Is it worth it? (Axe FX)

I

illuminatingsun

Member
Oct 19, 2009
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6
Hey guys,

I'm torn between buying an Axe FX and a real amp head and cabinet simulator. I'd feel bad spending almost £1500 on the Axe FX when some people would almost die at the thought of parting with that much. It seems like an awful lot of money and I'd be using some of my student loan. On the other hand, getting one amp head would give me a limited amount of sounds and I don't have many effects so I'd be further limited.

I'm very serious about music and am planning to make a career out of it, so I do wonder whether it's a worthwhile investment.

Any ideas? If you have one did you think it was worth buying the Axe FX?
 
I would buy the AxeFx, especially because you get some really awesome effects, too
and it's so flexible, soundwise, there aren't many cab simulators in my opinion that are
as good, I only can think of the two notes Torpedo at the moment, and this thing
is as expensive as the AxeFx alone, so, just get the AxeFx ;)
 
I dunno I still think a real amp sounds better for the type of music the average Sneap forumite is interested in.
The Axe FX seems great for djent, but every time I ask someone to deliver a nicely saturated tone that would fit in groove metal or melo-death, it never delivers and it always has this "djenty" quality to the sound and sounds a bit thin in the lower mids
 
the axe can deliver ANY sound you want,
it's just not a "press-one-button-get-ultimate-sound-machine"
you have to sit down, RTFM, then learn TFM and then, tweak until your fingers start to bleed.

cheers
S.
 
Soultrash said:
the axe can deliver ANY sound you want,
it's just not a "press-one-button-get-ultimate-sound-machine"
you have to sit down, RTFM, then learn TFM and then, tweak until your fingers start to bleed.

cheers
S.
Click to expand...

That's what ALL the guys who couldn't deliver the saturated sound with a good dose of lower mids said :D
Seriously though, can someone at least provide a clip showing it can do Sneap-esque type stuff?
 
Soultrash said:
the axe can deliver ANY sound you want,
it's just not a "press-one-button-get-ultimate-sound-machine"
you have to sit down, RTFM, then learn TFM and then, tweak until your fingers start to bleed.

cheers
S.
Click to expand...

I've been debating about buying one, but this is what worries me, actually. I sometimes feel like technology gets in the way of creating music. I actually sold off a lot of rack gear because the temptation to tweak everything got in the way of actually playing and spending time creating songs. :loco:

Then again, it would be nice to have something for silent recording that sounds good. Just not sure if the best solution for me would be an Axe-FX, or something like Amplitube 3 or other plugins.
 
illuminatingsun said:
I'm very serious about music and am planning to make a career out of it, so I do wonder whether it's a worthwhile investment.
Click to expand...

It's a serious investment, but it's definitely worth it. People are buying it for the effects alone, so even if you continue to buy amps, you'll have one of the best multi effects on the market to use with your other gear.

It's almost impossible to find a used one, even after three years. That says a lot about the awesomness of the thing. ;)
 
53Crëw;9083439 said:
I've been debating about buying one, but this is what worries me, actually. I sometimes feel like technology gets in the way of creating music. I actually sold off a lot of rack gear because the temptation to tweak everything got in the way of actually playing and spending time creating songs. :loco:

Then again, it would be nice to have something for silent recording that sounds good. Just not sure if the best solution for me would be an Axe-FX, or something like Amplitube 3 or other plugins.
Click to expand...

amplitube??? never fails to amaze me what free VST plugins can do. and have you ever sat down with podfarm platinum?? i know axeFX can get some serious tones but free VST's + podfarm + recabinet is all i'd ever need, short of a real amp
 
Soultrash said:
the axe can deliver ANY sound you want,
it's just not a "press-one-button-get-ultimate-sound-machine"
you have to sit down, RTFM, then learn TFM and then, tweak until your fingers start to bleed.

cheers
S.
Click to expand...
Yep I agree..I bought mine and will NEVER look back.......Tons of options..Amazing tones....... And the quality of sounds are PRICELESS!
 
darthjujuu said:
amplitube??? never fails to amaze me what free VST plugins can do. and have you ever sat down with podfarm platinum?? i know axeFX can get some serious tones but free VST's + podfarm + recabinet is all i'd ever need, short of a real amp
Click to expand...

Oh, I agree! Some of the free stuff is great. Just was throwing out Amplitube as an example... I downloaded the demo yesterday, but haven't tried it out yet.

Actually, the only reason I'm looking into some of these options is that I need something that sounds as good as my Dual Rectifier mic'd up, but I can't always be cranking my amp, especially late at night when I'm working on a project.

For you guys with an Axe-FX, do you feel that it sounds better than any of the amp VST's (free or otherwise), or does it sound about equal, but just has more options with all the included effects, etc.

Also, do you feel the added features of the Ultra model is necessary, or does the standard version do most of what anyone could ever want?
 
LOLOLOLOL amplitube. No.

While free VST's are good they are nowhere in comparison to this unit in my opinion, in terms of variability.
Axe-Fx is an amazing unit. The only reason people like to brand them as the 'Djent-FX' is because Bulb was one of the first metal guitarists to bring it into the mainstream. Then everyone wanted his sound so all these other bands started popping up. Since then a lot of big names have invested in them and I even heard now that JP is using one. Probably only for 1 delay effect in his rack of about 1000 units. Some gear has an iconic stance with reference to a particular genre. But the Axe-FX is not a pure djent machine.

I own an Axe-FX and couldn't be happier with it :)
 
John Petrucci: “The Axe-Fx has completely and forever changed the way I look at guitar processing. This box does an incredible number of things astonishingly well.”
Chris Broderick: “We have all heard manufacturers advertise being able to reproduce any tone, but Fractal is the first to actually live up to that statement. From the dynamic response to how the gain clips, I feel like the Axe-Fx is responding to my playing instead of altering it. Flexible routing... effects... unbelievable! The all-in-one must have unit!”
Jeff Loomis: “I am able to create the exact guitar sound and touch dynamics I want from the ground up with my Axe-Fx. Need I say more?”
Devin Townsend: “The Ultra has officially blown me away. It allows the culmination of all I've learned about amps and effects to happen in two rackspaces with uncompromised, unbelievable quality and accuracy. Words fail me... and thats rare. Electrifying, alien technology.”

Oh yeah, they get a discount. No freebies.
 
I want one so bad. I would never buy another amp again. Especially if I was still gigging all the time - this would be mine for certain.

Rack with AxeFX + Power Amp > Amp Head + Cabinet + Foot Controlers + Effects + All the cables, etc. etc., etc.
 
drew_drummer said:
I'd buy a real amp. Axe-FX is just a fucking computer. Modelling is modelling, and t00bz are t00bz.
Click to expand...
having spent close to $10K on amps since 2000, with only the ability to get basically 1-2 tones out of each...............and spending only $1,500 on an AXE-FX standard.with the ability to get ENDLESS amount of realistic tones..to me its a "NO BRAINER" win for the AXE-FX!
 
A lot of professional musicians say axe-fx is the shit, but how many actually use it for recording? And from what I've seen John Petrucci or Jeff Loomis don't even use it live. In my opinion axe fx could be a useful tool mainly for the quality of the effects when it comes to studio use. But personally I think it would be a better choice if it's intended for live use.
 
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