placebo firmware

mgavin

Experienced
the new firmware offers some great new parameters to mess w/, it sounds great, (and actually does sound better now when messed w/) but it sounded great before, and w/ out tweaking those new parameters it sounds exactly the same as before, as did every other previous firmware.


I would love for cliff to release a placebo firmware just so everyone would say ohh i love it, it sounds sooo much better than before, this is a game changer, blah blah blah
 
Haha 8) You bet, it's not like the human brain is any harder to manipulate just because it's software.
 
This would be an interesting test haha. Most people exaggerate a lot when it comes to new firmware. IMHO new parameters are the only things that make firmware 'better' than previous versions (I love the dynamics tab in V5!). That said I can usually hear a different between new firmwares without needing to A/B (not V5 tho), but usually my presets sound worse when I update (until I 'fix' them)... or do they? :p
 
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w/ out tweaking those new parameters it sounds exactly the same as before, as did every other previous firmware.

Eh no, definitely not. The new parameters don't get much use here right now ....
Still, I love the new firmware because of other applied changes under the hood.
Top end is MUCH nicer, low end is better.
 
Certainly doesn't sound exactly as before. I had an opportunity to A/B 4.01 and 5 yesterday side by side. Somewhere very close, others need tweaking. The way the amps respond to attack has certainly changed. However, I agree it has not radically changed the character of the amps. More like adding spice than a new dish.

I'm with yek, I rarely turn the dyn up from default. Mostly I turn it down. I keep speaker drive and motor drive off. I do not find them desirable in my patches.

new parameter were not the only thing that changed on amps:
Much improved grid modeling in Amp block preamp and power amp stages
Reworked nearly all amp models based on new “amp matching” algorithms.
 
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the new firmware offers some great new parameters to mess w/, it sounds great, (and actually does sound better now when messed w/) but it sounded great before, and w/ out tweaking those new parameters it sounds exactly the same as before, as did every other previous firmware.

The 5.0 update certainly doesn't sound the same as before w/ out tweaking.

I'm only really using one patch atm as I haven't really had my Axe II for that long, its an AC30TB patch with a fair bit of drive. I found it sounded much 'muddier' with the new FW. Had to reduce bass, increase treble, decrease high cut in the amp block and mess with the new parameters to get it sounding like it did before. That's not a complaint, just an observation. I think it sounds better in the end but it's kind of hard to tell TBH, sounded damn good before.

I like your idea though - watch out for FW updates on April 1st!
 
Tthe funny thing is that when you have real amps to compare your sound to... you can see hear and feel its no placebo... theres somn goin on i couldnt achieve before... and thats just going through a guitar cab. I wasnt liking at all going through my frfr and now im considering gettting another speaker.... i play high gain tones and the sound was trully sucking.... and that changed with the new FW. Sounds like a full real preamp poweramp and cab setup.. with the coloring of a mic... before it was sounding as if i was running guitar rig through the speaker.
 
This would indeed be an interesting test. I think the placebo would make many of us feel a bit silly. Though there's a definite trend of improvement in the AxeFx (FAS is now really setting the bar to critical aclaim for amp modelling, to the point where one wonders when tube amp manufacturers are going to start getting really worried), I definitely see a pattern of "gushing fanboyism" (me included) in the initial days of a FW release, but after a few days reality sets in and people's comments start to be more directly related to what was really provided in the release.

It's all good - people here are really into being part of refining the AxeFx and FAS is making it a more personal experience for all by being so directly involved with their user community. It's uncommon, and may not last since I'm sure Cliff get's big $ offers to sell out - so enjoy.
 
If you play your Axe Fx much I'm sure you can hear the difference in the fw updates.It's a little hard to put into words at times but the difference is obvious.
Sometimes I think that Cliff sees the big picture of where it's headed and we don't, so we don't understand the purpose of some of the stops along the way but I'm sure theres a destination in mind.
 
Haha, now that's an honest post. And it serves to remind people how extremely unreliable and emotional the human brain can be...

Yep. V.5 is just not as radical a change sonically as it was going say from 2 to 3. Maybe my ears are not as refined as some of you lot, but IMHO the new parameters are for tweakers. They're there to polish the polish so to speak.

3 to 4 was a more radical change too. For whatever reason (hell maybe it was entirely psychological), but I felt like it was a big difference.
 
I went through a bunch of the updates on the Ultra, but have only had the II for about 2 weeks now so I was just scratching the surface of it and getting used to it, but I could instantly tell a difference in the way that it responds and feels when messing with the speaker motor, drive and the dynamics. I agree that it sounded great before, but right now it feels like the amp is more alive. You know I'm trying to come up with a better analogy or description, but putting trying to come up with something more fitting than dynamics is probably a step in the wrong direction.

It didn't change what we had, it just made it 'more' than it was somehow and as someone who is a self aware cynic I'm always on the lookout for placebo effect. Heck I'm still not convinced that the presets were updated even though everyone is telling me they were. :) I'm giong to attempt to tackle checking that out further today if I can pry myself from playing for more than 5 minutes.
 
You can fool some of the people all the time; and you can fool all the people some of the time, but you won't fool all the people all the time. It'd be funny to a few; but it would be a major gaffe of a practical joke. For instance there is a member of another piece of gear that also owned the Axe-FX and posted misleading comments in an X/Y test between the two units. He lost most all his credibility once he revealed the ruse on another forum as a way to mislead folks. Major no-no; memories are long.

If he did do that, it'd be absolute gold for the critical members of different forums to blast away on and would be a huge PR misstep.

Cliff is smart enough to know that.
 
Yeah no head games please, life throws us too many curves already. I should look at my horoscope recently. It probably tells me "your in for a rough ride" lol.
Plugging into my AX is one thing i can count on to feel good!!
 
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Hmm..
Ver3 to Ver4 was pretty radical to me, but primarily in how amps reacted to tweaking, and where the values "sat," especially with the Master Volume (much more translatable, more reactive). Ver4 to Ver5 was even more radical; overall, the amps sound and feel quite different (to me); this time, the foundation itself is quite different.
 
the new firmware offers some great new parameters to mess w/, it sounds great, (and actually does sound better now when messed w/) but it sounded great before, and w/ out tweaking those new parameters it sounds exactly the same as before, as did every other previous firmware.


I would love for cliff to release a placebo firmware just so everyone would say ohh i love it, it sounds sooo much better than before, this is a game changer, blah blah blah


How do you know he hasn't already done it?....? Lol
 
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