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Fractal Audio axe-fx ultra, User Manual

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Fractal Audio axe-fx ultra User Manual Download Page 19

Getting Set Up

16

chain. If the power amp is a tube amp you may want to bypass the Axe-Fx power amp simulations 
as well. This can be done via the 

GLOBAL

 menu, or per-preset by turning the 

SAG

 control fully 

counter-clockwise..

As a Preamp / Processor Into a Full-Range System

In this configuration the Axe-Fx is providing all distortion and tone-shaping. The output of the Axe-
Fx is connected to a full-range sound reinforcement system. Since the system is full-range the Axe-
Fx’s cabinet simulation should be active.

The configuration shown would be typical of using the Axe-Fx straight into a FOH mixer. Your 
sound man would then send you your sound back into your stage monitor(s).

You can also use this configuration without the mixer as a stage rig. Simply connect the Axe-Fx 
into a power amp and full-range speakers for the ultimate in tonal flexibility.

Summary of Contents for axe-fx ultra

Page 1: ...Axe Fx Pre Amp Effects Processor User s Manual UL TRA UL TRA Firmware Rev 5 xx...

Page 2: ...g 22 Moving Effects 23 Editing Effects 23 Effect Mixer 23 Output Mixer 25 Attaching Controllers 25 Saving Presets 25 Recalling Presets 25 The Effects 27 Noise Gate 27 Compressor 27 Gate Expander 28 Mu...

Page 3: ...81 Controllers and Modifiers 82 Tempo 82 LFO s 83 ADSR s 83 Sequencer 84 Envelope 84 Pitch 84 External Controllers 85 Modifiers 85 Global Parameters 88 Tuner 90 Utilities 91 LCD 91 Preset 91 Status 92...

Page 4: ...Hz 4 Keep power cord in good condition Do not kink bend or pinch If power cord becomes damaged discard and replace 5 If not using your Axe Fx Ultra for extended periods of time disconnect from AC main...

Page 5: ...an radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interferen...

Page 6: ...ompetition was fierce with each manufacturer trying to one up the other by cramming more and more into their boxes Ultimately and unfortunately this has led to digital s demise As engineering gave way...

Page 7: ...mory The UltraTM contains a large selection of effects and sub algorithms not present in the regular Axe Fx and is geared toward serious studio and live use The UltraTM is equally at home in a FOH or...

Page 8: ...ee of flexibility that you do not get with other processors In our wah example this allows you to set the sweep range Q and other parameters Most modeling processors do not allow this level of control...

Page 9: ...as most effects have a basic setup page allowing quick access to the most used parameters Controllability Many of the parameters in the Axe Fx are controllable in real time Both internal and external...

Page 10: ...g algorithms Many of the algorithms in the Axe Fx replicate patterns that occur in nature this is where our company name was derived from The reverb algorithm replicates the sound of a real room the c...

Page 11: ...m the signal path Only high quality film capacitors and precision metal film resistors are used in the signal path assuring low noise and low distortion performance These features also allow the Axe F...

Page 12: ...is always left to right We ll cover routing in more detail later Every effect has a common input output structure The input sums the outputs of the effects that feed into the effect Each effect can ha...

Page 13: ...Introduction 10 Figure 3 Output Mixer...

Page 14: ...d cables mic cables The unbalanced outputs are intended for connecting to a power amp or other unbalanced equipment The GND LIFT switch lifts the shield ground on the balanced outputs If you get hum u...

Page 15: ...ptacle Front Panel Figure 5 shows the front panel of the Axe Fx Figure 5 Front Panel 1 Status Warning Indicators These four LED s consist of EDITED Lit if the current preset has been edited reminding...

Page 16: ...he edit pages for that effect Pressing EDIT again switches to the next effect in the grid CONTROL Pressing CONTROL brings up the menu pages for the internal controllers These are TEMPO LFO1 LFO2 ADSR1...

Page 17: ...he levels too high may result in clipping of the attached equipment The Axe Fx is capable of delivering about 18 dBu maximum with level controls at full 6 Instr Plug your guitar into this jack This in...

Page 18: ...mp s preamp stage In this configuration you are using the amp in the Axe Fx s effects loop As a Preamp Processor Into a Power Amp and Guitar Cabinet s In this configuration the Axe Fx is providing all...

Page 19: ...ortion and tone shaping The output of the Axe Fx is connected to a full range sound reinforcement system Since the system is full range the Axe Fx s cabinet simulation should be active The configurati...

Page 20: ...configures the primary input source Setting the INPUT SOURCE to ANALOG FRONT or ANALOG REAR configures the unit to slave all clocks to the internal 48 kHz word clock Setting to DIGITAL selects the DI...

Page 21: ...copies the left data to the right channel and outputs this to both connectors MIDI Configuration The MIDI page configures the MIDI parameters and preset mapping of the Axe Fx The Axe Fx contains memor...

Page 22: ...he navigation buttons and turn the value dial until PEDAL 2 is displayed or use the Auto Learn function Now when you attach a modifier to the Wah s CTRL knob simply select EXTRN 1 as the control sourc...

Page 23: ...inuous pedals are normally used for real time continuous control of effect or global parameters i e volume The other types are normally used for bypass control or preset switching It is important to u...

Page 24: ...led PRESET DECR Chooses which pedal to use to decrement the preset PRESET START END When using a footswitch to control preset increment decrement the preset recalled will range between these values wr...

Page 25: ...et s place another effect in the block to the right of the compressor Move to that position using the navigation buttons and the using the dial wheel select CHORUS 1 Press ENTER to place the effect Ro...

Page 26: ...Most effects have a MIX page like this The MIX page allows you to control the mix level panning and bypass mode of the effect On some effects these controls may be duplicated on other pages as they ar...

Page 27: ...e turned on or off without changing the direct signal level For non mixable effects such as equalization Graphic EQ Wah distortion Amplifier and Cabinet Emulation the bypass mode is one of two states...

Page 28: ...more details Saving Presets All editing in the Axe Fx modifies data in what s known as the edit buffer Upon saving the contents of the edit buffer are written to a memory location If a new preset is...

Page 29: ...you wish to load from and the effect in that preset that you wish to load and then press ENTER The parameters of that effect will be loaded into the same effect in the edit buffer This is useful when...

Page 30: ...ward expansion ratio For example if the threshold is set to 50 dB and the input level is 60 dB and the ratio is 2 0 the input will be attenuated by 20 dB RELEASE Release rate control Sets the rate at...

Page 31: ...selected compression ratio abruptly at the threshold With high compression ratios a hard knee may produce undesirable artifacts In this case set the knee type to SOFT MAKEUP Makeup gain When this is o...

Page 32: ...e rows feeding the block as the sidechain source The other settings allow isolating a single row as the sidechain input The other rows are summed as usual By using a row as the sidechain input you can...

Page 33: ...he one in the Drive module In the 60 s guitarists began experimenting with booster pedals to increase the signal level into their amplifiers This increased the amount of distortion their amps would pr...

Page 34: ...r with band centers at 63 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 and 8000 Hz Each band can boost or cut up to 12 dB Simply select the desired band with navigation buttons and use the value dial to vary the gain T...

Page 35: ...d and clipping even though the apparent volume is low Reduce the block output level if this occurs GAIN Sets the gain of the filter TYPE The first and last bands have a selectable filter type This par...

Page 36: ...comb filters in parallel By tuning the comb filters a metallic or resonant timbre can be achieved from normally non musical signals The Resonator works best on transient signals like speech or percuss...

Page 37: ...the resonance of the selected filter by varying the feedback FILTER LOC n Selects the position of the bandpass for the selected filter FILTER Q n Sets the Q of the selected bandpass filter LEVEL n Set...

Page 38: ...ll be 2 Hz 120 bpm 60 seconds 2 To ignore the global tempo set the tempo control to NONE Advanced Parameters BASS Adjusts the bass response of the wet signal The bass can be boost or cut up to 12 dB T...

Page 39: ...he depth of the secondary LFO Quad Chorus The Axe Fx UltraTM Quad Chorus is the ultimate chorus effect Four independent chorus units are modulated by four separate LFO s The result is an incredibly lu...

Page 40: ...nimum time delay of the chorus unit LEVEL Sets the output level of the chorus unit PAN Sets the panning of the chorus unit in the stereo field DEPTH Sets the depth of the modulation applied to the cho...

Page 41: ...me slightly out of sync and created the classic wooshing sound A great example of this is in the Doobie Brother s song Listen to the Music during the bridge Basic Parameters TIME Adjusts the nominal d...

Page 42: ...the corner frequency of the bass control TREBLE FREQ Adjusts the corner frequency of the treble control LFO PHASE Adjusts the phase difference between the left and right lfo waveforms For maximum ster...

Page 43: ...set the order to four and use low feedback For more pronounced effects increase the order Turning this control fully clockwise puts the Phaser into Vibe Mode where the frequency spacings are fixed In...

Page 44: ...ame to discover the wonderful tones of the Leslie cabinet and it s brethren The classic Leslie cabinet is comprised of a spinning drum with a slot in it and a rotating horn called a rotor A low freque...

Page 45: ...legacy but with modern reliability and control Also the unique control input processing of the Axe Fx eliminates the zipper effect common to many remotely controlled wahs A wah is actually a very stra...

Page 46: ...ormants are resonances in instruments cabinets and in this case the human vocal tract that give sounds their character The human vocal tract generates a handful of formants that produce the vowel soun...

Page 47: ...ession can be achieved while still rendering speech intelligible Although it never really gained acceptance for that application it later found usefulness as a means of encrypting speech for wartime c...

Page 48: ...change the character of the vocoding and produce anonymous mob informant or chipmunk effects HPMIX Sets the amount of highpass filtered signal to mix in with the synthesis output This can be used to i...

Page 49: ...e TEMPO Locks the rate to the global tempo For example if the global tempo is 120 bpm and the tempo is set to a quarter note 1 4 then the LFO rate will be 2 Hz 120 bpm 60 seconds 2 To ignore the globa...

Page 50: ...left and right delay time and feedback allowing for modern stereo delay sounds The Ping Pong mode criss crosses the signal so that the echoes ping pong left and right The Dual mode allows full control...

Page 51: ...Note that this is different than the PAN control on the MIX page which controls the panning of the mixed sound This control only effects the wet signal TEMPO Locks the time to the global tempo For exa...

Page 52: ...o the echo like an old tube based tape delay This control has no effect when using the Reverse delay type Ping Pong Delay TIME Sets the time of the delay lines time between echoes FEEDBK Sets the amou...

Page 53: ...choes FEEDBK Sets the amount of delay feedback This controls how many repeats are heard Use caution as instability can occur with the reverse type with certain parameter settings ECHO PAN Controls the...

Page 54: ...onse to your playing The volume of the echoes then increases when you stop playing ATTENUATION Sets the attenuation depth of the ducker A setting of 20 dB for example will decrease the echoes by 20 dB...

Page 55: ...layback to the beginning allowing for stutter effects STACK Pressing this adds the audio input to the existing phrase Pressing it again stops the addition The existing audio is faded every time throug...

Page 56: ...The Effects 53 Plex Delay Plex Detune Plex Shift Band Delay...

Page 57: ...this to vary all the frequency values in real time This can be used to achieve a wah like effect on the echoes MASTER Q Scales all the Q values Attach a controller to this to vary all the Q values in...

Page 58: ...ing will tend to smear the echoes SHIFT Sets the amount of pitch shift for the delay line for the Plex Shift type FREQ Sets the center frequency of the delay line output filter Q Sets the Q of the del...

Page 59: ...atio of the left delay time to the right in stereo mode PAN SHAPE Controls the shape of the panning as a function of tap number The repeats can slowly move from one side to the other increasing decrea...

Page 60: ...ples of a sixteenth note Diffusor The Diffusor is comprised of four two second diffusers in series A diffuser smears transients and can be used as a type of reverb for creating interesting ambience ef...

Page 61: ...p number This parameter controls the rate at which the pans change with tap number TIME RANDOMIZE Controls how much the tap spacing is randomized Reverb Aside from distortion no effect is probably mor...

Page 62: ...The mix page is the standard mixer The advanced page allows for more in depth editing and contains all the adjustable parameters except for the mixer parameters Parameters TYPE Selects the reverb typ...

Page 63: ...ELAY This controls the relationship between the early reflections and the reverb tail This allows a 50 change in the early reflections initial delay The size control automatically sets the time betwee...

Page 64: ...l sound The cabinet contributes to the sound of a preset at least as much the amplifier type If you re not getting the exact sound you re looking for try a different cabinet simulation Of course there...

Page 65: ...ry similar to the Brownface model but a little more mellow The tone stack is also slightly different giving it just a bit different voicing Class A A medium gain emulation based on an early British tu...

Page 66: ...clean channel this type has a full tone with a gentle midrange dip The power amp is punchy and clean but can be driven into light distortion if desired Sounds best with the drive turned up fairly hig...

Page 67: ...gain for more grind This simulation features quite a bit of high frequency emphasis along with a modified British tone stack Capable of searing rhythm and lead tones Big Hair Spandex studded wrist ban...

Page 68: ...er the control when the bright circuit is active If the original amp did not have a treble peaker circuit the bright switch uses circuit values most suited to an amp of that type On some amps the effe...

Page 69: ...ve new and different tones Be careful in setting the tone controls as extreme settings along with high gain can cause pickup squealing or excessive noise This is especially true with the active contro...

Page 70: ...simulation MSTR VOL This the Master Volume is a very important control It determines the drive to the power amp simulator A higher setting increases the distortion contributed by the power amp simula...

Page 71: ...ol also works However if you change the tone stack type to anything other than the default the frequency reading will not necessarily be correct although the control will still alter the frequency XFO...

Page 72: ...ilable 1x6 Oval 6x9 oval like in an automobile speaker used in some early amplifiers Match this up with a Plexi model and crank out some Zep 1x8 Tweed Single 8 speaker Good match for the Blues distort...

Page 73: ...are popular for micing guitar cabinets LINK When ON the right channel speaker and mic type change when the left channel type is changed allowing for quick evaluation of the various types You can still...

Page 74: ...Dist A screaming distortion sound good for overdriving low gain amps Based on the legendary Japanese pedal used by many famous artists Fat Dist A thick medium gain distortion sound with a low midrang...

Page 75: ...determine pitch from By using the internal detector the pitch block is always obtaining pitch information even when you stop playing The integrated detector may not work as well however if the data i...

Page 76: ...Multiplies the delay values by this amount MASTER FEEDBACK Multiplies the feedback values by this amount MASTER PAN Multiplies the pan values by this amount MASTER LEVEL Multiplies the level values by...

Page 77: ...c Set to CUSTOM to use custom scale tones see below TRACK MODE Sets mode in which the harmony will track the input SMOOTH allows the harmony note to follow bends and vibrato in the input STEPPED locks...

Page 78: ...length For large shifts this control can help improve the quality of the shifted note Octave Divider The Octave Divider creates two new notes one and two octaves below the input This effect simulates...

Page 79: ...again DIRECTION Sets the direction of the splice playback Try setting to REVERSE for spacey effects FEEDBACK TYPE Selects the type of feedback DUAL sends the individual voices back to their respectiv...

Page 80: ...and resets to the beginning Attach the envelope follower controller to this to re trigger the sequence on each new note TEMPO Sets the tempo at which the sequencer steps GLIDE TIME Sets the rate at w...

Page 81: ...he smoothest while the square and ramp types are more buzzy TRACK Selects the type of input tracking OFF allows the frequency and level to be set manually via the FREQ and LEVEL controls ENV ONLY sele...

Page 82: ...esired enhancement and frequency response INVERT Allows inversion of the left or right channel if desired Use in conjunction with the width control to adjust frequency and apparent widening PAN Someti...

Page 83: ...each row The Mixer allows you to fine tune levels or cross fade between effects This is especially useful for cross fading amps or delays Each gain control corresponds to a row in the routing matrix...

Page 84: ...on is 20 dB at midscale Feedback Send Return The Feedback Send and Return blocks allow you to feedback sound from one point in the routing to any other point The Send block has no parameters while the...

Page 85: ...meters can be set to depend on it To use the tempo controller simply set the TEMPO parameter of the effect to the desired note duration To set the Tempo either turn the knob or tap the desired tempo i...

Page 86: ...ntrol ADSR s The Axe Fx contains two Attack Decay Sustain Release ADSR generators These can be use to generate sequences that can then be used to control parameters The graph shows the relative shape...

Page 87: ...mple if STAGES is 3 the sequencer will step through the stages as 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 etc STAGEn Sets the value at that stage of the sequence NOTE The Sequencer features a random sequence generator When in...

Page 88: ...ing of an effect output Often times though you will want to manipulate the data from a controller A modifier allows you to change the response of a parameter to a given controller The first step in us...

Page 89: ...ransform The resulting curve is multiplied by this value OFFSET Sets the offset The curve is offset by this value The SCALE and OFFSET parameters allow the user to position the modifier and control th...

Page 90: ...s response especially if the pedal s potentiometer has gotten scratchy AUTO ENG When set to ON automatically engages the target effect block when activity occurs on the connected controller This can b...

Page 91: ...you are using the Axe Fx with a tube amp CABINET Turning the CABINET to BYPASSED bypasses the Cabinet blocks in all presets Use this when you are using the Axe Fx into an amplifier guitar cabinet setu...

Page 92: ...om Shifter mode of the Pitch block or other non standard harmonic relationships To program a custom scale simply choose the desired location number where to store the scale parameters Up to 32 scales...

Page 93: ...age allows you to configure the tuner and the third page allows you to enter custom tuning offsets CAL This sets the reference frequency for the tuner MUTE When set to ON this mutes the sound out of t...

Page 94: ...your librarian device or PC be sure to name the saved data to indicate the bank in which the data originated i e BankA syx This will eliminate confusion if the need arises to restore a bank It is goo...

Page 95: ...CPU if set to 8 voices and with controllers attached to all its parameters However it normally only uses a few percent The Axe Fx assumes the worst case and checks to see if CPU utilization is less t...

Page 96: ...difference in sound Try placing EQ before AND after the amplifier block Subtle EQ adjustments can tighten up the sound or increase the depth The Axe Fx has a lot of EQ resources for just this reason T...

Page 97: ...he SAG control in the Amp block to zero Since you are running into a guitar speaker or speakers turn the Cabinet Simulation off in your Axe Fx either by disabling it globally via the GLOBAL menu or by...

Page 98: ...es or harsh chemicals as these can damage the finish of the unit If your unit is malfunctioning do not attempt to service it yourself The Axe Fx is more like a computer than a tube amp and has no user...

Page 99: ...enters Unauthorized service repair or modification will void this warranty DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF WARRANTY THE FOREGOING WARRANTY IS THE ONLY WARRANTY GIVEN BY FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS AND IS IN LI...

Page 100: ...l bandwidth Analog Outputs Connectors 1 4 phone jack unbalanced XLR balanced for main output Impedance 100 ohm Max Output Level 18 dBu Dynamic Range 105 dB Frequency Response 20 20kHz 0 3 dB Crosstalk...

Page 101: ...88 x 305 mm Weight 10 lbs 4 5 kg Input Voltage 100 to 240 VAC 47 63 Hz universal input Power Consumption 10 W Backup Battery Life 10 years Backup Battery Type CR2450 Lithium Environmental Operating T...

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