Axe-Fx III Firmware Version 20.03 Release

Initial impressions of the Klon: I really like it as a boost! I had a FET drive set to be kinda like a Klon with some settings from a forum post, but the Klon model blows that thing out of the water! I landed on gain 0, treble 2, level 6.

As a boost, it seems to be doing something different from other pedals. If I turn the drive up, it is good but starts to cross over into territory that other pedals can already cover. For now, I’m digging the clean boost with the treble rolled off a bit.
 
The ability to speak does not make one intelligent. Nor does the ability to play guitar. Idunno if EJ's stupid or not, but I've met plenty of talented people in my life who've been sucked in by snake-oil wholesale. People I'd otherwise have thought were relatively intelligent.

Maybe it's possible that varying aspects of 9V batteries (such as inconsistent voltages across its lifespan, I guess?) can have an effect on a powered analog circuit. The entire concept just sets off my BS meter, though. And hard. Not to say that it necessarily is bullshit, I guess, but my immediate reaction is still something like...

1658560252361.png
 
My last Klon I had in last year, together with a bunch of other pedals to fix.......the 12V Z-Diode often gives up if someone try to power it up with 18VDC, this to protect the 7660 DC/DC converter (which is under the goop).......
 

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rossipedia said:
The ability to speak does not make one intelligent. Nor does the ability to play guitar. Idunno if EJ's stupid or not, but I've met plenty of talented people in my life who've been sucked in by snake-oil wholesale. People I'd otherwise have thought were relatively intelligent.

Maybe it's possible that varying aspects of 9V batteries (such as inconsistent voltages across its lifespan, I guess?) can have an effect on a powered analog circuit. The entire concept just sets off my BS meter, though. And hard. Not to say that it necessarily is bullshit, I guess, but my immediate reaction is still something like...

View attachment 105367
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I guess EJ is talking about battery sag, this is a common issue with less quality batteries.....alkaline batteries will sag a lot less than zinc caused by a different internal resistance. Some manufacturers of power supplies such as Voodoo Labs included this "effect" to their products.....

 
rossipedia said:
The ability to speak does not make one intelligent. Nor does the ability to play guitar. Idunno if EJ's stupid or not, but I've met plenty of talented people in my life who've been sucked in by snake-oil wholesale. People I'd otherwise have thought were relatively intelligent.

Maybe it's possible that varying aspects of 9V batteries (such as inconsistent voltages across its lifespan, I guess?) can have an effect on a powered analog circuit. The entire concept just sets off my BS meter, though. And hard. Not to say that it necessarily is bullshit, I guess, but my immediate reaction is still something like...

View attachment 105367
Click to expand...
lol yeah, just like those chumps buying NOS Mullards.
 
PacoCasanovas said:
I guess EJ is talking about battery sag, this is a common issue with less quality batteries.....alkaline batteries will sag a lot less than zinc caused by a different internal resistance. Some manufacturers of power supplies such as Voodoo Labs included this "effect" to their products.....

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Aight I admit that's a compelling video. Although I still don't see the appeal. It just sounds like another drive knob

And I still feel putting stuff like "X sucks your tone" on a product is garbage marketing.
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
The impedance of the battery is what I've always heard is different and can cause some circuits to sound different - usually the older, discrete transistor circuits is where the big changes happen....
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That's right. Power Supplies and Batteries have Impedance (the output impedance of a PS is the ratio of change in output voltage to change in load current). If there was a parameter to change the virtual Power Supply Impedance at the Drive Block, we would see if it has some real effect or if it is just another cork sniffer stuff. If it has audible effect, I guess that it would be very subtle and irrelevant to the overall tone
 
Mike Hagger said:
lol yeah, just like those chumps buying NOS Mullards.
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and test/compared it with a "reactive load box" that only does the voice coil impedance rise up but not the resonance hump (such as the cheap Torpedo Capture) and claims they are all the same, such as Glenn Fricker...... ;) (which is not the case, I told him back then, explained it in tech detail, but his fanbois wont listen....as always)
 
I think the EJ Battery legend is just perpetrated in a wrong way.
If two batteries of equal quality, potentially even from the same factory line just with different logos attached to them, everyone would agree there's no difference.

But man, even my ears can hear a shitty battery. There are batteries that cost 5€ here in Finland. And there are ones that cost less than 1€. The latter die at any moment, and last for 1/5 as long. And they can really sound different in an analog pedal. When the battery starts to die, tone starts sucking. A quality battery won't have that problem, whereas the shitty battery can sound questionable right out of the box.
 
Piing said:
That's right. Power Supplies and Batteries have Impedance (the output impedance of a PS is the ratio of change in output voltage to change in load current). If there was a parameter to change the virtual Power Supply Impedance at the Drive Block, we would see if it has some real effect or if it is just another cork sniffer stuff. If it has audible effect, I guess that it would be very subtle and irrelevant to the overall tone
Click to expand...
Battery sag is an effect not affecting all circuits the same.....for some people, this can be pleasing, for others not. Alkalines have not much battery sag, that's why EJ seems to not like them for his pedals. He can marketing his wisdom as he wants, we can now discuss if it's important to explain the tech details to his "clients" or "fans" or if his clients should know it already ;) I remember n old REH or HotLicks video were he explaines the effect of different batteries in his pedals....this was 20+ years ago - so I guess he did a lot of times. Now it all depends on the knowledge of the common people to decide what is needed to their tone and what not. I see a lot of guitarists who buy a shit lot of gear and think it would make them "better", not knowing what they could do with it.....so ;)
 
Velokki said:
I think the EJ Battery legend is just perpetrated in a wrong way.
If two batteries of equal quality, potentially even from the same factory line just with different logos attached to them, everyone would agree there's no difference.

But man, even my ears can hear a shitty battery. There are batteries that cost 5€ here in Finland. And there are ones that cost less than 1€. The latter die at any moment, and last for 1/5 as long. And they can really sound different in an analog pedal. When the battery starts to die, tone starts sucking. A quality battery won't have that problem, whereas the shitty battery can sound questionable right out of the box.
Click to expand...
I built a Fuzz Face back in the '90s with generic, Mouser supplied Ge transistors of the type required by the schematic. FF circuits are particularly sensitive to the Hfe of the transistors, and can really sound great or horrible or anywhere in between depending on the two transistors' relative Hfe. Mine sounded meh until the battery started to die, and the thing started biasing itself into the zone, and it sounded F***ING AMAZING. I'd save all my 9V batteries from other gear so that I would have a supply of almost-dead batteries to feed the thing....
 
Some sample from AnalogMan website:

Battery differences​

Battery comparison: same NKT275 pedal. Starts with Alkaline Duracell (twice), Cheap General Purpose type (twice) then Duracell (twice again) on a Les Paul. Listen to the high end change.DURACELL2.MP3

https://www.analogman.com/fuzzface.htm

And


Power Supply Problems​

These pedals do not have a power jack as standard, as using a power supply can be tricky with a vintage fuzz. The germanium versions are reverse polarity, so sharing a non-isolated power source with a normal polarity pedal will blow out the power supply. It blows because the normal pedal's negative ground flows through the patch cord shield to the positive ground of the fuzz, shorting out the power supply. Here is an article about the problems of using power jacks on reverse polarity pedals from Andreas in Sweden. Using a single power cable from the Voodoo Lab or other isolated power supplies is safe though. If you get a power jack but use the internal battery, there are no problems or compromises at all. A Sun Face with a power jack will still come with a battery and work the same with a battery. If you might use a power supply or TheGigRig Virtual Battery, it's much better to get the power jack than to connect to the battery clip by filing a notch in the bottom plate. Just make sure to use ISOLATED POWER (which is what the Virtual battery does if you have a non-isolated power supply).
Sharing power on a silicon sunface is not a problem as it uses negative ground. But we still recommend isolated power on ALL pedals, especially digital ones.
Using a power supply may add AC hum noise, and can affect the tone, as the best sound is obtained by using an old style non-alkaline battery. I get these two for a dollar at the DOLLAR STORES. I like the Eveready 1222 "black cat", Maxell, or Panasonics. An Alkaline battery will sound a bit dull in a germanium fuzzface, it can lose some character (you can hear the difference in a sound sample above). It's not just the voltage that makes batteries and power supplies sound different. It's the resistance, inductance, and capacitance in the battery, which is part of the circuit in a fuzzface.

A power supply can also cause oscillation (squealing) on some high gain sunfaces. TheGigRig virtual battery should solve oscillation problems, along with isolating the power so you can use any power supply with our positive ground pedals. The VBAT also solves ground loop problems which occur when you use a daisy chain or the same power with more than one pedal. We now offer the Virtual Battery as an accessory and sunface option on our shopping website. Here is more info on the GigRig Virtual Battery



Sorry for the off topic. I’ll delete this if needed.
 
Sorry to ask this. I am on 20.0 currently, When I upgrade to 20.03 will I have to make a selection to accept latest impedance curves? Or will it auto write over the old versions?

I read n the last release notes that a selection must be turned on to auto write over the previous curves.
 
If the power supply keeps the specified voltage stable
9V - 12V - or the anode voltage is 450 V, then there should be no problem
The anode voltage would require a separate presentation!
Then it doesn't matter what the brand is!
The point is that the load, which can be measured in Ampere, does not suck the voltage!
In other words, keep the specified voltage stable!
The set working point of the circuits is shifted if the voltage fluctuates!
Anyway, a new battery, not 9V, but as the example shows, 9.75V.
Now, if I connect this element to the gadget, it doesn't get 9V in the first place!
Well, I won't argue anymore!
 

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FW20.3 drives sounds even better in a mix. Not sure if its the weather or me 😉

Never used a klon, but it has a nice round warm sound and dynamics going on. I also tried it with FAS modern amp high gain and it smooths things and again brings it into the mix very nice.

Very happy with latest developments. Amps and drives sounds amazing and very little tweaks needed.

All sound and feel super nice and especially better in a mix!
 
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