Limitations and Workarounds after one month with the AXEFX3

zappafranco

Inspired
So here is my resume after one month with the AXEFX3:
  • I had the AX8: The sound was ok, but no the UI.
  • I had the Helix: The UI was ok, but not the sound.
  • Then I got the AXEFX3: The sound is amazing and also the UI.:)
Nevertheless there are from my point view, as someone who is only playing at home to backing tracks, some limitations, but I have found workarounds for everything:
1. My eyes are not the best and although it's great to have a lot of VU Meter Options on various pages in the AXE and in AXE EDIT I got myself an external Loudness Meter and a Splitbox. So one channel of the AXE and one channel of the Backing Track from my Mac go into the Loudness Meter which makes it way more easy to balance the volume of the guitar against the volume of the backing track.
2. There are some feedback simulation presets floating around, but I prefer the Digitech Freqout: From my Helix Days I also have a Bogner Harlow as an always on Pedal. Just to give the Strat which I mainly use a very slight compression. By the way all the Pedals are in front of the AXE.
3. Exotic Zappa Presets: There are not too many presets available and I am not a great Preset Designer. For those exotic Zappa Sounds I have a Bubble Tron, the TWA Triskelion and a Quantum Time Modulator Chorus.
4. MIDI and Fracpad: Last week I did a lot of experimenting to achieve the following: I wanted to connect at the same time the AXE via USB to my Mac, via MIDI to a Mastermind LT and via MIDI to Fracpad. I have to say the setup I ended up with is not officially supported by Al Grenadine. He told me that I loose too much MIDI Data on the way, but anyone who is interested can see this in more detail at the end of this post. ( I connect my Fracpad iPad to an iRigMIDI2 Interface which goes into a Motu Express Interface which goes into the MIDI Ports of the AXE.)
5. Thank you to all the forum members who share their knowledge here. To anybody who is considering buying an AXEFX3 I can only say. There is nothing better than being absolutely satisfied with the tone you get. And the AXEFX3 will you give that feeling.

Fracpad says "Prefer a USB connection if possible" Well, I was trying to make the Mastermind LT and Fracpad on my iPad working at the same time while still using the USB port of the AXEFX3 to be connected to my Mac, but FracPad is not working correctly. I am running right now the following MIDI Configuraton with my Motu Micro Express MIDI Interface.
On the left of the picture is MIDI IN and on the right is MIDI OUT.
MIDI IN 1 AXE MIDI OUT
MIDI OUT 1 AXE MIDI IN

MIDI IN 2 Mastermind MIDI OUT
MIDI OUT 2 Mastermind MIDI IN

MIDI IN 3 Yamaha BT MIDI OUT
MIDI OUT 3 Yamaha BT MIDI IN


View attachment 60215
With this configuration I got the Mastermind and the AXEFX3 working in sync with no problems, but Fracpad which is connected via the Yamaha Bluetooth Adapter BT01 seems only to be able to work on the performance page. The other pages are not working. They don't contain any infos, just the blank pages. It's a little bit frustrating if something only works partly, bu not completely. The only thing I can do with Fracpad in the moment is using the Performance Page to control for example the Output Volume or let's say the Delay Mix Level. It seems that Fracpad is not getting any MIDI Data from the AXE, but I have activated the option to poll the preset names when Fracpad starts, and this seems to work. Very strange...
Update to my previous post: SUCESS! Now I got it working! I replaced the Yamaha BT 01 on MIDI IN/OUT 3 of the Motu Micro Express with an iRigMIDI2 MIDI Interface. The iRig Interface is connected via Lightning to the iPad and via MIDI DIN to the Motu. Although I still get the warning that I should prefer an USB connection as a matter of fact Fracpad now is getting MIDI IN and MIDI OUT Data. Everything works. I hope that this will be a stable setup for the future because it would be nice to to return to my guitar once in a while... ;-)
 
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