What the Axe Fx III and FC 6/12 are missing and what I want in Axe Fx IV and new FC's.....

Tremonti

Fractal Fanatic
Off the top these are my requests:
  • Scene Revert button ability on FC's. As is, you have to do with finger on the actual unit.
  • Global preset (Lead for me). Hit whatever active button on FC a 2nd time and get your global preset/scene.
  • Ability to assign a exp pedal to simply follow the pre-determined path of each scene. Say gain for each scene??
  • Dual windows on FC, so you can see the current and hold.
  • Name the global blocks you create in a library. Say EVH Phase or Edge Delay. This would help with building rigs quickly on stuff you name and can call up quick!

Please add your wishes here...........

I want to add the Axe Fx III and FC 6/12 are the best money can buy. Just these would be a great improvement.
 
Virtual Capo in Input Block
I see why this is an appealing idea (no need for an extra block and it is always there in every preset), but I don't think you can implement the virtual capo without added CPU usage. If that is the case, wouldn't it be better to keep it as a separate block so it can be added if desired or left out if not needed? Also, the ability to put the virtual capo anywhere in the signal chain would be lost if it were simply incorporated into the input block (assuming that the stand alone block was then removed).
 
Next gen AxeFX / FC:
  • It would be great to be able to load settings / set lists directly to the units via a USB stick. The MMGT MIDI pedals have this capability now, and it's very handy. I can open my saved sysex via the MMGT Editor on my laptop, edit my set list and other parameters, save to USB stick, and load it directly to the pedal before soundcheck. If we could do that on Axe-Edit, it'd make system management easier.
    • Pertinent to above: I attend a music workshop every year, and several of us bring FM3s to use in the evening performances. At most, two of us might be onstage at the same time, so I proposed to the other users that we'd only have two people bring their FM3s, and we'd just share them - loading our settings from a laptop. Most of the other people were amenable to this plan, but it would be SO much easier if we could literally just plug in a USB stick and load settings.
  • Increasingly, I'm seeing touring bands (and venues) set up video monitors onstage for the band's use - mostly for lyrics, and for displaying information if the band is using backing tracks. It could be handy to have an "onstage" version of Axe-Edit that showed a display-only view of the scene names, adjacent presets / next preset in set litst, and related song notes / lyrics / chord sheets. There is software that does this now, but it doesn't have any integration into the Fractalverse. If not part of Axe-Edit, perhaps this could be a future FracPad implementation?
  • Auto-level optimization. The way I do it now: create patch, activate meters, play / watch / adjust until the output just tickles the red. Go to next patch and repeat. It would be useful to have a "learn and adjust" mode where I could just play through the scenes in a patch, and have the system automatically set a "tickling the red" baseline for me. Then I can go in a tweak the scenes as appropriate, making the leads a bit louder, etc. Getting the presets baselined would save a lot of time.
  • It would be interesting to have Axe-Edit provide some analysis and optimization of independent blocks / multiple blocks / the entire signal chain. Plug in your guitar, play through the AxeFX, and the editor could recommend (or perform) adjustments to address clipping / highlight unusual EQ profiles (midrange mud, spikey transients in modulation fx) / etc. Sometimes those spikey EQ things may be intentional (e.g., Mysterious Ways), but it would be useful to have the RTA point out areas where this particular guitar patch will be interacting with typical bass / whatever frequency ranges.
  • Make FC wireless via BlueTooth WIDI. I adapted my AxeFX / MMGT system to this, and it's made my life a lot better. No cable between the rack and controller. Nothing to get damaged by people walking / rolling gear over the cable. Yes, I need power near my pedalboard, but always present.
  • As the CPUs get more powerful, could we start to think of resource management within the AxeFX as "a block is a generic processing space"? What I mean is this: we are limited to x number of amps / distortions / cabs / etc. Why can't we just load any arbitrary number of blocks of any kind into a preset, subject only to the total CPU limit? Say I'm a lunatic (it has been said) and I want seven amps in a preset. I know this is a major architectural revision, but this is a potential approach to eliminating gaps when switching complex block channels, and would open the door to the AxeFX performing massively complex processing in a single-block environment (i.e., mega-ultra-OMG-crystalline-multifaceted-reflectoverb).
  • Agreed with @Tremonti above about all recommendations. Particularly naming global blocks.

Someday: With the (ostensibly) imminent announcement of Apple's VR / AR goggles, we're approaching a point where we could start dreaming about having a lot of cool information overlaid right in front of our eyes. Plus eye tracking and blink navigation. For now, that tech is fairly primitive and pricey, but I have a feeling we'll see eyeglasses-style AR becoming the norm. So... not coming in the IV, but imagine your foot controller being replaced by an eye controller.
 
A lot of what is being requested here is software related, which is fine, but not necessarily limited to a Mk IV. I’d like a new front panel with a better button layout. I avoid the front layout because I find the button placement awkward. Exit is where Enter should be, in my opinion, and I think there aren’t enough dials, and the knobs are kinda small in diameter, etc. I’d love an onboard UX that felt as intuitive as Axe Edit, basically.

It’d also be nice if all the inputs got the secret sauce that the front input gets.

I have software thoughts, but I don’t see why they need a Mk IV to happen.
 
More Meta Data
  • A comment field in presets
  • A comment field in blocks (making notes like: I've set variac to 80%), and/or
  • In any advanced parameter, show an indication that a value has changed from the default value and mark the default value on the dial.
  • Custom Labels for Channels this could be used on the FC. Say I have a Drive block a the FC press action is enable/disable and the long press is rotate channels A-D. The FC label could then display the channel label so instead of "Drive 1" it would say things like "Klon", "Fuzz", "TS9", "KoT" when long pressing to rotate between channels.
 
FC12, USB socket for storing LOOPs made by LPr1 and playing backing tracks. (sort of MP3 player)
AXE-FX3 more Eventide effects.
 
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