I'll probably get flamed for this but...

Kracked

Kracked

Inspired
Long time Axe user - swear by it - wouldn't play guitar without it at this point in my life. Current Axe II XL owner. Every firmware rev that has come out up to 17.04 was notably improved over the previous. Sometimes in sound/feel, sometimes in functionality but always in my opinion better. 18 Beta is the first time like I feel like I would be taking a step backwards. I realize this is all subjective, but I really gave it a try over three weeks getting into all the params (as I typically do to find the sweet spot to my ears - usually some subtle nuance), A/B-ing it with previously recorded material of mine and I feel *something* was lost in this version. To my ears, it's "character". I think things got smoothed out a little too much - maybe its the grain of the distortion or the overall response but going back to 17.04 was very different indeed. Regardless, the "rawness" seems to be harder to get in 18 (at least for me so far). In other words, it feels more artificial to me.

The ONLY reason I decided to post this is because most people I see posting latch on to the new FW release as the best ever, but there are a few of us out here that maybe hear something different. Not slamming FW 18 at all, but it may not be for everyone. Anyone else feel this way? Just curious.

Regardless, I'll wait for the final release and give it another twirl :pride:
 
What is an Audiologist?
Audiologists focus on helping people with hearing and balance problems. Audiologists administer hearing tests and analyze the results. They are also expert at explaining how hearing loss and hearing damage happens and the long-term impact hearing loss can have on your life. Perhaps most important to people with severe hearing loss, an audiologist will work with you to recommend and fit a custom hearing aid that meets your unique hearing needs. Audiologists also sell and service hearing aids and assistive listening devices that can improve hearing and quality of life.
LOL :)
 
What is an ENT Doctor?
Ear Nose and Throat Center Utah logoAn Ear, Nose and Throat doctor or ENT doctor is a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating ear, nose and throat issues. An ENT doctor specializes in otolaryngology and is also known as an otolaryngologist. As surgeons, they perform a number of procedures, including ear tube surgery and surgical correction of protruding ears (Otoplasty). Plus, they treat common ear infections and conditions like swimmer’s ear, earaches and more.
 
Start with a Hearing Exam
Now that you know the difference between an audiologist and an ENT doctor, it likely makes sense to call an audiologist first about hearing loss. The audiologist will perform hearing tests, diagnose your condition and recommend a course of treatment. The audiologist may also recommend you see an ENT doctor, but an appointment with an audiologist is a great starting point to address your hearing issues.
 
17.04 sounded great. Had I been stuck in time at that revision, I would have been perfectly happy with my tones. Lucky for me I prefer the FW18 tones. Especially because the new rotary block is awesome.

Have you played with the new crunch parameter in the amp block? Maybe it will add back some of that character you are looking for. Good luck in your journey.
 
Kracked said:
Long time Axe user - swear by it - wouldn't play guitar without it at this point in my life. Current Axe II XL owner. Every firmware rev that has come out up to 17.04 was notably improved over the previous. Sometimes in sound/feel, sometimes in functionality but always in my opinion better. 18 Beta is the first time like I feel like I would be taking a step backwards. I realize this is all subjective, but I really gave it a try over three weeks getting into all the params (as I typically do to find the sweet spot to my ears - usually some subtle nuance), A/B-ing it with previously recorded material of mine and I feel *something* was lost in this version. To my ears, it's "character". I think things got smoothed out a little too much - maybe its the grain of the distortion or the overall response but going back to 17.04 was very different indeed. Regardless, the "rawness" seems to be harder to get in 18 (at least for me so far). In other words, it feels more artificial to me.

The ONLY reason I decided to post this is because most people I see posting latch on to the new FW release as the best ever, but there are a few of us out here that maybe hear something different. Not slamming FW 18 at all, but it may not be for everyone. Anyone else feel this way? Just curious.

Regardless, I'll wait for the final release and give it another twirl :pride:
Click to expand...

Have you tried to create presets from scratch? What amp models have you tried and not liked?
 
No Flaming here... Nowhere is it implied that if you're an Axe user you have to update to the latest firmware. If you're happy with the tones you have in 17.x then all is right with the cosmos man! Rock on.
 
I've gone through this myself multiple times since my purchase a couple years ago. Some firmware releases resonate with me and some don't. If they don't, I just roll back to the prior version and sit tight till the next revision comes out, give that a try and more often than not, that one will knock my socks off.

More than ever before, this firmware version has caused me to go back and revisit my presets using new parameters and even new amp models in some cases. The cool thing about this release is that I'm "rediscovering" many models that I never liked previously, and are working in place of the previous model I was using and sounding better than ever.

Don't be afraid to try amp models that you'd written off or have never tried. There's gold in there! :)
 
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I love the tones on 18, everything sounds great but I am having a problem getting the gain to do what I want. If I leave the gain set to 5 like it is when you choose an amp block it sounds good but some amps I like to boost the gain up to 7 or so and it always get mushy flubby on me. On 17.3 its fine. So, do I keep my awesome tones in 18 or my awesome gain structures in 17.3?
 
I just got my Axe this past week and when I tried it out of the box, I was blown away. It was super easy to just pull up presets and get a fantastic tone. Then I updated to the 18 beta, and I'm finding myself agreeing with you, for almost the opposite reason. It almost feels too raw, too gainy/gritty compared to 17 where things felt smooth and refined. But in my case I'm almost positive it's because I don't know what I'm doing yet...setting levels and so forth. I'm almost exclusively just using the factory presets until I get into it further.

My next step (this has nothing to do with firmware) is to figure out how to get the MFC set up for a live performance. I've watched the videos and they're all about presets and scenes and song mode and I have very little idea the difference between those in practical terms. I mean, I understand what a preset is, and I understand what a scene is. I'm not sure how to use the MFC, logistically speaking, to change from one preset to another, and literally zero idea what song mode is. But I'm getting there. I finally have the MFC mapped out the way I want, with the exception of being unable to assign the tap function to the current "down" button...that's a big kick in the noodles. Otherwise I'm really digging the axe. It sounds great and the BASIC functions are pretty intuitive. The more advanced stuff...well, I'm learning.
 
With the updated AxeEdit, i updated to 18 yesterday. Yes, my levels were off a little and the tones had changed. With a few tweaks I was able to get "my" tones back relatively easy. Look at the crunch parameter in the amp settings. That will give you more or less if that's what you are looking for. Also if you'd like a hair more of punch, drop the xformer in the speaker setting within amps from the default 1 to anything lower. For me, (especially the Marshall stuff) the tones were noticeably different. The JCM800 mod reminds me of the Marshall I had in the late 80's and is damn near spot on. I do like how the mid highs are a lot smoother now, especially in my 5153 patches.
 
There are always 2 answers:

-Something is not quite right in the load of the FW (reset system params, amps/cabs not reset, etc)
-You just don't like the FW.

One can be solved, the other is a 'maybe'. I've had FW in which I did not initially like it, but once I worked with it by tossing earlier preset, putting everything at defaults, and found the g-spot. But it just may be that you don't get on with the new FW, which is not problematic (or shouldn't be.) Rock on with 17.x. I wouldn't worry about it or spend too much more time working on it. Try the official release when it drops, and if it's still not working, back to what works!

This is the joy of this unit..no wrong way to play.

R
 
Yes, as others have said, I would start a preset from scratch and try increasing the new crunch parameter to try and bring back some of what you liked with 17. I REALLY like 18, but different people are looking for different things and that's understandable... Good luck!
 
barhrecords said:
Have you tried to create presets from scratch?
Click to expand...

This. I've had several of my presets sounds kinda rank after the update. They were very boomy and farty. Resetting the amp parameters to defaults helped on most of them, but on a couple I just started from scratch. The end result was better with FW 18b7 in every case, but it did take work to get there. 18b7 definitely has a more liquid tubey kind of feel if that makes any sense. The crunch parameter seems to bring a lot of that aggressiveness back if that's your thing.
 
FractalAudio said:
To get a sound similar to V17 you want to set Crunch to 0, reduce Negative Feedback a bit and increase Transformer Match a bit.

V18 is far more realistic but some people don't like reality.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Let me give it another twirl. I'm a Marshall guy and just really like the "rawness" of those amp models... And yes I do like reality - I've been playing for 35 years and have an arsenal of reality in the basement. If it's a matter of tweaking the new params, then so be it.
 
dpavel said:
Start with a Hearing Exam
Now that you know the difference between an audiologist and an ENT doctor, it likely makes sense to call an audiologist first about hearing loss. The audiologist will perform hearing tests, diagnose your condition and recommend a course of treatment. The audiologist may also recommend you see an ENT doctor, but an appointment with an audiologist is a great starting point to address your hearing issues.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Not useful.
 
Kracked said:
Thank you. Let me give it another twirl. I'm a Marshall guy and just really like the "rawness" of those amp models... And yes I do like reality - I've been playing for 35 years and have an arsenal of reality in the basement. If it's a matter of tweaking the new params, then so be it.
Click to expand...

[try to download[!] and reload it again.The first time. it sounded fuzzy to me, after the second download and reload it sounded great! Could be just in my mind, but that was my experience]
 
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