solo-act
Fractal Fanatic
Firmware Roulette (and V10 review)
The Axe-Fx is in the garage and the little lady is too sick to go out. Good time to write some long rambling garbage about V10. Enjoy.
The day V10 came out, I loaded it up and played Firmware Roulette: I upgraded and headed to the gig with nearly zero dialing and no listening.
Why?
It was the last ski day of the season, the wife and a friend took the day off so it would be a full ski day without time for a gig-nap. Plus I had to get up really early. I had to edit a press release for an automotive startup with a revolutionary new vehicle architecture they were unveiling April 11 at the Henry Ford Museum. Fox news, Motor Trend, Auto Week, Consumer Reports and around 26 others wrote articles about it and worked off the initial press release I edited and a post-event release I wrote myself. Music is still my day job, but I'm on this team and look forward to making something happen with it. The project is impressive enough that I snagged 3 minutes undivided attention of a former Vice President, but that's another topic.
Back to the story:
I thought V10 might be an easy upgrade because after V6 or something re-dialing was getting progressively easier. I was on 9.02 and everyone was wetting their pants so much about the leaked V10 beta, I figured it'd be a breeze, plus I didn't have time to tweak anyway.
After a long ski day, we came home, I reset the amps and watched the knob preview in the amps list window. MV changed radically on several patches so I returned those to V9 levels, saved each patch, and raced off to the gig.
The gig was at a busy neighborhood bar. I was set up early and about 10 minutes to spare. So I muted the mains and checked levels on my presets.....just to be safe....
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!
What ensued were the most intense 10 minutes I've ever had with the axe-fx: 42 completely unique patches, at least 15 different amps, and then the damn the solo blocks...AACK!!
For everyone whining about the front panel, someone needs to bitch-slap some common sense into you. Learning it is up to you, but the day will come when it'll either save your ass, or you'll look like an idiot who doesn't know how to run your digital gizmo with the blinky blinky lights.
During the tweaking frenzy, I thought about restoring V9 patches from flash and setting global to 9.xx. I set that up as a failsafe. But it wouldn't be firmware roulette if I did that!
So I dialed like a madman and started the gig. The entire night I had my foot parked on the volume pedal for surprises, and there were plenty because my backing tracks automate all the Axe-Fx patch changes and solo blocks. Yes, it was a complete Firmware Roulette experience. I don't recommend it.
What happened? It was an exhausting 21 hour day and a 4-hour singing gig on a voice freeze-dried from skiing at 10,000 ft. I had to dig deep. In the end the bar had a great night and the owner told me she was firing the Saturday house DJ and putting me in twice a month.
Another victory for live music thanks to the Axe-Fx and front panel interface.
---------------------------------------
That's the Firmware Roulette story. Here's the review:
I was too exhausted the next day to re-dial everything so I tried flipping V10 to 9.xx. It didn't work. Patches/tones were too different to work with. I dumped 9.02 firmware and patches back in and gigged the next night without a hitch. Everything was perfect again. This was all done with sysex librarian for Mac.
But even though I only had one half-crazed, exhausted night on a V10 Firmware-Roulette version of my patches (which had morphed far from the "right" tones), 9.02 actually felt stiffer, harder and thinner. Amazing.
FW10 was epic enough that I decided to spend several days just listening to V10 stock patches, jotting down notes, and slowly building the show up from scratch. I did three more gigs on 9.02, finished dialing the next week, and gigged April 21 with all-new V10 patches. That first real V10 gig was nothing but big, fat, juicy, musical amps that floated wonderfully in the mix at gig volume. There were plenty of insights & surprises along the way, but in the end it was a milestone upgrade.
FW10 insights:
CABINETS
IMO, the old IRs were incomplete IRs. The new IRs finally convey more of what the amps are doing and translate more of the sonic and kinetic vibe of an amp "moving air". They also fit in the mix easier without sounding like they've been thinned out to do so.
AMPS
Same things everyone's been saying plus amps are easier on the hands now. Until V10 it took more physical effort to get the dynamics. Now there's twice the expression with half the physical input and hands are happy. Fun to play - Very nice!
Another milestone: I can finally return to my original strategy from 2007 where I researched the original amp/cab used by the artist and dialed that. It was a nice idea, but before V10 I often gave up on that strategy and ended up with some cobbled-together rig because I could get closer to original artist tone with that.
Now I don't have to. Now a fender twin head with 2x15 cabs finally nails surf guitar tone without sacrificing body/cut on low mids and lows. Wonderful!
The 50 watt plexi high is a thing of beauty. The Supro with supertweed 2x10 was a nice surprise. I have a lot of Fender stuff, and the Fenders are finally getting the tones of Fender artists as are Vox and more...I'll skip the details, but it's happening in every amp. It's been a long wait, but the new math and the MIMIC "amp-sitter" are doing their jobs very well. THANKS CLIFF!
Also, the amps are more versatile which means I can use the same amp/cab for different songs. All I have to do is change the guitar volume or make a couple tiny tweaks, and it's a different rig. Ironically, I'm actually using less amps because they're so kick ass and versatile. Even more ironic, it makes me want to use more amps!! Well played Fractal...well played...:encouragement:
I'll sum up this long-winded review by saying the amps are consistently making sense to my ears and brain now. It's no longer a hit-miss connection fixed by tweaking tricks. The hunt for an artist's tone is short and quick and intuitive. And it's been a lot of fun because of that.
Thanks again to Cliff and the gang! You've truly outdone yourselves.
One more thing: I'd like to make a plug here for the iPad Axe-Fx editor -- Lemur for iPad. Touchscreen control of the Axe-Fx is a thing of beauty and I recommend everyone with an iPad check it out. It's not a replacement for Axe-Edit's functionality, but it kicks ass for editing patches quickly and intuitively. It was an indispensable tool for re-dialing my show from scratch and made the process easy AND fun!
Click here to download the latest Axe for Lemur template, now supports v10.02 firmware!
Donation link to support Axe for Lemur development
Click here to to learn more about Axe for Lemur (PDF file)
The Axe-Fx is in the garage and the little lady is too sick to go out. Good time to write some long rambling garbage about V10. Enjoy.
The day V10 came out, I loaded it up and played Firmware Roulette: I upgraded and headed to the gig with nearly zero dialing and no listening.
Why?
It was the last ski day of the season, the wife and a friend took the day off so it would be a full ski day without time for a gig-nap. Plus I had to get up really early. I had to edit a press release for an automotive startup with a revolutionary new vehicle architecture they were unveiling April 11 at the Henry Ford Museum. Fox news, Motor Trend, Auto Week, Consumer Reports and around 26 others wrote articles about it and worked off the initial press release I edited and a post-event release I wrote myself. Music is still my day job, but I'm on this team and look forward to making something happen with it. The project is impressive enough that I snagged 3 minutes undivided attention of a former Vice President, but that's another topic.
Back to the story:
I thought V10 might be an easy upgrade because after V6 or something re-dialing was getting progressively easier. I was on 9.02 and everyone was wetting their pants so much about the leaked V10 beta, I figured it'd be a breeze, plus I didn't have time to tweak anyway.
After a long ski day, we came home, I reset the amps and watched the knob preview in the amps list window. MV changed radically on several patches so I returned those to V9 levels, saved each patch, and raced off to the gig.
The gig was at a busy neighborhood bar. I was set up early and about 10 minutes to spare. So I muted the mains and checked levels on my presets.....just to be safe....
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!
What ensued were the most intense 10 minutes I've ever had with the axe-fx: 42 completely unique patches, at least 15 different amps, and then the damn the solo blocks...AACK!!
For everyone whining about the front panel, someone needs to bitch-slap some common sense into you. Learning it is up to you, but the day will come when it'll either save your ass, or you'll look like an idiot who doesn't know how to run your digital gizmo with the blinky blinky lights.
During the tweaking frenzy, I thought about restoring V9 patches from flash and setting global to 9.xx. I set that up as a failsafe. But it wouldn't be firmware roulette if I did that!
So I dialed like a madman and started the gig. The entire night I had my foot parked on the volume pedal for surprises, and there were plenty because my backing tracks automate all the Axe-Fx patch changes and solo blocks. Yes, it was a complete Firmware Roulette experience. I don't recommend it.
What happened? It was an exhausting 21 hour day and a 4-hour singing gig on a voice freeze-dried from skiing at 10,000 ft. I had to dig deep. In the end the bar had a great night and the owner told me she was firing the Saturday house DJ and putting me in twice a month.
Another victory for live music thanks to the Axe-Fx and front panel interface.
---------------------------------------
That's the Firmware Roulette story. Here's the review:
I was too exhausted the next day to re-dial everything so I tried flipping V10 to 9.xx. It didn't work. Patches/tones were too different to work with. I dumped 9.02 firmware and patches back in and gigged the next night without a hitch. Everything was perfect again. This was all done with sysex librarian for Mac.
But even though I only had one half-crazed, exhausted night on a V10 Firmware-Roulette version of my patches (which had morphed far from the "right" tones), 9.02 actually felt stiffer, harder and thinner. Amazing.
FW10 was epic enough that I decided to spend several days just listening to V10 stock patches, jotting down notes, and slowly building the show up from scratch. I did three more gigs on 9.02, finished dialing the next week, and gigged April 21 with all-new V10 patches. That first real V10 gig was nothing but big, fat, juicy, musical amps that floated wonderfully in the mix at gig volume. There were plenty of insights & surprises along the way, but in the end it was a milestone upgrade.
FW10 insights:
CABINETS
IMO, the old IRs were incomplete IRs. The new IRs finally convey more of what the amps are doing and translate more of the sonic and kinetic vibe of an amp "moving air". They also fit in the mix easier without sounding like they've been thinned out to do so.
AMPS
Same things everyone's been saying plus amps are easier on the hands now. Until V10 it took more physical effort to get the dynamics. Now there's twice the expression with half the physical input and hands are happy. Fun to play - Very nice!
Another milestone: I can finally return to my original strategy from 2007 where I researched the original amp/cab used by the artist and dialed that. It was a nice idea, but before V10 I often gave up on that strategy and ended up with some cobbled-together rig because I could get closer to original artist tone with that.
Now I don't have to. Now a fender twin head with 2x15 cabs finally nails surf guitar tone without sacrificing body/cut on low mids and lows. Wonderful!
The 50 watt plexi high is a thing of beauty. The Supro with supertweed 2x10 was a nice surprise. I have a lot of Fender stuff, and the Fenders are finally getting the tones of Fender artists as are Vox and more...I'll skip the details, but it's happening in every amp. It's been a long wait, but the new math and the MIMIC "amp-sitter" are doing their jobs very well. THANKS CLIFF!
Also, the amps are more versatile which means I can use the same amp/cab for different songs. All I have to do is change the guitar volume or make a couple tiny tweaks, and it's a different rig. Ironically, I'm actually using less amps because they're so kick ass and versatile. Even more ironic, it makes me want to use more amps!! Well played Fractal...well played...:encouragement:
I'll sum up this long-winded review by saying the amps are consistently making sense to my ears and brain now. It's no longer a hit-miss connection fixed by tweaking tricks. The hunt for an artist's tone is short and quick and intuitive. And it's been a lot of fun because of that.
Thanks again to Cliff and the gang! You've truly outdone yourselves.
One more thing: I'd like to make a plug here for the iPad Axe-Fx editor -- Lemur for iPad. Touchscreen control of the Axe-Fx is a thing of beauty and I recommend everyone with an iPad check it out. It's not a replacement for Axe-Edit's functionality, but it kicks ass for editing patches quickly and intuitively. It was an indispensable tool for re-dialing my show from scratch and made the process easy AND fun!
Click here to download the latest Axe for Lemur template, now supports v10.02 firmware!
Donation link to support Axe for Lemur development
Click here to to learn more about Axe for Lemur (PDF file)
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