Axe-FX (A Love Story?) Rd.1

Whizzinby said:
Aghh so I was actually close, I just wasn’t hitting the page arrow after hitting edit.

Music Video Love GIF by Ultra Records
Click to expand...
And then when over a block, the big spinning knob cycles through the different blocks and you hit enter to lock in which one you want (if that makes sense)
 
Whizzinby said:
I got ballsy and thought I’d do some headphone playing for a bit, and use only the unit controls. For the love of Christ I still haven’t figure out how to open the amp block to tweak the tone stack. Enter (the most logical button) goes into some shunt or movement mode. Nav arrows, page arrows, home. Nothing. How about Edit?! Takes you to amp selection screen, not the tone stack. But I just want to increase the treble!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the world of inconsistency in Fractal operation.

Here's a crash course:
  • Edit button almost never does the thing it says on the label.
    • The layout grid is the only exception where Edit = Edit block.
    • Anywhere else it's a shortcut for "Go edit the last block you had open."
    • When inside a block, it's "Go to next block".
    • Double clicking Edit when inside a block means "Go to previous block."
  • Enter button opens things.
    • The exception is the layout grid, where Enter = connect/disconnect blocks or create a shunt on an empty grid slot.
  • Nav buttons mostly move the cursor around or switch rows of controls.
    • In list views (e.g Amp block Advanced page) the Left/Right buttons jump to next/previous 5 params, mapping them to the A-E knobs.
    • In the Amp block Output EQ page, Up/Down changes the graphic EQ type. Of course the Graphic EQ block does not work like this.
  • Big knob adjusts the currently selected parameter.
    • In layout grid view it changes the block in the currently selected slot.
    • In preset/model/cab list it scrolls through the items.
    • On Axe-Fx 3 this knob has a button on it you can assign to go to Layout grid. Why this does not exist on FM3/FM9? No idea. I've also requested that this could be mapped to more functions but of course Fractal hasn't implemented it.
  • A-E knobs have a button you can press. The function is what is shown above the button.
    • When in Home view (any page), you can double-click these to quickly go to the most common blocks:
      • A = Amp
      • B = Drive (Boost)
      • C = Cab
      • D = Delay
      • E = REverb
My approach to editing on the onboard UI is to avoid the Layout grid like the plague and just use the Edit button to cycle through blocks. This keeps the process more consistent as you don't hit that "Enter does not do the thing you think it would" inconsistency.

It was so much worse before the "Go to previous block" double-click Edit function was implemented. You had to Exit to the layout grid, cursor over to the previous block, remember to hit Edit instead of Enter and then edit the block. Then do that all over again whenever you needed to go to a previous block.

The cycling order of the Edit button is row->column, instead of e.g "next connected block or next block in parallel". This is generally fine on the FM3 where your signal path is most of the time just a straight line, but can be annoying on the FM9/Axe-Fx 3 with more complex signal paths.
 
laxu said:
Welcome to the world of inconsistency in Fractal operation.

Here's a crash course:
  • Edit button almost never does the thing it says on the label.
    • The layout grid is the only exception where Edit = Edit block.
    • Anywhere else it's a shortcut for "Go edit the last block you had open."
    • When inside a block, it's "Go to next block".
    • Double clicking Edit when inside a block means "Go to previous block."
  • Enter button opens things.
    • The exception is the layout grid, where Enter = connect/disconnect blocks or create a shunt on an empty grid slot.
  • Nav buttons mostly move the cursor around or switch rows of controls.
    • In list views (e.g Amp block Advanced page) the Left/Right buttons jump to next/previous 5 params, mapping them to the A-E knobs.
    • In the Amp block Output EQ page, Up/Down changes the graphic EQ type. Of course the Graphic EQ block does not work like this.
  • Big knob adjusts the currently selected parameter.
    • In layout grid view it changes the block in the currently selected slot.
    • In preset/model/cab list it scrolls through the items.
    • On Axe-Fx 3 this knob has a button on it you can assign to go to Layout grid. Why this does not exist on FM3/FM9? No idea. I've also requested that this could be mapped to more functions but of course Fractal hasn't implemented it.
  • A-E knobs have a button you can press. The function is what is shown above the button.
    • When in Home view (any page), you can double-click these to quickly go to the most common blocks:
      • A = Amp
      • B = Drive (Boost)
      • C = Cab
      • D = Delay
      • E = REverb
My approach to editing on the onboard UI is to avoid the Layout grid like the plague and just use the Edit button to cycle through blocks. This keeps the process more consistent as you don't hit that "Enter does not do the thing you think it would" inconsistency.

It was so much worse before the "Go to previous block" double-click Edit function was implemented. You had to Exit to the layout grid, cursor over to the previous block, remember to hit Edit instead of Enter and then edit the block. Then do that all over again whenever you needed to go to a previous block.

The cycling order of the Edit button is row->column, instead of e.g "next connected block or next block in parallel". This is generally fine on the FM3 where your signal path is most of the time just a straight line, but can be annoying on the FM9/Axe-Fx 3 with more complex signal paths.
Click to expand...
+1 on A-E knobs
 
laxu said:
  • A = Amp
  • B = Drive (Boost)
  • C = Cab
  • D = Delay
  • E = REverb
Click to expand...
A=Got it
B=Oki..
C=Makes sense
D=Sweet
E =
Cbs Cheers GIF by Paramount+


When I had my Axe Fx II, I was super quick using the UI knobs, I knew were everything was, but it had taken me a while to remember were `this` takes me, and were `that` was among all the things I could do with this device
My friend that also had a Axe Fx II needed to contact me a lot times ( from a few gigs ) asking me how to do this, and do that.. haha.

Then that friend upgraded to a Axe Fx III and I got to test it for a few days.. and omg I could not find were this knobes takes me,or how to zoom or go to this block, or to get out of this menu, and I remember that the value wheel had a function..but only sometimes.. :rofl

I was conected to my PC with my Axe Fx II, and could not use them at the same time, as I was making IR captures of all the Axe Fx III cabs ( took me 2 days, and a stiff neck,haha!)

It was like I was a complete noob again, and that was after 10 years with an Ultra, and then a II
That was enough for me to not want to get the III, as I was eyeing the Quad Cortex ( I have not read any manual or anything from the first day untill now, it`s super easy to use ) I could have used the Axe Edit app, but I was trying to use the onboard UI and see if I could remember thing along the way
 
laxu said:
Welcome to the world of inconsistency in Fractal operation.

Here's a crash course:
  • Edit button almost never does the thing it says on the label.
    • The layout grid is the only exception where Edit = Edit block.
    • Anywhere else it's a shortcut for "Go edit the last block you had open."
    • When inside a block, it's "Go to next block".
    • Double clicking Edit when inside a block means "Go to previous block."
  • Enter button opens things.
    • The exception is the layout grid, where Enter = connect/disconnect blocks or create a shunt on an empty grid slot.
  • Nav buttons mostly move the cursor around or switch rows of controls.
    • In list views (e.g Amp block Advanced page) the Left/Right buttons jump to next/previous 5 params, mapping them to the A-E knobs.
    • In the Amp block Output EQ page, Up/Down changes the graphic EQ type. Of course the Graphic EQ block does not work like this.
  • Big knob adjusts the currently selected parameter.
    • In layout grid view it changes the block in the currently selected slot.
    • In preset/model/cab list it scrolls through the items.
    • On Axe-Fx 3 this knob has a button on it you can assign to go to Layout grid. Why this does not exist on FM3/FM9? No idea. I've also requested that this could be mapped to more functions but of course Fractal hasn't implemented it.
  • A-E knobs have a button you can press. The function is what is shown above the button.
    • When in Home view (any page), you can double-click these to quickly go to the most common blocks:
      • A = Amp
      • B = Drive (Boost)
      • C = Cab
      • D = Delay
      • E = REverb
My approach to editing on the onboard UI is to avoid the Layout grid like the plague and just use the Edit button to cycle through blocks. This keeps the process more consistent as you don't hit that "Enter does not do the thing you think it would" inconsistency.

It was so much worse before the "Go to previous block" double-click Edit function was implemented. You had to Exit to the layout grid, cursor over to the previous block, remember to hit Edit instead of Enter and then edit the block. Then do that all over again whenever you needed to go to a previous block.

The cycling order of the Edit button is row->column, instead of e.g "next connected block or next block in parallel". This is generally fine on the FM3 where your signal path is most of the time just a straight line, but can be annoying on the FM9/Axe-Fx 3 with more complex signal paths.
Click to expand...

I need to print this out. This probably explains things in a way that makes more sense than the manual, where it will probably sound good on paper but be a head scratcher in use.

I’ve spent a grand total of 30 minutes using the device UI, so I can’t really offer anything meaningful beyond “this is what a moron would try to do, or think, looking at the controls as a newb”

There is a gravity to the big knob (that’s what she said) which really at first doesn’t seem to do much since you have to use other navigation buttons. Ive reached over to that out of reflex more than a few times for sideways scrolling, and tried to click it a couple times. (And it’s the only kob without click functionality) You sort of expect that to play a much more prominent navigation roll.

30 minute newb opinion:
  • They should have considered putting an “open” button in between the dpad nav buttons. That would make some sense so you don’t have to move your eyes to a different area and play Russian roulette between “do I hit the edit button or enter?”
  • If the page arrows are ways to cycle within a particular context (assuming you got that far) they would have made more sense directly over or under the screen, not directly under the nav arrows.
That really seems to be the crux of it, trying to figure out when to hit enter vs edit, and page arrows vs nav arrows vs the big scroll knob.

Doesn’t really matter as this thing will live tethered to FM3 95% of the time, but I think I’ll put enough effort in to at least be able to create a patch entirely from the device. Just to say I can do it. :ROFLMAO:
 
Whizzinby said:
I need to print this out. This probably explains things in a way that makes more sense than the manual, where it will probably sound good on paper but be a head scratcher in use.

I’ve spent a grand total of 30 minutes using the device UI, so I can’t really offer anything meaningful beyond “this is what a moron would try to do, or think, looking at the controls as a newb”

There is a gravity to the big knob (that’s what she said) which really at first doesn’t seem to do much since you have to use other navigation buttons. Ive reached over to that out of reflex more than a few times for sideways scrolling, and tried to click it a couple times. (And it’s the only kob without click functionality) You sort of expect that to play a much more prominent navigation roll.

30 minute newb opinion:
  • They should have considered putting an “open” button in between the dpad nav buttons. That would make some sense so you don’t have to move your eyes to a different area and play Russian roulette between “do I hit the edit button or enter?”
  • If the page arrows are ways to cycle within a particular context (assuming you got that far) they would have made more sense directly over or under the screen, not directly under the nav arrows.
That really seems to be the crux of it, trying to figure out when to hit enter vs edit, and page arrows vs nav arrows vs the big scroll knob.

Doesn’t really matter as this thing will live tethered to FM3 95% of the time, but I think I’ll put enough effort in to at least be able to create a patch entirely from the device. Just to say I can do it. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Enter just created all sorts of choas
Seriously though to me that was the one thing and bad habit it took a while to shake

Open up layout , arrow over to amp block hit ENTER to enter the block and now you have 2 blocks flashing
WTH???

Hit EDIT and block access is granted

Another thing you will find mondo helpful IMO is Performnce pages
Where you can drag pretty much any parameter controls to an easy access page , so you can literally tweak a drive level , Dly mix , reverb mix , cab hi/ lo cuts , noise gate threshold all on one freaking page

But I don’t know if you are there yet
When your ready

 
Whizzinby said:
I need to print this out. This probably explains things in a way that makes more sense than the manual, where it will probably sound good on paper but be a head scratcher in use.

I’ve spent a grand total of 30 minutes using the device UI, so I can’t really offer anything meaningful beyond “this is what a moron would try to do, or think, looking at the controls as a newb”

There is a gravity to the big knob (that’s what she said) which really at first doesn’t seem to do much since you have to use other navigation buttons. Ive reached over to that out of reflex more than a few times for sideways scrolling, and tried to click it a couple times. (And it’s the only kob without click functionality) You sort of expect that to play a much more prominent navigation roll.

30 minute newb opinion:
  • They should have considered putting an “open” button in between the dpad nav buttons. That would make some sense so you don’t have to move your eyes to a different area and play Russian roulette between “do I hit the edit button or enter?”
  • If the page arrows are ways to cycle within a particular context (assuming you got that far) they would have made more sense directly over or under the screen, not directly under the nav arrows.
That really seems to be the crux of it, trying to figure out when to hit enter vs edit, and page arrows vs nav arrows vs the big scroll knob.

Doesn’t really matter as this thing will live tethered to FM3 95% of the time, but I think I’ll put enough effort in to at least be able to create a patch entirely from the device. Just to say I can do it. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Yes, the button placement is terrible and it was a big disappointment for me to see the Axe-Fx 3 continue with largely the same front panel design as the older Axe-Fx models. It was actually a catalyst for me to sell my Axe-Fx 2, buy a tube amp and go "old school". Well, that lasted a few years and here we are again. Fractal keeps pulling me back because what they do is great as long as you don't need to use the front panel.

Someone on I think The Other Place described the Fractal front panel as "inspired by lab equipment" and that was a good explanation for why it is like that. If you look at oscilloscopes, you start to see a lot of parallels to the Fractal rack unit front panel.

I'm interested to see how Line6 and Fractal tackle the rack format in their next gen products. You can only fit so much in that space and 3U is probably about the max size people are going to accept until it becomes too big. That in turn influences the design of the floor units too as they will want to recycle a good amount of parts.

I would have loved if Fractal iterated on the "knobs with LED rings" concept of the AX8. The primary failing of those was that they were only for amp controls instead of being something that changes function based on what you are editing. The under screen knobs are too cramped and the Performance views are a poor substitute for custom control schemes because they are so heavily limited in the number of parameters.
 
Whizzinby said:
I need to print this out. This probably explains things in a way that makes more sense than the manual, where it will probably sound good on paper but be a head scratcher in use.

I’ve spent a grand total of 30 minutes using the device UI, so I can’t really offer anything meaningful beyond “this is what a moron would try to do, or think, looking at the controls as a newb”

There is a gravity to the big knob (that’s what she said) which really at first doesn’t seem to do much since you have to use other navigation buttons. Ive reached over to that out of reflex more than a few times for sideways scrolling, and tried to click it a couple times. (And it’s the only kob without click functionality) You sort of expect that to play a much more prominent navigation roll.

30 minute newb opinion:
  • They should have considered putting an “open” button in between the dpad nav buttons. That would make some sense so you don’t have to move your eyes to a different area and play Russian roulette between “do I hit the edit button or enter?”
  • If the page arrows are ways to cycle within a particular context (assuming you got that far) they would have made more sense directly over or under the screen, not directly under the nav arrows.
That really seems to be the crux of it, trying to figure out when to hit enter vs edit, and page arrows vs nav arrows vs the big scroll knob.

Doesn’t really matter as this thing will live tethered to FM3 95% of the time, but I think I’ll put enough effort in to at least be able to create a patch entirely from the device. Just to say I can do it. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I've had some variant of the 3rd gen Fractals since shortly after the III was released. And I've managed to barely ever delve into the depths of the onboard UI. I like to setup patches at home and only make adjustments at the gig. Performance Pages make this super simple. Hopefully Fractals next gen device will have a fully modernized user friendly UI. But until then Edit and performance pages are my friends and you might want to make friends with them also :guiness
 
I don't know. I'm not tech-savvy at all, merely a caveman amp-and-pedals guy, who has not owned a computer for much of my life, but I'm a read the manual type of guy, for sure.

I spent some time with the FM3 and its manual and used nothing but the on-device UI, and was fine with it. Got very quick and ultimately preferred it over the editor, as mentioned earlier.

Phil Hartman Idk GIF
 
TubeStack said:
I don't know. I'm not tech-savvy at all, merely a caveman amp-and-pedals guy, who has not owned a computer for much of my life, but I'm a read the manual type of guy, for sure.

I spent some time with the FM3 and its manual and used nothing but the on-device UI, and was fine with it. Got very quick and ultimately preferred it over the editor, as mentioned earlier.

Phil Hartman Idk GIF
Click to expand...
You still rocking the GT1000?
 
Whizzinby said:
Pretty impressive if you also consider each of those blocks can have 4 unique channels of that block type engaged via scenes. (IE 4 different amps, 4 different choruses etc) These presets can look deceptively simple, but with channels there can be a LOT going on under the hood.

The only thing that has really hammered my CPU is the PlexDelay, which is it’s own unique block, not the standard Delay block.
Click to expand...

This is why I earlier suggested deleting the delay block from that preset that had the plex delay in it…
 
TubeStack said:
I don't know. I'm not tech-savvy at all, merely a caveman amp-and-pedals guy, who has not owned a computer for much of my life, but I'm a read the manual type of guy, for sure.

I spent some time with the FM3 and its manual and used nothing but the on-device UI, and was fine with it. Got very quick and ultimately preferred it over the editor, as mentioned earlier.

Phil Hartman Idk GIF
Click to expand...
It’s amazing how far you can get when you read the manual to a Fractal or Helix product.
 
Is it me or is it easier to just record with plugins? :bag

And then re-amp with the FM3 once the song is fully tracked.
 
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