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New: Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III

Selta

Selta

Feb 6, 2002
12,171
8,047
Pacific Northwet
#1
Many around here know me as a very vocal supporter of Fractal Audio (in particular the Axe-Fx II and AX8). I use both products extensively in recording and performance, and they are main stays of my rig.

Fractal has announced the Axe-Fx III. I'm not overly thrilled with moving from a 2U rack unit to a 3U one, but, overall this thing addresses so many tweaks that I wished with the II. And, of course, way more processing power as well, so you can run even more models in presets now!

Here's the main landing page:
Introducing The Axe-Fx III - Preamp - Effects Processor - Fractal Audio

Axe-Fx-III-1920-on-black.jpg


Main points:
Over 2x the processing power of the Axe-Fx II
All new front panel design - much improved UI (user interface) and UX (user experience)
A lot more I/O options on the rear panel, including more ins/outs which can be used for more intricate loops
8x8 USB now, so it can almost act as a center piece for a DAW.
Tons more cabs included from factory, and more space to have your own on there

They also introduced some new foot controllers which look VERY cool.

I jumped on the wait list, though those things usually get pretty lengthy, so it might be a bit before I have mine in hand.
As always, if you have any questions about Fractal, feel free to post here and ask away. I have a few threads in the past too that you can look up.
 
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#2
It looks super cool! The features look really great too, but...

I have the II XL and love it! I can't make the jump to the III though as money is too tight and i got my eye on other things at the moment.
 
#3
Could be interesting, I'll be watching for more information. Being a fanboi as you call it, do you blindly support and defend, or do you support them as well as question the company about certain aspects of products, business practices, etc? I'm not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested, as there's a lot of people here that blindly support brands. I'm always inquisitive of companies I've entered endorsements with or support because I enjoy their products.
 
#4
blubass said:
Could be interesting, I'll be watching for more information. Being a fanboi as you call it, do you blindly support and defend, or do you support them as well as question the company about certain aspects of products, business practices, etc? I'm not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested, as there's a lot of people here that blindly support brands. I'm always inquisitive of companies I've entered endorsements with or support because I enjoy their products.
Click to expand...
I support them, but, if you look through the other threads I have on them, I can be balanced and critical of them. For instance, they promised to get the B7K modeled quite a few firmware versions ago, and I was vocal about them not coming through on that promise. Eventually, they did, and I was glad they did of course, but I still called them out on it :). Also called them out on their lack of bass amps and cabs, but those voids are being filled as well. So, long answer short... yes, a fanboi for sure, but not blindly so.
 
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#6
I don't think Fractal attends NAMM. But yeah, I only expect modeling in general to continue to grow... Fractal needs to not rest on their lead in this area. Line6 already showed that a new comer can shake things up for them... if more companies dig into it, it could be a very interesting couple of years :). I'd love to see another company spin up a more bass-centric modeling product.... that's likely tough, as it seems that bass players are more reluctant to jump on the modeling bandwaggon (and in general terms, bassists don't use FX as much as guitarists).
 
#7
Selta said:
I don't think Fractal attends NAMM. But yeah, I only expect modeling in general to continue to grow... Fractal needs to not rest on their lead in this area. Line6 already showed that a new comer can shake things up for them... if more companies dig into it, it could be a very interesting couple of years :). I'd love to see another company spin up a more bass-centric modeling product.... that's likely tough, as it seems that bass players are more reluctant to jump on the modeling bandwagon (and in general terms, bassists don't use FX as much as guitarists).
Click to expand...

I just meant modelers in general, there appeared to be dozens of new players on the recording/plugin side. I saw some really cool looking reprogrammable stomp boxes down in the nether regions of Hall E; again, just no time to stop and check it out since I was in full tilt business mode this year.
Or_wink.gif


As far as EFX and bass, NAMM doesn't really seem like the place, it's pretty much all slap all the time in the booths IME. That changes a good bit on the big stages though, praise Jah.
 
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#9
Warwick Qc418 said:
Can you elaborate on this, how many bass amps models are there, have they announced any new ones for the III ?

Based on your experience, how long until they release an AX9 (or something like that)?

Thanks
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I don't know off the very top of my head... I'd have to get home and load the latest firmware to be certain. I want to say that there are half a dozen different bass amps though. Plus, I actually very commonly use guitar amps for my presets, and they sound amazing. So while there's not every bass amp ever, there are a ton of great tones to be had... just have to think a bit outside the box and not be stuck on "OH, I need my GK 400RB modeled", as you can get extremely close with tweaking otherwise. Though it would be nice to have those models, so it'd be an easier out of the box experience :).

I have no insider knowledge on a new AX# product. Putting my logic to it, I'd expect a newer one sooenr than later. The Axe-Fx III uses new DSPs, and to keep using a similar code base between the product lines (which eases firmware coding somewhat), would warrant a newer product. But, that's 100% pure speculation as a software dev, bass player. :)
 
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#11
"The Axe-Fx III is expected to begin shipping in the USA and Canada on March 1, 2018 priced at $2499.99."

:wideyed: Um, OK! Let's see, with the shipping that is about $3206.65 Canadian Dollars, plus 12% sales tax.. Oh, and lets not forget that obscenely-hefty UPS BROKERAGE FEE... Call it four thousand bucks even. Really? A rack-mounted modelling preamp is worth four thousand bucks? Nice propaganda job, Fractal Marketing Dept! :cigar:
 
#12
There are some ads on ebay already where people are offloading their FXIIs and FX2XLs in anticipation of snagging an early one. A good time to get one if you like the device.

The additional processing power might permit some interesting things as far as IRs and processing of a signal.

But wow, $2,499? Not for me.
 
#15
Veldar said:
They can have all the DSP they want, if they don't get essential bass amps/effects barely anyone on this forum will make the leap, Line 6 are killing it for bassists.
Click to expand...

Going to have to agree with this. Longtime Fractal user for both bass and gtr(AFX Ultra & AFXII XL+). But after having a look at what was available from both Line6 and Kemper during last week's NAMM show. I'm already contemplating about making the jump to either platform after their next product line refresh.
 
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#16
mikewalker said:
"The Axe-Fx III is expected to begin shipping in the USA and Canada on March 1, 2018 priced at $2499.99."

:wideyed: Um, OK! Let's see, with the shipping that is about $3206.65 Canadian Dollars, plus 12% sales tax.. Oh, and lets not forget that obscenely-hefty UPS BROKERAGE FEE... Call it four thousand bucks even. Really? A rack-mounted modelling preamp is worth four thousand bucks? Nice propaganda job, Fractal Marketing Dept! :cigar:
Click to expand...

The only group Cliff dislikes more than Canadians is BASSISTS! (j/k) For that kind of upcharge, you'd be better off driving to NH, paying cash for an AxeFXIII at the factory, and then taking your chances at the border. What's the duty fee on that?
 
#17
I'm getting one for sure.

Love my XL+ for bass. It may not be as plug & play as the Helix, but I can get some great conventional bass tones with it, as well as very extreme effects patches.
Sure it would be nice to have more dedicated bass amps, but as @Selta said, thinking outside of the box is required sometimes. Using guitar amps, tube pre, (multiband)compression, parallel chains etc. It's just so very versatile. If I were only looking for straight up bass sounds I don't think I'd be using it, but for more extreme effects use and getting different sounds for each song its just great.

Now the III will have so much DSP, it'll be hard to push it to it's limits. I'm already fantasizing about all the possibilities.
 
#18
Hey @Selta ... Can you tell me more about the pitch shifting algorithms in 2017? I am interested in an axe fx III possibly, but I see that it looks like you're limited to 2 pitch blocks currently. My use case is the following:

I currently have an effect where I use an Eventide H9 (mono->stereo connections) to take my incoming signal, send the dry, unaffected tone to one channel, and then a 100% wet tone that is shifted up and harmonized on the other channel. Using an expression pedal, this harmonized tone is either +1 and +2 octaves up or +1 octave and then a fifth up from that. I can sweep the blend of this tone with an expression pedal.

The stereo signal gets fed to a Source Audio Aftershock pedal which simulates a mostly clean SVT type tone on the dry bass chanel and then an OCD-type guitar distortion on the pitch shifted/harmonized higher channel. That pedal goes stereo->mono, and blends them back. I use a tuner pedal in the middle between the H9 and Aftershock as a kill switch for the bass tone.

End result is that I can play a simulated Bass+Guitar unison with different drives on each, or manipulate the expression pedal and get the "guitar" to play power chord type tones. I get something similar to the sound utilized by the band, Royal Blood.

Based on what I have seen about the axe fx, all of the routing and switching should be a piece of cake to set up. What I don't know completely is the capability of the pitch shifting or harmonizing blocks... Can they be set up so that you can get multiple shifts from the same input tone (e.g. +1 and +2 octaves or that octave+fifth I use)? The idea of simulating a guitar amp+cab and a bass amp+cab is very appealing, but I don't know if the pitch shift blocks in the axe fx can really replace an Eventide H9 or Boss harmonizer pedal.

Any thoughts?
 

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