, confirmed tonight the latest Firmware 9.01 is identical to 8.02 in tones/sounds for the 700+ Naked Amps Pack. (Firmware 9.0 was NOT).

Tested several amps tonight comparing the same Naked Amp presets my XL to a fresh installed FW 9.01 on my AX8, using an A/B box to switch. The randomly selected two dozen or so I tried of varying amp types sound the same in each unit.

So this is great news for existing AX8 TonePack users!

1) The 700+ Naked Amps TonePack presets should sound the same if you update your AX8 firmware to FW 9.01, but as always, make a back up of all your presets before you update to a new firmware -- you can always go backwards that way and revert back. I still like 8.02 just fine.

2) You do not have to make any main amp page adjustments to compensate for TonePack sounds in FW 9.01 versus 8.02; I did not use the advance amp page parameters in the Naked Amp presets on the Speaker Drive page.

3) Per preset, you can dial in the SPKR DRV and the new SPKR COMP to taste if you like. Remember, the SPKR DRV and SPKR COMP will default to zero. So this is really "you decide what you like here."

Do note: The more SPKR COMP you use, the more you may have to increase the LEVEL of the amp block up (higher) to compensate "Make-up gain" to keep your overall signal level coming out at -12db (see my video on the subject). On the LED panel of your unit, you should see a make-up gain LED that is a good clue to how much it is compressing (and thus how much you should turn up the LEVEL to compensate).

Last, The AX8 TonePack does have a few differences in TonePack sounds to the XL/XL+ or Mark II, because the XL and Mark II Version can use mics in the cab section and I sometimes do use those mic choices to enhance the amp sound (but not always -- if the Factory IR is a mix or good single mic IR, there is not an additional mic). Yesterday and today was A/Bing identical TonePack presets in my AX8 and XL (like at AC15 in both, Tweed Deluxe, ENGL, Small Box, DC30, Plexi, Hiwatt, Dual Rectifiers, Clean Vibroverb, Bogner XTC, etc) and sometimes hit a sound discrepancy and wondered -- found each time, it was due to the absence of the mic selection in the AX8 cab block. When I pulled the assigned mic out of the XL Cab, then the sounds were the same on XL and AX8.

Bottom line: if you are happy with 8.02, still no need to update. But if you want to update to 9.01, you can and you will not lose amp settings with the Tonepack/no changes.

Any issues with firmware 9.02 and the tonepack?

 

[bradlake]

Any issues with firmware 9.02 and the tonepack?

Yes.... I can’t stop playing them.....but seriously, AFAIK, @austinbuddy will chime in I’m sure, but at least on the XL+, no tweaking needed except to adjust the new Speaker Comp and the tIme const to taste or reset just those parameters by double clicking the rotary knob in AX8 edit...

 

[javier]

I have just bought bundles for mark II and AX8. As everyone said sound awesome. Being a fractal user since 2012, five years now, my presets sounds crap compared with this pro bundle. My compliments. But allow me only a little complain: I got surprised when I found that parameter settings in this two bundles (mark II and AX8) are not exactly the same, and in some case there is a significant variation. I found at least one example with JTM45.

Some example parameters, this is for AX8 (this one sounds OK)
Drive 1,Effect Type,FACE FUZZ,FET BOOST,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Drive 1,Drive,6.02,5.83,,,,,,,,,,,,,

this for mark II (too much fuzz, i had to tweak exactly as above).
Drive 1,Effect Type,FACE FUZZ,FACE FUZZ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Drive 1,Drive,9.21,8.19,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I found some minor differences also in amp setting, and even the AX8 preset has a COMP block when mark II does not.

Is this as intended? why are them different in this parameter settings? I think that AX8 looks as the correct or last version and perhaps mark ii version is a bit 'outdated'. i have both of them, so i will compare each of my favourite selections and match them (i use mark ii for studio and preset factory, and the ax8 for gigs).

 

[austinbuddy]

I have just bought bundles for mark II and AX8. As everyone said sound awesome. Being a fractal user since 2012, five years now, my presets sounds crap compared with this pro bundle. My compliments. But allow me only a little complain: I got surprised when I found that parameter settings in this two bundles (mark II and AX8) are not exactly the same, and in some case there is a significant variation. I found at least one example with JTM45.

Some example parameters, this is for AX8 (this one sounds OK)
Drive 1,Effect Type,FACE FUZZ,FET BOOST,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Drive 1,Drive,6.02,5.83,,,,,,,,,,,,,

this for mark II (too much fuzz, i had to tweak exactly as above).
Drive 1,Effect Type,FACE FUZZ,FACE FUZZ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Drive 1,Drive,9.21,8.19,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I found some minor differences also in amp setting, and even the AX8 preset has a COMP block when mark II does not.

Is this as intended? why are them different in this parameter settings? I think that AX8 looks as the correct or last version and perhaps mark ii version is a bit 'outdated'. i have both of them, so i will compare each of my favourite selections and match them (i use mark ii for studio and preset factory, and the ax8 for gigs).

Hi, The Mark II is a ported version from the XL/XL+ using Fractal. The AX8 is separate thing, based on the original XL.

The Mark II and XL can use the mics; the AX8 cannot. That makes one difference in tone. The Mark II can't use Cabs above #321, the AX8 can.

Drive blocks are not the focus of the Naked Amps: the amps are. Multiple fuzz settings will sound good with the JTM45 amp 9one my favs!) as will the Tone Bender. My saved library of fuzz blocks has either a double fuzz, a fuzz then octavia, or a fuzz then a boost for X and Y, but I only generally dialed in Drive X for most Tone Pack Naked Amps presets, not a Y (with some exceptions). Sometimes I was experimenting with what drive type to use, and Y was alternative I just left in after I found the X I liked.

Feel free to port a drive block setting over to the other pack. For the most part the presets are identical across platforms except for the 1 in 7 cabs in Mark II that had to be changed (#132), or the loss of mics when porting to an AX8.

Because I knew a lot of people like the AX8 platform, I went back and went through all of those presets a second time and tweaked to level until the sounded awesome to me. You just found a stray preset difference, there may be handful that are different, but that is the exception than the rule with 700 tones. There are some amps that just have a drive tube screamer set at neutral, i didn't dial those in at all, left it up to user.

 

[javier]

Thanks for the response. I understand and also know that you own an xl and ax8. Amazing work indeed. Now I sound much better. That is the very important thing.

 

[chrisjnyc]

Any Black Friday specials?

 

[austinbuddy]

Special thanks to Axe-Master Al Grenadine, creator of FracTool. The latest edition is great! Support FracTool.

Over the last 48 hours I was able to do some EXTENSIVE testing of firmware effects between 8.02 and 9.02 on both the AX8 and my XL related to the 700+ Naked Amps TonePack.

1. As I've said before, you don't need to do any amp resets if you have the 8.02 Tonepack and update to firmware 9.02. Those of you who bought it already know this mostly.

2. The presets designed for 8.02 will work on 9.02 "as is."

Past few days, I experimented a LOT with the new SPKR COMP in the amp block in 9.02 and the effect it had on naked amp presets designed in 8.02 from the TonePack.

My conclusion: If you like dynamics and a more "in your face" articulate sound, consider avoiding the SPKR COMP altogether in 9.02 (or just stay on 8.02).

If under 9.02, you can use the latest version Fractool to set SPKR COMP to zero across a range of presets and see what I mean/what you like better.

The SPKR COMP, while true to life, in my opinion will "soften" (compress) the sound, and take off some of the top end. Some people will like this, others don't. You can do make up gain to try to compensate for level change, but this effect on overall tone is what compressors do as intended. It is true to amp=speaker interaction in real life (as Cliff intended).

For a few days, I tried multiple values of the SPKR COMP across multiple amp types, first with Cliff's default of 3.0, then 2, then 1.5, and ultimately after going back and forth A/Bing, I finally decided like SPKR COMP OFF myself.

This is likely personal taste -- I like amps that respond to dynamics and I liked the top end piece that was a little muted when the SPKR COMP was on. Others may love the sound of SPKR COMP On. You can dial it in to your own taste!

I still plan to work on offering an updated firmware version, but I will leave SPKR COMP OFF on it...will let you guys know when ready.

Hope everyone is having nice holidays!

 

[austinbuddy]

Any Black Friday specials?

Hi Chrisjnyc: Unfortunately not on the TonePack, but Fractal Audio's webstore is selling a "get 3 for price of 2" Cab Pack combination I produced, see here.

These go well with the TonePack especially the Vintage and Boutique amps, and I did multiple mic mixes and also made a "quick picks" folder to make it easier to find the best sounding IRs.

 

[walkerrun]

After a few hours of frustration and disappointment of tweaking the stock amps/cabs, I bought this. Worth every penny! It has brought my AX8 to life, making it dynamic and lively. Kudos to you, Buddy, and thank you so much for making this! It has saved me a ton of frustration and has given me the nice tone I was looking for!

 

[austinbuddy]

After a few hours of frustration and disappointment of tweaking the stock amps/cabs, I bought this. Worth every penny! It has brought my AX8 to life, making it dynamic and lively. Kudos to you, Buddy, and thank you so much for making this! It has saved me a ton of frustration and has given me the nice tone I was looking for!

Welcome to the forum "walkerun" and thank you for the kudos -- that's is the responseI hope to hear from people who buy the TonePack!

 

[austinbuddy]

For anyone who owns the 700+ Naked Amps TonePack, if you do upgrade to 9.02 firmware, NOW you can use the latest FracTool 2.60 to change the AMP BLOCK's new default SKPR COMP of 3.0 back to 0.0 -- and that will keep the preset tones the same as in 8.02.

First, as always, use FractalBot to back up everything BEFORE you do anything. So you can always go backwards.

If you loaded up presets under 8.02 and then updated to 9.02, the update will apply a SPKR COMP value of 3.0 and change the sound some, lowering the volume slightly as well (compression).

Here is how to remove it using FracTool, which will make the TonePack preset sounds the same as the were created in FW Q8.02

1. Run FracTool. Make sure it "sees" your unit -- if you own multiple units, you may have to power one off to get it to see the one you want. See the connection message int he lower left corner.
2. Go To BATCH SETTER (a tab at top)
3. Under the top left BATCH SETTER menu, under BLOCK, choose AMP1
4. Under PARAMETER, choose SPKR COMP
5. Under SET, put a new value of 0 (zero).
6. Under apply to presets, put the range number of the Naked Amp presets you've loaded (numerical preset locations)
7. in middle of screen, go ahead and check the box that says "Apply to X and Y datasets if available"
8. The at the bottom of the screen, hit APPLY.

Also, you can now turn off the FX LOOP if you want so you can use Output2 with the Factory Cab, which I know was issue for some folk's rig set ups.

1. Under BLOCK, choose LOOP
2. No parameter setting3. Under VALUE,cChoose "Bypass Block and Save."
3. Choose preset range to apply to
4. Check the X/Y Dataset if available option
5. Hit Apply

I don't know about you guys, but I just sent a financial donation to FracTool -- this tool really make a huge difference and deserves our support! Can't wait to try FracTool on my FX8 too, soon!

 

[rayza]

Just picked up this pack and scanning through while importing them. Money well spent for sure, really stoked this sort of pack was available, perfect starting points. I'm noticing that the presets I've tried so far, the basic amp EQ is always all at noon, is this the same with all presets? intended as a basis to tweak from?
Cheers

 

[austinbuddy]

No, it will vary on tone controls for most presets, that is part of the dial in, you will discover.

But there are a few amps that were designed and sound best that way in real life, with everything at five like the Captain Hook. I couldn't make them sound better after twisting knobs than the way they sound at default!

Remember to try Scene 2 for each presets, and the drives as well, especially on the cleans-only bank! Have fun!

 

[rayza]

Cheers for the super fast response. Im seeing variations now I've tried a few more. I normally play gainier amps but ive been stuck on these vibroverb presets for about 20 minutes now. definitely happy with this purchase!