MG3 and MG3 Hex

Hello.
I am interested in knowing if MG3 Hex is better (more faithful) than MG3. But first I would like to know if, with the MG3 license that I already own, I can qualify for MG3 Hex without any additional cost?

I have a guitar with the Axon Hex pickup and since I have it I would like to know if it is better in terms of note reliability compared to a guitar with normal pickups and with MG3.

I already have the hex pickup so the investment is already made. I just need to know if it’s better.
Thank you very much to those who have stopped by here before and helped.

Does the Axon enable you to output multichannel audio (send 8 channels) to MG3? I would assume it doesn’t but I could be wrong. You’ll need that to get started. So far, the BOSS GP-10, SY-1000, GM-800 and VG-800 support multichannel audio over USB in conjunction with a hexaphonic pickup/13-pin cable. Or you can use a breakout 13-pin cable and an audio interface with multiple inputs.

But to answer one of your questions: Yes, MG3 Hex does enhance the capabilities of MG3. It’s a significant performance upgrade.

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i’d first compare mg3 standard to the axon. unless you find you really prefer the way mg3 works it’s probably not worth the expense to modify your guitar for mg3hex.

if the following tests are accurate, then the axon has superior latency (~11ms) vs both mg3 standard and hex by a large margin.

in terms of playability, mg3 might still win you over, but in terms of latency you already have a faster solution.

Unfortunately, I do not have any of the Axon pitch-to-MIDI converters. As of 2012, the company is out of business, which is really unfortunate. The Axon gear was always pretty hard to find in the United States. However, I was able to pick up a Yamaha G50 pitch-to-MIDI converter, which licensed the Axon technology. From what I have learned from searching the web, the Yamaha G50 has the same design as the Axon NG-77. The Yamaha G50 smoked all the competition in the Pitch-to-MIDI speed tests, scoring an average amazing 11.47 millisecond response across all the strings.

Just to make sure I was not imagining things, I did the Yamaha G50 test with four guitars, two with a whammy bar, two with a fixed bridge. I used both Roland GK-2A and GK-3 pickups. And the results were consistent, 11 milliseconds average. If you want fast Pitch-to-MIDI, find yourself a Yamaha G50 or an Axon converter.

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To anwser the cost question, the HEX is a “paid upgrade” after you purchase the MG3 so you need to buy both.
The good part is that a free demo is available for both so you can test before you invest.

:slightly_smiling_face:

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Thank you very much for your reply. I didn’t know that you needed to send 8-channel multichannel audio to the MG3. I thought that the Hex pickup and the Axon module were in charge of sending the necessary information for the MG3 Hex to work. My problem is the double notes that are played unintentionally. It might not be a problem in the studio after an edit, but for live work the degree of errors that the MG3 makes is not permissible.
I don’t know if there is a detailed configuration of the MG3 to reduce these errors. Latency is not a problem. It is the ghost notes or the undesirable notes that appear unintentionally.
I am going to dust off my Axon and see how reliable it is compared to the MG3. At the moment the software introduces a lot of unwanted noise. It would be a dream if there were a program configuration that would reduce the errors to a minimum number. I don’t know if it is possible.
I have also seen some instruments that seem to come close to what everyone is looking for. It was the Expressiv MIDI Pro 2 Rob o’Reilly. It’s extremely expensive but I’d be willing to sell a good guitar of mine to get an Expressiv MIDI Pro 2 if that was the ultimate solution.

on unintentional double notes: check for fret and intonation problems, experiment with gain, gate and strike filter, modify your playing technique. you should be able to reduce these significantly.

on unwanted noise: there should be none. mg3 will not introduce any hum/buzz etc. your audio interface settings may introduce artifacts/pops/crackles, to address this provide details as to your device, sample rate, os, software synths in use.

i am very interested to know more about the expressiv midi pro 2’s detection capabilities, especially if they are using a laser-based solution (website unclear). but the xy pad looks gimmicky to me, more for the audience than the player. the location (nowhere near either hand) and orientation (flat) are not optimal (i’ve experimented using a similar tablet based midi controller).

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The noise thing I was referring to was the involuntary notes. Luckily I don’t have any hums or strange noises, just double notes. I consider myself a veteran guitarist and quite clean in my playing, so I don’t think it’s my way of playing. Yes, I should experiment more with the gain and that kind of thing. From what I see, there is no specific configuration of the MG3 to reduce unwanted notes.
Regarding the Expressiv MIDI Pro 2, I totally agree with you that there is a lack of information and that the little screen is an attraction to be able to raise the price but it is totally dispensable. At the end of the day I’m only looking for precision on the guitar and not a lot of flashy sweets. It seems that colleagues on the forum comment that the relationship with Mg3 considerably improves when the Hex pickup is used and the sound is converted to 6 independent channels (something on the other hand, which I didn’t know could be done). We continue in search of the holy grail of guitar and midi. Any contribution is welcome to improve this apparently difficult world of guitar and midi. Greetings and thanks to those who collaborate.

you have the best system available today apart from laser-based options. i’d put my time into the axon first. people swear by it.

however, if you want to explore the double notes issue post an audio file which shows the problem (the raw input guitar audio, not the post-processed audio).

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Just for the record I never have double notes.
I do use the HEX version but I don’t think I had double notes with the regular version either.
I assume you are on the bridge pickup and you have the volume and tone all the way up.
Is your floor noise high? Like noisy single coils?
What happens if you play on one string only, do you still get double notes?

Double notes? Are you maybe feeding your target synth similar MIDI outputs from your Axon and MG3 simultaneously? I imagine this would wreak total havoc on your performance.

Yesterday I was with the Axon and it was not a good option at all. It was a disaster in terms of reliability. Right now it is not a good option. With respect to the GM3 I have to say that the only problem is the double notes or involuntary notes but that I have no noise of any kind. Today I will try the tone and volume along with the neck pickup. Yes I had the tone and volume at maximum. I hope that was the problem. Volume, tone and pickup.
I’ll do the test and tell you. On the other hand, I have not used the Axon and the GM3 together so in that sense I have no problems as you indicated above.
Thank you so much. My latency is good and I only need cleaning when playing live so I can get a quality result for playing live. I will continue to inform.

What kind of (virtual) instruments are you using when you are trying this software and getting these double notes?

There could be an issue for instance with using piano (or any non-bends instrument) and the polyphonic expressive mode, if you don’t use the CHROMATIC module from MIDI MACHINES.

Or are you getting these double notes with every kind of instrument?

I am using swam sax Audio Modeling with the BBC2 air controller. I am a fervent follower of your videos so I recently bought the BBC2 along with the Midi Guitar 3. But my experience has not been entirely positive. Yesterday I tried without the air controller and it seems to work better but I don’t want to speak loudly without doing more exhaustive tests.
I will continue doing tests and I will tell you.

Asking questions isn’t a problem. The AM Saxes shouldn’t be spitting out double notes really. So one question is how you have set it up? What MIDI Mapping presets are you using? Matching bends is also important.

But as a starting point: use the Seaboard preset. That way you don’t have to change MIDI MPE, Channel pressure or Bend Range=48.

You can connect your breathcontroller from the patchbay to

  1. Just “Pressure” (that way you will still trigger some parts of the notes, and especially allow for keynoises to be part otf the sound), or
  2. Pressure and Strike. This gives you complete silence when not breating into the Breath controller (good alternative when you are layering two sounds and want to control when the sax should be heard or not. (You don’t want the rattling key clicks all over the output)