Cygnus Beta - first impressions

this may seem contrarian, but i don't mean for it to be.

i personally don't get much value out of comparing things, whether it be Cygnus to Ares, the axe to an helix, etc. it's logical to do so, and it's all the rage in YouTube videos. but for me, i just listen to what i'm presented with and decide if it sounds good or not without needing to compare.

when i first started playing electric guitar, i was fortunate to be given an epi les paul. i could not hear the difference whatsoever between the Bridge and Neck pickups. i often sat there for a while just changing between all the pickup positions and played some riffs and honestly couldn't hear any difference. i was mostly playing along to Metallica and Pantera through a Digitech RP20, cleans and gain. i mean, maybe some very slight difference, but really nothing substantial. i knew there had to be a reason for the 2 different pickups, but couldn't hear it and couldn't understand why it was an option.

so i would play master of puppets and battery on the neck pickup. and it sounded great to me.

then one morning, probably months in, there it was. omg. so obvious that the bridge pickup had more attack, was tighter, and sounded WAY better for this style of playing than the neck pickup. it's like the clouds parted and i could see clearly. i was dumbfounded that i couldn't hear that before when it was so obvious suddenly.

was i "wrong" earlier when i thought there was no difference? factually, yes - there is a difference. but to my own experience, not really. it DID sound good to me on the neck pickup and i truly heard no discernible difference. but one day it was suddenly obvious that it sounds better with the bridge pickup. i still enjoyed playing guitar, enjoyed the sound and result of my pickup selection, and had no worries about anything.

our ears develop over time. i just wasn't ready or experienced enough to hear the difference. i think this is similar to people's experience with various tube amps, as well as modeling changes in firmware updates.

i managed a large local music store and was fortunate to be able to try all sorts of great gear over the years there. when we got a Diezel VH4, i didn't also turn on a Dual Rectifier and compare them. i just played the Diezel and heard how it sounded. when various modeling products arrived, i just played them by themselves and decided if i liked what i heard or not, i didn't setup another modeler and try them back to back. whatever sounded good, sounded good, regardless of what something else sounded like.

maybe these days, there are more gear options available. i think it makes sense to try out different gear if you're making a first time purchase of some category. if i was buying my first tube amp, i would try various amps to see what i preferred since i didn't know what anything sounded like. but i still wouldn't be "comparing" them like A/B. just learning what each one sounded like, and choosing what i thought sounded best for me. same thing for a modeler. i would probably try a helix, a fractal, a kemper, a digitech - whatever - to hear what they sound like before purchasing. but at the music store, i probably wouldn't set up 3 modelers and A/B/C them all at the same time. again maybe this is just me.

based on my experience with all the amps and modelers i've played, when i try something new, i can pretty much make a decision if it sounds good to me or not without having to compare it directly to something else at the same time. when i helped my friend create presets for his Helix, i was able to make it sound good for our gigs, but knew that i preferred the Axe-Fx without directly comparing.

as far as Axe Firmware Updates, i usually update and just play. sometimes i notice a difference, sometimes i don't. i think that's ok. they are free updates, so it's not like i need to "get my money's worth" and really know if i hear it or not.

i think with Cygnus, just like any other update, many will hear and feel a difference, and some will not. i think that's ok. we're all at different levels of experience with guitars and amps, and just like i couldn't hear a difference between a neck and bridge pickup at one point, someone else may not hear or feel a difference in tightness, or low end, or high end, etc. that's ok :)

i think the act of comparing actually forces confirmation bias, because "something should have changed or be different" and someone might compare until they hear some sort of difference - even if it's not there. we've all seen videos comparing devices or firmware, and the comments range all over the place.

Comment 1: "Clip A has more low end and is clearly the real amp."
Comment 2: "Clip B has more low end and is clearly the real amp."
Video Creator: "Clips A and B were both a modeler"
Commenters: "Oh yeah, i totally knew that. YT compression threw me off. It's clearly a modeler because both clips lacked high end."

when that happens, does a comparison really matter?

i love that the Cygnus clips have just been the amp by itself, no comparisons. it sounds good on its own and i think that's really all that matters.

of course, this is my opinion and approach. i'm not saying i'm more correct or that others are wrong. i think those clips sound great regardless of what the Axe sounded like before, or what other products sound like.

when i loaded Cygnus, i immediately heard and felt a significant difference without any comparisons. i think many people will really, really enjoy this.
 
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How many people are on the beta team ? It’s seems for this release there are more of them but it could be that we are just hearing from them more than we typically do.
 
this may seem contrarian, but i don't mean for it to be.

i personally don't get much value out of comparing things, whether it be Cygnus to Ares, the axe to an helix, etc. it's logical to do so, and it's all the rage in YouTube videos. but for me, i just listen to what i'm presented with and decide if it sounds good or not without needing to compare.

when i first started playing electric guitar, i was fortunate to be given an epi les paul. i could not hear the difference whatsoever between the Bridge and Neck pickups. i often sat there for a while just changing between all the pickup posistions and played some riffs and honestly couldn't hear any difference. i was mostly playing along to Metallica and Pantera through a Digitech RP20, cleans and gain. i mean, maybe some very slight difference, but really nothing substantial. i knew there had to be a reason for the 2 different pickups, but couldn't hear it and couldn't understand why it was an option.

so i would play master of puppets and battery on the neck pickup. and it sounded great to me.

then one morning, probably months in, there it was. omg. so obvious that the bridge pickup had more attack, was tighter, and sounded WAY better for this style of playing than the neck pickup. it's like the clouds parted and i could see clearly. i was dumbfounded that i couldn't hear that before when it was so obvious suddenly.

was i "wrong" earlier when i thought there was no difference? factually, yes - there is a difference. but to my own experience, not really. it DID sound good to me on the neck pickup and i truly heard no discernible difference. but one day it was suddenly obvious that it sounds better with the bridge pickup. i still enjoyed playing guitar, enjoyed the sound and result of my pickup selection, and had no worries about anything.

our ears develop over time. i just wasn't ready or experienced enough to hear the difference. i think this is similar to people's experience with various tube amps, as well as modeling changes in firmware updates.

i managed a large local music store and was fortunate to be able to try all sorts of great gear over the years there. when we got a Diezel VH4, i didn't also turn on a Dual Rectifier and compare them. i just played the Diezel and heard how it sounded. when various modeling products arrived, i just played them by themselves and decided if i liked what i heard or not, i didn't setup another modeler and try them back to back. whatever sounded good, sounded good, regardless of what something else sounded like.

maybe these days, there are more gearoptions available. i think it makes sense to try out different gear if you're making a first time purchase of some category. if i was buying my first tube amp, i would try various amps to see what i preferred since i didn't know what anything sounded like. but i still wouldn't be "comparing" them like A/B. just learning what each one sounded like, and choosing what i thought sounded best for me. same thing for a modeler. i would probably try a helix, a fractal, a kemper, a digitech - whatever - to hear what they sound like before purchasing. but at the music store, i probably wouldn't set up 3 modelers and A/B/C them all at the same time. again maybe this is just me.

based on my experience with all the amps and modelers i've played, when i try something new, i can pretty much make a decision if it sounds good to me or not without having to compare it directly to something else at the same time. when i helped my friend create presets for his Helix, i was able to make it sound good for our gigs, but knew that i preferred the Axe-Fx without directly comparing.

as far as Axe Firmware Updates, i usually update and just play. sometimes i notice a difference, sometimes i don't. i think that's ok. they are free updates, so it's not like i need to "get my money's worth" and really know if i hear it or not.

i think with Cygnus, just like any other update, many will hear and feel a difference, and some will not. i think that's ok. we're all at different levels of experience with guitars and amps, and just like i couldn't hear a difference between a neck and bridge pickup at one point, someone else may not hear or feel a difference in tightness, or low end, or high end, etc. that's ok :)

i think the act of comparing actually forces confirmation bias, because "something should have changed or be different" and someone might compare until they hear some sort of difference - even if it's not there. we've all seen videos comparing devices or firmware, and the comments range all over the place.

Comment 1: "Clip A has more low end and is clearly the real amp."
Comment 2: "Clip B has more low end and is clearly the real amp."
Video Creator: "Clips A and B were both a modeler"
Commenters: "Oh yeah, i totally knew that. YT compression threw me off. It's clearly a modeler because both clips lacked high end."

when that happens, does a comparison really matter?

i love that the Cygnus clips have just been the amp by itself, no comparisons. it sounds good on its own and i think that's really all that matters.

of course, this is my opinion and approach. i'm not saying i'm more correct or that others are wrong. i think those clips sound great regardless of what the Axe sounded like before, or what other products sound like.

when i loaded Cygnus, i immediately heard and felt a significant difference without any comparisons. i think many people will really, really enjoy this.

I think an important note is that these new firmware versions are free updates to a product we already loved enough to spend the money on to begin with. I'm sure to some, knowing future updates would be included was a crucial part of making that decision, but I'd argue the majority would be just as happy if there were never significant updates and changes to begin with, hence how many people are still rocking the Axe FX 2 and are more than happy with it. Hell, many people here only upgraded to the 3 for the extra storage space. Some upgraded just for the LED lights. It's that good, and people are that happy with how it sounds already.

I like to keep this in mind to prevent myself from feeling any sense of entitlement to some drastic change from firmware releases. This isn't some absurdly priced DLC pack I'm paying for, this is Cliff and the FAS team going out of their way to constantly provide free upgrades to an existing product. That's a treatment toward a consumer base that many, many industries do not at all share, regardless of the product's base price or the loyalty of its customer base, and it makes it so easy to be grateful over any updates at all, let alone one that can be advertised as a drastic improvement like Cygnus has.
 
I think an important note is that these new firmware versions are free updates to a product we already loved enough to spend the money on to begin with. I'm sure to some, knowing future updates would be included was a crucial part of making that decision, but I'd argue the majority would be just as happy if there were never significant updates and changes to begin with, hence how many people are still rocking the Axe FX 2 and are more than happy with it. Hell, many people here only upgraded to the 3 for the extra storage space. Some upgraded just for the LED lights. It's that good, and people are that happy with how it sounds already.

I like to keep this in mind to prevent myself from feeling any sense of entitlement to some drastic change from firmware releases. This isn't some absurdly priced DLC pack I'm paying for, this is Cliff and the FAS team going out of their way to constantly provide free upgrades to an existing product. That's a treatment toward a consumer base that many, many industries do not at all share, regardless of the product's base price or the loyalty of its customer base, and it makes it so easy to be grateful over any updates at all, let alone one that can be advertised as a drastic improvement like Cygnus has.

I‘m one of those that upgraded to the Mark 2 not for any real compelling reason other than knowing I can easily sell my Mark I PLUS I feel like I need to support FAS as much as possible because the return on investment for us customers is off the charts.
 
OFF

Sziasztok! I’d love to meet Fractal-heads next time I’ll come and visit Hungary. My gf used to work in Sziget Festival and I’ve visited there multiple times because of that. Maybe next year when the situation is better? 🙂

ON
 
I was like this but I've become a real comparer in the past ten years. I value the importance of a solid "reference". I learned this from working alongside some incredibly talented producers, engineers, and players, who were borderline religious about this.
yeah totally! i do understand it from certain POV's. i'm mostly a player, not a producer or engineer or developer of a product. so for me, the end result - or maybe the "what i have in front of me" result - is most important.

if i developed a product, software, etc. or if i made recordings that would be judged against other professional recordings, i'd definitely do some comparisons to see where i am in the grand scope of things.

but as a guitar player, i just need to feel comfortable with the tools i use on stage or during a recording.

i feel many get caught up in the comparison thing just for comparison's sake though, without "having a horse in the race" so to speak. so many judgments on compared clips have total opposite reactions as i mentioned in my previous post, and at that point, the comparison has only further confused the issue.

i just think it's ok to say "that sounds good!" without directly comparing to something else. :)

my statements on this are meant to be general. there are always specific situations that can be mentioned where i change my mind on this, as with anything ever said :D
 
I was like this but I've become a real comparer in the past ten years. I value the importance of a solid "reference". I learned this from working alongside some incredibly talented producers, engineers, and players, who were borderline religious about this.
I've really only been comparing modeling for the last 4 years or so. I had the early Boss stuff (ME5!) the Line 6 stuff (amps and floorboards), and now the Fractal stuff. I feel like now though - I'm only comparing Fractal to Fractal, as in my opinion no one is coming close to what we can get with the III. So the bar keeps going up, but it's being raised within our own product. With a quick download of a new FW I have the most current, and honestly, in my opinion again, the best thing available on the market today. #proudaxeowner_obviously
 
I was like this but I've become a real comparer in the past ten years. I value the importance of a solid "reference". I learned this from working alongside some incredibly talented producers, engineers, and players, who were borderline religious about this.

as in every job that relies on subjective judgment, it's always good to have some kind of "reference" to go back to when you're undecided or need a reset.
 
I don’t normally get excited about FW updates until they drop, but the hype is starting to get to me. I was playing factory presets tonight and never got past the first one I tried. It’s hard to imagine the Boutique sounding any better. Covers everything I need with a Strat and it’s volume knob.
But the hype is real. 😂
 
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