AxeCabManager - a new utility for Axe-FX II users

HOLY SHEEEEAT, if this works and sounds like I think Im reading, I for one would be VERY VERY grateful. My cabs, lost IR"s messed up patches etc. cost me endless time. And auditioning has become nearly non existent without a working axe manage.

So if it works as expected, thank you thank you thank you. (maybe you can be paid to help them work on the axe edit!!!)

and a donation will occur as well when I have a chance to test!
 
So I need to hook up to my PC via MIDI, not USB? Sorry, not good with this stuff. The MIDI in and out boxes are just blank, USB is connected, latest FW, etc. I am running Win XP - is that the problem? I really hope this works - way cool app!
 
Mate you deserve it - Well done!

On a typical 'The Software is great...if only it blah blah blah' vein (Don't ask how I know ;))......

One assumption is that the techniques to derive & rewrite the Cabs in this utility would be _very_ similar to deriving and rewriting presets....

As AE3 will no longer have the Axe Manager, perhaps you could add that feature to this utility and SELL it to me?.... Then you could have a new set of strings with every beer. (and more beer)

Thanks & again - Well done.
Pauly




CyberFerret said:
Wow, I just woke up this morning in Australia to see all the responses and PM's etc.

Thanks everyone - I always love to give back to this community because it is a great brother/sisterhood that promotes sharing the knowledge and the love of this fantastic little black box! ;)



Again, thanks for the feedback everyone. I am humbled.
Click to expand...
 
Wildwind said:
So I need to hook up to my PC via MIDI, not USB? Sorry, not good with this stuff. The MIDI in and out boxes are just blank, USB is connected, latest FW, etc. I am running Win XP - is that the problem? I really hope this works - way cool app!
Click to expand...

No, USB should be fine. Technically it SHOULD work on XP as well. Not sure why the MIDI drop downs are not showing the device names. Do you use the Fractal-Bot on this PC as well? I am thinking that if Fractal-Bot can see the Axe-FX MIDI drivers, then my app should as well.

I am going to try and find an XP machine here to test this on...
 
Just an FYI. I was comparing the X and Y cabs in Cab1 and I switched to the Amp1 block on the Axe-Fx II to tweak the drive and compression settings on the X amp and when I selected the Y cab in AxeCabManager (with the Amp1 X amp active on the Axe-Fx II) it changed the Amp1 X settings.
 
RichHowe said:
Just an FYI. I was comparing the X and Y cabs in Cab1 and I switched to the Amp1 block on the Axe-Fx II to tweak the drive and compression settings on the X amp and when I selected the Y cab in AxeCabManager (with the Amp1 X amp active on the Axe-Fx II) it changed the Amp1 X settings.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I will test a bit more here and see.

The app doesn't detect if changes are made on the Axe-FX end (or via another controller), so I'd recommend the best thing if you make other settings changes is to just hit the 'Refresh' button again so that AxeCabManager can 'catch up' with what is on the device itself.

Shouldn't need to do it if you are just cycling through cabs using the app, but if you change X/Y states on the device or make other changes, then a 'Refresh' might be a good idea because it will force the app to re-read the current state of the device and pick the correct selected cab and X/Y state etc.
 
Gotcha. I wasn't so concerned about it detecting changes made on the Axe-Fx II. I did hit refresh after changing presets and it did refresh the cabs correctly. It also performed as expected when the Cab1 block was selected on the Axe-Fx II. My only concern was that with the Amp1 block selected on the Axe-FX II that AxeCabManager was sending something that was changing the Amp1 block settings. I'm not in front of my Axe-Fx II now to check but it may have correctly reverted back to the original Amp1 settings if I selected another tab in the Amp block and then went back to the previous tab (meaning the Axe-Fx II may have only shown the changes but not retained them). It may only be an issue if someone has the Amp block selected on the Axe-FX II and changes cabs in AxeCabManager and then hits save on the Axe-Fx II. Thinking about it, I guess it may happen with any block other than the Cab block selected but I didn't have much time to do any kind of testing.
 
Last edited:
RichHowe said:
Gotcha. I wasn't so concerned about it detecting changes made on the Axe-Fx II. I did hit refresh after changing presets and it did refresh the cabs correctly. It also performed as expected when the Cab1 block was selected on the Axe-Fx II. My only concern was that with the Amp1 block selected on the Axe-FX II that AxeCabManager was sending something that was changing the Amp1 block settings. I'm not in front of my Axe-Fx II now to check but it may have correctly reverted back to the original Amp1 settings if I selected another tab in the Amp block and then went back to the previous tab (meaning the Axe-Fx II may have only shown the changes but not retained them). It may only be an issue if someone has the Amp block selected on the Axe-FX II and changes cabs in AxeCabManager and then hits save on the Axe-Fx II. Thinking about it I guess it may happen with any block other than the Cab block selected but I didn't have much time to do any kind of testing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think there is a display issue with the front LCD screen.

I noticed while testing this app that if I had Cabinet 1 showing on the Axe-FX, and I clicked Cabinet 2 on the app and changed settings there, it would show on the LCD screen as if Cabinet 1's IRs were being changed. I thought it was a bug in my app, but then when I went to the Axe-FX and switched to Cab 2, it showed me what I selected on the app, and when I switched back to Cab 1, it had the original IRs showing there.

It seems that regardless of which cabinet (1 or 2) is showing on the display, if you change the IRs on the non visible cabinet, if shows the changes at the bottom of the screen anyhow.

Haven't tried to replicate this with the X/Y settings to see if it does the same thing there. My app actually physically changes the X/Y state of the device when you choose it in the app, so it is hard to test. The app doesn't change Cabinets when you click Cab1/Cab2 though, which highlights this issue.
 
This is super. I have not purchased any cabs or IRs due to the fact that I have tons and have no time to audition and compare them all. Now hat I have this tool I will probably buy the fractal and ownhammer stuff. This was really the missing key. You are very much appreciated by ALL I'm certain
 
I can confirm it works on a Mac running Parallels.

OS X 10.7.5
Parallels 8 running Windows 7

Great job! Still a Mac version would be nice, but hey it works on Parallels at least.

Thanks for your efforts.

View attachment 17163
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2013-08-20 at 10.46.11 PM.jpg
    Screen Shot 2013-08-20 at 10.46.11 PM.jpg
    114.9 KB · Views: 40
Last edited:
Hmmm, I run Parallels on my Mac Pro.
I started to install the windows driver on the windows partition, then decided to abort as I have it working in OSX.
Hmmm figured I couldn't have both windows and OSX drivers going?
Otherwise I would give it a shot
 
CyberFerret said:
Got Parallels or another VM on your Mac yek? I'd be keen for someone to try this under an emulator on the Mac or on Linux. Not sure how it would go. I am using the native Windows MIDI API here, and I think because of the critical timing, an emulator session of Windows might not keep up... ?!?
Click to expand...

VMWare works great too. I have Windows XP, Windows 7 32 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit, Windows 8, Windows 3.11, Windows 98, Dos 6.22, Ubuntu Linux all up and running.
Still working on OS/2 just for the pure challenge of it...
Never have any problems not being able to run any software that comes my way. Everything is Compatible.
 
Thank you so much for this little app- very helpful!

Any info on AxePad? I haven't checked on it lately and I know you are waiting for 3.0 to drop.

Thanks!
 
seclusion said:
Curious, did you run the windows drivers inside of Parallels?
Click to expand...

Yes. I downloaded latest Windows Drivers from Fractal, installed in Parallels. Then installed AxeCabManage in Parallels(Windows).

The whole time my Axe-FX was connected to Mac. I then rebooted the Axe, and Parallels prompted me which Machine I wanted the USB Device(Axe) to be run on. I selected Windows 7 Parallels. Works like a charm.
 
Last edited:
seclusion said:
Hmmm, I run Parallels on my Mac Pro.
I started to install the windows driver on the windows partition, then decided to abort as I have it working in OSX.
Hmmm figured I couldn't have both windows and OSX drivers going?
Otherwise I would give it a shot
Click to expand...
You can have it running on both(install drivers on each partition). You will get prompted when you turn on your axe if its connected via USB, and parallels is running. Treat it like separate machines and you should have no issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom