Axe-FX For The Recording Musician

Hmmm, I don't recall seeing that before. When I use an aggregate in Logic, a stereo track input menu shows all the stereo channel pairs. Was the Axe-FX turned on when you launched Logic? This might be one of those things where you set your audio device in Logic, then re-launch it.
 
I’d be interested in reading any comparisons between options 4/5 and the “third party audio interface” option described in the FM3 owner‘s manual. Up until now, I’ve only used my FM3 with headphones, but plan to buy a pair of studio monitors, which I would like to use to monitor my DAW with or without the FM3 powered on.
 
JeDu said:
I’d be interested in reading any comparisons between options 4/5 and the “third party audio interface” option described in the FM3 owner‘s manual. Up until now, I’ve only used my FM3 with headphones, but plan to buy a pair of studio monitors, which I would like to use to monitor my DAW with or without the FM3 powered on.
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As it says in the FM3 manual, the "third party audio interface" setup isn't suitable for re-amping. Not only that, it adds latency and noise due to the additional D/A/D conversions. It also adds complications with level calibration since it's not enough to adjust your levels in the FM3.

If it has those disadvantages, why would you ever use the setup described in the fm3 manual? As it says there, it might be necessary to use that setup if the 48 KHz sample rate of the FM3 is a problem when trying to record into a non-48KHz project. However, if you find yourself forced to record into a session that has a non-48KHz sample rate, see the "Sample Rates" topic in the recording guide for details on that subject. In particular, some DAWs allow you to record 48KHz into a non 48KHz project. In other words, in many cases it's a non issue.

If all you want is to listen to music without turning on your FM3, I'd recommend configuration #2 or #4. As it says in the text for #5, that configuration works better for the Axe-FX than it does for the FM3.
 
I've used the aggregate device solution with Cubase and my ULN-2 audio interface for many years (direct-monitoring via AES and/or line out, recording/reamping via USB), but find the aggregate device can easily be "corrupted"; that is, it doesn't seem to recognize the powered-on AxeFX as being part of a previously-defined aggregate device, forcing me to create a new one (which is pain as I need to manually rename all the I/O channels in Cubase again).

I suspect that this is possibly due to a combination of (a) the order in which things are turned on/launched (I assume the Axe should be turned on first, then the DAW launched, as Glenn mentioned above), possibly combined with (b) the fact that I often leave my OS running for weeks at a time without a reboot, sometimes switching Cubase's input from the aggregate device to my audio interface when the AxeFX is off (for VST instrument-only projects not using the Axe).

Has anyone found a foolproof way to reliably keep aggregate devices stably locked onto the AxeFX device across multiple launches of Cubase and powered?
 
I have pretty much the same setup: Cubase left running for weeks at a time with an aggregate. I seem to remember seeing that happen rarely, but I think unchecking/checking "use" in Audio/MIDI setup (not sure if it's important to exit Cubase, but you probably need to make sure the Axe-FX is on) might have fixed it. You have to uncheck/check each device since doing only one device can re-order the ports.
 
Thanks for the reply. I could've sworn I tried that and it didn't work: the Axe was on at the time, and Audio/MIDI setup was showing it as available as a separate device but not part of the aggregate device I'd previously associated it with. It was almost as if the Axe was registering itself using some sort of different UDID than it had previously, but that doesn't seem likely. It seemed more likely due to not powering things up in the proper order. My computer is always on, the Axe considerably less so, with Cubase somewhere in between (again, with various interfaces).

Probably what would best address it is to always use the aggregate device (regardless of whether I plan to use it), and always ensure the Axe is on before launching Cubase.
 
SeasonOfPain said:
Thanks for the reply. I could've sworn I tried that and it didn't work: the Axe was on at the time, and Audio/MIDI setup was showing it as available as a separate device but not part of the aggregate device I'd previously associated it with. It was almost as if the Axe was registering itself using some sort of different UDID than it had previously, but that doesn't seem likely. It seemed more likely due to not powering things up in the proper order. My computer is always on, the Axe considerably less so, with Cubase somewhere in between (again, with various interfaces).

Probably what would best address it is to always use the aggregate device (regardless of whether I plan to use it), and always ensure the Axe is on before launching Cubase.
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Only thing I can mention about your situation (been using Cubase since 2006 but I don't leave computer on) is to recover your I/O settings, you can save them, making that process quite a bit easier (you may know this already)! I like having my Tascam Model 12 properly assigned and if a template I want to use does not have things set right, the I/O is easily populated by recalling that saved I/O preset. It is a drop down along the top edge of the I/O channels section. Best of luck in resolving your issue and I would definitely say do any future testing with Axe started before you fire up Cubase!
 
Moondog Wily said:
Only thing I can mention about your situation (been using Cubase since 2006 but I don't leave computer on) is to recover your I/O settings, you can save them, making that process quite a bit easier (you may know this already)! I like having my Tascam Model 12 properly assigned and if a template I want to use does not have things set right, the I/O is easily populated by recalling that saved I/O preset. It is a drop down along the top edge of the I/O channels section. Best of luck in resolving your issue and I would definitely say do any future testing with Axe started before you fire up Cubase!
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That's a good idea: Whenever finishing any edits in Audio Connections, I always save a preset in case I need to restore it later. However, I think SeasonOfPain may be talking about the port names in Studio Setup. Cubase is pretty good about automatically mapping the ports in Audio Connections, so those should be ok when switching to a replacement aggregate. But you lose the port names when switching your audio device.

I've been trying to corrupt an aggregate for the past few minutes by launching cubase with and without the axe-fx on, but I'm not having any luck making the problem happen. The Axe-FX channels are simply unavailable until I turn it back on. At that point, everything works fine. I seem to remember seeing that happen though. Maybe the problem happened with an older version of MacOS? I'm running Big Sur.
 
GlennO said:
That's a good idea: Whenever finishing any edits in Audio Connections, I always save a preset in case I need to restore it later. However, I think SeasonOfPain may be talking about the port names in Studio Setup. Cubase is pretty good about automatically mapping the ports in Audio Connections, so those should be ok when switching to a replacement aggregate. But you lose the port names when switching your audio device.

I've been trying to corrupt an aggregate for the past few minutes by launching cubase with and without the axe-fx on, but I'm not having any luck making the problem happen. The Axe-FX channels are simply unavailable until I turn it back on. At that point, everything works fine. I seem to remember seeing that happen though. Maybe the problem happened with an older version of MacOS? I'm running Big Sur.
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Can't speak on the Apple side, I am constantly looking through Windows! I will try to remember to test later when I fire up the system!!
 
GlennO said:
I think SeasonOfPain may be talking about the port names in Studio Setup. Cubase is pretty good about automatically mapping the ports in Audio Connections, so those should be ok when switching to a replacement aggregate. But you lose the port names when switching your audio device.
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Yes, exactly; I was (re)naming the channels in Audio/MIDI Setup. I did notice Cubase itself allows customizing the name of each channel in Studio Setup… while that would require a bunch of switching back and forth during setup (since the channel names the aggregate presents are unhelpfully very generic), that may be the route I go if this happens again, and saving as a preset would limit this to only being needed once, assuming each newly-reconstructed aggregate device presents the channel names identically.

GlennO said:
I've been trying to corrupt an aggregate for the past few minutes by launching cubase with and without the axe-fx on, but I'm not having any luck making the problem happen. The Axe-FX channels are simply unavailable until I turn it back on. At that point, everything works fine. I seem to remember seeing that happen though. Maybe the problem happened with an older version of MacOS? I'm running Big Sur.
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I just went through a major system upgrade; I was on a 2018 Mac Mini running Cubase 9 and 10 on Mojave for a long time, but am now on a Mac Studio running Cubase 12 on Monterey, so a lot of variables may have changed (plus Axe firmware versions). I still suspect the problem is the frequent switching of input devices in Cubase; I'll just try to remember firing up the Axe before any Cubase session, even if not planning to use it during that session, and see if that stabilizes things.
 
Just here to give a positive shout out to the stickied recording guide after experimenting a bit this weekend. I was always hesitant in the past to let go of analog and switch to digital for axe guitar/bass recording because I frequently work on a shared project that is at 44.1. I even remember going back and forth in the past on some leveling issues I was having and more so with some analog re-amping trouble.
So much easier! Didn't have to do anything but follow the guide configuration including aggregate device. Even the bit suggesting that some DAWs will take the incoming 48k stream and convert to your project sample rate worked just fine with Logic. So, even my hesitation over that one 44.1 project was a non-issue.
 
DennG said:
So what to do if i have an FM3?
Is there any info that is fm3 specific?
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Almost all of it applies to the FM3 and any exceptions to this are called out. Near the begining of the guide it says:

Note I'm using "Axe-FX" to refer to the Axe-FX, FM3 and FM9. If there are specific exceptions to this below, I'll mention them.
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By the way, this guide also applies fairly well to the Axe-FX II if you follow the FM3 instructions for the usb channels.
 
GlennO said:
Almost all of it applies to the FM3 and aneptions to this are called out. Near the begining of the guide it says:
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Yes i read that. I updated both USB drivers. Maybe its Reaper. There is a lot though that doesn't pertain to Fm3. Maybe the 6.00 beta3 will gitr done. Are there people that are using the Fm3 as an interface and recording multiple tracks and it is working for them?
 
AFAIK, everything that requires different instructions for the FM3 is specifically called out. I don't know of anything in the guide that doesn't pertain to the FM3. But if you find something I overlooked, please send me a PM so I can correct it.

Regarding any problems you're having with Reaper, I'd recommend starting a new thread with a detailed description of your problem and I'm sure somebody will help you out.
 
In the Axe III manual regarding re-amping steps it states:
Change the output of your “DI” track to Axe-Fx III Output 5/6. Set its output level to –6.0 dB.
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What is behind the recommendation for -6dB?

I could imagine a rationale something like: because the DI was originally recorded mono, but now it is fed back in stereo, and is perhaps summed in the Axe, and thus 0.5x voltage = -6dB
However, experimentally I find that a re-amped wet track is the same volume / tone as the original wet track (recorded during DI capture) if the DI track is left at 0dB during re-amping (and quieter if the DI track is reduced to -6dB during re-amping).
 
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