Axe-Fx II
The previous-generation Fractal rack processor, running the Ares firmware line. Eight scenes per preset, X/Y switching in every block, a Tone Match block the newer devices do not have, and an onboard IR capture utility. Discontinued but very widely gigged.
If your blocks have channels A to D rather than X and Y, you have a current-generation device — read the Axe-Fx III, FM9 or FM3 guide. Presets and firmware do not cross between the two generations.
The pages that exist nowhere else
Scenes and X/Y
Eight scenes and two variants per block — and why everything written about channels describes a different device.
What the effect names really are
Every model Fractal themselves describe — and an honest account of the ones they don't.
Troubleshooting
Symptom, cause, fix — including what is documented behaviour rather than a fault.
Controls
Every front-panel control on an interactive diagram, including the X and Y buttons that define this generation.
Inputs and outputs
Every jack on an interactive rear panel, plus the front jack that needs a menu setting to work.
Specifications
The numbers that answer a question, and what differs between the original, Mark II, XL and XL+.
Scenes and X/Y
Eight scenes and two variants per block — and why everything written about channels describes a different device.
What the effect names really are
Every model Fractal themselves describe — and an honest account of the ones they don't.
Levels
Input trim, output level and preset level do three different jobs. The first one does not change your tone, however much it looks like it should.
Cabs and user IRs
What a User Cab is, how to get one onto the unit, and the file extension that looks right and does nothing.
Rig setup
Studio, live with an MFC-101, into a real amp, or matching a reference tone.
MIDI
Why Fractal MIDI works differently from everyone else's, and the mapping that lets a one-message controller drive a scene-based rig.
Questions and answers
Straight answers to the things people actually ask.
Troubleshooting
Symptom, cause, fix — including what is documented behaviour rather than a fault.
Firmware and backups
Presets live in banks of 128, so backing up "your presets" usually backs up a quarter of them. Plus the version note that saves you later.
Glossary
Scene, X/Y, Tone Match, Humbuster, FASLINK, Ares, Cygnus.