Trying to Imagine the New User Experience

Let's just wait and see what your impressions are once you've had a moment to hook it up and try it out. Most of all, don't panic if things don't sound or feel right when you first fire things up - you're in for a new kind of ride. Keep us posted.
 
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Well, I don't have the unit in my hands yet, but I have wisely used the time to read (several times) through the AX8 Owner's Manual, and I feel like I have good handle on the various features and functionality of the unit.........hahahahhahaha (insert maniacal laugh here)......

Who I am kidding?.....(LOL)......vector calculus looks comparable in complexity.....my brain feels like it turns to mush after the first 30-40 pages.......but anyway, UPS says that the AX8 will be at my doorstep sometime tomorrow, so this experiment IS happening. I plan to get as deep into it as I can this weekend at my home. If all goes well, I plan to use the AX8 for (2) band rehearsals next week -- both leading up to a gig next Saturday (the 27th). That will be the real test for me. I'll provide more updates when I have more to report.
 
Paultergeist said:
Well, I don't have the unit in my hands yet, but I have wisely used the time to read (several times) through the AX8 Owner's Manual, and I feel like I have good handle on the various features and functionality of the unit.........hahahahhahaha (insert maniacal laugh here)......

Who I am kidding?.....(LOL)......vector calculus looks comparable in complexity.....my brain feels like it turns to mush after the first 30-40 pages.......but anyway, UPS says that the AX8 will be at my doorstep sometime tomorrow, so this experiment IS happening. I plan to get as deep into it as I can this weekend at my home. If all goes well, I plan to use the AX8 for (2) band rehearsals next week -- both leading up to a gig next Saturday (the 27th). That will be the real test for me. I'll provide more updates when I have more to report.
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As complex as the fractal is.......I still cry and have nightmares about calculus. **** that useless ****.
 
I had a bit of remorse the second I clicked order. That was gone no more than 30 seconds into the first preset. I'm 58 and no tech head, and I spent about 3 hours total with it before a top 40 cover gig. Its as simple or detailed as you want to make it. This is also the most inclusive, helpful community I have ever been a small part of, and your in good hands. Welcome
 
Congrats! I’m a year in and have had more fun and been more inspired to play and create tones than ever. Regarding needing only 4 basic tones, I think you will find that you’re going to have a lot more colors to paint with. Enjoy. Welcome to the rabbit hole.
 
Velcome to the machine. Your guitar world is going to be expanded bigly. Once you start playing the AX8, don’t forget to stop for food or you will die.
 
Day 1: It has arrived.

Initial thoughts: it seems very well built. It is a little smaller than I imagined, but I like the size. A buddy has a Helix, and when that thing is all packed up in its bag along with all the assorted cables, it weighs nearly as much as a small 1 x 12 combo. The AX8 is considerably smaller and lighter than the Helix.

I left the AX8 manual at work, thinking I would not even hook it up tonight.....but I got impatient. Bear in mind that I don’t really know what I am doing. I hooked up the 1/4” output from the AX8 into my Fishman Loudbox Mini instrument input......I know this is less than ideal, but it is what I had at the time......I’ll try the XLR output later. I turned on the AX8 and bumbled around, mostly hitting the foot-switches, with a guitar on my lap.

I soon discovered that the F3 switch brought up a bank of 8 amp scenes, and pressing any one of the numbered switches activated THAT denoted amp. With the F3 button pressed, I could alternatively toggle through the F1 (up) or F2 (down) switches to go to OTHER banks of amps. So I tried a bunch of amps, again, not really knowing what I was doing. Some of the amps sounded pretty cool, even hooked up as I describe to a mini acoustic guitar amp. Within an amp “scene,” I could turn on and off the noted effects, although some effects required TWO presses of the foot switches, and different colored LEDs sometimes were lit. I have no idea what any of that means yet. Anyway, I made sounds with the AX8, and most of those tones were fairly pleasing to my ears.

Still trying to figure it out, but this it only day one.

Next:

1. When I look at the manual, I need to figure out why the F3 LED is flashing all the time, no matter what. That was kinda bugging me.

2. Foot switch button one is illuminated in red, all of the time. Don’t know why yet.

3. When I turned the unit off, it made a very loud discharge *pop* into the amp. This might be an issue if I have to power it off while the PA is still connected?

I don’t plan to have a lot of time with the unit until Saturday, but I am committed to trying to understand it a little better every day — until day 15 — at which time I must decide if I am to keep the unit. So far, however, my limited involvement has left me with a pretty favorable impression. More to follow. My thanks to all.
 
Paultergeist said:
1. When I look at the manual, I need to figure out why the F3 LED is flashing all the time, no matter what. That was kinda bugging me.
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That's the Tempo LED. It flashes at the rate of the current tempo that's programmed into the preset. The F3 switch comes set up for a Tap Tempo function that lets you tap in a new tempo if you want to.


Paultergeist said:
2. Foot switch button one is illuminated in red, all of the time. Don’t know why yet.
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That's the Scene LED. Switch 1's Scene LED is lit because you're on Scene 1 of the preset you're using. (I think you're confusing presets with scenes.)


Paultergeist said:
3. When I turned the unit off, it made a very loud discharge *pop* into the amp. This might be an issue if I have to power it off while the PA is still connected?
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That's common to almost all audio equipment. The sound guy mutes your channel before you unplug the mic; he should mute your channel before unplug or power down your AX8.
 
Thanks Rex. Yes, I am confused on pre-sets vs. scenes.......I’ll refer back to the manual when I get back to my desk tomorrow, and try to get that point clear in my head.
 
Think of a preset like a virtual rig, with pedals, amps and cabs placed wherever you like in the grid.

Now imagine hooking all of that up to a switching system that lets you save what effects are in or out of the signal chain. These are scenes, essentially "presets within a preset".
 
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Good luck fella. Telling you now, it's like being in a music store, but you own EVERYTHING! Probably £100K and more of amps from vintage to modern. Effects classic to modern. Cabs. You will never regret it. Only limit is your purpose to buy and imagination. It will do complex foot pedal dancing effects to straight up amp and cab setup. Amps and effects these days are a bomb. Cost of this is minimal in comparison. Chaps on this forum help no end. Leon Todd the Yoda of Ax springs to mind. All the best mate
 
Paultergeist said:
Thanks Rex. Yes, I am confused on pre-sets vs. scenes.......I’ll refer back to the manual when I get back to my desk tomorrow, and try to get that point clear in my head.
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  • AX8 == music store
  • Preset == one rig you built by selecting effects and an amp from the music store - except you didn't end up on the floor writhing around in patch cables
  • Scene == roadie that runs out to your rig and turns on (or off) effects, maybe changes the channel on your amp, and tweaks a knob or two - all at once
 
Thanks Tim (and everyone else).....

So.....once I am playing through a “Pre-set” (*think* virtual rig?) — and there are (8) pre-sets per block — I can then configure any/all of the (8) numbered switches to activate various features (effects, drive, boost, etc) of THAT current (active) pre-set. Is that correct??
 
Paultergeist said:
Thanks Tim (and everyone else).....

So.....once I am playing through a “Pre-set” (*think* virtual rig?) — and there are (8) pre-sets per block — I can then configure any/all of the (8) numbered switches to activate various features (effects, drive, boost, etc) of THAT current (active) pre-set. Is that correct??
Click to expand...

It's important that we're all using the same terms when we talk about things.

There are 64 banks in the AX8. A bank is a group of presets.

There are 8 presets per bank. A preset is one configuration of a virtual rig. The "pieces of gear" in the preset are called blocks.

There are 8 scenes per preset. A scene determines the on/off state, channel, and in some cases settings of the various blocks.


preset and scenes.JPG
 
Paultergeist said:
Thanks Tim (and everyone else).....

So.....once I am playing through a “Pre-set” (*think* virtual rig?) — and there are (8) pre-sets per block — I can then configure any/all of the (8) numbered switches to activate various features (effects, drive, boost, etc) of THAT current (active) pre-set. Is that correct??
Click to expand...
8 per bank, not block, but you'll get used to the terminology. More importantly, YES, you can program the switches to do that and so much more. I have one preset, for example, where Switches 1-5 each take me to a specific preset, switch 6 turns chorus on and off, switch 7 turns an auto wah on and off and switch 8 takes me to scene 2 of that preset.
 
Day 2 Update:

Silly though it probably sounds, I really didn't sleep well last night, and I think this was partly due to me fixating on the AX8. I remain impressed by the initial sounds, but intimidated by the complexity. It also occurs to me that part of my anxiety is due to the demands of this current band -- which is requiring me to rapidly transition from song-to-song in our play sets without ever losing the downbeat. That is not the AX8's fault by any means -- it is hard for me to do this currently with only a few traditional stomp-boxes -- but it is adding to my mental stress a bit. I like the AX8 thus far, but I HAVE to be able to really use it for this band application in order for it to make sense for me to keep. That being the case, I have been reading the manual some more, trying to develop better understanding, and trying to come up with a relatively simple strategy -- for now -- which will allow me to use the AX8 for my current needs. Note that I am getting this plan from my reading of pages 34 and 35 of the User's Manual.

(I apologize for any misuse of Fractal terminology in my previous posts. I will try to be more stringent).

My current plan: I only need a handful of amp sounds. I think many of the existing (factory) PRESETS are going to do just fine for me, but they are not all in the same place or on the same BANK......

1. Play through a whole bunch of the factory PRESETS, and identify the top most-useful (8) PRESETS applicable to the variety of music I am expected to play at this current time.

2. Use the STORE screen to re-save each of those identified PRESETS to a new, yet-unused BANK. I will probably use BANK 64 or something like that, as there is nothing at that location yet. (Note: I am yet unclear if I would be moving the PRESETS or creating a duplicate of them in a second location?).

3. Adjust the volume (output) for a couple of the moved PRESETS for lead (and save these adjusted volume parameters?)

At the outcome of this, I might have one single BANK location which has (8) selected PRESETS saved for this current set-list I am being asked to play. I would have to use a two-step process -- I think -- first pressing F1, and then selecting from the numbered switches (1-8) for whatever sound I require among those eight options. Maybe a little piece of masking tape across the switch rows to write upon, noting the sound type, would be a helpful way to keep track of the tones.

Does this sound like a viable option for the current gig requirements?

Thanks again for all of the assistance.
 
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