Issues and bugfixes with Fractal Audio products

MrCrossroads83

MrCrossroads83

Experienced
Hello everybody and have a nice monday (maybe that is a contradiction in terms :D),

first I have to say that I purchased the AXE FX I at the beginning of 2010 and the AX 8 in den middle of 2018 without any waitlist entries right from the stock at G66.

I never had some issues with the AXE FX I (ok, I had it for four months and cashed it in for real nice tube combo which I wanted to own back in that time) and the AX 8 (I had it for a year in regularly use).

I am a little confused as I ever trusted in the reliability of Fractal Audio products in general.
These days I read a lot of "cracks on reverb", "freezing unit" , "FAS is already working on it", "we fixed it with Firmware 1.X....." in this forum and I wonder if it is kind of "normal" at the introduction phase of a new products launch to fix a lot of issues and then some day after fixing these "first weeks issues" have a stable running, reliable unit.
Is this just normal and was always before when launching the AXE FX III for example?
 
Most of the issues you're seeing are happening on beta firmware. Beta means "You can download and test this if you want to, but it's not yet ready for release to the general public." Sometimes beta firmware is an instant win, with no bugs or issues. Sometimes not.

You load beta firmware, and you take your chances. If it doesn't work out for you, go back to fully-released firmware until the issues in the beta are fixed.
 
MrCrossroads83 said:
I am a little confused as I ever trusted in the reliability of Fractal Audio products in general.
These days I read a lot of "cracks on reverb", "freezing unit" , "FAS is already working on it", "we fixed it with Firmware 1.X....." in this forum and I wonder if it is kind of "normal" at the introduction phase of a new products launch to fix a lot of issues and then some day after fixing these "first weeks issues" have a stable running, reliable unit.
Is this just normal and was always before when launching the AXE FX III for example?
Click to expand...
The FM3 is a new product. it’s had several solid releases, including the initial public launch firmware.

1.02 release had an issue that was fixed in 1.03. Anything else you may have seen has been a public beta. Beta means it’s not a release, but a test release. Since it’s a test, it may have issues. Don’t install beta firmware if you don’t want a risk of issues. Though it’s of course possible with any gear to have unknown issues on release firmware.

Currently, the developers are improving the FM3 to match the Axe3 exactly, as the FM3 launched before/at the same time some major updates were made on the Axe3. It’s not just a copy paste of code; they have to work and test.

Again, just avoid Beta or Public Beta firmware if you don’t want to run into any issues like the ones you mentioned.
 
Ok, thanks for the detailled answers. I did not realise that the majority of the issues based on Beta Firmware releases.
 
MrCrossroads83 said:
Ok, thanks for the detailled answers. I did not realise that the majority of the issues based on Beta Firmware releases.
Click to expand...
it's problematic when people report things and don't mention the firmware they're on. we have to ask anyway to help them. but it also misleads people not familiar with things. also consider than many "bug reports" are user error or misunderstanding.
 
Chris, thanks a lot again, I am very happy that the FM 3 will not be the first FAS unit with issues that musicians know from other companies with a different attitude to product quality and reliability ;)
 
They are very responsive to getting bugs sorted out quickly. Generally we don't have to wait long either, as is evidence of the recent USB latency bug. I'm fairly certain I was one of the first ones opening a ticket with them on this and with a little back and forth (and me not wanting to send my unit back - i love this little box) the team got on it and fixed it in 1.03 and has since improved it in 1.04 betas.
 
I would rate FAS at the top of the excellent support list. Axe-FX Standard, Ultra, Axe-II, and AX8 owner here — never had a problem. The only time I ever even saw a bug was in beta firmware, as discussed here. And even then it was pretty minor and specific.

I have zero concerns.
 
I experienced the freezing bug, but as an early adopter, i 100% expect there to be minor issues. This is a new bit of kit, no way fractal or any other company, especially a smaller one, could anticipate every use case and fix all bugs before releasing.

If so, we'd be waiting another two years for an FM3 and fractal might go out of business in the meantime.
 
Things you should expect from Fractal Audio: Top notch engineering

Things you should not expect from Fractal Audio: timeliness or transparency
 
Ajegwu said:
Things you should expect from Fractal Audio: Top notch engineering

Things you should not expect from Fractal Audio: timeliness or transparency
Click to expand...
i'm not sure how much more transparent you can get than this:

FractalAudio said:
I found it. Engineer was trying to save CPU by combining two operations into a double-length vector. So the instruction is indexing off the end of the vector.
Click to expand...
FractalAudio said:
The problem is the Input 1 Right data is corrupted. I found a workaround:
Put a Volume block immediately after the Input 1 block. Set the Input Select to Left Only.
Click to expand...

timeliness? how fast should things go? other brands have updates once a year, or less. the Axe3 has had a bunch of significant (and less significant) updates since release. the Axe2 list is staggering.

if "we want it now" is not met, then it's slow. just can't win.
 
The road to where we are now has been anything but transparent, and you know it. They've had this thing in hand for over a year at this point. What happened?

I assume those longer IRs are right around the corner, in the "next" firmware too.

Hey, where's that Ares 2.0 update for my AX8, btw?
 
No one plays their modelers. ;)

Anyway, their transparency is mainly about their supply chain, not about operations or product development or delays
 
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there has been one from AdminM
he said maybe someday if the things we do present an opportunity for the AX8 we will look into it

if you recall the last ARES firmware update to the AX8 was very difficult
and came w issues
perhaps the best solution would have been not to put any of the ARES in the AX8? But they tried anyway

the AX8 is still a great unit but its not the future of FAS and updating EOL products is not a productive use of time and money , In fact I dont know other companies that do that,
 
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I cleaned it up. Behave.

From what I've seen FAS is the most transparent company I've seen. There are certain things we will NEVER see that are about the business side.

We are extremely lucky that we have constant updates. Occasionally we will see bugs (which are promptly squashed.). Yes, most of the reports are on beta FW, so throw those out.

And keep in mind that most people who play the FAS platforms are NOT on this board discussing things. Many only register to complain. And most of those complaints are usually education issues (they don't know how to do something, or are doing it wrong.)
 
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