Axe-Fx II Firmware 16.02 Released

iaresee said:
I have some bad news there. We're finding the new born + two other kids a little more challenging than we expected. My wife isn't ready to handle all three kids by herself for an entire day while I sneak off to Petaluma. The littlest is just 11 days old today.

If there's Skype or Google Hangout capabilities I can dial in and talk though.
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Oh, that is really too bad... I was looking forward to your talk.

Since there will be a projector and at least a computer or two, we could probably get a Skype session going.


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I thought I would chime in and thank Cliff and FAS for all the continued work. It's really appreciated.

I really don't have a lot to offer. For me, I was seriously happy with my tones a while ago. I don't remember the firmware # that gave me complete satisfaction but anything past that point was just icing on the cake.

For some reason, I abandoned all of my drive pedals quite a while ago and just ended up using the cut switch inside of the amp control to get that tube screamer tone, with the drive pedal improvements, I've brought back the tube screamers in front of the high gain amps. I'm really enjoying them again. The new intelligent gate is awesome and I really have to thank FAS for this one. This new inclusion has allowed me to ditch the noise gate block I had placed in front of everything in all of my high gain patches. I was never quite happy with the settings I had tirelessly worked on to get a transparent gate working in the Axe and the last few nights working with the new gate really have proven this to me. The new gate really feels as if it allows all of my pick attack through, but cleans up everything I don't want. I can't say enough positive things about this new gate. If at all possible, I would suggest adding this to the actual gate effect/block for users who don't realize it's a part of the input. It's easy to overlook and this is something special I feel anyone incorporating high gain amp settings should be made aware of in the Axe.

The Axe is just getting ridiculously easy to use. I can't believe it. I really don't even need to tweak the amp settings much anymore! I can load up an amp now and just by adjusting the gain and overall level with the combination of some of my favorite IR's I've got a killer tone! It's nice to know that some of these advanced tools are there to tweak the amps, but honestly, I don't think I'm going to need them. I was able to hear the difference in the new presence control. Honestly, I think I might miss how edgy/fizzy I was able to dial in the presence because it seems to have lost it's edge, but I have to admit, it's probably more realistic/less digital sounding and probably more appealing to most users.

Overall, fantastic job Cliff and FAS. I've been very happy with how my Axe FX sounds for quite some time and it is amazing to me how you continue to improve everything about it, even making it easier to tweak to allow users to get the sound that's in their heads. I can't imagine what's next.

Thank you!!!
 
iaresee said:
Also note: the new noise gate algorithm uses just a hair bit more CPU, so if you were on the edge, it may have pushed you over. You can switch it back to classic if you want to try to gain that 1% back.
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My CPU actually lowered when I switched the input gate from classic to intelligent...?
I tested by doing the same thing to about half a dozen presets and they all reacted the same, either a displayed 1% reduction in Axe-Edit or no change.
 
lqdsnddist said:
Would it be accurate to think of this new FW as (depending on how you set it of course) a return to some of the more idealized, opposed to purely accurate, amp tones of pre FW10 ?

FW9 for example, had a bunch of fans who liked the kind of studio ready ideal guitar tones, while it seemed like FW10 pushed things to a new level of realism, touch sensitivity etc. Responded more like a real amp and some folks missed the studio polish of earlier FW.

In 16.02, with things like the dynamics knob, it seems we have the option to take an amp past the limits of an accurate model, to a bit more of an idealized tone. Seems great to me, and naturally one doesn't have to use such settings if they want to. In my mind, this seems like a great direction to go, because while I appreciate 99.9% accurate models, I think its also pretty cool to use the freedom of the virtual amp to allow for tones and features simply not possible with a real amp.

Its like the Matrix if you will.... sure you can follow the rules of reality, OR, you can tell yourself there is no spoon, so to speak, and take your amp to new levels

What is everyone's opinion on this ?
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I'm a HUGE fan of ideal amp tones so anything that allows for creation of the ideal is a HUGE plus for me. Even playing live with my band, many of the Ideal tones are greatly preferred by my bandmates.
 
guitar32 said:
I'm a HUGE fan of ideal amp tones so anything that allows for creation of the ideal is a HUGE plus for me. Even playing live with my band, many of the Ideal tones are greatly preferred by my bandmates.
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I think "ideal" is exactly what we're all after. We just define it differently. IMO, this FW get all of us closer via tools in the toolbox.
 
From my POV the latest firmware is getting me closer to the amps with knobs from -3 to +11+ and a bag full of old tubes worth thousands of bucks.
 
Rotti said:
My CPU actually lowered when I switched the input gate from classic to intelligent...?
I tested by doing the same thing to about half a dozen presets and they all reacted the same, either a displayed 1% reduction in Axe-Edit or no change.
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Axe-Edit isn't the canonical source for CPU use -- look on the unit.
 
I'm happy enough with my Freidman BE patch that I turned off the noise gate completely. I've got nice gain and can turn up without undesired noise. Using the amp's natural (or in this case, simulated) gain and turning off the bright switch and not using a drive block works great.
 
What would you like to call something that does not perform its intended function or does so errantly?
 
Rotti said:
What would you like to call something that does not perform its intended function or does so errantly?
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As good as it gets. The AFII doesn't report real CPU use to the software, it's inferred by AE using static models.
 
OK, but I'm seeing actual CPU decreases... I get what you're saying about what the front panel reads vs axe edit. AE just happens to be taking a snapshot of the CPU use at a low point? Consistently?

Not really a huge deal either way, I just thought I was saving CPU.
 
Rotti said:
OK, but I'm seeing actual CPU decreases... I get what you're saying about what the front panel reads vs axe edit. AE just happens to be taking a snapshot of the CPU use at a low point? Consistently?

Not really a huge deal either way, I just thought I was saving CPU.
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Look at it in the hardware -- it bounces around.
 
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