To anybody who use Windows and went Axe 2 --> Axe 3

Velokki

Velokki

Inspired
Hi there!

I'm quite close to making the jump from Axe 2 Mk 2 to Axe 3 Mk2.
But I value my time.

There is an old wisdom about film studios, where many of them run on antiquated software (many versions behind the newest) just so everything is stable and surely works. A lot of bands do that as well, I remember Wintersun touring with Axe FX Ultras for many years before taking the time to make the patches for Axe 2, even though they owned the gear.

I use Windows with Cubase, and everything works super beautifully with my Axe 2.
Is there anything that could be a hindrance to acclimatize to the new Axe 3? Is it really like Axe 2 but just sounds better?
I mean, possible scenarios would be Axe 3 USB not working / dropping out, speakers going silent suddenly and need to boot the Axe 3 regularly, IO settings in Cubase acting strange / having to configure things every time I start.

These might not make a whole ton of sense, but hopefully someone understands me. Anyone with Windows experience who worked with Axe 2 - are there any new things that you wish you knew before upgrading, or you feel like are important to know? What to prepare for?

I'm cool with editing patches and know that will take a moment, but if the Axe 3 is as rock solid as the 2 as studio equipment, then I'll gladly upgrade.
If there's some irritating little tinkering and bugs, I'll rather just stay with the 2 where everything works :D
 
No issues here. If working great with Axe 2 already then the Axe 3 should work even greater! The only issues I had were fixed by disabling the sleeping mode of USB. There is a thread somewhere on it. But if you aren't having those issues with the 2 then should be good to go with 3.
 
The only drawback the III has for me is that it can't be used as a MIDI to USB interface like the II could. With the II I could hook up my Roland drums directly to it via a 5-pin MIDI cable and get super stable ASIO performance with Superior Drummer. As of right now, the III has no such capabilities which makes me a sad panda. Super niche example but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
 
There's always an inherent risk of something breaking with any gear, but the number of high profile artists and artists in general that rely on the III to tour or record should be a testament to its stability. I don't think it would last long in the gigging world if it broke down every show!
 
Upgraded from Axe FX Ultra to Axe FX III. Quality of Sound and features are much, much better, as we all know.
Using my trusty old Thinkpad, win 8.1 and Cubase 10 pro. "Never touch a running system" is always in my mind.
From time to time the System stops working. No sound in or out anymore. Need to reboot computer and Axe FX then.
 
For me, and less Axe FX based than Presonus Studio One in terms of OS, plenty of memory and a good hard drive saved an ailing system. Axe FX and Windows has not been an issue for me so far. Axe FX III with Cygnus is amazing in terms of sound, no drawbacks in functionality. Just do it.

Liam
 
In the last two weeks I’ve changed from AxeFX 2 running Ares to AxeFX 3 and Cygnus. To minimise changeover time and disruption I purposely started by replicating my three live patches. I was asked to blog the experience, which is here.

Everything moved across smoothly, except the loss of MIDI over USB where I’m still looking for a solution. Some things run faster: with the AxeFX 2 I used a Digitech Drop for Eb because of latency in the Pitch block. That’s no longer needed.

The Cygnus sound is much clearer, something I’ve noticed with many of the firmware upgrades over the last 12 years. A consequence of this improvement is that I‘m now looking at changing some of my Amp choices.
 
Windows user, upgrading since Axe-FX Standard>Ultra>II>III. No issues at all. Only advantages
 
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I use II and III both with Windows and MacOS. With Win10 no issues with both (after USB sleep fix), with Mac it sometimes happens, but very rarely.
 
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