Atomic AmpliFire User Manual

USER MANUAL

V 1.0

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..........................4

CONNECTION DIAGRAM. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 5

CONNECTORS .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 6-7

EFFECTS & SIGNAL CHAIN ...............8

PRE EFFECTS. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 9

AMPS ......................................10

FX-LOOP. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 11

POST EFFECTS. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 12

CABINET MODELING. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 12-13

SELECTING PRESETS .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 13

QUICK EDIT - TWEAK KNOBS. . . .. . . .. . . . 13

DEEP EDIT - PRESET PARAMETERS . . . . 14

MENU DIAGRAM . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 15

SAVING PRESETS .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 16

DEFAULT PRESET ON POWER-UP ......17

DISCARD EDIT? CONFIRM. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 17

PARAMETER SETTINGS ..................18-31

GLOBAL SETTINGS .......................33-36

FOOTSWITCHES ..........................36

FOOTSWITCH MODES. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 36-37

PROGRAMMING FOOTSWITCHES .......37-38

TUNER .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 38

CLIP WARNING. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 38

EXPRESSION PEDALS . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 39-41

MIDI. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 42-43

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing AmpliFire, a world-class amp tone and multi-effects pedal. A powerful and portable device, it is small enough to fit in the front pocket of a gig bag yet potent enough to please even the most discriminating tube amp and effects aficionados.

We designed Amplifire as an instrument that we, as guitar players, wanted for ourselves. This meant it had to sound/feel authentic and amazing while being easy to use, transport and be road rugged.

Amplifire is equally capable of being a complete rig replacement or part of a larger pedal board and/or outboard processing rig.

HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• All new, state-of-the-art amp modeling based on Studio Devil’s highly

acclaimed and patented technology

• Blazing dual-DSP powered hardware allowing for complex and

detailed algorithms

• Stereo 1024 point cabinet impulses with ability to upload 3rd party IRs

• Robust effects selection including drive, modulation, delay, reverb, compression,

eq, gate, etc.

• Dedicated, physical amp control knobs for intuitive tone adjustments

• Pristine studio quality audio quality and ultra low noise floor

• Versatile i/o options including ¼” Hi Z input with proprietary processing, separate stereo ¼” and XLR outputs and user programmable effects loop

• 3 fully configurable and rugged foot switches

• Robust external control of presets parameters via midi and foot switch jacks

• Easy to use as a pedal or desktop device

• PC/Mac editor

• 128 programmable presets

• Field upgradeable firmware

• And much more!

Enjoy!

CONNECTION DIAGRAM

ampli fire

BASS MIDS

TREBLE

SAVE

PRESENCE

LEVEL

PRESET

VALUE

GAIN MASTER

(PUSH TO EDIT)

R L

TO OTHER MIDI EFFECTS PROCESSORS

FROM OTHER

MIDI CONTROLLERS

MIDI FOOT

CONTROLLER

FULL RANGE LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM / P.A.

MP3/MEDIA PLAYER

EFFECTS LOOPAUX OUTPUTS

MAIN OUTS

MIDI

SEND

RETURNS

MIDI OUT

MIDI IN

INSTRUMENT

(

GUITAR OR BASS

)

POWERED AMPS

HEADPHONES

MIXING CONSOLE

OTHER EFFECTS PEDALS

(

WAH, OVERDRIVE, ETC.

)

COMPUTER RECORDING INTERFACE

EFFECTS PEDAL CHAIN

EFFECTS PROCESSOR

CONNECTORS

1. DATA ENTRY ENCODER – used to

select and edit user presets. Turn to select a preset or change a parameter value. Push (click) to select menus for editing presets.

2. BACK BUTTON – used to decrease

preset or to go to previous item in edit menus.

3. SAVE BUTTON WITH LED – used to

save presets. Press once to select destination and new preset name. Press again to commit the save. Press and HOLD for TUNER function. Built-in LED blinks when a preset has been edited but not saved as a warning to save your edits.

4. NEXT BUTTON – used to increase

preset or to go to next item in edit

menus.

5. LCD SCREEN – displays currently

active preset or edited data name and value.

6. GAIN KNOB – adjusts the gain control

of the preamp of the virtual guitar amplifier model.

7. MASTER KNOB – adjusts the master

volume control of the virtual guitar amplifier model.

8. PRESENCE KNOB – adjusts the

presence control of the simulated power amp section of the virtual guitar amplifier model.

9. BASS KNOB – adjusts the bass

equalization control of the tone stack in the virtual guitar amplifier model.

10. MIDS KNOB – adjusts the mids

equalization control of the tone stack in the virtual guitar amplifier model.

11. TREBLE KNOB – adjusts the treble

equalization control of the tone stack in the virtual guitar amplifier model.

12. LEVEL KNOB – sets the output

level of all outputs simultaneously (MAIN outputs, AUX outputs, and HEADPHONES level). This is like an analog output level control.

13. FOOTSWITCH – fully programmable

footswitch for changing presets, enabling individual effects, or selecting tap tempo.

14. DUAL-COLOR LED – indicates the

state of the programmable footswitch. In preset mode, lights up in RED or AMBER to indicate preset A or preset B. In effect enable mode, lights up RED when effect is active. Blinks at repeat rate for TAP TEMPO function.

15. GUITAR INPUT – Hi-Z input for

connecting an electric guitar with a

1/4” phone jack.

16. MAIN OUTPUTS – TRS balanced

(or unbalanced) 1/4” output jacks for connecting to amplifiers, mixers,

computer interfaces, or input channels of other audio devices.

17. HEADPHONE JACK – 1/8” mini jack for

connecting to headphones. REMEMBER

TO USE CAUTION WITH HEADPHONES. EXCESSIVE LOUDNESS IS HARMFUL TO YOUR HEARING AND HEALTH.

18. FX LOOP SEND JACK – 1/4” mono

output jack for connecting to the input of an external effects unit.

19. FX LOOP RETURN / AUX IN JACKS

– stereo 1/4” jacks for connecting to either the outputs of an external effects unit or to an auxiliary music

player. In FX LOOP mode, these act as

a switchable external effect between

the amp modeling and the stereo post effects section. In AUX IN mode, these

act as an auxiliary audio input which can be mixed with your processed

guitar output (for playing along with backing tracks, etc.).

20. MIDI OUT JACK – 5-pin DIN connector for connecting to the MIDI input of

an external effects processor. Allows

synchronizing program changes to an

external processor which may be used

in the effects loop. Also performs an optional MIDI THRU function to merge incoming MIDI data from the

MIDI IN jack.

22. MIDI IN JACK – 5-pin DIN connector

for connecting to the MIDI output of a MIDI controller or MIDI footswitch. Allows for changing presets via program changes and enabling individual effects via continuous controllers.

141

AUX OUTPUT XLR JACKS –

Balanced XLR output jacks for connecting to external mixer

or professional direct recording equipment.

23. DC POWER JACK – for connecting

to a 9 or 12 volt power supply (DC or AC, either polarity), 1A minimum. Accepts a standard

2.1mm coaxial plug (either

polarity).

24. USB CONNECTOR – for

connecting to a host PC. Allows easier editing of presets and uploading custom user cabinet impulse data and firmware via host editing software.

CONNECTORS CONTINUED...

ampli fire

SEND

EFFECTS LOOP / AUX INPUT

RETURN / AUX IN

LEFT (MONO)

MIDI AUX OUTPUT

OUT IN

RIGHT

LEFT

9V (1A)

RIGHT

BASS MIDS

TREBLE

SAVE

PRESENCE

LEVEL

PRESET

VALUE

GAIN MASTER

(PUSH TO EDIT)

SEND

EFFECTS LOOP / AUX INPUT

RETURN / AUX IN

LEFT (MONO)

MIDI AUX OUTPUT

OUT IN

RIGHT

LEFT

9V (1A)

RIGHT

14 14 14

2 3

6 7 8

10 11

13 13 13

EFFECTS AND SIGNAL CHAIN

Amplifire consists of a world-class amp modeling engine and studio quality effects developed by Studio Devil. They are arranged into the following signal chain groups:

Amplifire is capable of running all of these effects:

NOISE GATE

COMPRESSOR

PRE-FILTER

WAH

VOLUME

DISTORTION / OVERDRIVE/ FUZZ

PARAMETRIC EQ / PROGRAMMABLE FILTER

GRAPHIC EQ

TREMOLO / PANNER

CHORUS

FLANGER

PHASER

ECHO MODELER / PINGPONG DELAY

REVERB

You can choose to place most of these effects into either the PRE-EFFECTS SECTION, or the POST-EFFECTS section, to allow versatility in pre or post processing of your amplifier tone.

Think of the PRE-EFFECTS section like the pedals that run into your amp, and the POST-EFFECTS section as any stereo studio effects you would place onto your

amp after it is mic’d up (either on a live mixing board, or in a recording studio).

All signals before the FX LOOP are mono, and all signals after the FX LOOP are stereo. So, any stereo effects assigned to the PRE-EFFECTS section will operate in MONO mode.

PRE-EFFECTS AMP MODEL FX LOOP POST-EFFECTS CABINET MODEL

PRE-EFFECTS

The PRE-EFFECTS section allows you to apply any standard MONO effects processing that would occur BEFORE the guitar amp, such as pedals or other effects that would be inserted before going into the input of your amp.

The PRE-EFFECTS include:

• The GATE effect provides a programmable NOISE GATE. The NOISE GATE has global parameter settings, so that you don’t need to change all your presets if you change your guitar. NOISE GATE enable is programmed per preset, so that you can shut it off for particular presets, and leave it on for others. These options can be set in the GATE effect menu.

• The VOLUME effect models a VOLUME pedal control. The VOLUME options can be set in the VOLUME effect menu. It can be repositioned to three locations: the PRE-EFFECTS section (as shown), just after the AMP modeling section (just before the LOOP SEND), or POST-EFFECTS section for maximum flexibility.

• The WAH effect models a WAH-WAH effects pedal. The WAH-WAH is fully customizable and the options are set in the WAH-WAH effect menu.

• The COMP effect models a compressor module for controlling the dynamics of your guitar input. The COMPRESSOR options can be set in the COMPRESSOR effect menu.

• The BOOST effect models classic stomp box distortion effects and can be repositioned to different locations in the PRE-EFFECTs chain. It is typically placed before the MODULATION and EQ, but it can be repositioned between MODULATION AND EQ or after MODULATION and EQ. These options can be set in the BOOST effect menu.

• The EQ block is made up of the GRAPHIC EQ and three (3) PARAMETRIC EQ effect modules, each of which can be set to the PRE-EFFECTS section or POSTEFFECTS section. These options can be set in the GRAPHICEQ, PARAMETRIC 1, PARAMETRIC 2, and PARAMETRIC 3 effect menus.

• The EFFECT block can be assigned to either the PRE-EFFECTS section or POST- EFFECTS section. You can choose from world-class classic CHORUS, FLANGER, PHASER, or TREMOLO effects. These options can be set in the EFFECT menu.

• The ECHO effect can be assigned to either the PRE-EFFECTS section or POST- EFFECTS section to get the different effects of feeding an echo into an amp or processing echoes after the amp tone. These options can be set in the ECHO effect menu.

GATE VOLUME WAH COMP BOOST EQ EFFECT ECHO

AMPS

At the heart of AmpliFire is Studio Devil’s patented, world-class amp modeling. It convincingly captures the sound, feel and nuances of the great guitar amps of all-time.

From the start, AmpliFire provides you with 10 amps that cover nearly all the sonic

territory from Jazz to Djent. They are:

US Clean: Based on the 2 speaker combo that set the standard for clean, loud, guitar amps spanning a wide variety of styles.

D Luxe: Based on a medium powered, American, single 12” workhorse classic

known for its sna ppy and crystalline tones and coveted by country, blues and rock players.

‘59 B Man: Based on the amp that inspired many of the amps that would follow it, this legend started as a bass amp and is known for its diverse tones and touch sensitive dynamics.

Top Boost: Based on a British classic, this “Class A” 2x12 is known best for its chime, jangle and it’s beautiful, unique voicing whether played clean, dirty or in

between.

Plexi: Based on the British amp with a reputation for being the definitive Rock tone machine, this amp can be sweet, crunchy or mean with its mid focused punchy sound.

Brit 800: Based on the early 80s British 100w head that helped define the Heavy Metal sound, this beast can blow the roof off but cleans up surprisingly well. Put

an overdrive pedal in front of it and you’ve got “the sound”.

Hot Brit: An Amplifire original model, this amp is inspired by the great British rock amps but has a tighter low end and more gain on tap so a drive pedal in front as necessary (unless you want over the top).

Recto: Based on the amp that defined much of the 90s’ heavy sounds, this amp

has tons of gain and compression on tap, sounds great with scooped mids and has a powerful bottom end.

5051: Based on the original signature amp of one of the most influential guitarists of all time, this amp is a gain machine that has become a Metal standard with its focused bottom end and touch sensitive response.

Kornfield: Based on a very popular boutique model, this amp puts its own aggressive but responsive and nuanced spin on the Brit sound.

This, however, is not where it ends. AmpliFire is a user upgradable platform and

we’ll be issuing free firmware upgrades to add new amps. We’re looking forward to hearing what our customers would like to see come next. Check back often as there’s

a good chance that this list is already no longer up-to-date.

EFFECTS LOOP (FX-LOOP)

The EFFECTS LOOP allows you to place an external effect or processor or pedal into

the Amplifire signal routing chain.

The EFFECTS LOOP is positioned between the AMP MODEL and the POST-EFFECTS section. The EFFECTS LOOP has a MONO SEND and a STEREO RETURN. All processing before the EFFECTS LOOP is MONO. All processing after the EFFECTS LOOP is STEREO.

Connect the MONO SEND to your external effect processor input, and connect the outputs of your external effect processor to the Amplifire STEREO RETURN jacks. If your external effect processor has a MONO output only, you may connect it to either of the STEREO RETURN jacks. (When only one return jack is connected, Amplifire

will automatically split the return signal into dual-MONO mode from either return jack.)

The EFFECTS LOOP is switchable so you can switch the inserted effect on or off. You can do this by assigning the EFFECTS LOOP control to a FOOTSWITCH (see FOOTSWITCH section below). You can also program each preset to have the EFFECTS

LOOP on or off, so that some presets could use the loop effect while others don’t.

If you connect nothing to the EFFECTS LOOP STEREO RETURN jacks, the EFFECTS LOOP is always off. In this configuration, you may use the SEND jack as an alternate

amp modeling direct MONO output.

The EFFECTS LOOP can be configured as MUTE SEND or MUTE RETURN (spillover). In MUTE SEND mode, turning off the effects loop only mutes the loop send, allowing any remaining delay or reverb tails in the loop to properly decay (spillover). In MUTE RETURN mode, the effects loop acts like a traditional loop, immediately muting the returns and cutting off the loop right away.

The EFFECTS LOOP can be configured as an AUX INPUT mode (see GLOBAL SETTINGS sections below). This mode allows you to connect a music player or

backing tracks which are mixed (unaffected) with your main outputs.

If you have the AUX INPUT mode selected, then Amplifire will disable the EFFECTS LOOP, routing the output of the AMP MODEL effects block directly to the POST-

EFFECTS section. Amplifire will also mix the RETURN JACKS with the MAIN and AUX outputs, to allow full-range blending of the aux input with your playing.

The EFFECTS LOOP can also be configured as EXPRESSION PEDAL mode, allowing

you to use expression pedals (with a special adapter cable, available separately) to

control effect parameters in real-time. (See EXPRESSION PEDALS section.)

POST-EFFECTS

The POST-EFFECTS section allows you to apply any standard STEREO effects processing that would occur AFTER the guitar amp, such as studio processing or other effects that would be applied after your amp.

The POST-EFFECTS include:

• The EQ section is made up of the GRAPHIC EQ and three (3) PARAMETRIC EQ effect modules, each of which can be set to the PRE-EFFECTS section or POSTEFFECTS section. In the POST-EFFECTS section, these effects operate in stereo. These options can be set in the GRAPHICEQ, PARAMETRIC 1, PARAMETRIC 2, and PARAMETRIC 3 effect menus.

• The REVERB effect is the last effect in the POST-EFFECTS section to apply simulated room acoustics and reverberation to the final tone. This effect is stereo. These options can be set in the REVERB effect menu.

• The VOLUME effect models a VOLUME pedal control. The VOLUME options can be set in the VOLUME effect menu. It can be repositioned to three locations: the PRE-EFFECTS section, just after the AMP modeling section (just before the LOOP SEND), or POST-EFFECTS section (as shown) for maximum flexibility.

CABINET MODELING

The CABINET section is where Amplifire applies Impulse Response (IR) modeling technology and filtering to simulate the sound of microphones and guitar loudspeaker cabinets. Each of the amp models in Amplifire contain a built-in IR cabinet. Amplifire also supports user customizable IR cabinets which you can upload to Amplifire via USB.

• The CABINET modeler can be configured to use any cabinet from the list of amp

models, or any one of the user-defined cabinets.

• The CABINET modeler lets you tweak the cab models with filters specially designed for adjusting microphone and loudspeaker cabinet tones.

• The CABINET modeler can be enabled or disabled on either set of outputs

independently (MAIN / AUX), allowing you to use full range systems AND other real guitar cabinets simultaneously.

• The CABINET modeler is always enabled on the headphones output (although

you can choose to disable the cabinet modeling on all outputs for three separate full range outputs).

EQ EFFECT ECHO REVERB VOLUME

CABINET MODELING CONTINUED...

MATCHED CABINETS

Each amp model in Amplifire has its own built in cabinet IR model. These cabinets

are “matched” to the amp model, meaning that they model the type of cabinet that

is typically used with that particular type of amp model. Without any programming

or cabinet selection, you get the “right” sound by default by leaving the MATCHED

cabinet option set. This way, when you change an AMP MODEL, you automatically get the typical cabinet for that amp.

Amplifire allows you customize your tone and swap out these “matched” cabinet

models for those that are from the other amp models. To hear what an amplifier

sounds like with another amp’s cabinet, just select another cabinet from the list in the

CABINET menu.

SELECTING A CABINET

To EDIT THE CABINET OPTIONS from the preset display, click the ENCODER twice: the first time takes you to the AMP MODEL menu, the second time takes you to the CABINET menu. Then, turn the encoder to select a new CABINET model or mode. Press the NEXT and BACK buttons to cycle through some of the other CABINET modeling options, including filter tweaks.

USER CUSTOM CABINET IRS

Amplifire also supports custom USER CABINETS that you can upload to Amplifire via

USB. To use one of these custom cabinets, just select one of the user cabinet slots

from the end of the list in the CABINET menu. For more information, see the USB section below.

SELECTING PRESETS

Amplifire stores 128 user programs called presets. You can select the active preset from this set with the ENCODER knob or the NEXT and BACK buttons. To advance to

the next preset, press NEXT. To backtrack to the previous preset, press BACK. Press

and hold NEXT or BACK to advance quickly through the presets. You can also turn the ENCODER knob clockwise to go forward or counter-clockwise to go backward. Amplifire automatically loads the preset as soon as you select it.

QUICK EDIT - TWEAK KNOBS

Amplifire includes six (6) quick tweak knobs to make adjustments just like on a real amplifier without having to enter edit menus or programming. These six knobs allow you to adjust GAIN (tube preamp gain), MASTER (tube power amp master volume),

PRESENCE (tube power amp presence control), BASS, MIDS, and TREBLE (tube preamp tone stack controls).

Just grab and turn one of the knobs to instantly adjust the tone. The display will show the value while you’re turning the knob to let you know where it is. It also shows you

how it compares to the original preset value using left and right arrows in the display. The arrows show you which direction to turn to match the knob with the original preset value. When both arrows are displayed, the knob matches the original preset value.

Once you edit the preset, the SAVE LED starts blinking, warning you to remember to save your changes if you want to (see SAVING PRESETS below).

DEEP EDIT – PRESET PARAMETERS

Amplifire has many effects modules, and each effects module has several parameters. Deep editing allows you to customize each of these parameters to

create your own tone and effects setup. Here’s how it works:

• To ENTER EDIT MODE, push down on the ENCODER knob. This takes you to the

first effect menu, AMP MODEL.

• To CHANGE THE PARAMETER VALUE, turn the ENCODER knob right or left to

increase or decrease your selection.

• To ADVANCE TO THE NEXT PARAMETER within an effect menu, press the NEXT button. This takes you to the next parameter within that same effect.

• To BACK UP TO THE PREVIOUS EFFECT PARAMETER, press the BACK button. This takes you to the previous parameter within that same effect.

• To ADVANCE TO THE NEXT EFFECT MENU, press down on the ENCODER knob again. This takes you to the next effect menu.

• To EXIT EDIT MODE, press and hold down either the ENCODER knob or the

BACK button for one second. This will return to the preset display.

The effects MENUS are organized as depicted in the diagram below. Press the

ENCODER knob to go down to the next effect menu, and press the NEXT and BACK buttons to move right or left across each effect menu’s parameters. At any location,

turn the ENCODER to change the value.

Some tricks about the EDIT MODE:

• WRAP-AROUND: If you are currently at the last parameter item in the

same effect, pressing NEXT will wrap-around and take you to the first

item of the next effect menu.

• FAST BACK: If you are currently at the first parameter of an effect,

pressing BACK will take you back to the first parameter of the previous

effect menu! This is to provide a FAST BACK option for when you want to

quickly advance from a menu far down the list to one closer to the top.

• FAST OPTIONS MENU: The last menu is the OPTIONS menu, which sets

some global parameters. To get there quickly, press and hold the NEXT

button for one second. This takes you to the last menu immediately

without having to press the ENCODER knob several times.

+ 30 hidden pages

Atomic AmpliFire User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual