Axe-Fx II "Quantum" Rev 5.02 Firmware Released

my fender cleans are noticeably more overdriven now. I have my input drive at .47 so that shouldn't be an issue. I re-flashed back to 4.x for the time being.
 
CLIFF SSSSSSSSSSSSSSTOP, dont change another a thing with the AMP BLOCK; NO MORE epiphanies, dump time brainstorming, flux capacitor add ons; This has brought me back to some earlier firmwares.. Way more Ahhh moments, Way more stopping to just PLAY. My IR's sound better, the frequencies are better, less mud, no blanket, SOMETHING worked.

I am typically not thrilled with changes, each one seemed to do the opposite of what I previously liked, so this is big news.


How do you know Cliff isn't on a roll now ? What if he continues working (which I'm sure 99.9% of users would like) and he makes it sound even better still ? Even better sound with IR"s, even less mud, less blanket etc ?

To simply stop after what you consider a successful improvement (I think most actually feel there has been steady progress, for what its worth) and not touch anything again is fine and good for you, because friend, you have the ability to simply NOT install any additional updates.

The rest of us, who want to see just how far this magic box can go, enjoy Cliff's continued hard work, and to suggest he throw his hands up, just because your satisfied, is selfish at best, ignorant at worst. So again, I am glad you pleased with the latest FW, and I'm glad that it apparently sounds better than you think the unit has for a long time, but please Cliff, don't stop being Cliff. Keep the innovation and continued improvement going as long as is practical.

Those who want to get off the ride at any given point are more than free to go do so.
 
How do you know Cliff isn't on a roll now ? What if he continues working (which I'm sure 99.9% of users would like) and he makes it sound even better still ? Even better sound with IR"s, even less mud, less blanket etc ?

To simply stop after what you consider a successful improvement (I think most actually feel there has been steady progress, for what its worth) and not touch anything again is fine and good for you, because friend, you have the ability to simply NOT install any additional updates.

The rest of us, who want to see just how far this magic box can go, enjoy Cliff's continued hard work, and to suggest he throw his hands up, just because your satisfied, is selfish at best, ignorant at worst. So again, I am glad you pleased with the latest FW, and I'm glad that it apparently sounds better than you think the unit has for a long time, but please Cliff, don't stop being Cliff. Keep the innovation and continued improvement going as long as is practical.

Those who want to get off the ride at any given point are more than free to go do so.

I think he was being intentionally facetious.
 
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CLIFF SSSSSSSSSSSSSSTOP, dont change another a thing with the AMP BLOCK; NO MORE epiphanies, dump time brainstorming, flux capacitor add ons; This has brought me back to some earlier firmwares.. Way more Ahhh moments, Way more stopping to just PLAY. My IR's sound better, the frequencies are better, less mud, no blanket, SOMETHING worked.

I am typically not thrilled with changes, each one seemed to do the opposite of what I previously liked, so this is big news.

I agree!!!!! :) I have missed a few firmware updates and man this one smokes! Definitely a metal player's dream. Like someone else mentioned, there is a better "chug" with palm mutes and a tightness that is definitely noticeable. Great update!
 
Cliff, HOOK 2A is a masterpiece !!! congratulations !!

Ohhh yea I'll second that; just jumped from v3 to v5.02 (never had a chance to try v4) this afternoon and tried out that amp...I seriously love it. It's likely that I'll be using that amp for my main "Marshall" over the 1987X's and JTM45's that I've been using for a long time now. It has the perfect snarl for edge-of-breakup/overdrive tones. Tweaking between the Drive and Master yields a lot of different textures and feels. It's easier to dial in 'just right' for those tones vs the Marshall sims I'm finding....great amp.

Definitely love where v5 has taken us over v3; I'm finding a big jump in the feel and dynamics. Flipping between v5 and v3 in the amp block it's a no-brainer; v3 feels 'flat' vs v5 which is much more in your face...more raw, punchier, and rude. v5 is simply awesome, wow.

Interesting to hear how flipping between v3 and v5 affects things differently for various amps/high gain/overdriven/clean tones, especially vs MV/NMV amps, and wow v5 is outstanding. Thanks Cliff/FAS for making that available for us Mk. I/II users...very much appreciated.

One small thing I noticed is whether using the front panel or AxeEdit to pick a new amp for the block the modelling version in the block defaults to 4.xx and not Latest (and I have Latest set in my global menu). I never installed v4 at all so I'm not sure why that would happen. No big deal though, thought I'd just mention it FWIW. After the update my V3 presets were also defaulted to v4.xx; again FWIW.

And ohhhh yea that Ruckus drive is something else...went thru all the drives today and that one is perfect for me...it's my standard drive type now. Played with the Muff Fuzz and got that face melting Randy Bachman "No Time/American Woman" spattering bacon sound that sounds like there is something wrong with the pedal or it's battery is weak lol. Don't use a fuzz a lot but this one in v5 absolutely works for me.

Oh, and I love how AxeEdit automatically "Pauses Communication" when you tweak the front panel; not sure how longs that's been doing that (I've not had AxeEdit connected to my II for a couple of months)...at any rate I love that feature since I'm always tweaking the front panel as well as AxeEdit when it's connected. No more having to hit F8...nice!!
 
If it's truly full-range and truly flat-response (most 2x12's aren't), you'll probably want the cab sim on. If it's only "sort of" FRFR, you're into a grey area where you'll have to use your ears. If it's an actual guitar cab, turn the cab sim off.

Hi @Rex...I Don't know if it is truly FR but it's not a real "cab". I've build the cab myself and have two Beyma 12GA50 in it . Just got the two speakers hence my question. Just wanted to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Thanks mate.
 
I think most of it has something to do with the fact I listen at conversational volumes and I'm not only hearing the sound coming through the headphones or monitors, I'm also picking up the sound of the guitar in the room. I think It's the combo of the two that's throwing me off. I've tried different ways to eliminate and block the sound of the pick hitting the strings and the strings themselves, but it's eluded me. There's always some spillover. I don't have the same problem when playing keyboard. It sounds the same whether I'm playing or just listening.

This has always been an issue for me too, only I didn't realize it until just recently--and I've been recording guitars DI with various devices since the late 1980s. The main effect it's had for me is that I've tended to use a lot more gain than necessary. When I'm playing, the sounding coming off the guitar acoustically is clean and has lots of 'snap', so my unintentional tendency was to use the preamp/modeler to "fill in the sound" with lots of gain.

Now that I'm starting to reamp my recordings and get serious about guitar tone, I'm finding that I need about 1/3 to 1/2 of the gain I was using before in most instances. It's amazing how much easier it is to mix a recording when you're not trying to make a bunch of chainsaw-sounding guitar parts fit in. I'm also discovering lots of amps that I just dismissed out of hand before.

The recent FWs, including 5.0, are great at getting at the texture of 'broken-up' sounds, which was always such a problem for amp modeling in the old days. We're really spoiled now.
 
My experience:

Cab sims work quite well with EV-12Ls at low volume. They help emphasize the low end and remove the brittleness.

However, the speaker's sound changes considerably when the volume is turned up. Using a cab sim then turns it into a muddy mess.
and imparts a considerable beaming effect, off axis high freq loss
 
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yep of course.
was referring to loosing highs with an IR plus guitar cab being compounded, with beaming from guitar cab, giving a muddy sound at higher volumes.
 
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