So who's playing an Axe-FX?

[toneboy]

I ordered one that should arrive this Wednesday. If it "feels" good, then I'm going to sell off all my rack gear, including my 3TM MP-1s and Eventide, and get 2 of them. On paper, the Axe-FX is not even in the same league as anything offered by Line 6, Boss or anyone else.

If you haven't heard of it, here's a link to their site and some demo videos a user posted on You Tube.

#1 Cleans and SFX

#2 More Cleans and SFX

#3 Crunch and High Gain Part 1

#4 High Gain Part 2

#5 High Gain Part 3

#6 Pitch Shifter

#7 High Gain Part 4

[uglyfuzzface]

dont sell ya stuff yet .... they are good but my friend still uses his amps live , he was hoping it would replace everything but has not ,,,, he uses an extc like mine so maybe its the valve head tone he could not achieve through bogner cab , if you have a 3tm pre amp then it might be a better upgrade for a pre amp as you are used to that sort of sound ..... i have not used the axe fx im just going of what my friend said who has the unit ,,, he is very picky and has elmwoods bogner etc ..... dont worry though he did say it was a good unit maybe he is just used to a certain sound .... and he would have sold it by now if it was rubbish

[uglyfuzzface]

it kills line 6 i was told ........

[Aris_T]

The videos are great! It sure blows my pod xt live out of the water! And the specs are out of this world (dual core processing?!?!?!?!)!

Enjoy it! It seems awesome (but don't sell your equipment right away)!!

[toneboy]

I've got about 19 spaces of rack gear so even if I do decide to sell it, it's going to take me a while. Regardless, I'm on vacation for 3 weeks so I'm going to spend a lot of time figuring out if I can get the sound I want from the Axe-FX. It's effects seems great but what I really care about are the amp sims.

[560licious]

Originally Posted by uglyfuzzface

it kills line 6 i was told ........

well, for 1500$ starting price on the axe-fx, my line 6 gear is still pounding it out just nicely

[rob777vdy]

ssshhhh that thing sounds awsome id love to get my mits on 1.ill wait till i see a second hand 1 and jump right on it.how much do they cost brand new ???

[newbieguitarmaker]

GAS GAS GASSSS, even with my Legacy I just want this thing in my arsenal. Right now I am just sticking to the simple things for college but as I make money and use it (on college lol) I will have this in my mind over anything else. Since I dont need an amp, or a guitar but I did sell my gt-pro to save room. Maybe this will take over haha

[shreddersymphony]

I'm playing an Atomic amp (related - same company I believe), and it puts a huge grin on my soul. Never buying another amp as long as I live.

[brainstem3000]

i have had the axe-fx ultra for about 4 months , and its the best thing i have ever played through , including tube amps!!! the line6 stuff is a joke compaired to this box, the effects are stellar! and as good and better than , eveintide,lexicon...., the amp models are incredible to say the least. they are extremly expensive, but worth every cent , i ditched my line6 vetta hd , for the ultra and it was the best thing i ever did , i power it with a mesa simulclass 2/90 , and it is monster!!!! and for direct recording it blows anything on the market away by far, just my opinion of coarse! but i havent seen or heard anything better! the unit does have a learning curve. and if you have never programed an effects unit , it will take some time to learn this unit, this thing is wicked!

[toneboy]

I plugged my Charvel Bengal into it tonight and all I can say is holy crap. I stripped down a factory patch to amp, cab and delay and just tweaked the amps and cabs. It's friggin' amazing. It really does respond like a tube amp. I've had other modelers before (Boss GT-8, Boss GT-Pro, Line 6 Gearbox) and this thing is nothing like them. I don't know what else to say except it does everything everyone claims it can.

On a side note, I understand how it can do what it does. Other modelers don't have the horsepower (CPU-wise) to allow the range of dynamics that the Axe-FX does. The more horsepower you have, the more bits you can put towards recreating an analog sound. It's like comparing an 8 bit color image to a 32 bit color image. The resolution and color range is exponentially greater on the 32 bit image.

I still have to spend time really fine tuning my meat and potato distortion sound but I'm so close after only an hour.

[eviltwin]

Originally Posted by toneboy

On a side note, I understand how it can do what it does. Other modelers don't have the horsepower (CPU-wise) to allow the range of dynamics that the Axe-FX does. The more horsepower you have, the more bits you can put towards recreating an analog sound. It's like comparing an 8 bit color image to a 32 bit color image. The resolution and color range is exponentially greater on the 32 bit image.

I'm sure the AXeFX is a fine machine, but to claim it's unique is just plain wrong.

First it has 24bit AD conversion and 32bit processing. CD quality is 16bit, but 0,5% of the people can hear up to 18bit. So 24bit is not really a luxury and once you start sampling at 24bit you need to process at a much higher rate to avoid digital overflow. (clipping)

But a Digitech 1101 has 24bit AD/DA and 48bit processing! (using twin processors btw)
and note that my old trusty Digitech 2101 (twin tube preamp so only the effects are digital) was already 24bit AD & 48bit processing.

Second, the AxeFX is a modeller, plain and simple. I still fail to see why you would want to replace something, like a fully programmable twin tube preamp, when the real deal is as reliable and in the end provides the tone people are looking for. A modeller is just a modeller, a substitute for the real deal.

Lastly, listening to the clips on youtube (I know sound quality can be affected by that) it doesn't seem to be that far ahead of GT8 or Line6 stuff, and lagging the 1101...

1101 at NAMM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-EE0eDPGgw
or check out our very own Rikk Beaty.


I'd be very interested to hear from people with first hand experience on any of the Digitech GSPs vs. the AxeFX.

[toneboy]

I'm not going to bother to debate the bit depth, quality of number of the processors but none of that really matters to me.All that matters to me is how it sounds.

Originally Posted by eviltwin

Second, the AxeFX is a modeller, plain and simple. I still fail to see why you would want to replace something, like a fully programmable twin tube preamp, when the real deal is as reliable...

At this point, MP-1s are getting pretty old (at least mine are) and becoming less reliable without being overhauled.

...and in the end provides the tone people are looking for.

I like the sound of my MP-1s but it just gets "that sound". It's not a Marshall or a Fender or a Dumble or a Mesa.

A modeller is just a modeller, a substitute for the real deal.

I won't disagree with that. It comes down to convenience and cost but the bottom line is does it sound good and feel good to the player? If it does, that's all that matters.

Lastly, listening to the clips on youtube (I know sound quality can be affected by that) it doesn't seem to be that far ahead of GT8 or Line6 stuff, and lagging the 1101...

I've owned the GT-8, the GT-Pro and the Line 6 Gearbox. It light years head in terms of how it responds to dynamics.

[toneboy]

Originally Posted by eviltwin

1101 at NAMM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-EE0eDPGgw

In the video, it appears that he's running through or at least into a Fender amp, correct?

BTW, even ignoring the the amp models, the 1101's effects are very limited compared to the Axe-FX whose effects are in the same class as the Eventide Eclipse (which I own right now) but when comparing the amp models on paper, the Axe-FX offers significantly more tweakability for the user.

The parameters for the amp models in the 1101 are:
- Amp Gain
- Bass
- Mid
- Treble
- Amp Level.

The parameters for the amp models in the Axe-FX are:
- Bright
- Drive
- Boost
- Bass
- Mid
- Treble
- Presence control
- High Cut
- Depth
- Deep
- Damp
- Sag
- Master Volume
- Low Cut Frequency
- Bright Cap
- Tonestack Type
- Warmth
- Thump
- Tone Frequencies
- Transformer Match
- Transformer Low Frequency.
- Transformer High Frequency.
- Tone Location
- Power Tube Bias
- Presence Frequency
- B+ Capacitance
- Sag
- Speaker Resonant Frequency
- Stabilizer

The names of most of the these parameters may seem superfluous at first glance but when you read the manual and understand how they affect the sound they become incredibly useful for fine tuning your tone.

The simple fact is a modeler that costs $1500 - $2K should be better than a modeler that costs 1/3 to 1/4 as much...and it is. Whether or not it sounds better is subjective. Heck, I don't like the sound of an Air Norton or EMG-81 but but a lot of other folks do.

[Synesthesia]

I'm using a real amp. Axe FX... It's like hooking up with a girl and using a toy on her... makes no sense.