I really feel for you guys not feeling the new firmware. I was in the same boat with the 15 beta (felt as if the models had lost gain and a general loss in balls), and was somewhat dreading what the final firmware would bring if this was the general direction the firmware was going. After playing the final release last night for hours, I am relieved! 15 is awesome and to me, one of the biggest game-changing firmwares I've ever been through.
I'm a high gain guy, so my experience is coming from working with many of the high gain amps last night. I feel that 15 has delivered a new focus to all the amps that wasn't quite there before, especially with certain amps like the Boogies. From my experience, these amps are now reacting much more realistically than ever before. For example, the Recto always felt a bit flubby compared to the real amp to me, but not in this firmware. The recto has that huge fat tone but now it's tight where you expect it to be. Compared to the beta, the final release does indeed give the 5150 amps more balls. I was depressed with the 5153 Red channel in the beta, but in the final, I was blown away by it. It sounds fantastic now!
I feel I really could go on an on about how awesome this firmware is. I think Cliff has really nailed the sweet spot with this firmware! Amazing Job Cliff!
I think if you guys just take a minute to take a step back and not focus on how much your patches have changed, but how realistic the new changes have made the Axe in general, you're going to fall in love. This firmware is a definite step forward.
This^ absolutely.
Some suggestions for FRFR players in no particular order:
Read the release notes and Cliff Notes (err, well yes,read these first ... or totally fail).
Always tweak at gig volumes whenever possible - expect uncertainty at gigs if you don't.
Use your ears - you will get to your desired tone faster.
If you want balls turn the MV up and dial the input drive and trim to taste.
Don't forget to dig in to some low and mid notes while choking up on the pick so your thumb and index fingertips inject some overtones into the tone (a key element to reaching your own personal responsiveness sweet spot).
Swap in some UR IR's and play with the resonance parameters on the speaker page.
Adjust the sag parameters until you're good and giddy with the response to your touch, attack and the way you dig in.
Save when your reasonably happy and then repeat while whisking in some of the more advanced tips from Cliff Notes, Cliff posts, etc.
Save and move on to your next favorite preset or creation and repeat.
Etc. ...
July 5th will be my 1year anniversary as a Fractalite so I am certainly not claiming to be an expert or on top of best practices ... yet. But, this worked at least for me and I'm up and running with responsive presets in no time after each and every FW update from 12 - 15 including all public betas. I do not copy down or take screenshots of prior settings because I do not know how the changed algorithms may have changed the responsiveness of a given model's parameters. Instead, I use my ears and tweak from scratch after each FW update.
Feel free to reject any of this and share why. It's how we all learn and grow as Fractalites.
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