Axe-Fx II Firmware Version 12.04 Public Beta

interestingly, none of my presets push the MV at all.. none of them are set above 4.5..
and my hi-gain tones are around 3.0 to 3.5

that said, I'm still hearing / sensing somehow / feeling something extra..
 
rsf1977_again said:
the low res parameter has just become probably the most amazing adjustment i've ever made to a tone. I can now get that hit you in the chest punch when doing palm mutes. Awesome.
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And there you have it. Before if you cranked the Low Res up it would fart out or clip weird.

How you can really hear it is to crank Low Res and MV up. Do an open-E palm mute and you'll get punch, knock and "bongggg" rather than "bfffft".

It's all about the speakers too. Celestions typically have very prominent low-frequency resonance whereas Jensens do not. The resonance "gain" of a Celestion can be on the order of 20 dB or more whereas a Jensen is more like 12 dB. This "loose" response of the Celestions gives you that knock and bong. So to replicate this you turn up Low Res.

This same affect happens to the high end. When you dig in the highs soften rather than clipping and getting shrill.
 
pdup said:
What happens from my POV is a much more dynamic "feel", nomatter dB. Like if you are downmixing with a spongy maximizer. (And please, this has nothing to do with me thinking that Fractal has invented some sort of compex-limiter ruining "tone").
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What most of us (me included) feel, when we say "it`s more dynamic", mostly the opposite is true: A more saturation of the Power Amp Tubes. It feels more punchy, more "dynamically", but loudness wise, it is less.

When comparing 12.03 vs 12.04b i normalized both tracks to -0.3db max. A/Bing both tracks sounds very similiar to me, but the little tighter low-end on 12.04b. So i change the phase on one track, assuming most of the sound will now cancel out eachother, but that did not happen! The cancelation was minimal! Looking at the meters, the differences where small, but i thought 12.04 has a bit smaller dynamic range loudness wise - what would explain the less cancelation but very similiar sounding of both tracks.

In other words: The feel is a bit more "tubish" now ... perhaps ... i don`t know. The only thing i know is: I am very satisfied with this beta ;)
 
clarky said:
interestingly, none of my presets push the MV at all.. none of them are set above 4.5..
and my hi-gain tones are around 3.0 to 3.5

that said, I'm still hearing / sensing somehow / feeling something extra..
Click to expand...

It will still be audible and tactile at those settings. It just increases as you turn up MV.
 
steverosburg said:
Nothing against Chris at all, I just described my issue and indicated that I was using scene controllers previously, so hopefully I would get some benefit of the doubt that I did in fact know what I was doing.

EDIT: I just re-read my original post. I realize that I did *not* in fact, indicate that I was using Scene controllers prior to the upgrade. Yes, I could see how the first reaction would be "maybe you're doing it wrong?" My humble apologies.
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Which is why my very first question was confirming if you are using scene controllers.

That should have clued you in to the fact you didn't say you were trying to use scene controllers.

Many people don't like the questions I ask when I'm troubleshooting for them. But I ask for a reason to deduce the problem among myriad variables in the axe etc. They're the ones with the problem, yet I'm inconveniencing or insulting them with my questions.

Meh.
 
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FractalAudio said:
And there you have it. Before if you cranked the Low Res up it would fart out or clip weird.

How you can really hear it is to crank Low Res and MV up. Do an open-E palm mute and you'll get punch, knock and "bongggg" rather than "bfffft".

It's all about the speakers too. Celestions typically have very prominent low-frequency resonance whereas Jensens do not. The resonance "gain" of a Celestion can be on the order of 20 dB or more whereas a Jensen is more like 12 dB. This "loose" response of the Celestions gives you that knock and bong. So to replicate this you turn up Low Res.

This same affect happens to the high end. When you dig in the highs soften rather than clipping and getting shrill.
Click to expand...

So is there an exact number for each speaker or is it a thing you just increase until you fall in love lol, just curious. Also, I run through a matrix amp and real 4x12 cab with v30s and t75s. Does it matter if I'm using real speakers on only for IRs? I've never heard the AxeFx sound this good through headphones, i'm dying to crank this once I get to practice down the line.
 
FractalAudio said:
It will still be audible and tactile at those settings. It just increases as you turn up MV.
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I reckon I need to goof around with this some..
see where it takes my tone [and I'm in a really sweet tonal place right now.. so improving on this would be quite something]
 
FractalAudio said:
I use 880's and it's very noticeable to me. Crank the MV and maybe turn up Low Res a bit.

I think, though, that you have to be tuned in to the sound of classic tube amps and the subtleties in the response. For those of us who grew up with tube amps and know that feeling when you hit the sweet spot is what it's all about. When you crank the MV on a tube amp you hit that sweet spot and it's glorious. Below that and it's uninspiring. Above that and it turns to mush.

We remember those gigs where it was a big room with lots of people and stuff to soak up the sound and you could crank your amp. The bounce off the strings and the sustain are memorable.
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I have the 880s as well (I also monitor through the active CLR wedges) and that's exactly what I did. See my post early in this thread the night the BETA dropped. I did what Cliff said in the release notes, turned up the master and increased the low res and holy shit bawls! It's awesome! I couldn't understand why I was the only one raving about it to be honest!
Since that night I have cranked up the CLRs and tried out fenders and kicker amps, and also the Ownhammer and Fractal Pro Pack IRs and its by far the best sound I've ever had! I'm beside myself with this version of the Axe. So glad to be along for this ride!
 
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Morphosis said:
As stated, first test was A/B 12.03 to 12.04beta by audition two recordings through headphones. The big surprise was, when playing Axe-Fx II + Matrix GT1000 through real Cabinet in comparison to my Tube-Amp through the same Cab. Before the new beta i had to tweak a lot the SPKR page to get similar results in feel and "dimension". With 12.04beta i am there almost out of the box. Not yet tested via FRFR Monitoring....
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Same here. I had to tinker with the SPKR page a lot to find the sweet spot. Now it is almost always there, just right out of the box without tweaking. You may get closer by changing parameters but that's nuances now.
The sound unfolds now and trickles from the cab like with real tube amps. It is best heard when playing in a rock band at gigging volume. Now I have time to relish every single note that I play when soloing whereas with earlier FWs I always had to throw in these extra notes to fill something in because the tone I was playing seemed to be stuck in the cab's cone and struggled to get out.
 
Phostenix said:
This is how it starts. Soon, you'll be buying speaker cable elevators and CD demagnitizers. :lol
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Don't forget the wooden dial-wheel-knob for your axe. It makes the sound more rounder caused by the microvibration on the skin of the wood. This is a dramatic game changer! It adds something we usually called "talent".... *duck and running for cover while LMAO*:mrgreen
 
Thanks for the headphone tips GameDojo, Cliff and Clarky. I'll spend some time with low res and MV tonight. Other than having new Axe FW to play with, I had a pretty crappy day yesterday. Maybe it leaked into my ears.
 
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clarky said:
did nothing at all… just loaded the fw and turned up the volume..

I didn't even reset the amps [to make sure I had the right comp settings, I just left my own settings as they are]
just loved it.. figured nothing got worse, everything got better.. means there was only two things needed doing
back all this up and then play for fun

seriously though..
my riffing tones are dual mono [5153Red left / Herbert ch3 right]
my clean, solo, crunch tones are single amps [so they're mono] but through a pair of cabs [stereo cab block with each cab panned hard]

12.xx has always had something extra…. but 12.04b feels to me like a quantum leap [especially in the cans]..

my cans are pretty ok.. not absolutely top of the line but they're not exactly crap either: KRK KNS8400
comfy, lightweight, good freq range, quite a fat sound and very loud..
so they're ideal for long period usage [song writing / practice / recording / checking recorded parts for 'things to mend' etc]..
but I wouldn't mix down with them..

so no really, I didn't do anything at all.. just loved it right away..
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Would love to see a preset just for the layout. Dual mono amps sounds interesting!
 
guitardoc said:
Same here. I had to tinker with the SPKR page a lot to find the sweet spot. Now it is almost always there, just right out of the box without tweaking. You may get closer by changing parameters but that's nuances now.
The sound unfolds now and trickles from the cab like with real tube amps. It is best heard when playing in a rock band at gigging volume. Now I have time to relish every single note that I play when soloing whereas with earlier FWs I always had to throw in these extra notes to fill something in because the tone I was playing seemed to be stuck in the cab's cone and struggled to get out.
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Interesting! Seems i am not alone ;) I really believe, that this beta brings something the "Guitarcab+Tube-PowerAmp" lovers will help them to get rid of their tubes ;)
 
PacoCasanovas said:
It's all in the axefx ;) ....if done the right way and not by generic assumptions <img src="http://forum.fractalaudio.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19345"/>
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That's the main 'problem' with guitarists. They just want to play guitar and not study amp building technologies in order to get a decent tone out if this magic box. Not complaining, just stating.
 
Contact support. You need an EPROM. Happened to me with most recent update. Cost? =$1 plus shipping.

There should be a note with each update that says to disconnect the MFC, and to exit all active programs on your computer (except Fractal Bot, of course).

Yes, it sucks. I'm just so incredibly happy to be back up and running. And the day before my CLRs arrived, nonetheless.

Chris O said:
I'm TOTALLY locked up. Blank screen, lights all on. Ax2 - Mk 1

Windows 8 user, used Fractal Bot - prior version to the one I dl'd today. I was on 12.02.

Tried to reset - (power down, hold recall). Nothing.

HELP!!
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