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

Axe-Fx III firmware keeps evolving, introducing more and more features which set the Axe-Fx III apart from the previous generation(s). This page will not be updated anymore.

What's new or changed

For more information, read the Owners Manuals.

Dimensions

• The III is taller, at 3U instead of 2U, but shallower, at 11.5” deep instead of 12.9”

I/O:

• The III has 4 independent stereo outputs, instead of 2, plus auto-switching front/rear instrument inputs (with "Secret Sauce IV" on the front input) and 3 stereo inputs. INs and OUTs can be used in the usual ways, or paired to insert outboard gear in up to 3 stereo loops
• The red Output LEDs in the front panel meter bridge now light at -1 dBFS, and a warning pops up when the input is clipping
• Inputs 2, 3 and 4 support guitar impedance
• The nominal level of Outputs 1 and 2 can be switched between -10 and +4 dB
• The III has adjustable input levels for USB, AES and SPDIF

IMPORTANT: the Axe-Fx III's default output level is -10 dB (lower than the II: +4 dB)

User interface

• Instead of a RECALL screen, the III has a HOME button. The new Home menu provides access to Presets, Meters, with soft-button access to the Tuner, layout grid, controllers, and Setup menu
• The III's Home Screen also has Performance Pages, allowing fast access to often-used and critical controls
• Instead of a LAYOUT button, the layout grid is accessed from a soft-button in the Home menu, or by pressing ENTER, or pressing VALUE while on the Home page. The grid has new features like Zoom, CPU meter, and a "mini" tuner
• You can use old familiar workflows with the NAV buttons and VALUE wheel, but you’ll move much faster through editing if you use the five Push-knobs under the display
• The hardware and editor now optionally prompt before changing presets if the current preset has been edited or scenes has been switched . This prevents users from losing edits

Sound

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[1] The Axe-Fx III has slightly more high end extension than the previous products. It's more accurate.

Effects

• New blocks include: Plex Delay, Ten-Tap Delay, Multitap Delay, Multiplexer, Realtime Analyzer, Scene MIDI block, IR Player, Dynamic Distortion
• Authentic Tri-Chorus type in the Chorus block
• 4 instances of Drive
• 4 instances of Delay
• 2 instances of Send/Return
• Pitch block: 4 voices. Pitch block has its own (faster) pitch detector. Latency and stability has been improved. New Virtual Capo mode
• Much improved Reverbs, Pitch shiftching
• Looper: more looping time, better control
• Tone Matching in UltraRes, no difference between Offline and Live modes
• Tuner: improved tracking, works on any (or: all 4) input
• Compressor: "RMS" is the same as "Fast RMS" in the AX8 and Axe-Fx II. "E-L Panel" mode added. Filter parameter has been replaced with EQ-ing tools. More compressor types, sustainers added
• Drive blocks: much improved. Higher oversampling ratio and double-precision filters in some places. GEQ added. Authentic controls. FASPICE technology
• Gate: improved
• The output level of some effects / effects types has been changed, such as Resonator and Studio Compressor
• Vocoder now has 24 bands
• Some effects have their own envelope follower, such as Plex Delay
• Improved noise gate in the Input block, now also includes EMI filtering
• Stereoizer mode in Enhancer block
• Improved Multiband Compressor
• Wah has an GEQ
• Multi Delay expansion
• Auto Swell mode in Volume block
• Bias and Harmonic Tremolo types
• More Compressor types
• Plex Reverb

Modifiers and controllers

• The Controllers block now has 4 channels, so the Envelope Controller can have 4 different settings per preset, for example
• 4 Scene controllers instead of 2
• Damping (modifier menu) is replaced with Attack/Release parameters
• To control the bypass state of a block using a modifier, you no longer modify the Bypass Mode parameter, but a dedicated Bypass parameter
• A modifier can now be attached to either a single channel of an effect block, or to all its channels. You can't use a different modifier on a single parameter per channel

Presets, scenes, blocks and channels

• 14x6 grid instead of 12x4
• Axe-Fx III Mark I: 512 preset slots instead of 768. The number of presets in the Mark II and Turbo models has been increased to 1024
• More CPU available per preset
• Inputs and Outputs must be placed on the grid as blocks
• Each Scene has its own customizable name
• Up to 4 Channels per block (Multiplexer: 6)
• Presets either default to a specified scene upon loading, or to the scene that was active when the preset was saved (global option)
• 8 Global Blocks per effect block instance. Some blocks (like Multiplexer) do not support Global Blocks
• Switching scenes is much faster
• Faster engage/bypass speed for some blocks
• Songs and setlists
• Scene ignore feature

Amp modeling

• Additional amp models
• "Ares" amp modeling, "Cygnus" and "Cygnus X-2" amp modeling
• “Character” and "Pick Attack" parameters are gone
• Pre-EQ controls have been added
• "Boost types" have been integrated into the Amp block. These act as clean boosts replicating the oft-used “Drive on 0, adjust Level as desired” boost technique. This allows boosting the Amp block without requiring a separate Drive block. The "Boost Level" parameter controls the amount of boost
• Output Mode lets you switch between FRFR and SS Power Amp + Cab
• New Speaker Compliance parameter controls nonlinear behavior of the virtual speaker
• New impedance modeling and impedance curves
• Auto impedance curve selection (part of DynaCab)
• FASPICE technology
• Authentic controls
• Oversampling Mode

Cab modeling

• Mixes up to 4 different IRs at once
• Output level is automatically normalized
• Mic Modeling has been removed, "Proximity" remains
• Speaker Size parameter is gone
• There are now Factory 1, Factory 2, User 1 and User 2 banks, each with 1,024 IRs, and a Legacy bank containing all 189 IRs from the Axe-Fx II, and 16 Scratchpads
• Two "IR Player" blocks
• Different Slope settings for Hi Cut and Low Cut
• Improved room ambience, with floor reflections
• IR alignment
• Support for FullRes IRs
• DynaCabs allow control over position and distance and provide new IRs

Editors, foot controllers

• FC foot controllers. Configuration on hardware or editor
• Editor software and foot controllers share control, updating each other seamlessly without re-sync issues or paused communications
• FASLINK II (XLR-to-XLR) connects the Axe-Fx III to the new FC controller(s)
• The editor supports hi-res displays

MIDI

• Up to 8 MIDI PCs or CCs can be transmitted upon scene changes
• A MIDI PC can be transmitted upon preset changes
• A MIDI PC can be sent through the MIDI OUT port upon preset changes
• The FC can send additional MIDI commands through Control Switches (similar to those on the FX8 and AX8)
• The Bypass state of an effect can simply be toggled (no need to specify "0" or "128" when sending a MIDI CC), which is useful with MIDI controllers that don't send values along with MIDI CCs

Computer

• No driver required for Mac computers
• 8x8 USB Audio interface
• Faster MIDI-over-USB
• USB communications do not increase CPU load anymore

Powering on

• When powering on, the unit reads all user cabs. This happens in the background
• The III shows diagnostics

What's gone

• The MFC-101's "Axe-Fx Mode" is no longer supported
• X/Y switching (replaced with Channels)
• X/Y Quick Jump (soft knob on the Home page lets you jump to the Amp block)
• Swapping presets on hardware (requires editor)
• Certain hardware buttons like Effect Bypass (replaced with soft knobs)
• Recall Effect function
• Quad Chorus block (now available in the Multitap Delay block)
• FX Loop block (replaced with Output blocks)
• Cab block parameters: Mic modeling, Motor Drive, Speaker Size
• Amp block parameters: Character, Pick Attack
• MIDI phantom power
• USB Adapter Mode

Effects

List of effects in each device

The Axe-Fx II and Axe-Fx III cannot share presets electronically. You can trying using FracTool to import Axe-Fx II presets into the Axe-Fx III, however be aware that the parameter settings might not transfer correctly.

Sound

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[2] III is a little punchier. I really notice it when I A/B between the III and II (or the AX-8). If you plug into one and then plug into the other it's not as noticeable but if you use an A/B switch it's a more marked difference.

[3] 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.

[4] 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).

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