Update amps after new firmware?

P

Paresh

Member
I know this is a common issue but I still don't quite understand. I'm new to fractal and have a new unit so I haven't done any editing of presets yet. I updated to version 8, do I also need to reset the amps for version 8? Thanks.
 
Follow the instructions in the Release Notes:

  • Setup > Global Settings > Config > Spillover must be set to “ALL”
  • Your presets must be saved under firmware 8.x or newer. You can do this manually in any of the usual ways or use the automatic utility in: SETUP > Utilities > Preset > Upgrade All Presets.
    IMPORTANT: Saving a preset under 8.x makes it incompatible with previous firmware versions!
    Use Fractal-Bot to make a backup first in case you ever revert to an older firmware. Make backups!
The new default amp block values are automatically applied when the preset is loaded the first time after updating. The Upgrade All Presets utility does this automatically for all of your presets and re-saves them under the new firmware.
 
As posted in this thread: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/update-fm3-gapless-update-checklist.205109/#post-2559634

Here is what I have experienced...
  • Updated FM3 Edit to 1.06.09
  • Upgraded from FW 7 to FW 8
  • FM3 Setup Menu
    • Global Settings
      • Gapless Changes set to “ALL”
      • Spillover set to “ALL”
    • Utilities
      • Preset Tab > Upgrade All Presets
Subsequently copied my custom presets, and reset the amp block in the copied version only via Presets > Manage Presets > Select preset(s) > right click > Reset Amp Blocks.

What I have observed (across several presets with different amp models) is the Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump settings in the Speaker tab changed after resetting the amp blocks.
 
Thank you. What I don't understand is does updating overwrite any editing I've done to the presets? In the future if I start editing presets and back them up and there is another update, do I update all presets and then restore any that I've edited? Sorry to be dense about this but I'm new.
 
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unix-guy said:
If you put your presets on first you could have just done the Upgrade All Presets.
Click to expand...
My custom presets were in my FM3 along with the factory presets before doing all of the steps I listed, so when I did Upgrade All Presets it applied to my presets as well.

What I observed is that doing Reset Amp Block after doing Upgrade All Presets makes additional changes to the Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump parameters in the Speaker tab.
 
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Paresh said:
Thank you. What I don't understand is does updating overwrite any editing I've done to the presets?
Click to expand...
No. Updating simply hits SAVE on all your presets.


Paresh said:
In the future if I start editing presets and back them up and there is another update, do I update all presets and then restore any that I've edited?
Click to expand...
Future firmware releases will tell you in the Release Notes whether you should update presets or anything else.
 
MLocascio said:
My custom presets were in my FM3 along with the factory presets before doing all of the steps I listed, so when I did Upgrade All Presets it applied to my presets as well.

What I observed is that doing Reset Amp Block after doing Upgrade All Presets makes additional changes to the Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump parameters in the Speaker tab.
Click to expand...
Yes, because that's what the reset does. It maintains only some specific settings.
 
unix-guy said:
Yes, because that's what the reset does. It maintains only some specific settings.
Click to expand...
I never touched the Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump settings from the default values when I inserted the amp block in my presets under FW 7 (or later when tweaking my presets).

Unless I am missing something, that seems to indicate that FW 8 changes the default Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump values from what they were in FW 7.
 
MLocascio said:
I never touched the Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump settings from the default values when I inserted the amp block in my presets under FW 7 (or later when tweaking my presets).

Unless I am missing something, that seems to indicate that FW 8 changes the default Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump values from what they were in FW 7.
Click to expand...
The defaults for those settings changed in a previous firmware.

Your presets were probably created under an older firmware with the older default values.
 
unix-guy said:
The defaults for those settings changed in a previous firmware.

Your presets were probably created under an older firmware with the older default values.
Click to expand...
I can confirm with 100% certainty that some of my custom presets were created on the FM3 that had FW 7 running when I purchased it new in Dec of 2023, and FW 8 changed the default Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump values from what they were in FW 7 when the amp blocks were reset.
 
MLocascio said:
I can confirm with 100% certainty that some of my custom presets were created on the FM3 that had FW 7 running when I purchased it new in Dec of 2023, and FW 8 changed the default Speaker Drive and Speaker Thump values from what they were in FW 7 when the amp blocks were reset.
Click to expand...
The presets were created from scratch not using blocks from the Block library?

That makes no sense because the reset sets the values to default. If you had not changed them from the previous default they would be the same because the defaults for those parameters didn't change.

Edit:

Speaker Thump and Speaker Drive were added back in FW6.0 per the release notes. I see no mention since then of any changes, so it seems really odd that a reset of the Amp block would affect those settings if you never changed them from default...

Edit 2:

Speaker Thump default changed in Axe Fx III FW 23.03

Speaker Drive default changed in Axe Fx III FW 20.00

So this is likely a case of "updated the Amp block to align with the Axe Fx III" not being clearly called out in the release notes for FM3.
 
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