Axe-Fx III Firmware 29.01 Release

fuzzydude said:
I've read pages and pages of folks wanting more from the virtual capo and I don't get the thought process behind making this a priority.
I mean, there are so many Wishlist items that deserve more attention.
Is it because the pitch tracking improvement would help other things, like the tuner, octaver, etc.? I don't think pitch tracking itself needs major improvement.

IMO, the virtual capo has to be one of the most unnecessary efforts Fractal is putting their energy into.
Pitch tracking I get, and I use octavers wet+dry at times, but they work fine for me. But virtual capo? Why? Because it's a demonstration of some other issue that needs to be fixed?

Who is seriously averse to re-tuning their guitar? Or playing live and having more than one guitar?

Someone explain it to me, because I don't get it.
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The 'problem' with the VC, at least in the discussions I saw, was an increase in 'warble' or tremolo artifacts after a recent update. Prior to FW 28 or 29, the VC had performed very well for me, and others, which is why people pointed it out and were asking for it to be fixed. In this case, it wasn't a general desire for it to be improved, it was wanting the VC to perform the way it used to.

As far as why it's so important to some players, there are situations that don't offer the flexibility to change guitars. I'm the only guitarist in the band and we have more than one vocalist which means playing in different keys most of the time. There is simply no time to switch guitars for songs in different keys on which I prefer to use different voicings. Yes, I could just use other chord shapes and it would probably sound fine. However, VC provided me the option to use different voicings, and I've used it extensively for awhile.

As an example, this week we're doing a song in F#/Gb and the transition at the end requires me to let my guitar fade out as we transition into the next song. Using the VC to tune down a half step allows me to play voicings from the key of G which sounds much better than barre chords in the context of the song. Why a vocalist can't go up or down just one half step is another discussion.
 
Totally understand. You sound happy with it being back to normal as I am.
But is this something Fractal needs to continue to refine in place of other things?
We don't have a say of course, but I'm trying to understand who needs it to be better and for what reason?
 
FractalAudio said:
There are many metrics of what makes a good pitch shifter. Latency is only one of those. Our pitch shifter has been optimized for stability and its ability to handle complex chords.

Here is the QC transpose vs. our VC using three only somewhat complex chords (E9, F#9, Bm7).

https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/transpose_vs_vc.mp3
Click to expand...

Wow that 2nd one at 0:18 in that clip is soooooooo freaking better 100% :D
 
fuzzydude said:
Well, that's why I asked. I'm looking for real reasons this is important.
So far we have:
1) Don't want to retune or switch guitars
2) Technical challenge Fractal needs to achieve

I already knew #1 though I can't imagine most really think this way and #2 isn't a really a reason. Is there anything else?
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Here is a two word boost to your imagination: floating bridge 🙂

I don't use the VC, but I know the pain of changing the tuning on a guitar with a floating bridge.
 
eric12 said:
I'm doing some bar gigs for covers, some sing are Standard E, some are one or two semi tones down. Do you expect me to bring 3 guitars to small gigs?
And I have my Drop D guitar, do I need another one of Drop C?
And I have a Drop A, do I need another one of Ab? G?

And no, retuning isn't a good option. I much prefer using the VC or the Quad's transpose than flopping string when returning.
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No!! Bring 2 with each tuning. Strings could break.
 
fuzzydude said:
I've read pages and pages of folks wanting more from the virtual capo and I don't get the thought process behind making this a priority.
I mean, there are so many Wishlist items that deserve more attention.
Is it because the pitch tracking improvement would help other things, like the tuner, octaver, etc.? I don't think pitch tracking itself needs major improvement.

IMO, the virtual capo has to be one of the most unnecessary efforts Fractal is putting their energy into.
Pitch tracking I get, and I use octavers wet+dry at times, but they work fine for me. But virtual capo? Why? Because it's a demonstration of some other issue that needs to be fixed?

Who is seriously averse to re-tuning their guitar? Or playing live and having more than one guitar?

Someone explain it to me, because I don't get it.
Click to expand...
For me, the VC is mostly used for songwriting, to help find a key that's comfortable for the vocals without having to relearn the guitar part. Kinda like using the transpose button on a MIDI keyboard.
 
secondwindow said:
For me, the VC is mostly used for songwriting, to help find a key that's comfortable for the vocals without having to relearn the guitar part. Kinda like using the transpose button on a MIDI keyboard.
Click to expand...
But, that's JUST me. I can understand why VC is super-useful when playing live, especially to accommodate the vocalist's range.
 
Maybe it’s just me, but I find the VC just fine for live work in a pinch. Last night the guys wanted to play a tune I use my baritone on, which I didn’t have with me, had no major issue at -5… maybe I just couldn’t pick out the issues in the live mix? I get it that some people want perfection with the VC, but sometimes you can’t get blood from a stone.

My $0.02
 
FractalAudio said:
There are many metrics of what makes a good pitch shifter. Latency is only one of those. Our pitch shifter has been optimized for stability and its ability to handle complex chords.

Here is the QC transpose vs. our VC using three only somewhat complex chords (E9, F#9, Bm7).

https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/transpose_vs_vc.mp3
Click to expand...
Thank you Cliff and your entire team! The updated VC is greatly appreciated!
 
Immanuel said:
No!! Bring 2 with each tuning. Strings could break.
Click to expand...
I totally would bring 2 if I were only playing in one tuning. You should too. But if you're playing 6 different tunings with VC with just one guitar and a string breaks, now you can't play anything. Everything stops. If you had at least two guitars and on one the string broke, you'd play with the other guitars and either skip that tuning from your playlist or try to use VC (if it's possible) to get you close. VC in a pinch and as a band-aid is irreplaceable.
 
The VC is now at a place where having guitars with different tunings isn't necessary for me. All of my guitars are now available regardless of the key of a song. Of course the style played can dictate how useful it would be for others, but in my case, the VC is definitely good enough to use live. Having a backup is just good standard practice.
 
FractalAudio said:
There are many metrics of what makes a good pitch shifter. Latency is only one of those. Our pitch shifter has been optimized for stability and its ability to handle complex chords.

Here is the QC transpose vs. our VC using three only somewhat complex chords (E9, F#9, Bm7).

https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/transpose_vs_vc.mp3
Click to expand...
I'm assuming the first chords are QC and the 2nd are Fractal? I can't thank you enough for all the improvements made to the axefx. I've had one for 5 years and I'm always so impressed with the tones I can get and the sound quality. I wish I had one of these when I was playing live all the time back in the day. My back does too!
 
Sorry for sounding like a jerk here, but I don’t think Fractal is in the business of having a “fine” or “almost great” effect. Maybe for you it is done, I don’t see how it’s “done” achieving the highest standards given technological constraints, which I have always seen as this company’s goal.
 
I get it. Opinions are like a-holes. Every one has one. But no where is it written that Fractal has guaranteed to improve anything ever, let alone to the highest standards. They do it if they feel like it and I'm very grateful when they do. So your expectations are just yours.
My asking why VC needs to be improved beyond what it can do now to see if I'm missing something doesn't make me a jerk either.
 
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