Comparing the Axe-Fx III to the Axe-Fx II

The information on this page supplements the official manuals.

Migrating from the Axe-Fx II

The Axe-Fx III is a big step up from the Axe-Fx II. Here are some things to keep in mind as you approach from the II.

1. New dimensions: the unit is taller, at 3U instead of 2U, but shallower, at 11.5” deep instead of 12.9”.
2. There are new blocks, new effects, and new features, all covered in the Owner's Manual.
3. The Axe-Fx II and Axe-Fx III cannot share presets electronically, but you can transfer sounds by re-creating them on the grid and entering parameter values, which match up identically or very closely.
4. All of the existing amp models and factory cabs appear in the Axe-Fx III. All of the effects have been either ported directly or improved upon. All existing Cab-Packs and user cabs are 100% compatible.
5. The Cab block draws from Factory 1, Factory 2, User 1 and User 2 banks, each with 1,024 IRs, plus a “Legacy” bank containing all 189 IRs from the Axe-Fx II, plus 16 “Scratchpad” locations. The Cab block itself has been redesigned for mixing up to four different IRs at once. Mic modeling has been removed, but PROXIMITY remains.
6. Instead of a RECAll screen, the Axe-Fx III has a Home button. The new Home menu provides access to preset and Meters pages, with soft-button access to the tuner, layout, controllers, and setup menu.
7. Instead of a LAYOUT button, the Grid is accessed from a soft-button in the Home menu, or by pressing Enter or Value while on the Home page. The Grid has new features like Zoom, CPU meter, and a mini tuner.
8. There are four independent stereo outputs instead of two, plus auto-switching front/rear instrument input and three stereo inputs. INs and OUTs can be used in the usual ways, or paired to insert outboard gear in up to three stereo loops.
9. Inputs and Outputs must be placed on the grid as blocks.
10. The red LEDs in the front panel meter bridge now light at -1 dBFS!
11. You can use old familiar workflows with the NAV buttons and VALUE wheel, but you’ll move much faster through editing if you try to use the five Push-knobs under the display.
12. Instead of X/Y, the Axe-Fx III features up to four Channels per block. Like X/Y, Channels give you multiple sound settings from a single block, but they change much more quickly. Change a block’s channel with dedicated buttons revealed when you press the MORE button (Push-knob E) from any Edit menu.
13. Each scene now has its own name. Scenes allow you to select Channel as well as Bypass state. The number of Scene Controllers has been doubled to 4. Presets no longer default to Scene 1 but now load whichever scene was selected when you saved them.
14. A new architecture allows multiple clients such as foot controllers or editor software to share control, updating each other seamlessly without re-sync issues or paused communications.
15. To control the bypass state of a block using a modifier, you no longer modify the Bypass Mode parameter, but a dedicated Bypass parameter.

Also:

• AE
• Ares modeling
• more CPU
• 512 preset slots
• 6x14
• 4x Drive, 4x Delay
• new: Plex, Ten-Tap, Multiplexer, RTA
• Tri-chorus
• 4-voice Pitch
• improved Reverb
• Input EQ
• more Looper time
• UR TMA
• improved Tuner
• 8x8 USB Audio
• faster MIDI-over-USB
• Scene MIDI
• Preset MIDI
• FASLINK II, FC
• Comms between editor, FC and III

Comparing the blocks

Comparison of available effects in each device.

Comparing sound quality

”Everything sounds better. I think a big part of it is the quality of the I/O. The I/O measures flatter and less distortion than my $2000 interface.” source

"It actually does sound a little better. The extra DSP horsepower means that we didn't have to make compromises in some of the algorithms. The amp modeling algorithm is very similar but there's a few places on the II where we had to make compromises to get the algorithm to run within the allotted time. Also the III has a higher internal oversampling rate and a higher bit depth on some calculations (64-bit vs. 40-bit)." source

"Better algorithms, higher upsampling, better analog I/O design."

More...

(about heat) "Less than an Axe-Fx II." source