700+ Naked Amps TonePack for AX8 Release

AustinBuddy, I'm thinking about getting the pack. I was wondering again about the output volume info you shared. Generally when playing in a live setting, I use the output volume knob on the AX8 to control the rehearsal or stage volume. Is this sucking tone, or still acceptable when not recording direct?

Hi Murdox:

Output1 does NOT affect the tone sound at all, BUT because of the Fletcher-Munson effect (see Wikipedia) can fool you into thinking it does affect the tone as you turn it up or down.

My advice is that for people designing presets and trying to get the AX8's overall output to average around -12db into a DAW or mixer, go ahead and turn the Output1 up all the way and make it so your presets come ou tinto a DAW or mixer at -12db. The AX8 Factory presets and the Naked Amps TonePack are optimized that way. On the AX8 (but not Axe-Fx) the true internal Digital signal and XLR analog signal are BOTH controlled by Output1 -- it turns them BOTH up or down.

But that is not to say you can't use the AX8 Output at say 12:00/noon on stage, or tweak it that way -- it just means that whatever you are putting the signal into -- a powered cab, a mixer -- is going to have to be LOUDER than it would normally be if you have the AX8 Output1 maxed.

My own philosophy is to max the AX8, then control the stage loudness through the power amp or monitor volume - make them do the loudness/volume work, not the AX8. Just make sure you are playing at least 92db loud, and use the Cab block's low cut and hi cut if there is too much top or bottom through your own playback system -- that's the fine-tuning that is dependent on each person's system.

That said, yes it works if you want to control stage volume from Output1....but I would not have it set any lower than noon myself. (The problem becomes when you say 'I can't hear me" and you crank it up to 3:00 from noon and then BOOM, you blow out a speaker or your bandmates ear drums...hahaha).

Hope that helps!
 
Hi @austinbuddy, was looking at your page and it says the pack is for the 9.02 firmware, would there be an update for latest fw? Really looking forward to having these different amps on the unit. :)

Edit:
Just read your blog regarding fw updates. Now it's just a matter of deciding! Will keep an eye for your updates.
 
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Hi @austinbuddy, was looking at your page and it says the pack is for the 9.02 firmware, would there be an update for latest fw? Really looking forward to having these different amps on the unit. :)

Edit:
Just read your blog regarding fw updates. Now it's just a matter of deciding! Will keep an eye for your updates.
In my opinion the Naked amp presets sounds superb on. 9.04. Already , and can only get better when/if AB gets around to it if he feels it nessecary
 
I have been testing comparing 8.02 to 9.04, same presets between two firmwares using my XL and AX8... will try to post a video with few comparison examples by next weekend.

In general, my impressions so far are that presets created for 8.02 and 9.02 are are darker sounding on 9.04, without as much high-end detail (when you load them as originally made and then use with firmware upgrade to 9.04). They are also more compressed sounding.

Not sure if there are simple solutions to getting them to sound like 9.02 or 8.02 (thoughts out there?)

More soon, so you can evaluate for yourselves - I'll try to do a comparison video with clips side by side.

Personally, I still think 8.02 is the bomb — fantastic high-end definition. It may be that under 9.04, that high-end can re-dialed back in, but for me not so easily so far... you will need to turn up treble for most amps by at least “+1” number setting probably...
 
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Sorry guys different time zone and read the post late. Already bought the pack last night. Do i get a download link of the file or how do i get it?

Looking forward @austinbuddy
 
Sorry guys different time zone and read the post late. Already bought the pack last night. Do i get a download link of the file or how do i get it?

Looking forward @austinbuddy
Hi RG+

You should have gotten it, it comes shortly after you order. Check your spam folder/junk email, sometimes the email with the download links gets caught there.

Add my email to your contact list heybuddy @ austinbuddy.com (no spaces) and then shoot me an email from the email you used to place your order (if it's not in your spam/junk mail folder), and we'll make it work!
 
Got it! Can't wait till my day job's over!

Hi RG+

You should have gotten it, it comes shortly after you order. Check your spam folder/junk email, sometimes the email with the download links gets caught there.

Add my email to your contact list heybuddy @ austinbuddy.com (no spaces) and then shoot me an email from the email you used to place your order (if it's not in your spam/junk mail folder), and we'll make it work!
 
I bought this pack today. Mainly because AX8 has so many amps, that I don't have an experience, Time and glue to dial them in.

For a quick testrun with some of the preset this pack seems to have a very nice collection of amp tones and offers exactly what i was hoping for.

Will try to add more treple on the amps to see if it will add some extra magic, 'cause I'm on FW9.04.
 
I just purchased the Naked Amps Tone Pack today and installed in on 9.04. IMO the presets sound amazing, in fact I am blown away. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Everyone approaches this stuff differently, but for me, I like the idea of having essentially a “warehouse” of amplifiers with appropriate cabinets dialed in by someone who has a sense for how that amp generally shines. From these “platforms” I can add effects that suit my needs and I feel like I can get to my tone goals much faster. I am sure there are many folks who have way more skills than me and could do this themselves starting from scratch, but I suspect the majority would struggle or would at least need to invest some serious effort researching and tweaking. I do realize there is some enjoyment in that as well, but it can get old pretty quickly for me; I would rather get to playing.

Of course I can’t give thoughts on how it performs on 9.04 versus previous versions (I was concerned about this as I was considering my purchase….I tend to overthink things). I took a leap and I could not be happier. Of course there are some things that we would all change a bit, but not much (maybe a reverb adjustment, a change to the drive pedal tone to be more compatible with your pickups, etc.).

If you are on the fence, and the naked amps concept makes sense to you as it did to me, just pull the trigger. At $59, this is a bargain considering the expertise and level of effort that was necessary to create them.
 
I just purchased the Naked Amps Tone Pack today and installed in on 9.04. IMO the presets sound amazing, in fact I am blown away. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Everyone approaches this stuff differently, but for me, I like the idea of having essentially a “warehouse” of amplifiers with appropriate cabinets dialed in by someone who has a sense for how that amp generally shines. From these “platforms” I can add effects that suit my needs and I feel like I can get to my tone goals much faster. I am sure there are many folks who have way more skills than me and could do this themselves starting from scratch, but I suspect the majority would struggle or would at least need to invest some serious effort researching and tweaking. I do realize there is some enjoyment in that as well, but it can get old pretty quickly for me; I would rather get to playing.

Of course I can’t give thoughts on how it performs on 9.04 versus previous versions (I was concerned about this as I was considering my purchase….I tend to overthink things). I took a leap and I could not be happier. Of course there are some things that we would all change a bit, but not much (maybe a reverb adjustment, a change to the drive pedal tone to be more compatible with your pickups, etc.).

If you are on the fence, and the naked amps concept makes sense to you as it did to me, just pull the trigger. At $59, this is a bargain considering the expertise and level of effort that was necessary to create them.

I'm really thrilled you like them Chris!

IMHO the TonePack presets will sound better (more as they were designed/intended ) under 9.02 and 8.02 -- in that they will be less compressed and have more mid and high definition than they will under 9.04... BUT, so far Fractal users seem to like them under 9.04 just fine too!

I've made some comparison audio clips as a demonstration of the differences between 8.02 and 9.04, but have not had any time to edit and post, as I'm busy working on porting factory presets from Axe-Fx for new AXE III Factory presets on the beta team.

Feel free to add a little treble to any presets that you think need it! Thank you so much for the kind words. Enjoy!
 
Has this been updated for 9.04? If not will it be soon?

Thanks for the question....I am waiting to see if Cliff does a Q10 firmware in the future, then I might update them for that, depending on exactly what he does/changes.

So far, I update for each firmware generation - 8.02, then 9.02...next will be 10. I like to wait until firmware is public for a little while (not beta), and I like to A/B compare it to the old presets. (Feel like I am repeating myself in these threads, sorry!)

You see, by the time I did a complete update for 9.04, literally updating 700 presets across 3 fractal platforms (AX8, Axe-FX II, Axe-Fx XL/Xl+), we all know the next day Cliff will release Q10 and my work will be out of date! ;)

9.02 and 8.02 were sufficiently close that the sounds stayed the same. When they change, it's like doing a makeover, it takes a lot of time and work -- hundreds of hours to do it right. My focus right now is the Axe III and helping the beta team with that... But as people are posting, they are liking the Tonepack under 9.04 too, so that's great.

9.04 did not add any new amps or cabs or new goodies really so nothing wrong with older versions. I'll always keep a version of 8.02 on one of my fractals, because it sounds so killer! I am happy to send older firmwares along by email separately to anyone who orders the 700+Naked Amps TonePack and wants to try them under different versions, its' easy to do with FractalBot.
 
Where can I hear the hi gain Diezel and Mesa Boogie presets made for metal?

Hi -- there are various genres covered on Soundcloud, these are lots of different audio clips from the 700+ Naked Amps TonePack.

Listen to the Modern clip ones to get a sense of heavier tones, no post-processing. If you drill down the clip itself there is a list of amps in the order they appear. But know that the players for them aren't really metal players more rock...hope that helps!


 
@Ragdoll (Leon Todd!) did another great video review of the 700+ Naked Amps TonePack, this time focusing on some Class-A style Matchless types of amps.

Love how great players like Leon get inspired when they play these tones! Thanks mate for taking time to produce this and share with all of us!

 
Hi @austinbuddy I plan on purchasing the pack later today. I play in two different bands - a classic rock band and a horn band that does R&B and blues. I have been using about 14 presets that cover what I need pretty well. My thought is to audition various amps in your pack that are similar to the amp I’m using in a particular preset and replace the amp and cab blocks with yours as needed. Should I copy your preset and just add my effects to it or can I just replace the amp and cab blocks in my existing presets with yours? I know for some of your presets I will also replace the drive block with yours. Thanks man.
 
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