Best Known Method when resetting AMP Block on existing patches ?

[Rex]

Thanks for the details.

I didn’t realize there are parts of the firmware that are only enacted with a block reset.

It's not that parts of the firmware are only enabled with a block reset. It's just that new algorithms in the firmware might call for different defaults. Example: If you replace the engine in your car with one that's twice as powerful, your default cruising-down-the-street position on the gas pedal will be different.

Do you happen to know when was the last Axe 3 firmware that required an amp block reset?

You'd have to check through the release notes to find that out.

 

[stereotactic]

It's not that parts of the firmware are only enabled with a block reset. It's just that new algorithms in the firmware might call for different defaults. Example: If you replace the engine in your car with one that's twice as powerful, your default cruising-down-the-street position on the gas pedal will be different.



You'd have to check through the release notes to find that out.

Thanks again, I just did a search of “amp block reset” and found no posted Axe 3 firmware release notes requiring an amp block reset in the various firmware release posts. I hope I didn’t miss one.

 

[chris]

Thanks again, I just did a search of “amp block reset” and found no posted Axe 3 firmware release notes requiring an amp block reset in the various firmware release posts. I hope I didn’t miss one.

If it sounds good, it is good.

I think it’s too easy to question “are my knobs in the right place, does the screen look like I want to sound.” If it is good now, it’s good.

 

[stereotactic]

If it sounds good, it is good.

I think it’s too easy to question “are my knobs in the right place, does the screen look like I want to sound.” If it is good now, it’s good.

I understand what you mean, but I’m more concerned with getting the most out of the firmware and the workflow, not any eyes vs ears judgements. If there are resets I’ve not done, then the next time I do one, the tone will change that much more, and I might have been going in the wrong direction and have more work to do to than if the process were more up to date and incremental...

 

[Rex]

Thanks again, I just did a search of “amp block reset” and found no posted Axe 3 firmware release notes requiring an amp block reset in the various firmware release posts. I hope I didn’t miss one.

If you search for just "reset", you'll find something for release 2.00.

 

[stereotactic]

If you search for just "reset", you'll find something for release 2.00.

Cool, must have missed it, thanks for the tip!

 

[stereotactic]

If you search for just "reset", you'll find something for release 2.00.

FYI, the only mention of “resetting” in the 2.00 release is in order to load the default value for the speaker compliance. It did not say it was necessary to reset the amp block to fully implement the 2.00 firmware. I still don’t understand this idea that there is a difference between adjusting a new parameter to a default value, as in this case, vs resetting the amp block. Why would new firmware ever require a block reset? Isn’t that like installing firmware in pieces, what would be the point of that?

 

[Rex]

FYI, the only mention of “resetting” in the 2.00 release is in order to load the default value for the speaker compliance. It did not say it was necessary to reset the amp block to fully implement the 2.00 firmware.

It's never necessary to reset the Amp block to implement the new firmware. But sometimes, when you change the way the modeling works, you change the way the model reacts to the parameters. When that happens, if you keep the old default parameter values, it won't sound the way people expect it to. So you reset the amp to load the new default values.

People change parameter values to make the amp models sound the way they want. We are given control over those values. We are not forced to accept the new values when new firmware is released. You — the owner and user — decide if an when you will make a wholesale change to reset all those parameters.

 

[chris]

Why would new firmware ever require a block reset? Isn’t that like installing firmware in pieces, what would be the point of that?

Because the designer said so.

This has become way too complicated. Reset if it says to. Reset if you want to go back to defaults. Otherwise just play.

 

[stereotactic]

It's never necessary to reset the Amp block to implement the new firmware. But sometimes, when you change the way the modeling works, you change the way the model reacts to the parameters. When that happens, if you keep the old default parameter values, it won't sound the way people expect it to. So you reset the amp to load the new default values.

People change parameter values to make the amp models sound the way they want. We are given control over those values. We are not forced to accept the new values when new firmware is released. You — the owner and user — decide if an when you will make a wholesale change to reset all those parameters.

Yes, this is my understanding as well, the problem is this previously posted example from the Axe wiki:

“Again, re-read:
15.00

NOTE: This is a major firmware release which has the potential to alter the sounds of presets. The core amp modeling has been improved and most of the amp models have been adjusted accordingly. It is recommended that any existing presets have the amp block reset to ensure that the appropriate parameter values are loaded. This is achieved by deselecting the amp type and then reselecting it, i.e. if the amp type is Deluxe Verb the amp block would be reset by selecting a different model, e.g. Dirty Shirley, and then reselecting Deluxe Verb. This will reset various internal parameters and certain user parameters. Note that Master Volume, Presence and Depth, among others, are set to default values when selecting an amp model. See below for more information about Presence default values. It may be helpful to note the value of these parameters prior to resetting the block.”

My confusion results from this statement that there are “various internal parameters” as opposed to “user parameters”, which can only be reset by an amp block reset. I simply don’t understand the idea of “internal parameters” which are part of a new firmware, but which cannot be implemented without a block reset. To my mind, a default value is just that, a number which is connected to the firmware/algorithm architecture which makes up the new firmware version one has just installed. I don’t need to know about “internal parameters” beyond the default values, if I can’t access them except through a reset, after installing firmware. I only want to know if what I am hearing is all there is which is “user accessible”.

As someone who moved from a fridge to an Axe, I’m very impressed with many aspects of digital modeling, and particularly the Axe approach to it. But because the range of possibilities is so great, and in some cases actually impossible in the real world, it’s VERY easy to get overwhelmed. Terms like “internal” are not helpful if they are beyond my ability to access. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I want more control, actually I’m looking for boundaries so I can focus on the things that I do have control over. I know there’s lots going on behind the scenes that I can’t or don’t need to understand, which is fine with me...

 

[stereotactic]

Because the designer said so.

This has become way too complicated. Reset if it says to. Reset if you want to go back to defaults. Otherwise just play.

I certainly didn’t mean to make it more complicated, but the language of software/firmware etc is not exactly crystal clear to the novice, which I am. I’m not being pedantic, I’m actually confused and I’m probably not the only one. See the previous post if you care to know why..

 

[Rex]

But because the range of possibilities is so great, and in some cases actually impossible in the real world, it’s VERY easy to get overwhelmed. Terms like “internal” are not helpful if they are beyond my ability to access.

More than most companies, Fractal is generous with the knowledge they give us about what they do and how they do it. Most of us can't absorb all the knowledge they put out there. To really understand all of it, you have to know guitar playing, pedalboard building, amp design, studio engineering, electrical engineering, acoustics, software development, and other stuff. You absorb as much as you can. Beyond that, for the stuff that you don't understand, you treat it like a deeper Amp parameter whose purpose you're not sure of: you just leave it be, and go play your guitar.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I want more control, actually I’m looking for boundaries so I can focus on the things that I do have control over.

Here's your boundary: reset the Amp block when the release notes say to do so. Or whenever you feel like it. If you don't like what the reset does, just don't hit Save. Otherwise, let it go.