Since it's looking like we won't be able to use the MFC-101...

andyp13 said:
'A connected FC Series Controller (see Section 13) will also provide additional MIDI transmitting possibilities'.
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Am I missing something here? Surly this statement in the manual implies that the FC will have MIDI capabilities?
I may also have to wait even though on the list...my intentions were to sell my Axe II and MFC soon after purchase of the Axe III... I don't want to sell the Axe II and have to hold onto the MFC or sell the II and MFC and have to buy some sort of controler whilst waiting etc....
And on top of this, folks are suggesting the FC is a dumb control and so will not do anything with MIDI (dispite the manual quote).
What the f... Is going on?
The Axe III should be released with its accompanying FC so people could buy the complete package and start using it 'live' out of the box, instead of having to hang on to your old rig to use live.... Or maybe done the decent thing and made the MFC-101 fully compatable with the III instead of trying to squeeze even more money form its users with something that's apparently less flexable.
I am really excited about the Axe III but it's a bit like buying an engine, and then having to wait for the rest or the car with no idea of what the shape or colour is going to be..... It's a hell of an engine though.
 
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That the FC is a dumb control was said by Cliff himself, I think. It doesn’t contradict the manual necessarily. A connected dumb terminal may provide additional possibilities just by virtue of having switches. And the III may have MIDI functionality that depends on switches, so is disabled when they aren’t present. Or something.

I doubt they do it to “squeeze more money”. The MFC is old and always was underpowered. It stopped evolving long ago because there’s no room for anything extra in the firmware, they say, and that’s absolutely credible, IMO. Plus, the new method should be faster and more powerful. So overall this is a positive development.

The fact that there is no FC and MFC doesn’t work properly isn’t so positive. But I would guess something went wrong here in the development or manufacturing stage. Or they realized they need a new controller too late in the process. Who knows. But I suspect it’s an honest error rather than some evil money extracting plan.
 
vangrieg said:
That the FC is a dumb control was said by Cliff himself, I think. It doesn’t contradict the manual necessarily. A connected dumb terminal may provide additional possibilities just by virtue of having switches. And the III may have MIDI functionality that depends on switches, so is disabled when they aren’t present. Or something.

I doubt they do it to “squeeze more money”. The MFC is old and always was underpowered. It stopped evolving long ago because there’s no room for anything extra in the firmware, they say, and that’s absolutely credible, IMO. Plus, the new method should be faster and more powerful. So overall this is a positive development.

The fact that there is no FC and MFC doesn’t work properly isn’t so positive. But I would guess something went wrong here in the development or manufacturing stage. Or they realized they need a new controller too late in the process. Who knows. But I suspect it’s an honest error rather than some evil money extracting plan.
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I guess, its just the worry that FAS is going bacwards on the FC and not forwards - I know I am not the only person that uses switches on their MFC to change settings etc on other equipment - and all we are asking for is some clarification of if this is something we can expect with the new FC and Axe III - particularly as this has a major impact upon buying the Axe III or not.
I just dont understand why FAS will not furnish us with this information or what their intentions are - its really not a lot to ask.
 
andyp13 said:
I guess, its just the worry that FAS is going bacwards on the FC and not forwards - I know I am not the only person that uses switches on their MFC to change settings etc on other equipment - and all we are asking for is some clarification of if this is something we can expect with the new FC and Axe III - particularly as this has a major impact upon buying the Axe III or not.
I just dont understand why FAS will not furnish us with this information or what their intentions are - its really not a lot to ask.
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In general, companies do not disclose future plans because a lot of things can go wrong. And when they do (a feature isn’t implemented within the expected time frame), it turns into a PR problem (or sometimes disaster), since there are lots of people who feel they were promised something and then they were deceived. Possible collateral damage is bigger than the small benefit of being open.

So they share something only when they are 100% sure, and have a firm time frame for releasing the feature very soon, when it’s almost ready.

Sometimes they may be silent about something because they want to release it in some non-standard innovative way and don’t want to disclose anything that would give hints to competitors.

My guess it’s the former in this case. It’s probably on some todo list somewhere but who knows when it’ll be done. Probably at this stage they just don’t know what will be ready for the initial release. Also note that FAS as a company doesn’t disclose much anyway. Cliff does, but he said he didn’t work on the switches.
 
If the MFC "most likely" control an Ax3 the same way it can an Ax2 once it's set up that is very reassuring to me.
 
DBraz said:
If the MFC "most likely" control an Ax3 the same way it can an Ax2 once it's set up that is very reassuring to me.
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That's true that they are comparable if you are comparing the II and III using the MIDI cables. If you are using the Ethernet cable with the II you will not be able to use that with the III. Just throwing that out there to make sure you don't get caught off guard.
 
DBraz said:
If the MFC "most likely" control an Ax3 the same way it can an Ax2 once it's set up that is very reassuring to me.
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Mmm... Not really. It won't be able to track IA switch states, automatically know preset names, use phantom power, etc.

Also, I don't think you'll be able to properly control more than 5 scenes per preset because the IA "grouping" on MFC supports only 5 buttons maximum, and scene buttons need to all be mutually exclusive.

The level of compatibility will be very dependant on individual user requirements.
 
guitarfreak365 said:
That's true that they are comparable if you are comparing the II and III using the MIDI cables. If you are using the Ethernet cable with the II you will not be able to use that with the III. Just throwing that out there to make sure you don't get caught off guard.
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Or FASlink or phantom power over midi...
 
unix-guy said:
Also, I don't think you'll be able to properly control more than 5 scenes per preset because the IA "grouping" on MFC supports only 5 buttons maximum, and scene buttons need to all be mutually exclusive.
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Hmm. That changes everything, if true. :(
 
vangrieg said:
Hmm. That changes everything, if true. :(
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Not 100% true. You can control more than 8 scenes, but in order to link the LED lights to go on and off when you set them up as MIDI CC changes, you can only sync up 5 as a group. The other 3 will not sync up the lights, but they can trigger scenes. In real world, I tend to stick to the 5 and it gets by and keeps the lights switching as needed, but it can work with 8. Just no lights to tell you what the state is between the groups. (For example, grouping 5 together and having the remaining 3 in a separate group.)

And before anyone asks, yes I did try that when I first got my AFX II and MFC, because I set up my scenes to change channels on my amp via MIDI, so I had to set up scenes on the MFC to do it as a standard IA instead of a scene toggle in order to do the PC change for the amp and a CC for the scene changes. I ended up realizing using 5 scenes worked better for my way of working, but it can "work".
 
Genghis said:
Not 100% true. You can control more than 8 scenes, but in order to link the LED lights to go on and off when you set them up as MIDI CC changes, you can only sync up 5 as a group. The other 3 will not sync up the lights, but they can trigger scenes. In real world, I tend to stick to the 5 and it gets by and keeps the lights switching as needed, but it can work with 8. Just no lights to tell you what the state is between the groups. (For example, grouping 5 together and having the remaining 3 in a separate group.)
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That's what I said "properly control". ;)

Scenes are mutually exclusive, so you can control 5 properly. If your lights are incorrect, that would be very confusing for most people.
 
Yeah, that's partly why I stuck with5 in yhe end, which is generally enough for me, but may not,be enough for everyone.
 
Without the FC being able to be purchased at the same time.....I will wait too. I'm sure they have their reasons/issues for this. But certainly not ideal for the consumer to not have ability to buy the FC nor it's final price.
 
Tremonti said:
Without the FC being able to be purchased at the same time.....I will wait too. I'm sure they have their reasons/issues for this. But certainly not ideal for the consumer to not have ability to buy the FC nor it's final price.
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its the lack of info that worries me more than anything......not seeming to know what the FC can or cant do and no indication of when it will be available..... its going to be interesting to see how people use it live.....
 
unix-guy said:
Mmm... Not really. It won't be able to track IA switch states, automatically know preset names, use phantom power, etc.

Also, I don't think you'll be able to properly control more than 5 scenes per preset because the IA "grouping" on MFC supports only 5 buttons maximum, and scene buttons need to all be mutually exclusive.

The level of compatibility will be very dependant on individual user requirements.
Click to expand...

To be honest I can live with that. The Axe 3 is a new product and I wouldn't expect 100% functionality of the MFC given its an older product designed around a different unit. 5 scenes is just fine for me. Providing there is a reasonably easy way of programming the MFC to suit the Axe 3 I'll be pretty chuffed.

Until told otherwise I'll remain positive.
 
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