Does the AX8 have an audio gap?

I recognize that the audio gap is there,but I must admit that its impact is blown way out of proportion (IMO). There are situations, where you cannot live with it, but I am sure these situations are rare for most people. BTW the minimum switching time for scene controllers is 0.01 seconds. If you want it to be truly instantaneous, you should use filter blocks instead. That will also give you the opportunity to add a little EQ.
 
Yeah it would be nice if it weren't there, but it's hardly a big problem or a new one. Every real channel switching amp I've owned has had a small dropout when changing channels. If it didn't, you'd get LOUD pops when switching between drastically different gain levels in the amp. Getting totally seamless layered transitions with perfect spillover between tones is a studio trick and rarely happens live without a great deal of work or redundancy.
 
Last edited:
I think a lot of guys who post on this thread don't read the thread. . Some of us have NO gap at all switching our channel switching tube amps.. I have many amps currently that have no gap. . ALSO some of us the .01 or .001 second (or whatever the measurement) of latency does TOTALLY effect us as we play with our bands, whether it's psychologically due to being in a non-latency situation for sooooo long or whatever. . Again today, I've assigned expression pedals as continuous controllers to the input gain/input trim on some amps that end up cleaning up really well and it's so cool getting a cleanish tone to hi-gain tone with a variable pedal! BUT it's not having a lo-gain Matchless with hi-gain Splawn with no latency, which is what many of us want for the Amp x/y scenario, or scene controller scenario and Fractal is receptive to this :) Also changing the switching to 'down' vs 'up' didn't help me but it's great that it did help some others who posted about it. And p.s. the gap is definitely NOT blown out of proportion at all. Some gear does this, and some doesn't. . There's a substantial difference for those of us who are used to gear that doesn't. Eric p.s. The flipside to me posting this again to answer some others who think we shouldn't have an issue as it's "The norm" (which it isn't) is: this is THE best , most fun, most functional piece of music gear I've ever bought I believe, and I have had a HUGE amount of gear.
 
Last edited:
I get around this by using a 'morph' expression pedal.

Yes, I know it doesn't switch between amps, but it can go from sqeeky clean to complete distortion and every step in-between as fast as I can move the pedal.

However, it would REALLY be nice if I could use the X/Y with no gaps.

L

P.S. I agree with Eric. This is probably the best 'all-around' guitar unit I've ever owned - EVER. Certainly, it is one of the best sounding units - and it's small enough to fit in a suitcase for travel.

THANK YOU CLIFF!!!!!
 
Last edited:
There is a short audio gap. That is a fact. Some people have no problem with it. Others do.

I know it's being said with helpful intentions, but please stop hinting or telling others that the gap shouldn't be a problem for them.

Cliff said that it will be worked on as best as possible, and some are offering suggestions for how to reduce or work around it. Thanks.
 
Hey guys! First post and not an owner of any fractal unit so please forgive me if it was made clear earlier in the thread or is something obvious. So my understanding is that there is a dropout when switching x/y or presets when there is a change in amp parameters but not when the amp parameters are unchanged. Does that mean that if I have a preset with a boost that gets turned on and off on the x/y but the amp stays the same that there won't be any dropout? And that I can have a bunch of other effects that get turned on and off but as long as I don't change the amp parameters, that the switch wil be seamless?
 
Sorry if my post came across as callous. I didn't at all mean to infer that it was a non-issue. The gap can be irritating is some situations for sure, but generally it's not a deal breaker. It's not an easy problem to solve. Switching between parallel sources is the best way to eliminate the gap. For Axe FX II users, this is pretty easy with two amp blocks, but AX8 users are limited to just one. Any time a block switches X/Y it has to reset with the code of the new state. Perhaps something like a short delay line could loop and cross fade the last few ms of signal while the block resets. It wouldn't be totally seamless in terms of input, but at least it wouldn't be a total dropout and would probably be much less obvious in a steady audio stream.
 
megamaeng said:
Hey guys! First post and not an owner of any fractal unit so please forgive me if it was made clear earlier in the thread or is something obvious. So my understanding is that there is a dropout when switching x/y or presets when there is a change in amp parameters but not when the amp parameters are unchanged. Does that mean that if I have a preset with a boost that gets turned on and off on the x/y but the amp stays the same that there won't be any dropout? And that I can have a bunch of other effects that get turned on and off but as long as I don't change the amp parameters, that the switch wil be seamless?
Click to expand...
There is an intentional audio gap when changing Presets or when changing the XY State of the Amp block. XY changes the same block from one complete set of parameters (X) to a different complete set of parameters (Y). without the gap, there would be loud popping as many parameters are changing suddenly. the change happens instantly; there is no "delay" as some are referring to - again it is an intentionally placed audio mute/gap.

XY Amp switching can be slower at high CPU usage, around 85% or higher to the useful limit of 90% or so. Preset switching is the same speed regardless of CPU usage, so at times Preset switching can have a smaller gap than XY amp switching.

so i think you have the correct understanding. as shown with many posts on this forum, in some situations the gap is not noticeable, while in other situations it is. functions like Scene Controllers, Control Switches to change parameters within the Amp block without changing XY, and using Drive pedals instead of switching amps are just some ways to avoid the audio gap.
 
When I hear that someone did not buy this unit due to the audio gap, I think, it's blown way out of proportion.

Yes, there is an audio gap, and I pay attention to it, when I build presets. I can change my sound substantially (eg. full on metal to acoustic SIM) with zero audio gap, but not everything is possible, and seamless switching is often more cumbersome to set up than just doing the Amp x/y switch. So I always have to choose, between seamless switching or perfect sound. Sometimes the choice is easy. Sometimes you need both, and then you're in a rut.
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
so i think you have the correct understanding. as shown with many posts on this forum, in some situations the gap is not noticeable, while in other situations it is. functions like Scene Controllers, Control Switches to change parameters within the Amp block without changing XY, and using Drive pedals instead of switching amps are just some ways to avoid the audio gap.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris! It seems like it's even more flexible without audio gap than I understood. So basically as long as you avoid changing XY (via scene controllers and control switches), you can change amp parameters without gap. That, coupled with drive pedals sounds like more than enough control for me. I do like having drastic changes but not like swapping out amps or anything. Thanks!
 
Ericbr1 said:
In my experience, and simplest terms possible, as long as you don't change the amp MODEL, but changing other things on the amp (i.e. gain, boost,etc) the switching is seamless. It's fantastic, as long as you don't change the amp model. :) Eric
Click to expand...

Wow even better! Yeah I'm just looking for a couple channels on the same amp. Pretty much high gain and higher gain haha. That's really encouraging to hear.
 
megamaeng said:
Thanks Chris! It seems like it's even more flexible without audio gap than I understood. So basically as long as you avoid changing XY (via scene controllers and control switches), you can change amp parameters without gap. That, coupled with drive pedals sounds like more than enough control for me. I do like having drastic changes but not like swapping out amps or anything. Thanks!
Click to expand...
yes, but it may be difficult for you to understand exactly how to change amp parameters without a unit in front of you. you may have heard of Scenes within a Preset, but those don't change Amp parameters on their own - Scenes only change XY and On/Off of multiple blocks. you would need to use Scene Controllers, a sort of "invisible expression pedal" type thing. so what you said is correct, but designing the changes is a special technique.
 
megamaeng said:
Wow even better! Yeah I'm just looking for a couple channels on the same amp. Pretty much high gain and higher gain haha. That's really encouraging to hear.
Click to expand...

It's VERY easy to do that. I either use Filter blocks as 'boosts' , or /and assign an expresion pedal to 'input gain' and /or 'input trim' which are controllable parameters. . It's AWESOME.. . I take a Splawn or Cameron amp and I can set a 'minimum value' for gain , and 'maximum value' for gain , and control it with that expression pedal. It's absolutely great. .Seamless as can be, and if you use a rather low 'minimum value' you can actually get very cool Marshally/glassy cleans using those amps.. .All controllable with your expression pedal. THEN you use a Filter Block set up for a 2.5-3.0 db solo boost and there's your solo boost. .It's PERFECT. . . The only 'gap' situation is when changing different amps, and then it's useable for many , and a pain for some :) Eric
 
megamaeng said:
Wow even better! Yeah I'm just looking for a couple channels on the same amp. Pretty much high gain and higher gain haha. That's really encouraging to hear.
Click to expand...


It's also important to know that if often isn't so simple, because if you use a controller to bring the amp gain down, then your lower gain scene is usually way too quiet compared to high gain, so you need to add another block (filter/volume/eq ect)and possibly another controller to compensate.
 
SoProg said:
It's also important to know that if often isn't so simple, because if you use a controller to bring the amp gain down, then your lower gain scene is usually way too quiet compared to high gain, so you need to add another block (filter/volume/eq ect)and possibly another controller to compensate.
Click to expand...
you can just link the same Scene Controller to any Level control - like in the Cab block - and adjust the Min and Max to be opposite to compensate.
 
SoProg said:
It's also important to know that if often isn't so simple, because if you use a controller to bring the amp gain down, then your lower gain scene is usually way too quiet compared to high gain, so you need to add another block (filter/volume/eq ect)and possibly another controller to compensate.
Click to expand...

It's not on the amps I've done that on . . "Bassman, Splawn Quick Rod, Cameron , Mesa 2c+,etc" . . Lowering the input gain does not reduce the volume too much at all! Works fantastically . . I use the filter blocks for additional options but totally unnecessary to compensate for volume reduction in my case! :) Love this method. . Eric
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom