Before I buy an Axe FX...I have a routing question!!

First impressions after spending 2+ hours with it last night....WOW!!!!!!!!

When I turned the unit on, I started scrolling through the factory presets, one at a time. What I noticed immediately is that they had a thickness and a "bounce" to them that was unmatched in the Helix...I noticed it RIGHT AWAY! In fact, I spent nearly an hour just auditioning those first 8 or so Fender style presets because they were so good...and I'm normally not a fan of those amps in the real world so that says something!

Time was getting away quickly and we still needed to head out to the grocery store, so I started jumping around and trying the ones that I thought would be my early favorites...like the 5150, or the Friedman, and other Marshall amps. They are incredible. The "lead" scene in one of the Marshall presets was an early favorite, as well as the Mark IV.

After a break for dinner and TV time with my wife, I installed the "Edit" software, and then learned how to import IR's and other user's presets. I tried out a few of Rocco Pezzin's presets and they were AMAZING!!! I can't believe the level of tweakability! This is going to be a very satisfying process to me because I like messing with the finer details on presets.

But in a nutshell, after trying only the factory presets...and not even trying to build my own yet, this unit is absolutely amazing. There is a touch sensitivity that feels life-like that I was usually missing even on my best Helix presets.
 
So cool to read. For building presets i recomend making a template. This was kind of a game changer for me when I first started making my own patches.

Simply:
Input, x nr of shunts, amp 1 and amp 2, x number of shunts, cab, x number of shunts, output.

This make you ready to play in just a few mouse clicks.

Another thing is to make a system for your block library. One thing I learned the hard way is to name things smarter. So when i in 6 months want to explore a block I've saved earlier, I can.
 
Admin M@ said:
Welcome to the family. Good timing too; we could sell out of the Axe-Fx III due to supply chain delays. I fully agree with your Turbo decision by the way: better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
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I must say this is one of the big cons and weakest links when buying Fractal Products.

There's now a great demand for FAS products here in Israel.
But because of this shortage and the difficulty keeping with the demand no one can join the family and they choose Neural DSP QC instead. not because it better but only because it's in stock!
We even tried to buy some from USA online retailers and send it to an american shippment company which sends to Israel. But there's simply no stock!

I'm like stocking everyone to choose your products but when it always grt problems in the moneytime. Even if you created FM9 Turbo in order to make things easier in wait times.
It still not in stock.
It needs to come with a solution otherwise people will lose patience and won't want to buy.
 
Omri Bazelet said:
I must say this is one of the big cons and weakest links when buying Fractal Products.

There's now a great demand for FAS products here in Israel.
But because of this shortage and the difficulty keeping with the demand no one can join the family and they choose Neural DSP QC instead. not because it better but only because it's in stock!
We even tried to buy some from USA online retailers and send it to an american shippment company which sends to Israel. But there's simply no stock!

I'm like stocking everyone to choose your products but when it always grt problems in the moneytime. Even if you created FM9 Turbo in order to make things easier in wait times.
It still not in stock.
It needs to come with a solution otherwise people will lose patience and won't want to buy.
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Brother, your point is valid. However, this issue is not a Fractal issue, it's a silicon chip problem and it's worldwide. It's affecting everything from automobiles to household appliances, and of course, Fractal.

I am almost certain that Cliff would make his amazing products available in every inch of the planet Earth, but the reality is that it's not a choice. If he is unable to source parts, no products get built. I've been personally affected by the oddest things....a refrigerator I paid for has been "on order" now for a year. Why? Some damned chip that controls the display is unavailable. It's everywhere. It's a waiting game for the consumer, and a nasty logistics issue for manufacturers.

So, you're not wrong, and I feel your pain, but until more chip production happens, this is likely to continue for the forseeable future. I hope everyone who wants whatever Fractal product they want gets one soon, and I'd bet Cliff and all the folks at Fractal would too, but the solution doesn't lie with Fractal and they can only source what they can source. I'd bet my AxeFx III that sourcing has been exhausted and they're doing as much production as physically possible.

Good luck to you and all the Fractal fans in Israel brother, I hope you all can buy a Fractal asap!
 
hfam said:
Brother, your point is valid. However, this issue is not a Fractal issue, it's a silicon chip problem and it's worldwide. It's affecting everything from automobiles to household appliances, and of course, Fractal.

I am almost certain that Cliff would make his amazing products available in every inch of the planet Earth, but the reality is that it's not a choice. If he is unable to source parts, no products get built. I've been personally affected by the oddest things....a refrigerator I paid for has been "on order" now for a year. Why? Some damned chip that controls the display is unavailable. It's everywhere. It's a waiting game for the consumer, and a nasty logistics issue for manufacturers.

So, you're not wrong, and I feel your pain, but until more chip production happens, this is likely to continue for the forseeable future. I hope everyone who wants whatever Fractal product they want gets one soon, and I'd bet Cliff and all the folks at Fractal would too, but the solution doesn't lie with Fractal and they can only source what they can source. I'd bet my AxeFx III that sourcing has been exhausted and they're doing as much production as physically possible.

Good luck to you and all the Fractal fans in Israel brother, I hope you all can buy a Fractal asap!
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Amen to that. It also happened with the PS5 during the pandemic but I must say that things are getting back sooner than you think and especially with silicon chips.
So if they can get a certain chip, what about an alternative? Or different manufacturer that makes same chip or DSPs. After all, the core in Fractal sound is in the Operating System, her algorithms and patents and of course it optimization with the hardware.

And if they can get it for a year, maybe it better to save these waiting times by getting new hardware and optimizing the current OS into the new hardware and testing it.

Sharc DSPs for exampled pretty much normalized their stock by my checking. And everyone else in the market are still manufacturing.
 
Omri Bazelet said:
Amen to that. It also happened with the PS5 during the pandemic but I must say that things are getting back sooner than you think and especially with silicon chips.
So if they can get a certain chip, what about an alternative? Or different manufacturer that makes same chip or DSPs. After all, the core in Fractal sound is in the Operating System, her algorithms and patents and of course it optimization with the hardware.
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snipped for brevity

Again, valid points to a degree, but...again....I would suggest that Fractal is a business at the end of the day, no? To presume that an engineering genius like Cliff Chase at the helm hasn't already pursued any and all possible technical solutions to a silicon shortage, or that a solution isn't already in the works, would be to ignore the primary function of a business altogether; that a business doesn't exist without sales, and that presumption would also be a very bad bet.

All that said, brother, we've veered off topic and so I will apologize for that, and return the topic yo its regularly scheduled content. Again, best wishes to you all for products to buy soon!
 
mtb said:
It only gets better.
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I bought an AxeFX3 in July 2018 and I am still learning cool things, not to mention the awesome firmware updates that keep happening 🤘

...sometimes wish I had a Turbo. I have a huge preset for a tribute band that covers all songs but pushes the CPU boundaries, have to turn the reverb quality down. I'd probably just end up maxing that out as well though :D
 
Congrats! I recently purchased the Axe FX3 Mark II and I’m just learning a few things now. Some of the presets sound amazing right out of the box. Some that don’t you can tweak and they sound amazing. It’s getting me ready to maybe sell a couple of my tube amps!
 
Snowdogyyz said:
Congrats! I recently purchased the Axe FX3 Mark II and I’m just learning a few things now. Some of the presets sound amazing right out of the box. Some that don’t you can tweak and they sound amazing. It’s getting me ready to maybe sell a couple of my tube amps!
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That is what I'm thinking too! ...selling some pedals and other gear. LOL.
 
I just took the stock preset for the Twin Reverb and swapped out the o/d to the Timmons BB Preamp, and switched out the reverb to "North Church"....OMG!!!! TONAL BLISS!!!! I never played that amp in the Helix, it was that sterile. This thing is pure magical in the Axe FX!!!! WOW!!!!!!
 
EVH~5150 said:
I just took the stock preset for the Twin Reverb and swapped out the o/d to the Timmons BB Preamp, and switched out the reverb to "North Church"....OMG!!!! TONAL BLISS!!!! I never played that amp in the Helix, it was that sterile. This thing is pure magical in the Axe FX!!!! WOW!!!!!!
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Yeah!!! What's fun is that joy overload you're having right now? That seems to never go away, never diminishes. I was serious when I mentioned I get excited just thinking about playing on my AxeFx!!

I presume you're on version 20.04 as that was the latest OS revision at the time yours was shipped. Now I haven't done it yet because I'm uptight about beta versions (admittedly I'm warming up to the idea here), but apparently the new v21 on deck for stable release is by all accounts life-changing!!! We will get to relive the "I can't believe this!!!" moment all over again!!!

Glad you're digging the new platform and congrats on the new gear!
 
hfam said:
Yeah!!! What's fun is that joy overload you're having right now? That seems to never go away, never diminishes. I was serious when I mentioned I get excited just thinking about playing on my AxeFx!!

I presume you're on version 20.04 as that was the latest OS revision at the time yours was shipped. Now I haven't done it yet because I'm uptight about beta versions (admittedly I'm warming up to the idea here), but apparently the new v21 on deck for stable release is by all accounts life-changing!!! We will get to relive the "I can't believe this!!!" moment all over again!!!

Glad you're digging the new platform and congrats on the new gear!
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Oh wow...I didn't know another update was on the horizon! I can't wait!!!! ....and honestly I can't imagine what's going to be in it???!!!!
 
I’m a sucker for new firmware and features so I installed the new firmware right after I got my axe fx3. I can’t tell you the differences from the firmware before- I just know I like it!
 
hfam said:
Yeah!!! What's fun is that joy overload you're having right now? That seems to never go away, never diminishes. I was serious when I mentioned I get excited just thinking about playing on my AxeFx!!
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This is very accurate. I get a silly sense of excitement to play, and it is just about the same as the day my AxeFx arrived. It really is a mirthful kind of joy that I have not experienced in any real degree since childhood. I woke up this morning, looked at the forum, read this, and then decided that I needed to plug in. Two hours later and I forgot all the things I need to do. Good luck with your time management.
 
EVH~5150 said:
Oh wow...I didn't know another update was on the horizon! I can't wait!!!! ....and honestly I can't imagine what's going to be in it???!!!!
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I didn't sift through all of the pages in this thread but I'm checking out one of your YT videos on your channel. You'll definitely LOVE this unit and you can kiss your free time goodbye cuz you'll be tweaking your VH tones...ALL of them. I did after I bought a EVH Frankie replica and it's been a blast. There's a ton of VH presets and tips on the Preset Exchange part of the forum.

For me: someone else's preset never sounds like it does for the person who made it. But, there are tweaks or effects in there that get you that much closer to the VH tone in YOUR head. I tried to look up a real helpful one that @Burgs created but came up with a ton of links in the search. Link below for the search.

I apologize for jumping ahead and not reading the entire thread before posting, as some of what I've said may be redundant. If not cool! I keep notes, links and screen shots on my OneNote so I can refer back to stuff I've forgotten or meant to get to. The Fractal forum is awesome.

Watching your '78 black/white VH build on a budget video right now.

Edit: Look for @Andy Eagle 's threads on his 5150 guitar builds. Pretty cool and right up your alley.

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/sear...=post&c[child_nodes]=1&c[nodes][0]=104&o=date
 
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