Axe-Fx II "Quantum" Rev 4.00 Firmware Release

barhrecords said:
Isn't it how the different tubes affect the rest of the circuit that makes the difference when you swap tubes of the same type?
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FractalAudio said:
Well, the fact is that power tubes do NOT sound different. They do not have any intrinsic tone.
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Here is a interesting read in the Tech Notes section on different power tubes where Cliff talks about the effect of circuitry on them:

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/why-power-tubes-sound-different.79962/
 
Of all the quantum FW releases, I find this one to be the most satisfying and keeps me playing my guitar much more than before. I suspect that this is so not because this one new plate model is so awesome but because this latest model tweak was the final piece of the quantum model that brings all of the quantum model elements into nearly perfect balance. I used to laugh whenever someone on the forum said something like "I don't care if you never release another amp model tweak, I'm so satisfied with it as it is." Now, I'm starting to feel that way too!
 
∞Fractals said:
Any good reasons to believe this? I very much hope it's true, but I'm not near any valid sources, other than this forum. ;)
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I have no solid evidence, and I agree that its a good thing to have. But people always say trust your instinct. I've always felt vindicated. Cliff seems to do things very much in order. I really think that he was aware of a deficit in accuracy right up until this 4.0 move (which has improved harmonic content accuracy to the point that my guitar seems to want to launch into the ether - at least its a very "singing" state of affairs). Usually he reaches pinnacles first, and then shores up areas that need shoring. Its like watching the tides. Er, uhm, no pun intended. Shores, tides, just a subliminal slip.

Time will tell. I hope I'm right. Some interesting more esoteric FX pedal capabilities would make a lot of prospective customers jump on board faster.
 
Installed, gig tonight cannot wait to crank it up. 40 pre-sets changed to latest with no other changes!
 
mgavin said:
I know everyone asks for "amp in the room" but I was wondering Is there a parameter that can make it sound tubier or less? If there is I would just turn it up to 10. In fact, every preset I play now I turn the room and level up to 10 and 100. That's my secret sauce. Anyways just want that woody tube sound oozing from every preset. That's what inspires me to play at least. #crystallattice

Ha! That should be the parameter name. Anyways just curious. Thanks
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Power Amp Sag, probably. I usually turn that down a bit on my heavy presets to tighten things up a bit.
 
SoProg said:
As an AX8 owner I really need to stop reading this thread.
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Thats silly talk, The AX8 will get the update "soon", and as it runs the same amp modeling, the knowledge and users experiences in tweaking you've read here will prove very useful for you when you get to tweak your AX8 patches
 
bdrepko said:
Many of us musicians are technical types as well. I design and verify digital logic for mobile phones. We have a natural curiosity about hows things work.
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Oh, believe me, I'm right there with you on being technical minded. I studied every letter of the Axe-FX manual before I bought it, so well, in fact, that I didn't even need to reference it once when I first programmed my Axe-FX. I'm also my bands guitar tech, our resident future gear planner, all round gear tech, and build/repair guy. Sometimes I wonder if I'm only in a band so I have a good excuse to research gear, and build equipment racks.

However, when I plug my guitar into my Axe-FX, and play that first chord, somehow all of that melts away and hours pass me by, and I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be. It's the first piece of gear I have ever owned that has done that to me EVERY time I've used it, which is why, a long time ago, I gave up trying to figure out why or how, and now I'm just glad it does.
 
Also, to add to the other discussion...

I'm not sure I hear a major difference switching from Q3 to Q4. There's something, but I can't put my finger on it, and I only seem to hear it through my floor monitors. With myy in ears, and studio phones I don't seem to sense any difference between the two.
 
BrainalLeakage said:
Also, to add to the other discussion...

I'm not sure I hear a major difference switching from Q3 to Q4. There's something, but I can't put my finger on it, and I only seem to hear it through my floor monitors. With myy in ears, and studio phones I don't seem to sense any difference between the two.
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Yes, the improvements have the most effect in the low frequency clipping characteristics of the amp model. So you'll definitely hear it more prominently in a monitor source that can better reproduce low frequency content.
 
deathbyguitar said:
Power Amp Sag, probably. I usually turn that down a bit on my heavy presets to tighten things up a bit.
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I do this a lot with SAG, turn it way up, primarily use this for lead sounds (keeping it under control for fast metal or thrash rhythms).

I know its called "sag", but it sounds more like "organic" to me. I wish it was on the main amp page. I'd put up some food analogy with the sounds of the Axe FX II once again.

But I've been told by my dietitian I'll need to limit my playing to between meals if I can't stop this habit of associating the two.

Oh what the hell, very low Sag is like a lettuce sandwich on stale pumpernickel without any bacon, tomato, mayo. Maybe at 4 you add a tomato. Pass 6 and it becomes more like a dessert. Maybe sag at 7-9 is like fresh melted chocolate over fresh, buttery, homemade dough. 10 is just spooky delicioso!

o_o

Thanks Matt, thou explainest it well. (07:15)

 
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because of the Name Timeout issue with my mfc, I gigged without it last night. To cover some of the switching problems, a friend loaned me a Chase the Tone fuzz. Ampwise, I'm absolutely happy with the Axe, I preferred my tone to that of our singer's, and he has a Bassman. Which is a great amp. But with the Tweed Deluxe model with some delay and verb through my zilla cab with a Gold, I really liked my sound better. Feel and control of feedback on stage was great too.
I had some presets with the internal fuzzface, but for some songs it wasn't doable switching scenes while playing, without the mfc, so in with the CTT.

Well, that pedal sounded really noticably better than what's in the Axe. Not that the Axe pedals sound bad, but the drives aren't in the same league as the amp models. Yet.

And another thing that could make a fantastic unit even better would be a thorougly realistic Tweed Deluxe model. With the two interacting volume controls as on the real thing.
 
Jan Geerts said:
because of the Name Timeout issue with my mfc, I gigged without it last night. To cover some of the switching problems, a friend loaned me a Chase the Tone fuzz. Ampwise, I'm absolutely happy with the Axe, I preferred my tone to that of our singer's, and he has a Bassman. Which is a great amp. But with the Tweed Deluxe model with some delay and verb through my zilla cab with a Gold, I really liked my sound better. Feel and control of feedback on stage was great too.
I had some presets with the internal fuzzface, but for some songs it wasn't doable switching scenes while playing, without the mfc, so in with the CTT.

Well, that pedal sounded really noticably better than what's in the Axe. Not that the Axe pedals sound bad, but the drives aren't in the same league as the amp models. Yet.

And another thing that could make a fantastic unit even better would be a thorougly realistic Tweed Deluxe model. With the two interacting volume controls as on the real thing.
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Its really tricky to dial in the drive blocks to match a pedal, but in 99% of cases, its doable and you can get them where an a/b at a given setting is pretty tough to tell blind. Now, one caveat for that is on a pedal you might just roll back the vol pot and get a different tone and on the Axe you do the same and it won't sound the same. You might need to tweak more parameters, which I guess could be done with scenes, but point being, a given setting on a pedal can usually be matching on the Axe

I can't even begin to count the number of stomp boxes I've bought over the years, some several times over, thinking I was missing them in the Axe. Latest being the SKreddy Lunar Module. Great sounding pedal, but then with enough tweaks I can exactly match a given setting in the Axe.

There are so many parameters that can shape the tone of a drive pedal, high and low cut ranges, the EQ of the pedal (great way to dial in different era Muff's btw), parameteric mid control, the type of clipping etc. Its vast and not always super intuitive, but the tone can usually end up getting there.

I a/b with a the hardware fuzz and always end up selling the pedal because I know the Axe can match it, tonally.
Sometimes you also need to stack 2 drives, or a fuzz into a cleaner drive etc, which is even more tricky and parameters to adjust.

People knock the drives because they don't sound like their favorite dirt pedal, at least just from the get-go, or with just a basic gain/tone/vol adjustment matching the hardware knobs, but with enough work, I think the drives can really do what people want

I do fully agree taht it would be nice if it was more press and play, but maybe with some additional drive block settings on the exchange we could get closer to being able to have something a bit quicker to access
 
lqdsnddist said:
Its really tricky to dial in the drive blocks to match a pedal, but in 99% of cases, its doable and you can get them where an a/b at a given setting is pretty tough to tell blind. Now, one caveat for that is on a pedal you might just roll back the vol pot and get a different tone and on the Axe you do the same and it won't sound the same. You might need to tweak more parameters, which I guess could be done with scenes, but point being, a given setting on a pedal can usually be matching on the Axe

I can't even begin to count the number of stomp boxes I've bought over the years, some several times over, thinking I was missing them in the Axe. Latest being the SKreddy Lunar Module. Great sounding pedal, but then with enough tweaks I can exactly match a given setting in the Axe.

There are so many parameters that can shape the tone of a drive pedal, high and low cut ranges, the EQ of the pedal (great way to dial in different era Muff's btw), parameteric mid control, the type of clipping etc. Its vast and not always super intuitive, but the tone can usually end up getting there.

I a/b with a the hardware fuzz and always end up selling the pedal because I know the Axe can match it, tonally.
Sometimes you also need to stack 2 drives, or a fuzz into a cleaner drive etc, which is even more tricky and parameters to adjust.

People knock the drives because they don't sound like their favorite dirt pedal, at least just from the get-go, or with just a basic gain/tone/vol adjustment matching the hardware knobs, but with enough work, I think the drives can really do what people want

I do fully agree taht it would be nice if it was more press and play, but maybe with some additional drive block settings on the exchange we could get closer to being able to have something a bit quicker to access
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While i agree with this for most drive blocks, fuzz boxes are different bc they work almost like an extension of the guitars electronics. Bc of the way the axe's input works it acts like a buffer between your instrument and the fuzz and kills a part of the feel of them. Does that mean they're bad and unusable? Nah, but for the time being there's still something a teeny bit special about running your guitar into a fuzz before the axe and I can understand fully where op is coming from
 
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