What will be the DSP chip?

Z

zakkrhoads

Member
Hi there, new guy around here!:encouragement:
I am evaluating the new FX8 to use with my amps and was wondering what will be the processor chip.
Will it feature the famous TigerShark processor like the older brother AxeFXII? Has anything been confirmed so far?

Thank you!
 
The most important factor to me is what the device can actually do and how it sounds.

What hardware the device uses to achieve it is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.
 
dbun said:
The most important factor to me is what the device can actually do and how it sounds.

What hardware the device uses to achieve it is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.
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Sorry, but I disagree with that. I too would like to know the chip used in the FX8.

BTW, don't shut down someone's question just because YOU don't care about the answer. In that case, just move on to another thread. Simple :).
 
I also want to know the chip. Even if the sound is not perfect at the beginning, with the correct chip, that can be corrected with future FW upgrades
 
veus55 said:
I also want to know the chip. Even if the sound is not perfect at the beginning, with the correct chip, that can be corrected with future FW upgrades
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I think the odds are very slim that Fractal, at this stage of the development of the AxeFx product line, would choose a chip that is going to somehow deliver sub standard rendering of the AxeFx effects algorithms that would be in need of corrections upon release.

The FX-8 is using software effects simulations that they have years of experience with and they have a few generations of product loaded with those effects each new iteration designed to handle more/improved processing. The minimum requirements to run their code is not uncharted territory for them.

So I can't imagine any decision they would have made, either on purpose or by mistake, in the FX-8 design that would have handicapped the functionality .
This is not their first rodeo...
 
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My own interest in chip selection stems from the fact that processor chips are on a never ending path of improvement in terms of capacity and speed - there is always a next "latest and greatest" version right around the corner. The growth possibilities of any piece of hardware are confined to some extent by the type of processor that is used. For Fractal, this aspect would seem to be even more important given their relentless pursuit of improvement. A good example was the introduction of the AxefxII which utilized two processors instead of the one used in the Ultra - Fractal was able to mitigate the constraints of the current best processor capability by designing for multiple processors. So is processor type important to the purchase decision? The first answer is: possibly yes, if you think that processing power will jump with a forthcoming next gen processor being introduced which you expect to be incorporated into the product. The second answer, is: possibly not, given our experience of what Fractal has accomplished with the Axefx hardware, and, that there is a few years of cycle to incorporate newer processors into next gen units (probably a ways off in the case of the FX8 since gene has only just been released).

But nonetheless, I'd also be interested to know the exact processor specs on all the Fx8 and Axefx II to feed my own curiosity about it.
 
considering the block files are compatible, i guess it's the same dsp as the AxeFx II, but only a single DSP (which has 2 cores)... maybe a less energy-consuming version...
 
It’s probably the TigerSHARC lite, aka TigerGUPPY… just kidding. I would suspect a single TigerSHARC, why reinvent the wheel?
 
AlGrenadine said:
considering the block files are compatible, i guess it's the same dsp as the AxeFx II, but only a single DSP (which has 2 cores)... maybe a less energy-consuming version...
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I don't think anything was ever mentioned about the FX8 DSP, but there was some comments on the AX8 DSP, from which we can derive FX8 speculation:

FractalAudio said:
It is not an Axe-Fx. It won't be able to do two amps or two cabs. It won't have things like the Vocoder and other esoteric blocks. It's a stripped down floor version at an aggressive price.

It will have G3 modeling and user IR slots. It has two dual-core DSPs, one for amp modeling the other for effects. These DSPs are slower than the ones in the Axe-Fx so it won't be able to do two instance of amps.

There will be block compatibility between the Axe-Fx and the AX-8 meaning you can copy blocks from your Axe-Fx presets into the AX-8.
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Later in that thread I brought up the $500 L6 HD500X DSP for comparison sake: ADSP-21369 | datasheet and product info High-Performance 32-bit Floating-Point SHARC Processor for General Purpose Applications | Analog Devices

... and Cliff said:
FractalAudio said:
It has more powerful DSPs than that. Two of them. That said, we can't touch Line6's economies of scale. They sell probably 100 times what we do.
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SO.. My FX8 speculation goes like this:

* AX8 and FX8 look like the same platform (same case and switches), except FX8 only has one DSP (for FX), AX8 has two (one for amp models, one for FX).
* Whatever the DSP is, probably the same type in both AX8 and FX8.
* Cliff must have a way to port Axe-Fx algorithms to this 'slower' DSP. The limitation is the number of instances and blocks in a chain (up to 8 max) instead of the 12x4 grid the Axe-Fx has.

That said.. it's all speculation :)
 
Jose7822 said:
Sorry, but I disagree with that. I too would like to know the chip used in the FX8.

BTW, don't shut down someone's question just because YOU don't care about the answer. In that case, just move on to another thread. Simple :).
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Agree to disagree.
I for one didn't buy my AFX because I had to know what 'guts' it had. I bought it because the AFX delivered the best direct amp tones I had heard to date.

Also, just to explain my reasoning further - knowing what DSP the FX8 has doesn't prove anything. Even if you know what DSP chip it has, you won't know at what capacity it is running at now, so you won't know how much room for improvement there is.
You have to assess it on how it performs NOW, not what you think future updates MAY bring out of it. i.e. to use the DSP chip as the basis of your purchase, you would need to know far more than simply what chip it has.

BTW, all I did was state an opinion, which is the whole point of forum discussions.
Or do you only like to read opinions that match yours?
 
veus55 said:
I also want to know the chip. Even if the sound is not perfect at the beginning, with the correct chip, that can be corrected with future FW upgrades
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but how do you know what the "correct" chip is?
How do you know how much headroom the chip has left for development?

There are far too many variables involved other than simply knowing what chip it has.
 
veus55 said:
I also want to know the chip. Even if the sound is not perfect at the beginning, with the correct chip, that can be corrected with future FW upgrades
Click to expand...
Which chips do you believe are correctable? Hint: it's all in the code. If you write more-correct code, your emulation will be more correct.
 
zakkrhoads said:
I am evaluating the new FX8 to use with my amgps and was wondering what will be the processor chip.
Will it feature the famous TigerShark processor like the older brother AxeFXII? Has anything been confirmed so far?
Click to expand...
I can confirm this much: the effects in the FX8 perform identically to those in the Axe-Fx, at a similar %CPU load.
 
Rex said:
I can confirm this much: the effects in the FX8 perform identically to those in the Axe-Fx, at a similar %CPU load.
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Thank you and everybody who has contributed constructively!

Robboman,

I think your assumptions make sense and they might not be using the TigerSharc processor, the limitation of simultaneous effects ("only 8") versus the AxeFX should be a hint.

I hope Cliff and crew can jump in and enlighten us!;)
 
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dbun said:
Also, just to explain my reasoning further - knowing what DSP the FX8 has doesn't prove anything. Even if you know what DSP chip it has, you won't know at what capacity it is running at now, so you won't know how much room for improvement there is.
You have to assess it on how it performs NOW, not what you think future updates MAY bring out of it. i.e. to use the DSP chip as the basis of your purchase, you would need to know far more than simply what chip it has.
Click to expand...

Of course knowing the chip that comes with the FX8, combined with previous knowledge from Fractal and current FX8 users, helps us get an idea of how it performs now, AND if it's better technology that could be improved in the future (i.e. a more powerful chip than that of the Axe FX II). Again, just because this information is inconsequential to you doesn't make it inconsequential to other potential buyers.

BTW, all I did was state an opinion, which is the whole point of forum discussions.
Or do you only like to read opinions that match yours?
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I think YOU are the one who likes questions that only match your interest. Like I said earlier, if that's the case then simply move on to another thread. No need to undermine the OP's question just because it's not important to you. As you can see, other people care to know the answer as well :).
 
Jose7822 said:
I think YOU are the one who likes questions that only match your interest. Like I said earlier, if that's the case then simply move on to another thread. No need to undermine the OP's question just because it's not important to you. As you can see, other people care to know the answer as well :).
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No, wrong again.
I posted because this topic interest me, I just don't agree with it; that is the whole point of a forum, to discuss and debate.
Not every discussion is going to line up with your opinions. :)

Eitherway, I'm done replying to your thoughts on who should/shouldn't post in a thread; they are off-topic to this thread.
 
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Jose7822 said:
Of course knowing the chip that comes with the FX8, combined with previous knowledge from Fractal and current FX8 users, helps us get an idea of how it performs now, AND if it's better technology that could be improved in the future (i.e. a more powerful chip than that of the Axe FX II). Again, just because this information is inconsequential to you doesn't make it inconsequential to other potential buyers.
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but to consider future upgrades the chip is not the only factor.
You also need to know how much memory and storage space is left over etc etc.
 
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