Axe-Fx II "Quantum" Rev 1.00 Public Beta

Just in case anyone in this forum is interested in authentic feedback and not fanboyism about the QUANTUM beta...

Little background before my rant, I've had the Axe 2 since FW6, had an AxeFx Standard before that. I've been recording stuff with it for the longest time, and have seen it go up and down in quality with each FW release (usually up!!).

Quantum is great - for the gigging and bedroom guitarist. It improves feel considerably, especially with the hot rodded Marshalls.

That said, I feel we're back to FW 12 in terms of muddiness. FW18 was the first time I had a feeling I didn't have to "push" the axe to the front of a mix, it would go there on its own without special EQ boosts, compression or anything, just like a normal miked amp does. In QUANTUM that is gone, I have to keep pushing things again, the amps are muddier. I've tried the 5150s, Friedmans, JVM410, JCM800 yesterday.

Does anyone else share the same feelings? I'm a guy who simply pulls up a cab or two and an amp, plays with the tone stack, presence, and sometimes master vol, and leaves it there. As much as I can tweak, I've found every time I mess with more advanced stuff I can go for hours at end only to land at a worse spot than I began. I do use the new preamp sim in the cab block though.

So to sum it up, I'm not saying QUANTUM sucks. Far from that, it's definitely an improvement in terms of feel. But for the studio guitarrist, it's lacking. It's a step back. I'm sure there's people in the forum with the mixing and tweaking skills to work around that in a mix, but for me it's not, and I'm guessing there's a lot of people like me out there.

Shoot me :)

Alex
 
I tried the dephase feature in the previous beta, and It didn't appear to do anything noticable. Could it be that the cab IR I use (I only use one...my own) didn't 'need' dephasing, whereas many other cab IR's would benefit greatly from it?

Did you tried witout any reverb and delay (dry) ? It's easier ho hear the difference, and there is one, really noticable. My little experience with it was that it sounded great on 1 with some ir's, not so good with others. But then you can tweak. With a little dephase I was pleased with the sound from my monitors without any reverb or delay for the first time. There is some space, 'in the room' added, but it doesn't sound like a room simulation. Very nice feature.
 
Awesome!!

However, anyone notice the Banks and System cannot be backed up internally as before? Maybe it is doing it....but the status bar is not showing.
 
Just in case anyone in this forum is interested in authentic feedback and not fanboyism about the QUANTUM beta...

Little background before my rant, I've had the Axe 2 since FW6, had an AxeFx Standard before that. I've been recording stuff with it for the longest time, and have seen it go up and down in quality with each FW release (usually up!!).

Quantum is great - for the gigging and bedroom guitarist. It improves feel considerably, especially with the hot rodded Marshalls.

That said, I feel we're back to FW 12 in terms of muddiness. FW18 was the first time I had a feeling I didn't have to "push" the axe to the front of a mix, it would go there on its own without special EQ boosts, compression or anything, just like a normal miked amp does. In QUANTUM that is gone, I have to keep pushing things again, the amps are muddier. I've tried the 5150s, Friedmans, JVM410, JCM800 yesterday.

Does anyone else share the same feelings? I'm a guy who simply pulls up a cab or two and an amp, plays with the tone stack, presence, and sometimes master vol, and leaves it there. As much as I can tweak, I've found every time I mess with more advanced stuff I can go for hours at end only to land at a worse spot than I began. I do use the new preamp sim in the cab block though.

So to sum it up, I'm not saying QUANTUM sucks. Far from that, it's definitely an improvement in terms of feel. But for the studio guitarrist, it's lacking. It's a step back. I'm sure there's people in the forum with the mixing and tweaking skills to work around that in a mix, but for me it's not, and I'm guessing there's a lot of people like me out there.

Shoot me :)

Alex


Honestly I've had the opposite experience of quantum. I've had to do much, much less to my signal chain to get something that works in a mix. I did notice some IRs that I liked to use with certain amps in previous firmwares weren't really doing it for me any more.

Apart from removing a truckload of GEQ filtering at various stages, and a couple of gain/tonestack tweaks thats been one of the few changes I felt I needed to make with this firmware.
 
I've had to do much, much less to my signal chain to get something that works in a mix. I did notice some IRs that I liked to use with certain amps in previous firmwares weren't really doing it for me any more.

Apart from removing a truckload of GEQ filtering at various stages, and a couple of gain/tonestack tweaks thats been one of the few changes I felt I needed to make with this firmware.

I have a comparable experience. Qv1.0b instantly cuts through the mix and it's only a little bit of tweaking gain, master, treble. I liked most new firmwares or did not find them too different, but this one really does it for me.
 
i've been setting the dephase to 5, just because i saw someone else say that's what they were doing, lol. i haven't had time to do a detailed test of it at different settings.

I did this aswell at first after Chris demo vid - then I tried the settings from Mark Day in his vid on 4.72 - it's not much difference in the numbers but it sounds more open for me.....
 
Just in case anyone in this forum is interested in authentic feedback and not fanboyism about the QUANTUM beta...

Soooo... you're saying that all of the overwhelming positive response shows that we're all fanboys and those opinions are wrong and don't matter? I mean, it's OK to have a different opinion and all, but to start right off insulting the group and coming in with such a condescending attitude attitude you really seem to be just looking to stir things up.

I'm sure there's people in the forum with the mixing and tweaking skills to work around that in a mix, but for me it's not, and I'm guessing there's a lot of people like me out there.

My main thing is recording as well, and I'm really finding just the opposite. The bass is tight, the highs have more realistic and smooth sizzle to them. (I notice this because I've recently been recording a real amp again, partly to reset my expectations and partly for fun.) I'm not hearing this mud you mention. If anything I have to spend less time with tweaking and simply match up an amp and cab and I'm off. No major secrets in the mix either. It just seems to fit well.

One thing you might check is to see if your cabinet is still what you had assigned to the patch before. Some people have reported that user cabs aren't lining up properly, and although I haven't checked mine, I did find a few of my patches that sound different, so I have just moved on to a different patch and found the sound I'm looking for. Yes, I did have to make a few changes on some patches even then, but we're not talking about advanced stuff here. Just a few subtle nudges to the tone stack and presence and I was back with better overall tone and much better feel.

Anyway, sorry to bust your chops on the fanboy comment, but you'll get more help from us "fanboys" if you don't come in with the guns blazing and just ask a few genuine questions without the attitude.
 
Just in case anyone in this forum is interested in authentic feedback and not fanboyism about the QUANTUM beta...

Little background before my rant, I've had the Axe 2 since FW6, had an AxeFx Standard before that. I've been recording stuff with it for the longest time, and have seen it go up and down in quality with each FW release (usually up!!).

Quantum is great - for the gigging and bedroom guitarist. It improves feel considerably, especially with the hot rodded Marshalls.

That said, I feel we're back to FW 12 in terms of muddiness. FW18 was the first time I had a feeling I didn't have to "push" the axe to the front of a mix, it would go there on its own without special EQ boosts, compression or anything, just like a normal miked amp does. In QUANTUM that is gone, I have to keep pushing things again, the amps are muddier. I've tried the 5150s, Friedmans, JVM410, JCM800 yesterday.

Does anyone else share the same feelings? I'm a guy who simply pulls up a cab or two and an amp, plays with the tone stack, presence, and sometimes master vol, and leaves it there. As much as I can tweak, I've found every time I mess with more advanced stuff I can go for hours at end only to land at a worse spot than I began. I do use the new preamp sim in the cab block though.

So to sum it up, I'm not saying QUANTUM sucks. Far from that, it's definitely an improvement in terms of feel. But for the studio guitarrist, it's lacking. It's a step back. I'm sure there's people in the forum with the mixing and tweaking skills to work around that in a mix, but for me it's not, and I'm guessing there's a lot of people like me out there.

Shoot me :)

Alex

Why label positive feedback from others as "fanboyism", and label your own experience "authentic"?

For the record: I'm not dismissing your comments about Quantum.
I also only use basic amp controls. My experiences are not the same as yours.
 
Soooo... you're saying that all of the overwhelming positive response shows that we're all fanboys and those opinions are wrong and don't matter? I mean, it's OK to have a different opinion and all, but to start right off insulting the group and coming in with such a condescending attitude attitude you really seem to be just looking to stir things up.



My main thing is recording as well, and I'm really finding just the opposite. The bass is tight, the highs have more realistic and smooth sizzle to them. (I notice this because I've recently been recording a real amp again, partly to reset my expectations and partly for fun.) I'm not hearing this mud you mention. If anything I have to spend less time with tweaking and simply match up an amp and cab and I'm off. No major secrets in the mix either. It just seems to fit well.

One thing you might check is to see if your cabinet is still what you had assigned to the patch before. Some people have reported that user cabs aren't lining up properly, and although I haven't checked mine, I did find a few of my patches that sound different, so I have just moved on to a different patch and found the sound I'm looking for. Yes, I did have to make a few changes on some patches even then, but we're not talking about advanced stuff here. Just a few subtle nudges to the tone stack and presence and I was back with better overall tone and much better feel.

Anyway, sorry to bust your chops on the fanboy comment, but you'll get more help from us "fanboys" if you don't come in with the guns blazing and just ask a few genuine questions without the attitude.



Forgive him, he's from Antwerp, it's baked into the genes :D
 
My main thing is recording as well, and I'm really finding just the opposite. The bass is tight, the highs have more realistic and smooth sizzle to them. (I notice this because I've recently been recording a real amp again, partly to reset my expectations and partly for fun.) I'm not hearing this mud you mention. If anything I have to spend less time with tweaking and simply match up an amp and cab and I'm off. No major secrets in the mix either. It just seems to fit well.

One thing you might check is to see if your cabinet is still what you had assigned to the patch before. Some people have reported that user cabs aren't lining up properly, and although I haven't checked mine, I did find a few of my patches that sound different, so I have just moved on to a different patch and found the sound I'm looking for. Yes, I did have to make a few changes on some patches even then, but we're not talking about advanced stuff here. Just a few subtle nudges to the tone stack and presence and I was back with better overall tone and much better feel.

+1 on this. I will say it again, the bass response is much improved. I actually can add bass and still not be boomy or getting a funny and angry look from my bass player. And there is also better quality in the highs. When trying amp and cab combinations I did not have to adjust any of the hi cut, low cut filters to get rid of nasty lows and highs. It is simply much more natural and amp-like especially for me going the FRFR route.

I did not know it could be better until quantum leap :)
 
Hi Alex

First of all. I don't think the word "muddiness" is the key word. I think the evolution of tone in the axefx, makes things a bit too complicated. I always admired Cliff's concept of a constant improvement to his product. He put all various amps into one overall shell were you can tweak it to your taste, which is brillant, because he designed it the way it really works. But it also has a complicated issue. When improving algorithms that increase the sonic capabilities of parts of the circuit , it could turn stuff which was created before based on the best workaround based on earlier experiences into instability. So this could end in a ongoing re-modeling process of all 200+ models, which is one hell of a work.

Personally I also noticed the changes in low end frequencies above Fw 18 (I rolled back from Fw20 to Firmware 18.12, where my patches sounded great. The thing called "Quantum" (Fw21) adds some ong missing qualities to the ODS model, which I will explore before I deside if I stay and continuing or go back to work with the tones that worked for me!

I woud suggest you to do the same.....try if you got time.
Hey, I'm not gonna shoot you....because that is what a public beta is all about, sharing thoughts. Not agree with all others opinion is not a bad, but for sure a personal thing.

Have fun


Cheers
P

Just in case anyone in this forum is interested in authentic feedback and not fanboyism about the QUANTUM beta...

Little background before my rant, I've had the Axe 2 since FW6, had an AxeFx Standard before that. I've been recording stuff with it for the longest time, and have seen it go up and down in quality with each FW release (usually up!!).

Quantum is great - for the gigging and bedroom guitarist. It improves feel considerably, especially with the hot rodded Marshalls.

That said, I feel we're back to FW 12 in terms of muddiness. FW18 was the first time I had a feeling I didn't have to "push" the axe to the front of a mix, it would go there on its own without special EQ boosts, compression or anything, just like a normal miked amp does. In QUANTUM that is gone, I have to keep pushing things again, the amps are muddier. I've tried the 5150s, Friedmans, JVM410, JCM800 yesterday.

Does anyone else share the same feelings? I'm a guy who simply pulls up a cab or two and an amp, plays with the tone stack, presence, and sometimes master vol, and leaves it there. As much as I can tweak, I've found every time I mess with more advanced stuff I can go for hours at end only to land at a worse spot than I began. I do use the new preamp sim in the cab block though.

So to sum it up, I'm not saying QUANTUM sucks. Far from that, it's definitely an improvement in terms of feel. But for the studio guitarrist, it's lacking. It's a step back. I'm sure there's people in the forum with the mixing and tweaking skills to work around that in a mix, but for me it's not, and I'm guessing there's a lot of people like me out there.

Shoot me :)

Alex
 
some change in the noise gate? I think the signal noise is a little more now than before update. Some suggestion?
 
Why label positive feedback from others as "fanboyism", and label your own experience "authentic"?

For the record: I'm not dismissing your comments about Quantum.
I also only use basic amp controls. My experiences are not the same as yours.
Ha ha in the blokes defence, said before, fanboys are on all forums not just this one. Let's be grateful for the superb effort by Cliff and co, together with members who don't have to even help, but do and have saved me on too many occasions where I would have given up. Can't wait to download and try this out. Best kit I've ever bought in my life....Oh my first pint in a pub gives it a good run though!
 
Did you tried witout any reverb and delay (dry) ? It's easier ho hear the difference, and there is one, really noticable. My little experience with it was that it sounded great on 1 with some ir's, not so good with others. But then you can tweak. With a little dephase I was pleased with the sound from my monitors without any reverb or delay for the first time. There is some space, 'in the room' added, but it doesn't sound like a room simulation. Very nice feature.

I will experiment a bit more when I get time, but at first go, I just dismissed it as it made no positive difference to my cab IR. In fact as I increased the effect it was quite a bit worse. I don't use Ultra res, because most of my presets don't afford the spare CPU, and also I use the cab IR for PA and monitoring live, I don't do studio/recording, so tiny nuances are of little consequence in that application.
 
Well, I have to say this wasn't love at first try. I'm puzzled by the people who say it isn't all that different, because for me it took a couple of hours of playing to adjust to how it feels and responds. This is definitely not the same Axe-FX.

I'm going to use the same adjective salad as everybody else: more immediate, responsive, clear, touch sensitive, etc.

It's better.

I'm not getting along with the de-phase control. So far, I consistently seem to like it at 0.0.
 
Ok, need more time to test the new code generation,
but my first impressions are several changes (as best as i can describe impressions in technical terms)

The biggest first is responsiveness with dynamical string attack, it feels nearer or more direct, sloppy playing include LoL

I thought at first it sounds little bit louder overall, but i get now the impression of a loudness effect, more clarity in upside bassnotes and the highs are more granular...

The biggest improvement is while playing, i'll get lost immediately with this dynamic thingy going on...

Have to test much more, these are only first impressions brainstormed together....
 
I've just tried it with Matrix GT to a Marshall with greenbacks. I mainly use Marshall and Vox style mid gain sounds.

I don't hear a big difference in tone, but it does seem to be more dynamic and a bit brighter.
What I did clearly notice was a better response and control of feedback, which also sounds more open.

Jan
 
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