iarsee:
As long as you only change the channel on the AMP block that’s not currently active you can fade between 4x4 distinct AMP models on the III.
Yep, to be sure. That's true.
But remember: The whole idea of Scenes -- and, really, the idea of Presets altogether -- is to
save us from doing a lot of tap-dancing. We don't like being distracted from
what we're playing.
Now the rule "always do your channel changes in the amp that's
currently turned down, and
then crossfade to it, after the new channel is ready" sounds simple.
It
sounds simple. But it isn't. Putting it into practice, live, can get
really complicated.
Consider:
STEP 1: I need to remember which Amp I'm currently using...hmm, oh, yeah, I'm currently playing through Amp 2 on a crunch rhythm sound, and Amp 1 is currently on a clean rhythm sound, but what I really want to do is change to the distorted lead sound which I've stored on Channel C of Amp 2...lemme see here, how do I make that happen...?
STEP 2: Press the button to change Amp 1 to a crunch rhythm sound that's the same as the one I'm currently hearing through Amp 2
STEP 3: Press the button to crossfade to Amp 1, which will produce no detectable change since they're on the same sound
STEP 4: Press the button to change to the correct channel (Channel C) on Amp 2
STEP 5: Press the button to crossfade back to Amp 2 so that I can hear my new channel
Now, in my regular gig, I often play complex parts. Sometimes with a loop to fill in secondary parts. Oh, and I sing backing vocals, too.
I really,
really,
REALLY do not want to go through all that multi-step process in order to change from one sound to another. I just can't think about so many things at the same time! (I guarantee that either my vocal timing would fall apart, or my fingers would forget what they were supposed to be doing.)
That's where my WISH item asking for "Crossfading Channel-Changes" comes from:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/crossfading-channel-changes-in-a-block.136473/
Basically, that wish (if implemented) would
automate that complex process into a firmware feature that's tied to the channel-switching itself.
That's important, because Channels, in turn, are parts of Scenes.
By having Crossfading Channel Changes, you automatically get the option of Crossfading Scenes; and
that means you really can have totally seamless transitions between different tones, by pushing a single button once, and without having to think about it too much.
(As Chris, Yek, and others have correctly noted, there is downside: For every block whose channels you opt to make "crossfading," the firmware would basically be harnessing 2 identical blocks' worth of CPU and processing. So that'll reduce the number of blocks you can place on the grid before running out of CPU. But, the Axe III has
so much processing power, that even if you turned on crossfading for Amp1 and Drive 1, I bet there's enough CPU to still include a couple of other non-crossfading blocks in the same Preset.)
