USB

The information on this page supplements the official manuals.

CPU usage

• Connecting the AX8, FX8 or Axe-Fx II through USB increases CPU utilization. This is by design. If a preset uses much CPU, you may run into CPU overload problems when connecting the Axe-Fx II to a computer through USB. source source

AX8 and FX8

The AX8 and FX8 have an USB 2.0 type B port (host). It's fully class-compliant. There's no driver required. USB is used to connect the unit to a computer and to run the software editor and Fractal-Bot. USB Audio is not supported.

Axe-Fx II

• To connect the Axe-Fx II through USB a driver must be downloaded to the device first from a computer. USB drivers for Mac and Windows are available for download here. If the USB driver is not installed, utilities such as Axe-Edit, Fractal-Bot and Cab-Lab won't recognize the Axe-Fx II. Also, tablets such as an iPad do not connect to the Axe-Fx II, until the driver has been downloaded to the unit first (without power cycling).
• Fractal Audio:
  • "The driver that we supply for OS-X computers is NOT an audio driver. It is a firmware installer. The Axe-Fx II uses a "soft" USB controller. It gets its code from the host computer. When you turn the Axe-Fx II on it requests firmware from the host. This is superior to a hard-coded controller in that updates merely require a new host image rather than reflashing the controller."
• USB Audio is supported. An external audio interface is required when connecting the analog Axe-Fx II outputs to a computer.
• The USB connection supports USB-to-MIDI, so there's no need to use a MIDI interface in most cases.

USB adapter Mode: using the Axe-Fx II as an USB adapter to update the MFC-101 firmware

• The Axe-Fx II can be used as an USB-to-MIDI interface to update the firmware on the MFC-101, using Fractal-Bot. This is explained in the Fractal-Bot manual.
• Fractal Audio:
  • "The USB Adapter feature was added for simple USB-to-MIDI functionality, specifically firmware updates for the MFC-101. It is a low priority task since audio processing is the Axe-Fx's primary usage. Latency is not guaranteed. It is not intended as anything more than a no-frills, simple MIDI adapter for non-critical tasks." source

USB troubleshooting

High-pitched noise may be caused by a ground loop.

Fractal Audio: "The USB spec calls for grounding the cable at both ends (mistake). This can create an USB ground loop. Make sure everything is plugged into the same outlet strip." source

Fractal Audio: "An occasional flicker when hooked up to USB is not unusual. This is due to the screen redraw being interrupted by the USB thread." source

When experiencing problems such as dropped connections or an Axe-Fx II which freezes after connecting USB, always replace the USB cable first. Example

Linux

• The Axe-Fx II can work as an audio and MIDI interface just as it does on Windows or OS X, although Linux is not supported officially.
  • Before firmware is loaded the device will be reported as a USB device with Vendor ID 2466 and Product ID 0003.
  • After the USB controller gets loaded with its firmware the Axe-Fx II will be recognized as a USB soundcard device with Vendor ID 2466 and Product ID 8003.
  • For a named output when using lsusb, adequate entries for Fractal Audio Systems and the Axe-Fx II need to be added to "usb.ids" (typically under /usr/share/misc/usb.ids). See source
• Loading the USB firmware
  • Ubuntu 16.04 and above users can use AlbertA's PPA and install the axefx2-usb-firmware package
  • For others, volt created an install script package that is available for download here.
• Since the Axe-Fx II is an Audio Class 2.0 compliant device no additional drivers are needed. The Linux kernel already supports such devices. However, depending on your kernel version, there can be some issues:
  • For systems with a kernel older than 3.10, you will need to patch clock.c in the ALSA's usb-audio kernel module (<linux>/sound/usb/clock.c). See more here.
  • For systems with a kernel older than 4.10, the ALSA usb-audio driver may cause overflows or underflows at the device since there is no proper sync applied. A patch is available here. See more here.
    • Ubuntu 16.04/16.10 users can use AlbertA's PPA and install the snd-usb-audio-dkms package which installs the patched kernel module (DKMS actually builds it for your running kernel and rebuilds any time there's a kernel update).
    • To verify check the “USB” bar graph in Utility->Status which displays the amount of data in the USB FIFO buffer. Ideally the bar should be at around 50%. The number of buffer errors that have occurred since the last buffer reset is indicated above the bar graph - this should be zero when the driver is functioning correctly.
• Threads about using Axe-Fx II with Linux:
  • Linux Again
  • Linux Support
  • Linux: USB overflows