Using Blue Cat Audio's Axiom - First Impressions - In 4 parts
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- KVRAF
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Two days ago, Blue Cat was kind enough to offer me a preview copy of Axiom. Unlike a lot of pro reviewers, I'll come out at the very beginning to say that I'm totally enamored of Axiom, just as I was for Destructor.
I've been playing guitar for about fifty years, using lots of axes through lots of amps, and, since about 2005, through lots of software. I'm still in the honeymoon phase with Axiom, but it easily surpasses every other sim I've bought or trialed, in every way that I care about.
Let's get the big KVR question out of the way -- Yes. It contains full implementations of Destructor and Late Replies. When you load a Late Replies module, located in the 'Built in Delay and Reverb' menu, into one of the slots, it spawns a new window containing full Late Replies. Clicking the amp's extended controls icon spawns a Destructor window. This works both in the stand-alone app and the VST -- a pretty neat trick.
It also loads VSTs and VST3s, including the ability to load Axiom, Destructor, and Late Replies inside themselves and each other. This is contrary to the laws of God and nature, and I recommend doing this very carefully, as it totally FUBAR'ed my sound when I did it. But it is an attractive forbidden behavior. You can also load VST Instruments and they will respond if they have a built-in keyboard or pads, and I'm trying to figure out how I can take advantage of this and why I should want to.
Almost all controls can be exposed for MIDI learn, so some truly twisted possibilities present themselves.
At the core is sweet, luscious TONE, from teeth-aching clean to dirty, sinful high-gain rock. The foundation for that is the magic in Destructor, with its dynamic response curves. It feels like an amp. It has touch.
I put Chris Johnson's free Airwindows Guitar Conditioner in the first slot, and this takes it that final step in clarity, articulation, and note separation.
You can just just load presets and thoroughly enjoy playing through Axiom, but it's also the deepest multi-FX I've ever played with. This is very good, but means you have to work, because there are sooo many places to intervene in your sound, some of them not obvious. At least, not obvious to me.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around Axiom after monkeying with it for about ten hours. There's no manual yet. It's like a Matrioshka Doll -- you open up one container, and find another container inside it, and another inside that one, and so on. This is fascinating, and I find that I have to work to avoid getting lost in it, because I don't yet quite have a feel for its organizational paradigm. The outer doll will give you great results, but the inner dolls will give you great power and control.
It's entirely possible that I've missed or misunderstood important aspects of Axiom and its use. I welcome corrections.
I've been playing guitar for about fifty years, using lots of axes through lots of amps, and, since about 2005, through lots of software. I'm still in the honeymoon phase with Axiom, but it easily surpasses every other sim I've bought or trialed, in every way that I care about.
Let's get the big KVR question out of the way -- Yes. It contains full implementations of Destructor and Late Replies. When you load a Late Replies module, located in the 'Built in Delay and Reverb' menu, into one of the slots, it spawns a new window containing full Late Replies. Clicking the amp's extended controls icon spawns a Destructor window. This works both in the stand-alone app and the VST -- a pretty neat trick.
It also loads VSTs and VST3s, including the ability to load Axiom, Destructor, and Late Replies inside themselves and each other. This is contrary to the laws of God and nature, and I recommend doing this very carefully, as it totally FUBAR'ed my sound when I did it. But it is an attractive forbidden behavior. You can also load VST Instruments and they will respond if they have a built-in keyboard or pads, and I'm trying to figure out how I can take advantage of this and why I should want to.
Almost all controls can be exposed for MIDI learn, so some truly twisted possibilities present themselves.
At the core is sweet, luscious TONE, from teeth-aching clean to dirty, sinful high-gain rock. The foundation for that is the magic in Destructor, with its dynamic response curves. It feels like an amp. It has touch.
I put Chris Johnson's free Airwindows Guitar Conditioner in the first slot, and this takes it that final step in clarity, articulation, and note separation.
You can just just load presets and thoroughly enjoy playing through Axiom, but it's also the deepest multi-FX I've ever played with. This is very good, but means you have to work, because there are sooo many places to intervene in your sound, some of them not obvious. At least, not obvious to me.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around Axiom after monkeying with it for about ten hours. There's no manual yet. It's like a Matrioshka Doll -- you open up one container, and find another container inside it, and another inside that one, and so on. This is fascinating, and I find that I have to work to avoid getting lost in it, because I don't yet quite have a feel for its organizational paradigm. The outer doll will give you great results, but the inner dolls will give you great power and control.
It's entirely possible that I've missed or misunderstood important aspects of Axiom and its use. I welcome corrections.
Last edited by GreyLion on Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:44 am, edited 8 times in total.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
The signal flow is the usual up-to-down, left to right path. With multiple and sometimes unpredictable tributaries along the way.
There are two entirely separate channels in the mid section of the GUI, each with it's own settings, Destructor amplifiers, and pre- and post-FX slots. You can mix and pan them to taste. But you can only see one at a time. I don't see how BCA could have avoided this without making an insanely huge GUI.
If your sound isn't what you think it ought to be, this is the first place to check. Turn channels on or off, look at them to see what their settings and inserts are, and their pan and volume controls.
Here's what a Channel A and Channel B switch looks like.
* *
You have to click into the rounded rectangles for A or B at the top center section to switch between channels. As far as I can determine, choosing a preset at the very top will only instantiate it in Channel A, and will turn off Channel B. However, you can choose presets for each one by clicking the three horizontal bars (Menu) at the right side of each channel.
***
There are presets all over the place -- globally for the whole of Axiom, for each channel, for each inserted effect, for the amps, for Destructor and Late Replies. And Blue Cat told me that they've only begin to create many more, especially groups that will emulate specific gear, which is a huge marketing point. Us guitarists love our Fenders and Marshalls and Soldanos and Voxes and Engls, and playing through them makes us much more talented.
The thing to be aware of is that the global presets affect everything from the beginning of the chain to the end, and channel settings affect everything in the channel, such as effects and amp settings. There are, however, many places to lock settings. Lock for the 'Lock' icon, as in Destructor.
There are two entirely separate channels in the mid section of the GUI, each with it's own settings, Destructor amplifiers, and pre- and post-FX slots. You can mix and pan them to taste. But you can only see one at a time. I don't see how BCA could have avoided this without making an insanely huge GUI.
If your sound isn't what you think it ought to be, this is the first place to check. Turn channels on or off, look at them to see what their settings and inserts are, and their pan and volume controls.
Here's what a Channel A and Channel B switch looks like.
* *
You have to click into the rounded rectangles for A or B at the top center section to switch between channels. As far as I can determine, choosing a preset at the very top will only instantiate it in Channel A, and will turn off Channel B. However, you can choose presets for each one by clicking the three horizontal bars (Menu) at the right side of each channel.
***
There are presets all over the place -- globally for the whole of Axiom, for each channel, for each inserted effect, for the amps, for Destructor and Late Replies. And Blue Cat told me that they've only begin to create many more, especially groups that will emulate specific gear, which is a huge marketing point. Us guitarists love our Fenders and Marshalls and Soldanos and Voxes and Engls, and playing through them makes us much more talented.
The thing to be aware of is that the global presets affect everything from the beginning of the chain to the end, and channel settings affect everything in the channel, such as effects and amp settings. There are, however, many places to lock settings. Lock for the 'Lock' icon, as in Destructor.
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Last edited by GreyLion on Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Random observations:
The pitch shifter is probably the best I've ever seen. Fast tracking, accuracy, and no glitches. The octave down setting is finally usable, even on low strings and unfuzzed. It has the usual chipmunk problem, especially when shifting up, and I'm trying to think of a way to insert some sort of formant controller to improve that when I use it. But it's really good as-is.
All of the built-in effects that I've tried are also excellent, though the ability to load your favorite VSTs, a feature first available in Revalver, I think, makes them a little redundant for us long-time GAS victims. But I plan to always try them first, just because integration is good for CPU usually.
A fairly baseline global preset uses about 14% of CPU in Reaper for me. I'm running an old rig, Windows 7 x64 with an AMD Phenom II X4 920 at 2.8 GHz, and can happily get no glitches or drops at 128 samples through my SPL Crimson.
There are still a few rough edges -- this is a v1.0 release after all. However, for me at least, they've been speed-bumps in the learning curve, not even really annoying or show-stoppers. I've encountered a very few VST3s that crash the stand-alone app to desktop, and crash Reaper v5.77 to desktop -- but only when I try to cut them from their insert slot. They load and work fine until then. BCA is investigating this. Save early when adding new plugs. I haven't yet found a VST 2.4 that crashes.
There is no drag and drop for plug slots, so I'd suggest that you leave the first slot or two empty when monkeying around. However, cut and paste works fine for moving plugs. BCA says they're planning to add drag and drop later.
This software will be a paradise for the type of person who embraces Reaper -- Geeks, in other words. It's complex, has more options and signal branches than you can hold inside your head, and can be highly configured with your own presets at all levels. People who just want to fire it up and wank out will benefit from the presets, which are already delightful and hopefully soon to multiply. But they won't understand what's going on and will have to invest time in a learning curve if they want to do more. Having a huge number of global presets for these types will be critical, I think.
I really like that you can display the controls for each plugin inserted in one of the slots, in a strip below the plug after you've selected it, without opening the plug's GUI. INCLUDING INSERTED VSTS. This is revelatory for us tweakers.
I like the cab sims based on filtering that Destructor/Axiom uses. However, I like even more plugging in a stereo IR loader like 3Sigma's Impulsive, at the end of the master chain in Axiom. Axiom sounds real. Guitar Conditioner at the front and Impulsive with good IRs at the back sounds even more real, to me.
I'm on a 4K monitor, and small plugs, especially complex ones, are no longer usable. Axiom and all of its effects can be resized up to 200%. With external inserted VST controls exposed, I can use *some* smaller ones again! Big win for BCA!
The pitch shifter is probably the best I've ever seen. Fast tracking, accuracy, and no glitches. The octave down setting is finally usable, even on low strings and unfuzzed. It has the usual chipmunk problem, especially when shifting up, and I'm trying to think of a way to insert some sort of formant controller to improve that when I use it. But it's really good as-is.
All of the built-in effects that I've tried are also excellent, though the ability to load your favorite VSTs, a feature first available in Revalver, I think, makes them a little redundant for us long-time GAS victims. But I plan to always try them first, just because integration is good for CPU usually.
A fairly baseline global preset uses about 14% of CPU in Reaper for me. I'm running an old rig, Windows 7 x64 with an AMD Phenom II X4 920 at 2.8 GHz, and can happily get no glitches or drops at 128 samples through my SPL Crimson.
There are still a few rough edges -- this is a v1.0 release after all. However, for me at least, they've been speed-bumps in the learning curve, not even really annoying or show-stoppers. I've encountered a very few VST3s that crash the stand-alone app to desktop, and crash Reaper v5.77 to desktop -- but only when I try to cut them from their insert slot. They load and work fine until then. BCA is investigating this. Save early when adding new plugs. I haven't yet found a VST 2.4 that crashes.
There is no drag and drop for plug slots, so I'd suggest that you leave the first slot or two empty when monkeying around. However, cut and paste works fine for moving plugs. BCA says they're planning to add drag and drop later.
This software will be a paradise for the type of person who embraces Reaper -- Geeks, in other words. It's complex, has more options and signal branches than you can hold inside your head, and can be highly configured with your own presets at all levels. People who just want to fire it up and wank out will benefit from the presets, which are already delightful and hopefully soon to multiply. But they won't understand what's going on and will have to invest time in a learning curve if they want to do more. Having a huge number of global presets for these types will be critical, I think.
I really like that you can display the controls for each plugin inserted in one of the slots, in a strip below the plug after you've selected it, without opening the plug's GUI. INCLUDING INSERTED VSTS. This is revelatory for us tweakers.
I like the cab sims based on filtering that Destructor/Axiom uses. However, I like even more plugging in a stereo IR loader like 3Sigma's Impulsive, at the end of the master chain in Axiom. Axiom sounds real. Guitar Conditioner at the front and Impulsive with good IRs at the back sounds even more real, to me.
I'm on a 4K monitor, and small plugs, especially complex ones, are no longer usable. Axiom and all of its effects can be resized up to 200%. With external inserted VST controls exposed, I can use *some* smaller ones again! Big win for BCA!
Last edited by GreyLion on Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:02 am, edited 3 times in total.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
FINAL THOUGHT
Everybody talks about software that will kill other software, and they're generally wrong. Marketing plays too big a part.
However -- on a technical level and guitaristic level, and based on the power, flexibility, and the sheer ear candy that Axiom effortlessly provides, this amp sim is next-gen. BCA has made some sort of break-through. And has integrated a bunch of separate first-class effects and technologies to create a whole that is greater than the parts. I still find it intimidating to use, but that's the cost of power.
I've already uninstalled Amplitube because of Destructor. I've got half a dozen other sims that I'll likely uninstall once I get out of the honeymoon phase with Axiom. It has killed them all.
And one last bit of hyperbole -- Axiom isn't quite there yet, but... If you're an obsessive tweaker, and you don't want to spend $2K+ for Fractal's hardware, you should audition it.
Axiom invades the market for AxeFX II, which proclaims its magic algos and infinite tweakability as being unmatchable. But nobody stays king forever in the land of software. We'll see how this plays out.
Everybody talks about software that will kill other software, and they're generally wrong. Marketing plays too big a part.
However -- on a technical level and guitaristic level, and based on the power, flexibility, and the sheer ear candy that Axiom effortlessly provides, this amp sim is next-gen. BCA has made some sort of break-through. And has integrated a bunch of separate first-class effects and technologies to create a whole that is greater than the parts. I still find it intimidating to use, but that's the cost of power.
I've already uninstalled Amplitube because of Destructor. I've got half a dozen other sims that I'll likely uninstall once I get out of the honeymoon phase with Axiom. It has killed them all.
And one last bit of hyperbole -- Axiom isn't quite there yet, but... If you're an obsessive tweaker, and you don't want to spend $2K+ for Fractal's hardware, you should audition it.
Axiom invades the market for AxeFX II, which proclaims its magic algos and infinite tweakability as being unmatchable. But nobody stays king forever in the land of software. We'll see how this plays out.
Last edited by GreyLion on Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Oh, one last bit --
See that Tools area at the bottom center of the GUI? It has three insert slots, and a left-right control after each. I can insert effects. The menu icon has a dropdown with a header for Select Tools Rack -- but no presets or defined racks.
I can't get it to pass audio. I have no idea what it's for.
It's driving me a little crazy.
See that Tools area at the bottom center of the GUI? It has three insert slots, and a left-right control after each. I can insert effects. The menu icon has a dropdown with a header for Select Tools Rack -- but no presets or defined racks.
I can't get it to pass audio. I have no idea what it's for.
It's driving me a little crazy.
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981
- KVRAF
- 6349 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
Thanks for posting about Axiom. Glad that you like the preview!
Here are a few precisions (which should not be necessary when the manual and full description are officially available
):
About presets: there are indeed several levels of presets: global presets at the top actually store the full state of the plug-in (including input/master and both A and B - it's just that many presets only use a single channel). You can then manage presets for each channel (A and B), or for each effect chain (you can also copy and paste from one chain to another, including input and master effect chains). And at the very bottom of it, there are presets for each hosted plug-in and for amp simulations (fully compatible with Destructor).
About the Tools Rack: it is dedicated to loading virtual instruments, so that you can play along with them - they do not affect the guitar signal and are directly mixed at the output of the plug-in/app. You will typically load a drum machine, a metronome, a sequencer, or a synth. They can all be controlled via MIDI if you have a MIDI keyboard or controller connected to the computer.
About the Pitch Shifter: glad that you like it! It is the same as the pitch shifter included in Late Replies, but it has been greatly improved, with a new "smooth" algorithm that sounds more natural. While the Harmonizer does require pitch tracking (so it only works on monophonic signals), the pitch shifter works differently and accepts multiple notes without any problem (the same applies to the Pitch Bender): you can play shifted chords.
Hope this helps!
Here are a few precisions (which should not be necessary when the manual and full description are officially available
About presets: there are indeed several levels of presets: global presets at the top actually store the full state of the plug-in (including input/master and both A and B - it's just that many presets only use a single channel). You can then manage presets for each channel (A and B), or for each effect chain (you can also copy and paste from one chain to another, including input and master effect chains). And at the very bottom of it, there are presets for each hosted plug-in and for amp simulations (fully compatible with Destructor).
About the Tools Rack: it is dedicated to loading virtual instruments, so that you can play along with them - they do not affect the guitar signal and are directly mixed at the output of the plug-in/app. You will typically load a drum machine, a metronome, a sequencer, or a synth. They can all be controlled via MIDI if you have a MIDI keyboard or controller connected to the computer.
About the Pitch Shifter: glad that you like it! It is the same as the pitch shifter included in Late Replies, but it has been greatly improved, with a new "smooth" algorithm that sounds more natural. While the Harmonizer does require pitch tracking (so it only works on monophonic signals), the pitch shifter works differently and accepts multiple notes without any problem (the same applies to the Pitch Bender): you can play shifted chords.
Hope this helps!
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981
- KVRAF
- 6349 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
By the way, If you want to save CPU, you can switch to "mono to stereo" configuration instead of full stereo. In this case, all input and pre-fx as well as the amp simulations are applied to a mono signal instead of stereo (you can do this unless you want to apply stereo effects before the amp sim). So on some presets you can save up to half the CPU cycles.
To do mono to stereo in the standalone app, just select the "M2S" configuration.
In Reaper you first need to make sure that the "inform plug-in when track channel changes" option is enabled (I don't know why it's not the default btw):

And then select only one input for the plug-in:

The plug-in should show only a single meter for the input and two meters for output. Also, notice the mono icon (a single blue circle) on the pre-fx, and the stereo icon (a blue and a red circle) on the post effects:

To do mono to stereo in the standalone app, just select the "M2S" configuration.
In Reaper you first need to make sure that the "inform plug-in when track channel changes" option is enabled (I don't know why it's not the default btw):

And then select only one input for the plug-in:

The plug-in should show only a single meter for the input and two meters for output. Also, notice the mono icon (a single blue circle) on the pre-fx, and the stereo icon (a blue and a red circle) on the post effects:

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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Thanks for the info, BCA!
Especially about the M2S switch and the Tools Rack.
Back to the woodshed for me.
Though I'm kinda stuck in jamming out with Axiom this evening. It's just so sweet...
Especially about the M2S switch and the Tools Rack.
Back to the woodshed for me.
Though I'm kinda stuck in jamming out with Axiom this evening. It's just so sweet...
- KVRAF
- 1685 posts since 3 Aug, 2017 from San Diego, CA
GreyLion,
This is a fantastic review/first look. BCA was also kind enough to provide me with a preview. I had kind of a crazy weekend, but I did manage to fire off a few emails to Fred after my first impressions, which he kindly answered on a Saturday. I'm sure he's tired of reading my walls of text by now.
I don't have as many years of guitar experience under my belt as GreyLion, but hopefully I can bring a slightly different perspective that's still relevant. GreyLion already touched on the sound of this, which is fantastic. After using Destructor for jamming out at home for some time now, I have been making moves to downsize my rig and primarily use Destructor with a small PA speaker. Destructor is one of the few amp sims I've tried that gets close to having the feel and response of a tube amp, without needing the absurd volume and headroom of a tube power amp. It's amazing how many presets exist in this preview version, to think that there are MANY more on the way ... wow!
Axiom brings the modulation effects together with Destructor to make a complete guitar suite. For those who are exploring the world of utilizing a laptop & interface for live solo play, Axiom becomes really attractive, especially as a standalone app that can also host virtual instruments. Also, just like Patchwork, this program begs to be controlled to the Nth degree with your favorite MIDI controller.
My needs are slightly different than most guitarists. I also play Chapman Stick, which is a stereo instrument that requires separate effect chains for either side of the instrument (essentially bass & guitar chains simultaneously). One feature I hope BCA considers adding is having the ability to assign the audio inputs to the A/B effect chains for those of us who play stereo instruments. At the moment, the workaround for this is loading plugins into the Pre slots and manually assigning audio I/O for each one. While that's ok, that only leaves 4 plugins that can be manipulated independently and affecting different channels.
*Edit: The more effective workaround for my situation would be to just load up two instances of Destructor in to Patchwork.
Additionally, I'm hoping they consider either integrating a metronome into the GUI with the tuner, or adding it as a built-in effect that can be added to one of the slots.
Here's a screenshot of the integrated parameters display in the post section. This seriously the slickest thing I've ever seen in a guitar amp suite. Note that this is with Valhalla Ubermod, not just their integrated effects. (Also assuming this behavior exists with other third party VSTs, but I haven't tried any other third-party modulation effects with it except for Valhallas and Sandman Pro).

This is a fantastic review/first look. BCA was also kind enough to provide me with a preview. I had kind of a crazy weekend, but I did manage to fire off a few emails to Fred after my first impressions, which he kindly answered on a Saturday. I'm sure he's tired of reading my walls of text by now.
I don't have as many years of guitar experience under my belt as GreyLion, but hopefully I can bring a slightly different perspective that's still relevant. GreyLion already touched on the sound of this, which is fantastic. After using Destructor for jamming out at home for some time now, I have been making moves to downsize my rig and primarily use Destructor with a small PA speaker. Destructor is one of the few amp sims I've tried that gets close to having the feel and response of a tube amp, without needing the absurd volume and headroom of a tube power amp. It's amazing how many presets exist in this preview version, to think that there are MANY more on the way ... wow!
Axiom brings the modulation effects together with Destructor to make a complete guitar suite. For those who are exploring the world of utilizing a laptop & interface for live solo play, Axiom becomes really attractive, especially as a standalone app that can also host virtual instruments. Also, just like Patchwork, this program begs to be controlled to the Nth degree with your favorite MIDI controller.
My needs are slightly different than most guitarists. I also play Chapman Stick, which is a stereo instrument that requires separate effect chains for either side of the instrument (essentially bass & guitar chains simultaneously). One feature I hope BCA considers adding is having the ability to assign the audio inputs to the A/B effect chains for those of us who play stereo instruments. At the moment, the workaround for this is loading plugins into the Pre slots and manually assigning audio I/O for each one. While that's ok, that only leaves 4 plugins that can be manipulated independently and affecting different channels.
*Edit: The more effective workaround for my situation would be to just load up two instances of Destructor in to Patchwork.
Additionally, I'm hoping they consider either integrating a metronome into the GUI with the tuner, or adding it as a built-in effect that can be added to one of the slots.
Here's a screenshot of the integrated parameters display in the post section. This seriously the slickest thing I've ever seen in a guitar amp suite. Note that this is with Valhalla Ubermod, not just their integrated effects. (Also assuming this behavior exists with other third party VSTs, but I haven't tried any other third-party modulation effects with it except for Valhallas and Sandman Pro).

Last edited by Tappistry on Tue Mar 27, 2018 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRist
- 418 posts since 30 Oct, 2014
Oh man this is getting me fired up! Love Destructor and can’t wait to try this. How far away is the release?
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3382 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Thanks, Tappistry! My days of playing out are pretty much behind me, but yeah, I could see using this as the processor for a live rig. Like I said, I think that Axiom could cover some of the same turf as AxeFX does now, and I can see setting up a laptop loaded with your best VST effects plugs loaded into the chain, and controlling it all via MIDI, as being a valid alternative to buying Fractal's unit. After all, you've already got the hardware, so why duplicate that expense if the software can get you the sounds?
Also -- Chapman Stick! Impressed!
Also -- Chapman Stick! Impressed!
Last edited by GreyLion on Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
- KVRAF
- 1685 posts since 3 Aug, 2017 from San Diego, CA
That’s cool to hear you say that regarding the AxeFX. I don’t have any hands-on experience with them myself, but from the tones I’ve heard in video demos from other YouTubers, I had a feeling it was at least close.GreyLion wrote:Thanks, Tappistry! My days of playing out are pretty much behind me, but yeah, I could seeing using this as the processor for a live rig. Like I said, I think that Axiom could cover some of the same turf as AxeFX does now, and I can see setting up a laptop loaded with your best VST effects plugs loaded into the chain, and controlling it all via MIDI, as being a valid alternative to buying Fractal's unit. After all, you've already got the hardware, so why duplicate that expense if the software can get you the sounds?
Also -- Chapman Stick! Impressed!
Don’t be too impressed by my Chapman Stick playing yet. Go look up Greg Howard or Bob Culbertson if you really want to see/hear some talent.
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- KVRAF
- 9521 posts since 6 Oct, 2004
I hope there will be the ability to have open panelsBlue Cat Audio wrote: there are indeed several levels of presets:
(or pin-able menus for smaller groups) of the various preset groups,
rather than having an arcade-like experience
vying with multi-nested menus, followed by the memory gymnastics
needed to retain what was discovered with the mouse-riffing skills.
Magnified by the voluminous number of controls...
I offer U-he Hive synthesizer as an example, press a 'presets' button,
and the main synth controls are replaced with a large panel
filled with presets, and on the left side, the various groupings of presets
that are on offer. Some basic controls are available on the preset panel,
pitchbend and modwheel, and settings for portamento, vibrato mod,
and individual up-down settings for pitchbend, with buttons that
open more controls beneath the panel...where a guitar-related
pedal-board or Bitwig style effect chain could be opened in axiom,
not that synth-lovers, and singsters wouldn't find comfort.
So the player clicks twice to load any preset from the defaults/favorites,
or three clicks for any other preset, and navigates the columns
of preset names, if needed, by arrow-keys or mouse.
Well, enough yammering on, I fired up the Destructor demo again,
and the sound is still shockingly good. Looking forward
to the Axiom release announcement.
(thanks much to those sharing their 'early replies' concerning
the new product. Twitch...
Cheers
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981
- KVRAF
- 6349 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
We said Q2 and we are still on track!Twrogstudio wrote:Oh man this is getting me fired up! Love Destructor and can’t wait to try this. How far away is the release?
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Blue Cat Audio Blue Cat Audio https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39981
- KVRAF
- 6349 posts since 8 Sep, 2004 from Paris (France)
glokraw wrote: (thanks much to those sharing their 'early replies' concerning
the new product. Twitch......twitch_twitch....
