AX8 V3.51 Released

You guys are mentioning patch differences etc....here's my issue and how I fixed it for my sounds.

So I've tried both the Al Tool and recreating. I've not had any differences or issues other than there are certain things the AX8 has that we don't in an XL+ etc. For me, one thing was "economy" in the pitch block, so changing that saved some CPU.

But that's neither here nor there. I'm currently testing and recording a few things that I hope to piece together to bring to FAS attention that may or may not be something worth looking into.

My AX8 has more high end than my XL+ with the presets being exactly the same. It doesn't matter if I use Al's tool (ugh, that doesn't sound right lol but it sure is funny!) or recreate. There's this high end thing in the AX8 that isn't in the XL+ or my MKII. The fix for me was to lower the definition in the pre-amp block to -6.00 on all my presets. This makes the AX8 sound nearly identical to my XL+ and my MKII. So if any of you are falling short or seem to have a little more high end in your AX8 presets than your MKII, XL,XL+ try cutting that definition down. It's a different kind of treble removal than just lowering the treble or one of the other high end frequencies. This, to me at least, makes the tone a little warmer and less percussive.
 
Danny Danzi said:
You guys are mentioning patch differences etc....here's my issue and how I fixed it for my sounds.

So I've tried both the Al Tool and recreating. I've not had any differences or issues other than there are certain things the AX8 has that we don't in an XL+ etc. For me, one thing was "economy" in the pitch block, so changing that saved some CPU.

But that's neither here nor there. I'm currently testing and recording a few things that I hope to piece together to bring to FAS attention that may or may not be something worth looking into.

My AX8 has more high end than my XL+ with the presets being exactly the same. It doesn't matter if I use Al's tool (ugh, that doesn't sound right lol but it sure is funny!) or recreate. There's this high end thing in the AX8 that isn't in the XL+ or my MKII. The fix for me was to lower the definition in the pre-amp block to -6.00 on all my presets. This makes the AX8 sound nearly identical to my XL+ and my MKII. So if any of you are falling short or seem to have a little more high end in your AX8 presets than your MKII, XL,XL+ try cutting that definition down. It's a different kind of treble removal than just lowering the treble or one of the other high end frequencies. This, to me at least, makes the tone a little warmer and less percussive.
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Maybe because the ax8 doesn't have the input impedance setting? So it's basically like using axefx's rear input?
 
AXe-Fx II and AX8 both have the "secret sauce" on the input.

But the AX8 does not have the variable impedance circuitry and firmware support. It's fixed at 1M.
 
"Secret Sauce" is (or at least used to be) a pre-emphasis/de-emphasis thing. It's all about noise reduction. The front input features an analog treble boost that's complemented by an equal but opposite treble cut on the digital side.

On the Axe-Fx, you can configure Input 1 Left to listen to either the front-panel jack or the back-panel jack. If you configure it for front-panel input, it applies the treble cut digitally. But if you configure it that way and plug into the rear jack anyway (shame on you! :) ), you still get the treble cut, but there's no corresponding treble boost, because the back-panel jack doesn't have that. So your tone will be darker.
 
Rex said:
"Secret Sauce" is (or at least used to be) a pre-emphasis/de-emphasis thing. It's all about noise reduction. The front input features an analog treble boost that's complemented by an equal but opposite treble cut on the digital side.

On the Axe-Fx, you can configure Input 1 Left to listen to either the front-panel jack or the back-panel jack. If you configure it for front-panel input, it applies the treble cut digitally. But if you configure it that way and plug into the rear jack anyway (shame on you! :) ), you still get the treble cut, but there's no corresponding treble boost, because the back-panel jack doesn't have that. So your tone will be darker.
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It's opposite for me, Rex. My rear jack is definitely brighter to my ears. I guess auto would be the best selection for the rear and the closest to the front panel input, correct? I have to try that. I don't want any type of treble boost on any iinput.

On my XL+ I have the setting for like 230 with cap or something. I did this because my front input jack needs repair and whistles if the gate is turned off. (Does it while on too)

That setting seemed to have cut it down a little bit. Go in the back and it doesn't whistle but all presets have an auto treble boost/lack of warmth when I use the rear.

Same with my MKII. Rear is brighter than the front....but my front on that doesn't whistle. No whistle on the AX8 8 either and auto is fine on both units. I know my xl+ is hosed. Got an RA from fractal to send it back.

I think I've come to the conclusion that I just don't understand how this thing works. I can only tell what my ears are hearing. I'm hearing warmer front inputs on my two rack units and my AX8 sounds like the sound I get when using the rear ins on my racks. That's the best way I can explain it.
 
Danny Danzi said:
It's opposite for me, Rex. My rear jack is definitely brighter to my ears. I guess auto would be the best selection for the rear and the closest to the front panel input, correct? I have to try that. I don't want any type of treble boost on any iinput.

On my XL+ I have the setting for like 230 with cap or something. I did this because my front input jack needs repair and whistles if the gate is turned off. (Does it while on too)

That setting seemed to have cut it down a little bit. Go in the back and it doesn't whistle but all presets have an auto treble boost/lack of warmth when I use the rear.

Same with my MKII. Rear is brighter than the front....but my front on that doesn't whistle. No whistle on the AX8 8 either and auto is fine on both units. I know my xl+ is hosed. Got an RA from fractal to send it back.

I think I've come to the conclusion that I just don't understand how this thing works. I can only tell what my ears are hearing. I'm hearing warmer front inputs on my two rack units and my AX8 sounds like the sound I get when using the rear ins on my racks. That's the best way I can explain it.
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It's normal that you get a darker tone in the front input if you set the impedance to 230k+cap, you have to set it at 1M (that's the typical impedance of tube amps and the theorical "best" value for high impedance sources - pickups) to make a fair comparisons between the inputs.
Probably there will be still a difference in tone caused by the different impedances, since the rear input is supposed to work at line levels and those tipically have a much lower value compared to 1M. In this case the rear inputs would be darker though
 
Danny Danzi said:
It's opposite for me, Rex. My rear jack is definitely brighter to my ears.
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Okay, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yeah, I thinks it's an input impedance thing. 230 K is going to load down your pickups more than an amp would.

Danny Danzi said:
I guess auto would be the best selection for the rear and the closest to the front panel input, correct? I have to try that.
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Impedance values don't affect the rear inputs.
 
i'm still on my firmware that shipped with my AX8 last year. I'm enjoying these updates though. I'll eventually update when "the one" is released.
 
joesatch said:
i'm still on my firmware that shipped with my AX8 last year. I'm enjoying these updates though. I'll eventually update when "the one" is released.
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Haha, when will that be? I went through years of FW updates on the Ultra before the AxeII and now the AX8. You might as well jump in now, or wait until the AX8 is replaced by the AX8-II and there are no more updates for it.
 
Ok @joe rogers .......it's been a month.....I need a new firmware!!! I don't possibly know what could be improved, but I say that after every upgrade that comes on.....then BAM...y'all do it again and make the black box of magic even better. I feel like a junkie and I need my fix!!!
 
ssmorga78 said:
Ok @joe rogers .......it's been a month.....I need a new firmware!!! I don't possibly know what could be improved, but I say that after every upgrade that comes on.....then BAM...y'all do it again and make the black box of magic even better. I feel like a junkie and I need my fix!!!
Click to expand...
Same here!
 
99.9999999% of the time i use a single Friedman patch. I don't really even touch anything on the unit. If i want cleans, i just roll back my guitar volume. I'll keep my 2015 firmware installed
 
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