FW 18.01 - Preset Change w/ External Controller - Auto Engage & PC Reset

D

DigitalGuitarist

Member
Hi All,

I'm really enjoying FW 18.01 so far -- thanks Cliff! But I seem to be experiencing a small issue with it. And I'm not quite sure if it's a bug or something else.

I have a Reverb 1 block within all of my Presets, with the following Modifier settings for Input Gain:

  • Source: External 3
  • Auto Engage: Medium Speed
  • PC Reset: No

This works just fine within each Preset by itself. The issue is when I change to another Preset that also has a Reverb 1 block and the same Input Gain > Modifier settings. I'm expecting it to retain External 3's controller value when I change Presets. But instead, it seems to reset it back to its default value -- as if PC Reset is set to Yes.

For example... Let's say External 3's controller value is set to ~50%. That Auto Engages the Reverb 1 block and sets the Input Gain to the same %. And when I change to another Preset, I would expect the same -- Auto Engages the Reverb 1 block and sets the Input Gain to the same %. But instead, it seems to be resetting the External 3's controller value back to 0%, and therefore Reverb 1 does not Auto Engage.

Is it just me? Or has anyone else experienced this with FW 18.01?

TIA!
 
Here's my setup....

Roland EV-5 plugged into the Pedal port, and mapped to External 1. I usually use this to control the Wah

Behringer FCB-1010 (w/ UNO chip) plugged into Axe-FX II's MIDI IN port. And its two expression pedals are mapped to External 2 & 3 (respectively). External 2 for Delay 1's Input Gain (Auto Engage = Off), and External 3 for Reverb 1 (see above)
 
my best guess is that the FCB is sending a value of 0 or OFF when you change presets for that expression pedal. if you can set it so it sends the value of wherever that pedal is, the issue may go away.

did it used to work correctly before 18.01? regardless, that's still my best guess.
 
I've since made progress....

I had been using FW 18.01 with Axe-Edit-Win-v3p1p5. And I had tweaked some of my patches via that version of Axe Edit shortly after upgrading to FW 18.01. And that's when I first experienced the issue I reported above.

So I've since gone "old school", and just used the front panel (no Axe-Edit). And after flipping the Modifier settings back and forth, it's working as expected again for me.

FWIW, I see there's a newer version of Axe-Edit available today (Axe-Edit-Win-v3p1p6). I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure I will soon.
 
Are you certain you were using SPD and not POS autoengage style before? When the SPD option was added it worked exactly as you described. I don't know if that changed at some point. Using one of the POS options will engage the block if your source is in the "on" zone at preset recall.
 
Well, now I just seem to be confusing myself (and maybe others, too). Despite my "progress", it's still not quite working as expected.

See if this makes sense... In FW 18.01 (for me), it's as if a Preset can save the state of a block (On or Off), even when the block's Modifier is set to Auto Engage. So let's say I save Preset # 001 with the block set to On. And then switch to another Preset and then switch back to Preset # 001. It still recalls the block as set to On, irrespective of the Modifier's controller value. And the same seems to be true if I save the Preset with the block set to Off. So it's as the block's saved state (On or Off) overrides the Modifier's Source controller's value and Auto Engage settings. And FWIW, I don't recall this behavior in previous FW versions (i.e. 17.x).
 
Bakerman said:
Are you certain you were using SPD and not POS autoengage style before? When the SPD option was added it worked exactly as you described. I don't know if that changed at some point. Using one of the POS options will engage the block if your source is in the "on" zone at preset recall.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That seems to have fixed it for me -- using POS instead of SPD.

From the Wiki

Controllers and modifiers: Auto-Engage
## Firmware 11.04: "Added speed (SPD) vs. position (POS) options to Modifier Auto-Engage parameters. The SPD options engage the effect when the controller changes more than 5% in any 20 ms interval (as before). The POS options engage the effect when the controller value is 5% greater than or less than the Off Value (depending upon whether the Off Value is less than or greater than 50% respectively). For example, setting the Auto-Engage to SLOW SPD will bypass the effect when the controller value is less than, say, 5% (default). To engage the effect the controller (foot pedal) must be moved more than 5% in a 20 ms interval. This requires that the pedal be moved somewhat rapidly and prevents the effect from engaging erroneously if the pedal droops. Setting the Auto-Engage to SPD POS will bypass the effect in the same manner but the effect will engage when the controller exceeds 10% (5% + 5%) regardless of the rate of change."​

I must admit I don't quite understand how the above relates to the issue I described. But hey, if POS achieves what I want, then I'm good with that.

Thanks again!
 
POS polls the position of the pedal. if it's above 5%, it will engage.

SPD polls the rate of change in the position of the pedal. if it isn't moving, it will not engage. regardless if it is past a certain point of the pedal movement.
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
POS polls the position of the pedal. if it's above 5%, it will engage.

SPD polls the rate of change in the position of the pedal. if it isn't moving, it will not engage. regardless if it is past a certain point of the pedal movement.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that makes sense. So is it safe to assume that if SPD is selected, then the behavior I originally described as an "issue" is actually working as designed? Meaning, since the pedal is not moving on a Preset Change (PC), it just uses the block's saved state (On or Off)?
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
i'd state it like "it asks for the auto-engage status" instead. but yes, i think it's basically the same.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks! So at risk of beating a dead horse... When Auto Engage is set to one of the SPD values, does the PC Reset setting really have any effect? Or to put it another way, is SPD the equivalent of PC Reset = Yes?
 
It seems that auto-engage overrides PC Reset, though I could be wrong. If auto-engage is turned on to any setting, that will determine the status of the block.

If set to SPD and the pedal isn't moving, nothing is telling the block to turn on.
 
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