A Highly Respectful, Non-Rocking the Boat Question About Axe-Edit

joe1871

joe1871

Inspired
Hey Folks,

I just got my FX II a week or so ago. I have picked up on this forum that a new release of Axe-Edit is coming. I am very willing to wait patiently, I work in the industry and understand what it takes to release software. Cliff and his team need to get it right, or it will be a big mess. So I am patiently and appreciatively waiting - no issue there whatsoever.

In the interim, and it could be another month or two before a release, are you guys reverting to older versions of firmware to continue to use Axe-Edit? As a brand new Axe II user I have never seen Axe Edit for the II. I have an Ultra as well, but have been away from playing for a bit, and I am rushing back in with a lot of excitement. Is it worth the effort of reverting to a pre-9.1 version? Is there a source for older versions? A recommended good level to go to? Is there a source for a known good combination of Axe-Edit and FX II firmware? Am I going overboard?

I am learning as much as I can using the front panel, and I have the MFC I need to figure out a bunch of things on as well, so I have a lot to keep me occupired, but everything I read and many of the threads and user sites all assume Axe-Edit access. It gets difficult to take advantage of one of the enormous benefits of the Axe FX - the user base and its willingnesss to share. So - I know that the moment I do it (if I do) the release will be announced, but I am leaning towards reverting. Any opinions or solid reasons not to?

Thanks.

I have a foot pedal question as well but will head over to the MFC section for that. Thank you all!

Joe
 
My 2 cents would be to persevere with the front panel and stay on up to date firmware. The 'Scenes' feature introduced in FW9 is such a major new addition that it will likely cause you another major set up session for both the Axe presets and MFC after you've already spent time setting things up for an older FW.

The upcoming FW10 sounds like it's going into even more advanced modeling territory so I'd guess it's going to be even easier to work with.

There are not that many places you need to look now to shape your tone since FW9 - especially compared to the Ultra, so editing via the front panel is not a major chore really
 
Some users still use the firmware 7. As far as I am aware, the latest officially released and matched firmware/axe-edit combination is v7/1.0.317.

I don't think firmware 8 had an associated axe-edit release. Or maybe it's the not so well known and never officially announced axe-edit 1.0.318 that we can find (see bellow).

Pretty much all the archive files can be found on a google drive maintained by a user. The announcement thread is here:
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/lounge/61666-public-shared-google-drive-lot-axefx-files.html
 
Think of not using Axe-Edit as learning how to drive a stick shift car. It may seem pointless in the beginning with automatic cars being the future, but it is a skill that lasts a lifetime.
 
Honestly, I have never used Axe Edit before this whole fiasco. Always just went with the front panel. So it doesn't even bother me haha
 
I'm not big fan of the front panel, but I also suggest you stay with it - you will have access to the new features, but more importantly, you're mind and fingers will learn the unit's UI, which is important when you need to tweak something and there's no computer (or ipad) nearby...
 
I'm still on 8. Partly because I just was too busy to load 9, but then I saw the very clear warning about no Axe Edit for 9 yet. I'm really excited to use scenes, but I will hold out for now.
 
I just can't imagine relying on Axe-Edit in order to make patches anymore. Sure, it takes some time on the front panel to program complex patches. But as far as I can tell, there's never going to be a time when FAS comes out and says "HEY! DON'T USE THE FRONT PANEL WITH THE NEW FIRMWARE!!!"

Axe-Edit was awesome, but as it's apparently a very complex MIDI software that has some serious bugs, I just figured learn the FP so that I can always function on my Axe-fx II no matter what FW I'm on or if I don't have access to a computer for whatever reason. I mean, one day if you're at a gig and you need to change something, if you don't have a computer, are you just going to call it in for the day? Further, 9.0 sounds so much better than 7.0, I just can't understand why something as simple as learning to punch the buttons on the front of the machine is a huge hang-up for our forum members.
 
Like others have said the latest supported combo of firmware is v7 for the II and .317 of Axe-Edit.

Personally I downgraded back from v8 to v7 to have a stable platform to allow me to use Axe-Edit. I am comfortable using the front panel, just seems too much Agro for me in the lazy modern age.

I understand that some folks want the latest and greatest firmware, and that is cool if it works for them... It doesn't work for me so I stick with a working combo.

I can cope with a couple of weeks, maybe a month without Axe-Edit, but the wait was too long for me personally and the way I work... So I sacrificed functionality of the axe-FX II for stability of Axe-Edit / Axe-FX combo.

Whatever works for you is the right answer.

You can always try the front panel and then downgrade back to v7 if you feel the need to use Axe-Edit.... This is what I would do as a new user as being able to use the front panel is a good skill to have for when it is needed.
 
Some users had problems with 3.17 not backing up properly, so the issues with AE go back at least that far. I'm still on fw7 and holding. When TPN is released I'll have my hands full catching up, but I think it's worth the wait.
 
AS reported by myself and others in another thread Axe Edit is fine for managing presets and FW updates. IOW, DO NOT EDIT with it. As much as I also do not like the front panel-I agree that since your new to the II, learn the front panel as best you can. It is always good to know. I and many others are on FW902 and using Axe edit as I first described. But if you get tempted to edit with it you probably will regret it.
 
Learned to love the front panel, glad I had to. Still looking forward to AE-TNP, but not missing out on a thing with the incredible new firmware in the meantime.
 
I'd like to second that I started having problems with AE back in 5.0, and stopped using it at 6.0 when I figured out what it was that was hacking my patches to death. I guess functionality is different between Mac and PC, and with 9.02 even opening AE while I've got Logic running does weird things in my DAW (pans guitars in strange ways, maxes out volume on channels with USB inputs, etc.), so I won't use it at all. I'm using Sysex to upload cabs, work with patches, backing up, etc. While it's an extra bit of time, it's a lot more stable.

As others have stated, the choice is ultimately yours. But I really do caution folks who are waiting for Axe-Edit to be de-bugged. I know FAS is working hard on it, and if anybody can solve the problems with the software, it's Cliff and his team. But think of it like this - what if it's never actually fully functional? What if future FW updates repeat the problems? What if the software craps out on you at an important moment and you're stuck for more than a couple of weeks while the issues are getting sorted out? If you are willing to stop at a FW that functions for you, then you'll be happy. But you'll be missing out on things like the 2nd gen cabs that FAS will be doing with future updates, better dynamics processing with FW 10, and many other things.

Nobody has ever had any problems with the front panel not functioning the way it's supposed to. Ever. Just let that one roll around in the ol' noggin for a bit.
 
Hate the front panel….
I'm still with v7 and didn’t upgrade as I can't use AE for editing and no, it's not the same to edit from the Axe itself and NO its not AS easy and yes, it’s a BIG problem when your editing a preset while the axe is not in the rich of you hand.
I don’t do it on every preset but there are few presets which I very deeply tweak and can't even imagine how I would have done it from the front panel.
I'm not the only one here like that…
AE is a major and today a pro gear not accompanied by a solid software is not acceptable.
IMHO
 
Honestly, the front panel isn't that bad. Well yes, it is confusingly laid out as the hardware knobs and buttons don't easily relate to what they do on the screen but it's definitely learnable. I bet most of you have a basic outline of a patch with the effects you typically use. Having one patch where everything is configured - X/Y settings, scenes and what is enabled in each gives you a blank slate that you can copy to different presets and then just tweak the stuff you need, which for most is probably things like amp/drive/cab settings, maybe reverb and delay times etc.

Yes, it takes more time than with Axe-Edit and doesn't allow for as easy experimentation. You just have to deal with it and wait for the updated version. I believe the whole point of a rewrite was to make it easier to update and keep up with firmware and upcoming products. As a programmer I can tell you that just refactoring how something functions in the code can make a massive difference in how long it takes to change and update it later.
 
Well, I agree it's definitely more of a pain in the ass, absolutely. Here's what I'm saying. Yeah, I love the fact that I can input exact amounts into AE much faster than with the front panel, and doing deep editing is much easier on the AE system than on the front panel. I dialed up patches much faster with greater accuracy with AE because I wasn't fussing about with knobs on the front panel. However.

What I am merely saying is this: That doesn't mean a hill o' crap in the scheme of things, because we currently don't have it and there's no guarantee that we're ever going to. I have done deep editing on the Axe-fx II front panel, slowly tweaking knobs until I get just what I want out of various settings. It's taken me more time. But that was never my point. What I probably should have said was: I've never seen a post where somebody informed us that they changed the tone stack on my amp and it completely altered the speaker resonance settings or that they went to save their drive block changes and now it set their amp block to bassman and cab to 1x6 when they used the front panel. Nobody that I am aware of has ever said "I went to back up my Axe-fx through Snoize Sysex and now every patch is completely bonkered".

I didn't say to the poster - Oh, don't worry. The front panel is the easiest way to do it! Hooray!!! I told him to learn the most stable, tried and true method for tweaking patches because then he won't be stuck with a FW that's pretty far behind the current capabilities of the hardware.
 
@ home the Axe's rack is placed on top of 2 cabs which are placed over a 10U rack with wheels = I have to stand in front of the cabs while tweaking from the front panel = I don’t rarely here what I'm dialing.
In the studio the Axe is not really close to handle comfortably.
So….?
Front panel is nice but it's for on the fly editing and NOT creating a preset and fine tuning it.
Sorry, not convinced, and it really piss me that I can't upgrade other FW cause of the AE not supporting.
 
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