Dave Merrill
Axe-Master
I just meant that editing using knobs and a screen on a floor unit isn't great physically.Hi Dave, Would you elaborate on "but footswitches and controls on a floor unit is really different ergonomically than a III and an FC"? Based on hearing reviews that the FX III is not easy to use from the front panel, I foresee using Axe edit more often than not or even most of the time. The reason I think this is that even with the Helix Floor unit being very user friendly device, I found myself gravitating to HX edit.
There are pretty widely differing opinions on editing the III from the front panel.
When I first got mine, I intentionally didn't use the editor much at all, since I didn't want to be helpless without a computer. Because of that probably, for me the front panel is fine, with the exception of things it just doesn't do, like copying an FC footswitch definition into another layout, and bulk operations like disabling a block in all scenes. I also find switching between a pick and a mouse awkward, more so for some reason than between pick and knob.
Could the front panel interface be improved? Sure, that's true of pretty much everything, but really, it's fine, and the recent double-tap shortcuts are a welcome improvement.
Some people don't agree. You may have seen Rhett Schull's YouTube review, where he said it was the best sounding modeler, but he found the front panel impossible. He's a poster child for shoulda-read-the-manual, or taken Cooper Carter's course, or even just lost the attitude that he shouldn't have to actually learn how to use it, and spent a day working with it. The major things he got stuck on aren't hard, he just didn't internalize how to do them. The front panel's not bad, really, especially considering everything it can do.
About the Helix, it's what I had before the III (still have it actually, just don't use it like ever), and I love that interface. BUT, the Helix is way simpler, way fewer parameters for everything. It does have the totally brilliant feature that its footswitches double as touch-activated buttons, providing instant and intuitive navigation to the blocks that are important enough for you to put them on footswitches. That's a great innovation, kudos to Line 6 for that, but the FCs don't have the hardware for it, and the Axe would still have many times more parameters. Also, if the concern is that you want to be able to edit at a gig, doing that with the Helix on the floor would suck, like with the FM9 on the floor.
Bottom line, don't believe the folks who say the front panel of the III is unusable, try it yourself. I think you'll find that it's quite powerful and well thought out, like everything Fractal. The editor will still be available if you want it.