When does the first AD conversion occures? Axe-Fx III

dumbeat

Inspired
Hi
I am wondering when does the first AD conversion occures.
Is it as soon as you place an Input block?

Tne reason im asking is that id like to monitor other signsls tnrough the ins and outs of the device without any processing, ie from input to output, and id be happy if it was straight wire, no conversion, since i do not want to degrade tne analog signal im monitoring for no reason.
Thanks!
 
The Axe is a digital processor and signals are converted at the inputs and outputs. Good news is that it is high quality AD/DA.
 
So if, while using in 1 and out 1 for guitar, i want to monitor my mix or anything else through, say 3/4, the mix has to go through AD DA for no reason(no processing)?

Is there a way to get the axe3 to just run audio from in to out without twice converting? That seems a bit wierd.
 
So if, while using in 1 and out 1 for guitar, i want to monitor my mix or anything else through, say 3/4, the mix has to go through AD DA for no reason(no processing)?

Is there a way to get the axe3 to just run audio from in to out without twice converting? That seems a bit wierd.

That is right. It's not unlike any other audio interface. Imagine that you wanted to mix your guitar with the signal going out 3/4. You could connect a line from your amp rig to Out 3/4 and it would be mixed. The only way is if both of those signals were digital inside of the box.

If you want to hard wire to some other piece of gear, you should hard wire it.

Also, "monitoring your mix" sounds like you want to play your DAW through the Axe to your speakers. It is digital in your DAW so it must be converted to analog. The Axe does this the one time required to get it to your speakers.
 
Hi
I am wondering when does the first AD conversion occures.
Is it as soon as you place an Input block?

Tne reason im asking is that id like to monitor other signsls tnrough the ins and outs of the device without any processing, ie from input to output, and id be happy if it was straight wire, no conversion, since i do not want to degrade tne analog signal im monitoring for no reason.
Thanks!

Manual, I/O Menu:
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In reality I would wager the AD/DA loss from the high quality converters in the Axe is less than the signal degradation from another few feet of audio cable. Had a buddy back in the day who had this crazy studio setup with a number of patch bays, passive mixers, hundreds of feet of cabling etc, and I'd always ask him why he didn't just do that routing via his 8 i/o interface and he would always say he wanted to keep his signal path "pure" lol
 
In reality I would wager the AD/DA loss from the high quality converters in the Axe is less than the signal degradation from another few feet of audio cable. Had a buddy back in the day who had this crazy studio setup with a number of patch bays, passive mixers, hundreds of feet of cabling etc, and I'd always ask him why he didn't just do that routing via his 8 i/o interface and he would always say he wanted to keep his signal path "pure" lol

Keep signal path "pure" in the real analog world costs a lot of money. EMI, ground loop, cable losses... lots of stuff into the audio spectrum to deal with.

There will always be the "purists", but the digital domain lossless signal path in the AF is a dream come true.
 
2 reasons why i cant use the internal dac for monitoring is
1. I dont do my sessions at 48k
2. I have a high end DAC and ADC. I am not inclined to use tne Fractal DAC.

Im just surprised there is no provision for running straight wire inside the axe3 which would be not unlike true bypass in pedals, where the input is directly normalled to the output, unless broken for processing.
I may get my tech to modify that for me, so unless the line is broken, inputs are normalled to corresponding outputs. Shouldn't be a big deal.
 
Keep signal path "pure" in the real analog world costs a lot of money. EMI, ground loop, cable losses... lots of stuff into the audio spectrum to deal with.

There will always be the "purists", but the digital domain lossless signal path in the AF is a dream come true.

No such thing as “loseless” in the universe. Im in tne studio business for almost 35 years. DIgital conversion is a mega compromise.

I suppose your talking about the internal patching, not adding or subtracting anything, but im talking about unnecessary conversion for mere monitoring purposes through unused inputs and outputs in the axe.
 
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In reality I would wager the AD/DA loss from the high quality converters in the Axe is less than the signal degradation from another few feet of audio cable. Had a buddy back in the day who had this crazy studio setup with a number of patch bays, passive mixers, hundreds of feet of cabling etc, and I'd always ask him why he didn't just do that routing via his 8 i/o interface and he would always say he wanted to keep his signal path "pure" lol

True ;-) But as a guitarist I don't mind the quality of the AD /DA loss but the latency. The AXE ist pretty good in that, compared to other brands. So whenever I play with the AXE FX 3 I don't use digital wireless systems like Line 6 Relay or similar. Normally a good cable or my trusty Shure UHF system. Same for my "IEM" device. Imagine the worst case. AD/DA conversion in Wireless, AXE FX3 , Digital Console and finally IEM. 4 Stages that sums it up to 15 ms or more (depending on the gear).

;-)
 
True ;-) But as a guitarist I don't mind the quality of the AD /DA loss but the latency. The AXE ist pretty good in that, compared to other brands. So whenever I play with the AXE FX 3 I don't use digital wireless systems like Line 6 Relay or similar. Normally a good cable or my trusty Shure UHF system. Same for my "IEM" device. Imagine the worst case. AD/DA conversion in Wireless, AXE FX3 , Digital Console and finally IEM. 4 Stages that sums it up to 15 ms or more (depending on the gear).

;-)

And yet countless musicians are giving amazing performances in spite of all that, on some of the worlds biggest stages, each and every night.....
 
So if, while using in 1 and out 1 for guitar, i want to monitor my mix or anything else through, say 3/4, the mix has to go through AD DA for no reason(no processing)?

Is there a way to get the axe3 to just run audio from in to out without twice converting? That seems a bit wierd.
Are you monitoring signal coming in through analog inputs on the unit or via USB, AES or SPDIF? If your mix is on the USB/AES/SPDIF inputs it’s already digital and incurs no additional conversions until it’s sent to an output.

In a nutshell: if you use an analog input there’s always an A/D conversion. If you use an analog output there’s always a D/A conversion. Otherwise it’s all digital.
 
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Im just surprised there is no provision for running straight wire inside the axe3 which would be not unlike true bypass in pedals, where the input is directly normalled to the output, unless broken for processing.
What’s surprising? This par for the course for rack based processors.
 
And yet countless musicians are giving amazing performances in spite of all that, on some of the worlds biggest stages, each and every night.....

Well, They try to reduce latency of course. Look - for example - to Shure's Top Of The Line IEM. (PSM 1000) Not digital ;-) .

Whenever I play my old analog amps, I often use the Relay G70. The 2 ms don't bother me ;-)
 
No such thing as “loseless” in the universe. Im in tne studio business for almost 35 years. DIgital conversion is a mega compromise.

I suppose your talking about the internal patching, not adding or subtracting anything, but im talking about unnecessary conversion for mere monitoring purposes through unused inputs and outputs in the axe.

The Axe is an AD/DA processor. Why would you ever run "straight wire" through it. Just wire to your other device directly... This is like asking why your "high end DAC and ADC" do conversion... That is their job. Don't monitor through the Axe if you don't want to incur AD/DA processing.

It almost seems as if you are picking a fight here... Am I wrong?
 
i do not want to degrade tne analog signal im monitoring for no reason.
The “reason” is that you might add a block and then suddenly need the conversion.

The problem you’re having with the Axe is the same problem you’ll have with any digital product. They are made to convert the signal always. No need for a true bypass when the purpose of the unit is to process the signal.

Are you saying you hear a quality difference going through the Axe?

It's sort of like buying a car and saying you don't want to get into it to use it.
 
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What would it even change in the final result if whatever you were monitoring didn't run through the Axe-FX's converters? Your finished product isn't going to be magically better because of some inaudible difference in your monitoring chain. If you're that concerned about it, just plug your other device straight into your mixer or whatever and bypass the Axe-FX.
 
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