Axe-Fx III 16.00 Beta 12 "Cygnus" Firmware - Public Release Candidate

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Ahh, ok. That clears it up...

However, Vai didn't use that amp for Eat 'em and Smile... He didn't get the amp until the album was done (or very close to it). I read that recently.

Hahahaha he didn’t get the amp until about 12 years after that album was done. ;) I think it was 1999 when the Legacy‘s came out, around Spring.
 
I have great respect for beta testers, but as a software engineer, musician and music tech consumer, I’ve learned through experience to just wait for the official release lol.

You’re the man Cliff. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to this community! 🎸🙂
 
I have great respect for beta testers, but as a software engineer, musician and music tech consumer, I’ve learned through experience to just wait for the official release lol.

You’re the man Cliff. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to this community! 🎸🙂
Also got a lot of respect for Fractal team. Axe fx3 is the best piece of gear I ever bought and I’m really sorry if I’ve been insisting. Cygnus is really wonderful, love a lot of amps now which didn’t impressed me in ares. I even like it more than my boutique amp right into it with an IR, believe me 😌. I can’t even imagine all the work needed to achieve this update 😌. Don’t misunderstand what I said please 😉
 
Something strange: all of my system settings were wiped this morning. I updated firmware moments after this RC was posted, so I’ve power cycled a few times since. Tried to restore system settings from the previous backup (taken right before I updated), but still nothing. Troubleshooting now. Anyone else have this issue? And if I restore system settings from beta11, will they not work on this RC?
 
Something strange: all of my system settings were wiped this morning. I updated firmware moments after this RC was posted, so I’ve power cycled a few times since. Tried to restore system settings from the previous backup (taken right before I updated), but still nothing. Troubleshooting now. Anyone else have this issue? And if I restore system settings from beta11, will they not work on this RC?
I had to go back to the version I was on (for me I was on ares 14.X). Reload firmware 14 including my system settings and then upgrade to the next latest FW (15.1?).

From there I was able to install the bait .... errr beta without any problem. 😉

I believe that the jump from 14 to 16 was problem. Normally it’s not that way. But it’s an easy restore in 30 minutes.
 
I had to go back to the version I was on (for me I was on ares 14.X). Reload firmware 14 including my system settings and then upgrade to the next latest FW (15.1?).

From there I was able to install the bait .... errr beta without any problem. 😉

I believe that the jump from 14 to 16 was problem. Normally it’s not that way. But it’s an easy restore in 30 minutes.
Thanks for the reply. I've been migrating from 15.1 through every beta released (I live on the edge). I don't think that would be the issue in my cases, but I'll consider it.

I'm probably just going to suck it up and reprogram the system settings manually. I've been considering a pretty massive reconfiguration regarding midi settings anyways.
 
Thanks for the reply. I've been migrating from 15.1 through every beta released (I live on the edge). I don't think that would be the issue in my cases, but I'll consider it.

I'm probably just going to suck it up and reprogram the system settings manually. I've been considering a pretty massive reconfiguration regarding midi settings anyways.
I started to do that and then realized there is an easier way. (For me too many parameters were out of spec including the FC 12.)

in any case, best of luck and let us know how it goes. 👍
 
I have a Herbert and being able to make a compression mod like this in the virtual world is why I'm all in on Fractal products . Thanks for the tip, sounds awesome.
yeah, I am tweaking it right now and found that for my guitar it works best, when cathode compression is set to 65% fro original vaule 73,8% ... it makes such a big difference, of course you have to normalize the levels after tweaking, but it´s one needed tweak for herbie IMO.

I tweak nothing else, only tone stack and input gain dynamics (which I tweak for every single amp and bump it from 0 to 1).
One of the best tricks I ever discovered in fractal world :)
 
Many metal guys do the cold biased tubes
Kyle from KSR is another that told me the ship cold to increase tube life and because a lot of customers want the tightness but if you want a warmer sound with a little give for
hard rock he recommends a hotter bias
I had all of my Mesa amps modded with adjustable bias. As much as I love long tube life, those amps just sound better when they have more breathing space. Also, it allowed me to use any tubes I wanted without being constrained to factory-matched sets.
 
Cygnus definitely has a chunky low end, which is great, but the top end is sounding like there’s a low pass filter on it. I wanted to match my Marshall JCM Slash head and couldn’t find anything that had air on the top end. The reference amp had plenty of bite and sizzle, so I know it’s not a guitar issue. I re-downloaded and installed the firmware a second time with the same results. I’ll try @SeeD ‘s suggestion and see if Axe-Edit is doing something funny.
@York Audio Hey Justin, when I am missing that sizzle, I find boosting by just 1 db or so the 4 KHz in the amp block 10 band GEQ can help add that edge back. As well as adding more % "air" in the Cab block at 5kHz.

I'm about to start digging into this "almost public" release firmware to update all the LiveGold presets, and as I do, I use a splitter box to A/B comparing each Cygnus preset to to firmware 15 version. Just as a basis for me to see if an amp drifted dramatically, and thus should be further tweaked after amp Cygnus reset. If I see need for any other top-end restoration tricks as I get under the hood, will post back here. - AB
 
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I agree that most of the amp needs more dbs in high frequencies cause they are very dark globally . I use a mark 5 eq in most of them to do it .

@York Audio i notice that you irs got a lot of treble in the axe. Is it by choice ?
 
With Beta 12, I noticed that my Speaker Time Constant reverted back to 2000 ms on all presets. The Speaker Dynamics setting is still where I had it in Beta 11. Something to look out for....
 
yeah, I am tweaking it right now and found that for my guitar it works best, when cathode compression is set to 65% fro original vaule 73,8% ... it makes such a big difference, of course you have to normalize the levels after tweaking, but it´s one needed tweak for herbie IMO.

I tweak nothing else, only tone stack and input gain dynamics (which I tweak for every single amp and bump it from 0 to 1).
One of the best tricks I ever discovered in fractal world :)
Try using a guitar with some low output pickups (I’m using a Tele) and turn the compression waaay down to like 10-20%. It sounds huge but still has a lot of clarity. It’s almost like a modded Plexi.

I love the Herbert, but it can definitely be too compressed sometimes for anything other than metal.
 
@York Audio Hey Justin, when I am missing that sizzle, I find boosting by just 1 db or so the 4 KHz in the amp block 10 band GEQ can help add that edge back. As well as adding more % "air" in the Cab block at 5kHz.

I'm about to start digging into this "almost public" release firmware to update all the LiveGold presets, and as I do, I use a splitter box to A/B comparing each Cygnus preset to to firmware 15 version. Just as a basis for me to see if an amp drifted dramatically, and thus should be further tweaked after amp Cygnus reset. If I see need for any other top-end restoration tricks as I get under the hood, will post back here. - AB
Thanks, Buddy. It’s definitely worth trying, but I don’t tend to like using GEQ if I don’t have to. Normally if I need a little more clarity, I’ll mess with some of the advanced parameters like Grid Bias, preamp high cut, or sometimes just a different preamp tube type does the trick.


I agree that most of the amp needs more dbs in high frequencies cause they are very dark globally . I use a mark 5 eq in most of them to do it .

@York Audio i notice that you irs got a lot of treble in the axe. Is it by choice ?
Those IRs are old, outdated, and were captured with lower quality gear in a less than ideal room. The new stuff is ten times better IMO. I like clarity in my captures (even though I have dark captures in my packs as well), so the idea is to have an accurate sounding cab and let the amps/modeler’s quality and character shine through and set your amp knobs like you would on the real thing. Some guys boost lows or cut top end in their IRs, but with mine, the IR you hear is identical to what you’d hear in my studio through the real mic’ed cab.
 
I’m curious if there have been changes to the effects models. I noticed that my delay settings were much louder than before and I had to turn the mix down a bit to make them more balanced vs the dry tone.
 
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