Axe-Fx III 16.00 Beta 4 "Cygnus" Firmware - Public Beta

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Was dropped from reality for a whole day. Feels and plays so good.
I'm only 2 y.o. guitarist and can't say much about comparison with real amps (haven't try them at all). But made some reamping for popular hi-gain amps and was impressed.
Btw buried almost all commercial presets. Especially from STL. Like I guess tone matching in them fails now.
Well, a tip for me - better do it yourself.
 
I found that I did not like the 5153 100W Red as much in 16 Beta; it felt like it had less gut punch to it than in 15.01. Conversely, I found that I ended up loving the 50W Blue, where it hadn't hit me before. I've never played a real 5153, so the updates might be closer to the real deal than in 15.01. I did see this great Canadian band called Striker live a few years ago, where one player had a 5153 50W, and he sounded fantastic. The 16.00 Beta 50W Blue is definitely a new go to amp for me.
+1

I couldn’t get the 100W Red to sound the way I like - but I’m loving the 50W Blue now. Like you, I don’t have a real amp to compare with so I have no idea if 16 is more accurate or not.
 
I don't yet see the ODSFordLd specifically listed in the completed group, and assuming someone didn't just get tired of typing all the variants (lol), is still on the to-do list. With that said, and with no reset of the amp block, that amp in the existing Dumble preset by @Burgs is wicked amazing! I decided to also save that same preset to another slot and compare with a reset version of the amp block, which I assume is just the basic 16.00b scaffolding, and the latter was missing some of the girth and growl in the mid/low end that demanded I keep playing. Again, I'm assuming this is prior to applying the magic to this amp type, and of course, this is a beta.
 
I'm usually a lurker but I had to check in for this one. I updated to 16.00 about an hour ago keeping my expectations low, not sure if I'd hear much difference, worried that if I did it would just be placebo after all the hype.

I pulled up the Deluxe Tweed with headphones (HD 6xx) at a good volume with my Tele, pretty immediately noticed the enhanced low end and kind of more "raw" sound (hate to use the same words everyone else is using, but that's what I noticed).

But when it really hit me in the face was when I put the pick down after a few minutes and did some fingerpicking. The bass response, the "feel" of the attack each time my fingers hit the strings was just impossible to miss. I actually decided to back out to 15.01 to confirm what I was hearing, thinking maybe I was just playing louder than usual or didn't know the amp model very well. Downgraded and then went back to Cygnus - there's just no doubt about it, it's a whole new thing.

Anyways, I'm convinced. Switching back and forth is what really did it. I tried to play for a bit on 15.01 and just immediately wanted the feel of 16 back. So good!
 
Per @Bruce Sokolovic:


I've gone back and forth between 15 and 16 about 3 times. With my favorite clean Band Commander preset, Cygnus sounds a bit less detailed and bit 'quacky' (not the right adjective) compared to 15 which to my ears had a lot of rich string overtone detail and punch. I'm hoping it's just my tired ears. I really, really like 15 so it might be hard to flip me to 16. I'll revisit it and try to record a comparison tomorrow.

That said, this is the very first release of Cygnus and I trust Cliff will continue to dial in more accuracy and goodness over time.

I noticed that quackiness in the deluxe reverb too. I’ll try resetting the amp block and re-tweak

actually I noticed something similar on the Plexi 100 high, but I believe that one wasn’t updated yet.

Other than that it’s great: on mid and low gain, “vintage” oriented amps I seem to need less gain enhancer and reverb to get a realistic feel

and high gain amps seem to have better note separation and growl
 
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PS: Joking (and my mediocre playing) aside, I felt that the clip above demonstrates nicely that Cygnus is NOT just about "chug". There is a vocal growling quality that was hard to achieve before without overwhelming the powerfulness of the sound.

In other words, it sounds better, and more easily.
Yes! Not just the vocal growl, but the fact that it lives hand-in-hand with great definition and articulation. You can clearly hear what the high strings do against the backdrop of the low strings. That's a neat trick to achieve.

Regarding your "mediocre" playing (where mediocre means "I didn't choose to shred"), what can you tell us about your mediocre chord choices? I'm lovin' that.
 


Using DI tracks, I reamped one of my band's song through the Axe-Fx III, with this beta firmware. The amp model I use, USA MKIIC++, has not yet been updated in that firmware, but I can already hear and feel the chug :D
Song : "Priceless innocence", by Feedback, originally released in 1991, and re-recorded for Feedback's second album, "A moment of transition" (2009). This video has only some parts of the song ; for the full version, with Axe-Fx III firmware 15.01, watch this :


The drums sounds could be much better but I lost all the plugins I used in the original recording from 2009 and I didn't bother processing it again


I think the guitar player on the left is better:tonguewink: That's a really cool video.
 
STG you took the words right off of my keyboard...

Last time I checked Cliff wasn’t holding a gun to anyone’s head, so anyone is absolutely welcome to not download it.
I'm a sucker for betas, problem is I only have a FM3... I would have tried this too :laughing:🙃:rolleyes:
 
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