AxeFX III: What's Missing?

[chris]

What a joke.

This isn't a convince the naysayers thread... It's a what's missing thread about what people want to see.

Now I rem why I stopped visiting the forums here.

Have fun keyboard warriors.

You literally asked for opinions.

If Behringer can have built in Wi-Fi that interfaces to control it's digital mixers there is zero reason in my mind that Fractal couldn't do this too.

Opinions.....

If you want to “leave” again that’s fine. But you asked for opinions, got responses, and are leaving because you don’t like what you asked for.

 

[bkd_guitarist]

What a joke.

This isn't a convince the naysayers thread... It's a what's missing thread about what people want to see.

Now I rem why I stopped visiting the forums here.

Have fun keyboard warriors.

I'm a naysayer because I want Bluetooth? Triggered much?

 

[Clockwork Creep]

Even though i didn't yet experience anything negative with the Behringer air, just because the router in it is bad, doesn't mean Fractal wouldn't make it any better...

 

[Ingo]

This whole "wanting Bluetooth" thing scares me, and I am very happy that it has not been included. Apart from the usual downsides (additional costs, additional support effort, raised prices), this would be a security nightmare...

Imagine the fun of leaving on Bluetooth accidentally (making it switchable is the minimum precaution) at a gig and having somebody lower (or raise!) your volume. And yes, that *can* happen, just look at the track record of Bluetooth device security.

No professional device of any kind should have Bluetooth or WiFi connections.

 

[Johan Allard]

No professional device of any kind should have Bluetooth or WiFi connections.

So the Eventide H9 doesn't count as a professional device then?

Just because someone can say "well, what if...." doesn't mean there's a legitimate security threat. Bluetooth and Wifi can be made sufficiently secure or anyone could take over any laptop at any time. But they can't. And obviously, feel free to disable Bluetooth on your H9 and other devices when you play Madison Square Garden if that makes you feel more secure.

 

[yek]

No discussion: wireless capability would be great.

But if you look at the manufacturer's user forums of any audio product with BlueTooth or Wifi, you'll see numerous issues with the wireless stuff. Often the product is not even to blame, it's just the technology itself which causes so much questions and issues.
For a small company, offering non-paid support, that's a lot to deal with.

 

[andyp13]

Lots of excuses for what seems to be a massive oversight - the one thing I hate when doing shows/sessions is having to take a laptop to edit, when an iPad would have sufficed...... no getting away from this huge oversite.
A friend of mine has been using an X18 for a few years and never had an issue with the inbuilt WiFi.
I use the X32 rack with an external router and never had an issue.... I just can’t beleive that to edit the Axe III when away doing sessions I would have to take a laptop and a cable to connect it up - very retro.

 

[yek]

Lots of excuses for what seems to be a massive oversight - the one thing I hate when doing shows/sessions is having to take a laptop to edit, when an iPad would have sufficed...... no getting away from this huge oversite.
A friend of mine has been using an X18 for a few years and never had an issue with the inbuilt WiFi.
I use the X32 rack with an external router and never had an issue.... I just can’t beleive that to edit the Axe III when away doing sessions I would have to take a laptop and a cable to connect it up - very retro.

Well .....the Axe-Fx III has a large screen and GUI. While Axe-Edit is wonderful, there is a place for the new hardware GUI too.

 

[andyp13]

Well .....the Axe-Fx III has a large screen and GUI. While Axe-Edit is wonderful, there is a place for the new hardware GUI too.

True - so fingers crossed it will be easier to edit - but that also depends if you are close enough to the Axe to edit it - with the X32 I can walk out infront of the rig and alter the eq etc from out front - Remotely.
I still think this has been a massive oversite.

 

[yek]

with the X32 I can walk out infront of the rig and alter the eq etc from out front - Remotely.

Absolutely.

 

[Clockwork Creep]

Well .....the Axe-Fx III has a large screen and GUI. While Axe-Edit is wonderful, there is a place for the new hardware GUI too.

The axe fx doesn't need a screen at all, if you can control it with a phone.
Wireless, or wired. or, hey, slide the phone in. Howbout that?

 

[sprint]

k, bluetooth, would be nice.

Now, getting back to unshared modifiers ...

 

[bkd_guitarist]

Lots of excuses for what seems to be a massive oversight - the one thing I hate when doing shows/sessions is having to take a laptop to edit, when an iPad would have sufficed...... no getting away from this huge oversite.
A friend of mine has been using an X18 for a few years and never had an issue with the inbuilt WiFi.
I use the X32 rack with an external router and never had an issue.... I just can’t beleive that to edit the Axe III when away doing sessions I would have to take a laptop and a cable to connect it up - very retro.

This. Absolutely right on.

 

[Ingo]

So the Eventide H9 doesn't count as a professional device then?

If it has Bluetooth, well, not in my book. But different folks have very different ideas about what constitutes a "professional device".

Just because someone can say "well, what if...." doesn't mean there's a legitimate security threat. Bluetooth and Wifi can be made sufficiently secure or anyone could take over any laptop at any time. But they can't. And obviously, feel free to disable Bluetooth on your H9 and other devices when you play Madison Square Garden if that makes you feel more secure.

Except.. well, they could. Feel free to look up the Bluetooth and WiFi exploits that surfaced only in the last year. That doesn't mean that there's no place for Bluetooth or WiFi. But it's not in a device where flawless uninterrupted performance is a primary design goal.

Your sarcasm doesn't seem to contain any argument, but anyway: Quite unlikely that I'll play Madison Square Garden in this lifetime. And if so, I could still play the AxeFx III then!

 

[barhrecords]

Wireless everything if it is reliable and high quality would be amazing.

I just broke down my studio in prep to move to a new location. The amount of wire and cabling just in a single modest control room is mind boggling.

I could definitely appreciate wireless editing and wireless footswitch control.

 

[John Tisdale]

The axe fx doesn't need a screen at all, if you can control it with a phone.
Wireless, or wired. or, hey, slide the phone in. Howbout that?

No, no, no. You have to have a full featured front panel UI, otherwise it becomes a pain in the ass to do minor tweaks, which I find make up the majority of the editing I do.

It just seems that there are way to many devices dropping their UI in favor of some app. Controlling stuff with your phone, or tablet is a neat little novelty, but in the end, editing a device like the Axe-FX requires a practical option, and a traditional front panel UI is as practical as it gets. And yes, I love Axe-Edit, and use it all the time, but there are times when I've found that even it's not practical.

And I'm definitely not going to shove my phone into my Axe-FX, because I know my luck. I'd be the guy to get a phone call mid gig from my day job, and some how accidentally answer it without realizing. No thank you.

To be clear, I do agree that Bluetooth could be a neat option, but absolutely not at the expense of a full featured front UI.

 

[iaresee]

I asked my III repeatedly this morning to make the coffee and it just sat there. Useless. Why doesn't it make me coffee in the morning???

 

[Malvolio]

A lot of good points here but let me clarify why I mentioned the lack of. Bluetooth when I started this thread. It wasn't because "it would be nice to have". It was because the AxeFX III will likely have a long lifetime and over the course of that lifetime Bluetooth will, based on current trends, likely become the preferred way to interface with processors like this.

 

[∞Fractals]

While the convenience of wireless is common place these days (even my new canon 80D has it) - I can see in the guitar/audio world where someone would be very reluctant to introduce (another) RFI emitter source in close proximity to your single coil Strat.

I also believe the security concerns are valid.

Lastly, I do use the quad-chorus in a few key patches. I would hate to lose that feature “just because”.

 

[1poorplayer]

I see this unit as something that was designed to meet the needs and desires of professional touring and recording musicians.

I would guess phone connectivity is not a priority with design.