AX8 CPU Power limitations?

...but I am actually arranging a swap of products (upgrade) from AX8 to AXE-FX II XL+ with g66.eu, so my problem will be solved quite soon... (got my AX8 last week)
 
Full and quite normal live usage FX chain is:

Compressor --> Drive1 --> Drive2 --> amp model --> (graphic EQ) --> stereo cab model --> chorus? / flanger? --> short stereo delay --> long stereo delay --> reverb

I find that the AX8 does have very hard time coping with that. Or yes, as you say it might happen using very low fidelity reverb, but why settle to a reverb that may be lower quality than middle priced stompboxes?

Of course, the statement above contains little provocation, but that is my honest opinion for minimum requirements of modeling effects unit at 2016 :)

(One might cope with 1 drive with X/Y if the amp is not ran as clean)

...these limitations should also be stated in the brochures that if you want proper signal chain described above, buy AXE-FX II

P.S
Of course you could do that if there would not be lag between changing presets
Have you tried switching noise gate to classic mode, comp to pedal mode, cab to normal res or mono or both, using just 1 delay, changing chorus/flanger type, etc..?
There are really many other ways to reduce CPU usage if you don't want to lower reverb quality too much.

Or, for extreme needs, adding an external reverb pedal would free up a good amount of CPU for all the other effects.
 
Compressor --> Drive1 --> Drive2 --> amp model --> (graphic EQ) --> stereo cab model --> chorus? / flanger? --> short stereo delay --> long stereo delay --> reverb

I have never played a song, where I needed all those FX - If you want to work out of one preset and one preset only, you might be in trouble.

I have a preset with five scenes (ultra-clean, acoustic sim, Hendrix, AC/DC, Guns N roses), compressor, phaser, chorus, delay, reverb and volume boost. It was a bit of a struggle to get it within the limitations of the CPU processing power, but it works.

EDIT: That said - Yes, with the AX8, you have to work a little to cope with the CPU limitations. If you don't want that - The XL is for you.
 
I agree with MMB, i cannot get two drives with amp/cab/delay/chorus/phaser/flanger/reverb, even changing reverb to normal. Either have to XY the drive or change reverb to spring or nix reverb. I'm not playing live and use an M13 in front for various drives and pre-amp fx. So, just a first world problem with plenty of solutions.

As opposed to Nigel's amp that goes to 11, i find it curious that at 90% the AX8 hits DSP limits. Why not make 90 =100?


You can have that FX chain, i just made this preset, volume and wha have modifiers assigned that take 1 or 2% of adicional resources. Preset attached. ;)

31431178040_cd3284b9cd_b.jpg
 

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I think that fiddling with the CPU limit decreases the creativity. That is my reason to shift towards FX II. ...I agree that if you use high quality reverb, it is completely overkill when performing live with various equipment, but with an unit that costs > 1500€, it would be nice to have the option to use same presets in studio as well. Also, the UltraRes Cabinet impulse is quite standard quality impulse response nowdays when you have VST plugins such as Scuffham or devices such as Logidy EPSi. Also in studio environment, the room reverb is quite significant factor, because it will make very big difference to the feel compared to a sound with delay only. Good reverb makes the sound much more organic and hides the imperfections in modeling. Due to this it is very annoying to record a guitar track without reverb and add it afterwards in the DAW.
 
I think that fiddling with the CPU limit decreases the creativity. That is my reason to shift towards FX II. ...I agree that if you use high quality reverb, it is completely overkill when performing live with various equipment, but with an unit that costs > 1500€, it would be nice to have the option to use same presets in studio as well. Also, the UltraRes Cabinet impulse is quite standard quality impulse response nowdays when you have VST plugins such as Scuffham or devices such as Logidy EPSi. Also in studio environment, the room reverb is quite significant factor, because it will make very big difference to the feel compared to a sound with delay only. Good reverb makes the sound much more organic and hides the imperfections in modeling.

Sometimes limitations make people more creative than when having unlimited resources.;)
 
The design point of the AX8 was to have as much CPU power as possible without requiring active cooling (aka fans). This led to the known limitations. Don't forget that the AX8 has been around for some time now.
 
As opposed to Nigel's amp that goes to 11, i find it curious that at 90% the AX8 hits DSP limits. Why not make 90 =100?

It's just a number. CPU usage number represents the amount of CPU dedicated to audio processing in real-time. We chose to display the actual limitation, rather than scale the number.
 
I have set up 1 bank (8 presets) that covers what I need. The presets are very similar with slight variations to account for the differing effect block variations. Switches 1-6 are the same in all presets with "amp x/y", "drive", "delay", "reverb", "comp", "filter" respectively. Switches 7 and 8 vary depending on the effect blocks used in that preset. I do take full advantage of the x/y capabilities of the FX blocks. Scenes 1-7 are the same in each preset with "clean", "rhythm", "lead", "swell" "1/8 dot", "hold", "multi-delay" respectively. I don't assign switches to scenes. I find it very easy to hit F2 and choose a scene. Also I like that no reverb or delays trails are cut off when changing scenes. This setup covers everything I need. There are FX blocks that I don't need together in presets. For instance I wouldn't typically use chorus and flange or phase in the same preset. This is where I would have a different preset very similar to another but just substituting a different modulation effect. Most of my presets are running around 80-85 % CPU. I think the AX8 allows plenty of flexibility and haven't had a problem getting everything I need within the CPU limitations.
 
You can have that FX chain, i just made this preset, volume and wha have modifiers assigned that take 1 or 2% of adicional resources. Preset attached. ;)

31431178040_cd3284b9cd_b.jpg

Cool - I have to check out the FX, cab, etc. to see if it works for me. But, in my experience and my usual signal chain, 2 drives/1 reverb is a no no. Probably user error on my part.
 
In my opinion the AX8 should have been designed so that it could run a one full effect chain succesfully with high quality reverb.
I use the spring reverb with density at 5 and quality at normal or high. Using this setting the quality of the reverb is better than any other effects processor I have heard using hall and chamber reverbs. Absolutely perfect for live use. Also has the benefit of not consuming as much CPU resource.
 
Cool - I have to check out the FX, cab, etc. to see if it works for me. But, in my experience and my usual signal chain, 2 drives/1 reverb is a no no. Probably user error on my part.

Preset still turns off the Reverb (after shutting off all the drives and effects that were on when i loaded the patch - yikes, that sound woke the dead, walking or not walking). The CPU reads 89 and shuts down the reverb.

Anyone know why NR's patch still overloads? Are there other parameters (global or IO) that i need to reset?
 
Preset still turns off the Reverb (after shutting off all the drives and effects that were on when i loaded the patch - yikes, that sound woke the dead, walking or not walking). The CPU reads 89 and shuts down the reverb.

Anyone know why NR's patch still overloads? Are there other parameters (global or IO) that i need to reset?
Which firmware are you running? V6.02 includes improvements to the drive block that reduce CPU load slightly.
 
Preset still turns off the Reverb (after shutting off all the drives and effects that were on when i loaded the patch - yikes, that sound woke the dead, walking or not walking). The CPU reads 89 and shuts down the reverb.

Anyone know why NR's patch still overloads? Are there other parameters (global or IO) that i need to reset?

I've been getting this input by some other members but i can't reproduce it on my end. Maybe just shutn away the noise gate block and use the input one.
 
Proper signal chain? What the heck does that mean? That is an opinion.....Please show us where this is stated in the world of music? what a silly thing to say.
 
As opposed to Nigel's amp that goes to 11, i find it curious that at 90% the AX8 hits DSP limits. Why not make 90 =100?
Because 90 isn't always 100. :)

The AX8 needs to consume a certain amount of CPU just to keep running, with no blocks used at all. If you're running USB, that takes some more. Sometimes you can get away with 90% or more. Sometimes 88% pushes you over the limit. It all depends on what the box is dong at that particular moment. If you make 90% display as 100%, people will ask, "Why does it crap out at 98%?" "And why can I run one of my presets at 102%?"

As designed, you can see exactly what CPU your own blocks are using. And that's about as close to accurate as you can get.
 
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