Transformer Match

Too many things to tweak. I want to dial in like an amp and not worry about tranformer match, supply bias, dynamics, compression, excursion time, sag, definition knobs. Oh and then the speaker tab!

So many amps and then you add these obscure knobs whose function isn't clear- I get paralyzed and just go back to the "old school" way of just adjusting the tone stack and MV. Can't think about these other weird knobs. Or more long posts from peterson on how to handle this "monster" basically telling me to use my ear. I want simple. I don't have enough time to deep into more than a dozen obscure settings for each amp I may be interested in!!

O appreciate that we can control every nuance of a virtual tube amp. But all these knobs and thier usage is FAR DROM INTUITIVE and add to the information overload.
 
No I don't have to. But the creator says I should not overlook it. And another guy says not to overlook the speaker page and impudence curves or I'm missing out.

Just too much. And the manuals and release notes are useful if you are an amp technician but are otherwise useless. The axe is fantastic technology and I'm "sold", it's all I've used for two years. But I'm tired of all the talk about how we are missing out of we don't tweak the magic flux capacitor setting which emulates the ion discharge effect of split wound magnesium transformers when interacting with tubes at -20 degrees but only if you set the speaker curves to a value by using your ears.

Fractal makes the best technology. But not the most intuitive interface!
 
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eda123 said:
Fractal makes the best technology. But not the most intuitive interface!
Click to expand...
Hopefully, it will motivate them to finally add a mode that hides all advanced tabs :mrgreen
And only talk about them when a user asks if there is more and his device has logged over 2000 hrs in BASIC mode ;)
 
That would be funny. Hear Cliff's voice coming through your rig "You've just unlocked level two. INTERMEDIATE MODE!"

-Or-

Just have these as optional accessories:

images
 
eda123 said:
No I don't have to. But the creator says I should not overlook it. And another guy says not to overlook the speaker page and impudence curves or I'm missing out.

Just too much. And the manuals and release notes are useful if you are an amp technician but are otherwise useless. The axe is fantastic technology and I'm "sold", it's all I've used for two years. But I'm tired of all the talk about how we are missing out of we don't tweak the magic flux capacitor setting which emulates the ion discharge effect of split wound magnesium transformers when interacting with tubes at -20 degrees but only if you set the speaker curves to a value by using your ears.

Fractal makes the best technology. But not the most intuitive interface!
Click to expand...


Interface is perfect - but you need knowledge - if you don't have, use your ears.
 
eda123 said:
No I don't have to. But the creator says I should not overlook it. And another guy says not to overlook the speaker page and impudence curves or I'm missing out.

Just too much. And the manuals and release notes are useful if you are an amp technician but are otherwise useless. The axe is fantastic technology and I'm "sold", it's all I've used for two years. But I'm tired of all the talk about how we are missing out of we don't tweak the magic flux capacitor setting which emulates the ion discharge effect of split wound magnesium transformers when interacting with tubes at -20 degrees but only if you set the speaker curves to a value by using your ears.

Fractal makes the best technology. But not the most intuitive interface!
Click to expand...

It's freedom of choice. If you don't like those kinds of posts, don't read them. If you don't want to adjust anything other than the most basic settings, then do that. I for one love the fact that you can tweak the heck out of it & create your own sound, or sound just like someone else & love to hear other peoples approach to this. You learn things! I also think the interface is great. Makes perfect sense to me, especially after years & years with the TC G-Force which has the same grid interface. To each his own.
 
I knew a bunch of people would come out saying you don't need to use it, the interface is "perfect" (that's a bold statement).


Im just saying there is a lot of power around a complex UI which is not well documented. Simplifying or better describing these would be helpful for those of us that don't have 30 hours a week to fiddle with these. One cannot argue that this could be better- nothing is "perfect"
 
hotlegs said:
Interface is perfect - but you need knowledge - if you don't have, use your ears.
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree. I don't think it's perfect, and I don't think I should be required know the intricacies of tube amp design to be able to influence these parameters. Could you have describe each of them and what they do before the axe came along?


Just trying to help make it a better product. Right now it's deep editing is meant for engineers. Not musicians. Rethinking this could help fractal do even better of that is thier goal.

So please no one get defensive- I'm an axe lover and full convert- just merely pointing out what could (in my opinion) improve. No need to rush to Cliffs defense.
 
eda123 said:
So please no one get defensive- I'm an axe lover and full convert- just merely pointing out what could (in my opinion) improve. No need to rush to Cliffs defense.
Click to expand...

I agree, there's always room for improvement. But just because I had enough money to buy a Space Shuttle (for arguments sake) doesn't mean they should've made it simple enough for me to fly (even if I were a pilot). The great thing about the Axe (imo) is that you can get as complex or stay as basic as you want. It sounds like you feel you're missing out because you don't have the time required to get up to par on the deeper parameters. I feel your pain. I don't have the time either. So that means I go at a slower pace. I'll get there eventually. :)
 
People do tend to "get the rope" as soon as there are any naysayers lurk into a conversation.

But think of it this way - how many guitarists with awesome tone are really using stock anything? Really. Think about that for just a second. I know a lot of my favorite guitarists pretty much don't have a single damn thing in their rig that hasn't been modified in some way. Custom wound pickups by some guy they won't name. Pedals all modified or are using custom pedals. They got the amp re-tubed, had mods done to the biasing, special speaker combos in their cabs, etc. That's what tweaking the advanced parameters of the Axe-FX II is like.

I would do a couple of things if you are confused - spend some time looking at the advanced parameters in patches of sounds that you like. It has been a huge help for me when I don't understand what things do to sound. Then get yourself a mug of coffee or two, a notebook, and start taking notes. That's how I got through Logic 9, SD 2.0, my synth programs, pretty much everything. I'm half a man after all the studying, but I do know how to make my stuff do what I want. You have to invest into technology if you want to get anything out of it.
 
You are kind of like being given the tools to adjust ..... imagine various components of a real amp, in a virtual environment.
You don't need to use all of it since all of these options are not available in real amps... but as you are becoming more advanced, you may want to mod and tinker with what is inside... safely, unlike if you tinker with a real amp since you can blow something up.

eda123 said:
No I don't have to. But the creator says I should not overlook it. And another guy says not to overlook the speaker page and impudence curves or I'm missing out.

Just too much. And the manuals and release notes are useful if you are an amp technician but are otherwise useless. The axe is fantastic technology and I'm "sold", it's all I've used for two years. But I'm tired of all the talk about how we are missing out of we don't tweak the magic flux capacitor setting which emulates the ion discharge effect of split wound magnesium transformers when interacting with tubes at -20 degrees but only if you set the speaker curves to a value by using your ears.

Fractal makes the best technology. But not the most intuitive interface!
Click to expand...
 
eda123 said:
I knew a bunch of people would come out saying you don't need to use it, the interface is "perfect" (that's a bold statement).


Im just saying there is a lot of power around a complex UI which is not well documented. Simplifying or better describing these would be helpful for those of us that don't have 30 hours a week to fiddle with these. One cannot argue that this could be better- nothing is "perfect"
Click to expand...

Well it sounds like Cliff is trying to explain it to non engineers. If he simplified it, the parameter would not be there.
I am not an engineer, but I can easily understand when the master volume is high, turning the transformer match down slightly for a more open tone, up for a more compressed.

I agree with what people are stating here, if you are intimidated by the parameter stay away from it. Just because cliff put a spotlight on it to explain it more, does not mean you need to touch it.

With these parameters as with complex routings there is a responsibility of the user to learn. For some things there is no way around understanding the fundamental principles of how tube amps work, signal flow, gain staging, how an effect works, etc. if one is not willing to spend the time learning the fundamentals or just twisting a knob and see what happens; then the person should probably stick with the familiar knobs. For as complicated as the axefx can be, it oes extremely well of making it accessible. Take a look at an eventide h8000 if you really want to get lost programming a patch.

With the wiki, the manual, nd this forum; I feel that the axefx is one of the best documented complex processors out there. So I will have to respectfully disagree.
 
eda123 said:
I respectfully disagree. I don't think it's perfect, and I don't think I should be required know the intricacies of tube amp design to be able to influence these parameters. Could you have describe each of them and what they do before the axe came along?


Just trying to help make it a better product. Right now it's deep editing is meant for engineers. Not musicians. Rethinking this could help fractal do even better of that is thier goal.

So please no one get defensive- I'm an axe lover and full convert- just merely pointing out what could (in my opinion) improve. No need to rush to Cliffs defense.
Click to expand...

I started building tube amps over 30 years ago - I understand all parameters. But I'm also a musician and normaly I use only the standard parameters in the amp section for perfect results (same when I use a real tube amp I turn all knobs by ear before I take the soldering iron. But it is nice to have deeper tools - but I said before, then you need knowledge.

Editing Axe advanced parameters is absolutely save compared to changing components in a real tube amp - sometimes even for life?
 
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I actually think the xfmr match is fairly well documented in the manual. I agree th dynamics parameter could be elaborated on though.



XFRMR MATCH – Transformer Match is an extremely powerful parameter that sets the relative outputtransformer primary impedance to determine how easily the power tubes are driven into clipping. Higher
MASTER Volume settings result in a more pronounced effect. Increasing XFRMR MATCH causes power tubes toclip sooner. Decreasing XFRMR MATCH causes power tubes to clip later and therefore the phase inverter andgrid clipping becomes more predominant. At higher settings, the resonance settings on the SPEAKER page ofthe AMP block will be more pronounced. For optimum results bring up the MASTER until the desired amountof power amp distortion is achieved, then adjust matching until the character of the distortion is as desired.The various LF and HF resonance parameters interact strongly with this parameter so be sure to experimentwith those as well when crafting a tone.





DYNAMICS – This controls the amount of dynamics processing and models the interaction between thepower amp, power supply and loudspeaker under high power-level conditions.
 
From an engineers point of view, I don't understand half (or more) of the parameters but I play & I listen to what each does so I understand what they do from a sonic & musicality point of view. All I can say is don't be afraid to adjust every parameter there. Just play & listen. You will soon find the ones that give you that extra 1%, 2%, 5%, 10% that you may be looking for. Transformer match is 1 knob & takes about 2 seconds to hear what it does & it does a lot. Well worth looking into! It's just like anything else. The more time & effort you put into learning & understanding, the more you get out of it.
 
The "advanced parameter pg." is named appropriately. I have found in some of my own situations to leave it alone as well as the "speaker pg". In other patches, becuase I'm a bit-o-a-tweeker I'll go somewhat "ape shit" with the tweeking... point being the Axe II has been made and designed to keep things simplified as much as you want OR... to go all bug, nervous tick, tweeking as well. Choose your approach. I don't think you'll find anything on the market that can be a simplified as the Axe II without compromising something or other.
 
javajunkie said:
I actually think the xfmr match is fairly well documented in the manual. I agree th dynamics parameter could be elaborated on though.



XFRMR MATCH – Transformer Match is an extremely powerful parameter that sets the relative outputtransformer primary impedance to determine how easily the power tubes are driven into clipping. Higher
MASTER Volume settings result in a more pronounced effect. Increasing XFRMR MATCH causes power tubes toclip sooner. Decreasing XFRMR MATCH causes power tubes to clip later and therefore the phase inverter andgrid clipping becomes more predominant. At higher settings, the resonance settings on the SPEAKER page ofthe AMP block will be more pronounced. For optimum results bring up the MASTER until the desired amountof power amp distortion is achieved, then adjust matching until the character of the distortion is as desired.The various LF and HF resonance parameters interact strongly with this parameter so be sure to experimentwith those as well when crafting a tone.





DYNAMICS – This controls the amount of dynamics processing and models the interaction between thepower amp, power supply and loudspeaker under high power-level conditions.
Click to expand...


Lol. I guess this is where we start to disagree.

If you all think the UI is perfect, and there is no room for improvement, that's fine. Perhaps the advanced parameters are completely clear to everyone (as well as the speaker page). Perhaps in the company of a bunch of tube amp experts who know what excursion bias REALLY means. I'm an EE and i dont understand half of whats in the release notes or how to apply it. Maybe I'm in the minority. Just sharing my own opinion.

Remember just because the task is complex, doesn't mean the UI needs to be. Take DOS vs UNIX vs windows vs Mac os.
 
eda123 said:
...I don't think I should be required know the intricacies of tube amp design to be able to influence these parameters. Could you have describe each of them and what they do before the axe came along?
Click to expand...

Yes, I could. Funny thing is with each firmware release I tweak less and less. Generally I make the same parameter adjustments for my presets, the Axe has its sound and my ideal is almost always the same parameter adjustments away.
 
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