Axe-Fx II Firmware 15.00 Public Beta

Another amazing update from Dr Cliff and FAS .. :)

(I just rubbed the update in my friends face, he is just on the edge of hitting the "buy now" button ..hehehe)

Thank you FAS
 
Where's ma Boss HM-2? :pride:

BossHM2Cliff.jpg
 
Just gotten around to having a short play around with FW 15.
Love it!!

First impression is it sounds more open to me. Bassman fenders are better usable from the start with the guitar I happned to have in my hands. (A Charvel SoCal with Tonezone and Evo pickups.) Granted .. not the guitar you'd usually combine with those amps.

Great work FAS!!
 
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I just spent half day demoing 15.00 beta. I really thought FW14 was about the end as far as audible improvement, but the difference in
15 is quite noticeable on the vintage style non master amps. They are a bit less "forward" than 14. Creamier and even more touch sensitive.
I also love their volume tapers now. Very accurate to the real things. Sometimes '8' or '9' sounds better than '10' (just like the real ones).

I note Cliff's comment that we now have 185 amp models. I take that to mean he's burned on adding more amps, and who could blame him.
I can't conceive what he might work on next. The amps are fine tuned to the 'nth' degree. The amount and quality of tones we have
on tap now is simply ridiculous.
 
Chris@KatsuKuriMedia said:
Would you guys wait for them to develop the procedure that automatically does the amp reset for you (maybe 3 months or more) or would you want FW 15 to be released sooner?

Honest question.

Lemme completely clarify that his is solely my hypothetical situation that I made up and not from FAS in any way :) I'm just curious.
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Considering I never felt that FW14 amp modelling was lacking in any way and that I highly doubt I will ever notice a difference, I would indeed wait.

And yes, I can always opt to not upgrade my firmware at all, but then I'd miss out on all yet to come updates (and bugfixes) aswell. So this is clearly not an option.

It's not like I can skip just this firmware update. It's either skip all or skip none.

So yes, an automated method to update all amp blocks IS a thing I'd wait for if it makes major firmware updates less of a headache.
 
Bodde said:
Yes that would be great. I hate it when you have to reset your amp and loose all your settings. Totally impractical to do that with each major update. You have to build your tone in all your presets all over again and waste valuable (practice) time. How do you guys handle this? Is it possible to partially reset the amp like Zwiebelchen is suggesting, so load in only the changed FW update settings and keep the rest the same?
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I accomplish this with Axe Edit. What I do is copy X to Y then reset X. Then you can look at old settings switching back and forth between X and Y. Still a little time consuming (and I don't have 200 presets :eek: ) Obviously not a solution if your using X and Y amps in the same patch but I rarely do that. It gets you in the same ballpark but as someone else mentioned, it still may not sound like it did if there have been big changes in the new firmware model.
 
FractalAudio said:
Those amps don't have saturation circuits. Putting one in there can make things sound weird.
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that's the beauty of the realistic modeled amps, isn't it. if you'd do that mod to the real amp it would probably sound as weird and not just like you're having more gain.
 
metalpriest said:
I note Cliff's comment that we now have 185 amp models. I take that to mean he's burned on adding more amps, and who could blame him.
I can't conceive what he might work on next. The amps are fine tuned to the 'nth' degree. The amount and quality of tones we have
on tap now is simply ridiculous.
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The correct number is 108, with in those 108 we have amp channels that technically don't count as individual amps.
 
kerrlehr said:
I updated, then after reading the notes, I immediately went to the Dr. Z 38. Per the instructions, I was resetting the amp. I flipped over to the Dr Z - 8 so that I could flip back to the 38, and had already set the cab IR to the UR Amp Factory AC Rox Mix. (kind of a random selection to try out - no reason) What I heard was heaven. I never did flip back to the 38, nor have I tried another amp since. My god what a nice tone. Open chords left open to decay are deeply layered with harmonic content. I can't describe it and frankly have not felt a full amp like relation with the Axe-FX II as organic and harmonically rich as the tone that I stumbled upon by accident here. Volume control and overall dynamic response is amazing. I don't have any idea what this epiphany of Cliff was with V15.xx, but it is real. I can feel it, not only hear it.
I like this - a lot.
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Thanks for sharing, I couldn't agree more with your feelings about feel, and now the heretofore subtle differences between some amp models are striking and extraordinary, and rediscovering them will be an amazing journey, so, once again,a hale and hearty HOLY SHITBALLS to you and your team Cliff, I must lick your asses again, you have raised the bar exponentially again......
 
Ironwill said:
Would be great to know the difference there..
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There is no default setting in the real amp, so why would there be one in the Axe's version? Use your ears, it's all a matter of taste. I like my presence around 3 o clock. Who's to say that it should or shouldn't be higher or lower? Tweak it, until you are happy. Remember to make use of the brightness knob too. Increasing presence and lowering brightness has an interesting effect that I really like.

Also, if you really must know the default settings for any type of amp, try YouTube and see what other people are using for their settings.
 
I don't spend much time obsessing on whether this amp model sounds like the real thing. Knowing what I want to hear, I just pick a decent amp model to start with and make it sound better. As a matter of fact, when I get done, everything sounds like a Mark IIC+...hahaha. Either way, the beauty of the Axe is dialing in what is pleasing to your ears.
 
If I had a choice I would wait for an auto amp reset procedure. It takes a ton of time to make sure your settings are same when you reset. Some capabilities to ease the use of the unit would be greatly appreciated. Things like auto reset while retaining your settings, auto volume leveling across presets, etc.
 
GreatGreen said:
Hey Cliff, how do you test amp models against their real life counterparts? Do you record the amps, then compare the recordings with the Axe-Fx's amp and cab simulation, or do you A/B through the same cabinet as the amps themselves with a solid state poweramp in the same room?
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I A/B the amp through a cab vs the model through an IR of that cab. The cabinet is in an isolation room.
 
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