Does the AX8 have an audio gap?

Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
the fact that it's 2016 has nothing to do with it. old gear that is doing much, much less processing can switch quickly because it's doing much, much less processing.
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The problem with that train of thought is that processing capacity has also grown in 18 years - exponentially. The phone in my hand is evident of this monumental change in computing power. It would seem that gaps when switching between two identical presets should not be an issue at all and seems more a design problem to load everything instead of only loading changed parameters.
 
rgx612a said:
The problem with that train of thought is that processing capacity has also grown in 18 years - exponentially.
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that capacity is being used for things other than seamless preset switching. it's a choice by the developers. there is other gear that doesn't sound how FAS gear does, but it has seamless switching. the choice is yours. FAS has stated they will improve on what they can when they can, so there's really no argument right now, just a choice.
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
that capacity is being used for things other than seamless preset switching. it's a choice by the developers. there is other gear that doesn't sound how FAS gear does, but it has seamless switching. the choice is yours. FAS has stated they will improve on what they can when they can, so there's really no argument right now, just a choice.
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Going to Fractal gear was one of the things I looked forward to as customer satisfaction seems outstanding. I know you cant speak for them, but do you personally think they will improve this on the AX8 in firmware releasess or are they more likely to do it with a v2 version? If processing power is the issue I would assume it's not feasible in the current one.
 
Chevy makes many models, if you buy the citation don't be mad when it does not perform like a Corvette!
 
rgx612a said:
do you personally think they will improve this on the AX8 in firmware releasess or are they more likely to do it with a v2 version?
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as mentioned above, the owner of the company said they will try to improve it as best they can, when they can.
 
This is interesting....

I'm an FX8 owner with a Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister amp, so 4 channels and full MIDI switching via the FX8.
Thanks to scenes I can change any number of my effects and from the clean, to crunch or lead or ultra channels on the H&K in what to my ears appears to be instantly with no dropout. I've had many compliments on my tone and don't miss any of my pedals since buying the FX8.

BUT

Due to lack of space and time to set up my rig each time I want to play, the FX8 is only getting used sporadically which seems a real waste.
So I had been considering switching to an AX8 as I could use this at home on a daily basis for practise and also at rehearsal and gigs - so my proper rig every time I plug in. The one thing that was putting me off was whether or not I'd have as much flexibility between amp sounds per preset and whether any XY switching would be seamless.

This thread appears to have answered my question.

So if I want seamless switching and multiple amp channels per preset my options are to stick with my amp and FX8 or get an AXFX2?
 
I have input drive and trim controlled via expression pedal. There is a gap when switching from one amp to another but it isn't a deal breaker for me.

I have honestly never had a song where one part requires a Fender Champ or wtf-ever and a triple rectifier the next part. If I was using real amps; I would vary my tones with volume knob and picking hand and dirt pedals; not have 4 amps on stage and rotate between them. That might be because I am lazy :)
 
Could a 300ms or so delay be activated between amp switches, I don't mind gaps but if that was activated the earlier amp would ring out with delay feedback and few if any would notice anything. Or is this a global mute between cab switches?
 
JiveTurkey said:
I have input drive and trim controlled via expression pedal. There is a gap when switching from one amp to another but it isn't a deal breaker for me.

I have honestly never had a song where one part requires a Fender Champ or wtf-ever and a triple rectifier the next part. If I was using real amps; I would vary my tones with volume knob and picking hand and dirt pedals; not have 4 amps on stage and rotate between them. That might be because I am lazy :)
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You don't need 4 amps. Like the above poster mentioned, he has an H&K that is 4 channels with seamless switching. My JVM410HJS was also 4 channels and switching was instant. So with a 4 channel amp you can have clean, crunch, crunchier, and crunchiest, all with seamless switching. Don't get me wrong, I'm mostly happy with the AX8, seamless switching would be the cats ass though.
 
rgx612a said:
The problem with that train of thought is that processing capacity has also grown in 18 years - exponentially. The phone in my hand is evident of this monumental change in computing power.
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The phone in your hand also has a huge audio "gap." When you speak into the microphone, the person on the other end hears your voice about 1000 milliseconds later. That's the price you pay for all that power and flexibility. The primitive cell phones of 20 years ago had no discernible gap.
 
pat6969 said:
You don't need 4 amps. Like the above poster mentioned, he has an H&K that is 4 channels with seamless switching. My JVM410HJS was also 4 channels and switching was instant. So with a 4 channel amp you can have clean, crunch, crunchier, and crunchiest, all with seamless switching. Don't get me wrong, I'm mostly happy with the AX8, seamless switching would be the cats ass though.
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How did you find the transition from the JVM?

I've no doubt that I can build presets that don't require the luxury of 2 or 3 amp channels, but am curious to know what are the pros, cons & compromises are for you with the AX8....I'm a Fractal convert thanks to FX8, just weighing up whether I'm better to ditch my amp and enjoy the simplicity of an all in one unit.
 
Davus PG said:
How did you find the transition from the JVM?

I've no doubt that I can build presets that don't require the luxury of 2 or 3 amp channels, but am curious to know what are the pros, cons & compromises are for you with the AX8....I'm a Fractal convert thanks to FX8, just weighing up whether I'm better to ditch my amp and enjoy the simplicity of an all in one unit.
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Tone wise, I think it's as good as any. I have the AX8 and a Kemper. The effects and form factor of the AX8 is awesome, and the tones are definitely close to the Kemper. It took some time getting used to the AX8, I've had it for about 3 months now and I am finally getting some killer tones. I attribute that to the OH IR packs I purchased. The factory cabs are really good, but the sound I was looking for wasn't there until I found the exact speaker I love in one of the OH cab packs. At this point, the only thing that slightly bothers me is the switching lag. I sold a few amps because of that so it is a sore spot with me. Like others have said, there are ways to work around this but I like things simple; clean amp, dirty amp. Luckily as I age a bit (47 now) I am finding myself reducing gain to a mid crunch level, so backing the guitar volume and flipping to the single coils (HSS Strat or HS Tele) cleans things up sufficiently. I used to be a high gain junky, and I still like it, but my main preset is a crunchy Brit Pre that has a TS in front for those moments I want to bang my head, and that works for me.

As for transition, I loved that HJS head and cab combo I had. If they came out with a 25-30 watt mini head with exact same features and channels, I'd probably sell my digital gear and buy that, but I simply don't have any desire to carry massive heads and cabs around anymore. These modellers get me 95% of the way there, that's good enough for me.
 
Hello, new to the forum. Glad to be here.

I've been very interested in the AX8 for a while now, and I'm close to pulling the trigger. The only thing holding me back is this lag business.

Right now I run a clean amp and use stompboxes for dirt, could the same approach be used on the AX8 for songs that need really clean passages? Do the clean amps respond to dirt pedals in a realistic way? For songs that don't need that spanky clean stuff I'm sure I could make it work. Of course the dream would be instantaneous switching between anything, but I can see why that's not feasible when dealing with such complex algorithms.

Thanks, hope to join you Fractal owners soon!
 
Coming from a AFX I haven't noticed any difference with the AX8 and switching lag.

The only benefit the AFX has is that you can run multiple amp blocks to negate any switching lag if you want to. I never X/Y switched the amp, so never bothered - I run the same way on the AX8 and don't have any issues.

I use Scene Controllers to vary the amp gain to get various levels from clean to lead.

Edit: another good tip is to use scene controllers to vary the Input Trim - this is more like boosting the front end of the amp with a clean boost - great for saving a drive block if all you want to achieve is a boosted tone.
 
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Davus PG said:
How did you find the transition from the JVM?

I've no doubt that I can build presets that don't require the luxury of 2 or 3 amp channels, but am curious to know what are the pros, cons & compromises are for you with the AX8....I'm a Fractal convert thanks to FX8, just weighing up whether I'm better to ditch my amp and enjoy the simplicity of an all in one unit.
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I have done just this. I keep a safety net of my old amp and cabs and practice amp but in the 8 months since owning AX8 I have never used it - save for 1 day just to compare old sounds to new (and new won by a mile). The functionality and versatility of the AX8 as well as the convenience of the form factor is brilliant.
 
dbun said:
Coming from a AFX I haven't noticed any difference with the AX8 and switching lag.

The only benefit the AFX has is that you can run multiple amp blocks to negate any switching lag if you want to. I never X/Y switched the amp, so never bothered - I run the same way on the AX8 and don't have any issues.

I use Scene Controllers to vary the amp gain to get various levels from clean to lead.

Edit: another good tip is to use scene controllers to vary the Input Trim - this is more like boosting the front end of the amp with a clean boost - great for saving a drive block if all you want to achieve is a boosted tone.
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Hi there

May I ask how you use scene controllers to vary the amp gain?

If you keep the same amp can you have different settings on it for all 8 scenes?

I'm not fussed about changing amp models, but I often need a clean, crunch and lead tone in songs we play.
 
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