Posted by Norman Wiedow on 6/16/2008, 9:12 am, in reply to "Re: Honeymoon Report"

Well, here is a copy of my letter to Fractal Audio:Dear Fractal Audio: I received my AXE-FX Friday and it is now Sunday night at 10:15PM. I have been trying to get the editing software to work for the past 8 hours and I cannot seem to make that happen. I bought a midi interface, downloaded all of the recommended software, connected and re-connected the cables, read many posts and answers for hours and finally gave up. Here is a copy and paste from your forum: "Java MIDI sucks. It will either work, or it won't. There are NO parameters to tweak, if it doesn't work then you are basically SOL." That is pretty hard to take after spending all of this time, money and energy. Would it be possible to have someone call me and walk me through the set up process on the editing program? I have a brand new iMac with the latest operating system. Thanks, Norm We will see how good the customer support is now. I know there is a learning curve with any equipment. But IMHO the amount they are ahead in sonic quality with respect to Line6 is negated by how far they are behind Line6 in the ease of use category. My POD XT Live has a USB port that you just plug into the computer. You download the Line6 software one time, the software sees your POD and everybody says hello. From then on you are editing. This thing has no USB port or headphone jack or midi interface. SO you have to go buy those things as accessories. Plus the different components do not just see each other. For instance, there are a couple of other programs that you have to get in order for the midi to communicate with the MAC. The Fractal Editor itself has been very finicky. It comes up on the screen then it doesn't. I tried to uninstall it and then reinstall it but the uninstall doesn't seem to work. The editor asks you to configure the software but the version in my machine isn't available in the editor. (too new?) You have to buy a midi interface just to get things started. The forums are full of different opinions about what works and what doesn't work. Some of the people are computer geeks that know all of the lingo and talk over my head and some of them are scratching their heads just trying to figure out what to ask to make this editor work. There is nothing in the manual about any of this. No recommendations about midi interfaces or explanations of the editor. There is a user on YouTube that does a tutorial but there is nothing like that from the company itself. BTW Jason, thanks for the info on the headphone/mixer, another problem for a user to figure out on their own. So far this has been a lesson in discipline for me. I am sure it will work out eventually but I have wasted at least one day of my life on something that I think should just work right and easily from the beginning. The next step will be trying to get a generic midi foot controller to work with this because they are still developing the proprietary one. My overall impression at this point is that I think that they jumped the gun releasing this unit before they figured out the contingent issues. Stay tuned, more to follow. --Previous Message-- : Thanks for your insights. I think it's great : that the possibility for the "crazy : sounding" stuff is there as long as : it's also possible to find some simpler and : useful tones. Would love to hear more from : you as you explore it. : : If the effects are on par, as you say, with : brands such as Lexicon, then that's a : promising aspect. : : One idea regarding the headphones...without : looking at the unit, I would venture to : guess you could feed the outputs of the : Axe-Fx to a compact mixer and use your : headphones through that (or certainly : through any mixer that you might have). If : I might make a recommendation, you could get : one of those new Mackie 402 VLZ3s for under : $100 at your basic Guitar Center, etc...it's : a pretty cool little device. I have one and : it has come in very handy for a variety of : light-duty applications. : : http://www.mackie.com/products/402vlz3/ : : JB : : : : --Previous Message-- : Tried it out last night, didn't read the : manual but just went through the presets. As : always there is a bunch of stuff in the : presets to show off the many effects. Lots : of crazy sounding patches that you would : never use unless you were doing a sound : track for a cartoon. Of the 128 presets : there are about 20 that are usable and 5 of : them that really kicked. That is good for me : because I only found 2 or 3 on the Line6 POD : XT Live. : : The digital fizz is pretty much absent. One : thing that I don't like is that there is no : headphone jack. WTF? That is part of the : reason for messing with these for me. Late : night /early morning jams with big Marshall : stacks in my music room where only I hear : what is going on. For that matter, I want to : be able to practice with headphones whenever : I want to. : : Here is my overall take on this unit. It is : definitely a step or two above anything : Line6 has to offer. It is kind of like a : "boutique" : digital processor. It has great : possibilities but it is not a plug in and : play toy. Many, many things to tweak. But : the difference is that you start on a great : canvas with the best supply of vibrant : colors instead of a peace of paper with a : box of 8 crayola crayons. It looks like it : is geared towards live applications, hence : no phone jacks. So you have to figure out : how you are going to set it up and what you : are going to use it with first and then : tweak it. The effects are on par with studio : quality gear ie. Lexicon, Eventide, TC etc. : So if you have the time to tweak, I believe : you can get very, very close to the tones : you are trying to emulate. : : They do not have a proprietary foot switch : controller out yet. I am on the waiting list : for that too. It should be out by the end of : the summer. For now, you have to get a : compatible midi foot switch and use that. : Also, no USB port. I think you have to buy : some type of midi interface device to take : advantage of the computer software available : on their website. I guess I have to break : down and read the manual. This is a young : company with some great ideas and this is : the next step in the evolution of guitar : processors. I noticed that they did not have : the Handsome Devil or the Knight PA head : models in this unit yet so they still have : much work to do! : : --Previous Message-- : Great news. Please report back after you've : played it for 30 seconds : : I want the honeymoon report! : : : --Previous Message-- : JASON, I JUST GOT CONFIRMATION ON MY ORDER : 5-7 : DAYS GROUND SHIPPING. I didn't buy the : ULTRA. The regular version looked like it : had so much on there that it was over-kill : unless you were putting it in a studio. They : are supposed to have a proprietary midi : footswitcher coming out later in the summer. : Until then, you have to get a compatible : midi switcher. First impressions coming : soon! Still don't have my Trainwreck clone. : : : : : : :