So I'm thinknig about buy a Fractal Audio Axe-FX...

[Ben Johnson]

I think peoples' issues with palm mutes are related to the shortcomings of IR. I fought with IR for a long time before realizing the technology just isn't quite there yet - miking up a real cabinet is the easiest way to get the best tone.

But as a preamp/guitar effects processor, nothing else can touch the axefx in its price range.

 

[-Loco-]

The EVH to me, is still shit. I know plenty of others who agree with me too.



The palm mutes just don't sound as natural and saturated to me as a tube amp coming through monitors. It's just me being really picky. The feature i'm looking forward to most on firmware 10.0 is this:


• The virtual "Presence" control circuitry now more accurately models the resulting response of the power amp and speaker coil interaction for better "bite" and a more pronounced attack.

I didn't think you got enough attack just by messing around without some sort of extra e.q boost using the passive tonestacks. I tend to use 2 amps and 2 cab blocks and then High-shelf a tiny smidgen at 4.5k just to get some brightness.

Fractal really do take their time to update their units. I've been told that they are working on new and undisclosed products.

I will be updating to new firmware once I get back from holiday. Really looking forward to it!

 

[-Loco-]

Yeah I agree with Ben, but the Dynamic Response Technology that they have put in has made a big difference. To be honest I don't think fractal have done much new. I think they've just taken

1. A heap of good quality but expensive components
2. The same technology that exists but put behind it the components and processing power
3. Used the processing power to enable a more accurate frequency response and storage/emulation that enables the great accuracy it's capable of.

In other words, something Line6 probably could have done if it had really cared about it that much.


I don't mean it in a bad way to fractal at all. They've given themselves a chance to wipe Line6 recording products out of the market.

 

[006]

They've given themselves a chance to wipe Line6 recording products out of the market.

Are you kidding? Everyone and their dog owns either a TonePort, PODxt (or X3) or PODfarm, Spider variant or even the 147 and so many others - if not a combination of them. The AxeFX's price point alone makes me believe they haven't, and probably won't, come anywhere remotely close to making a dent in Line6's market share. Not to say Fractal doesn't have a lot of people with their products, but I'd be very surprised to hear it was anything close to what Line6 has. Maybe some day...

On the other hand, Line6 hasn't done shit in years to update it's technology other than the Bogner collaboration, even then I don't think there's much of anything new going on there except the Bogner analog contribution. Borderlining on Avid/Digi status in that department. There are still some of the same complaints about AxeFX as with Line6 concerning how close it is to the real thing in some areas. However, AxeFX has shown potential and at least Fractal seems interested in moving forward with the tech and innovating. I'm all for something digital that can be a legitimate and recognized substitute for real amps and cabs, I'm still waiting for it though.

 

[Joematthews]

I would like to hear the opinions of those who hate the EVH loco, who are they and who have they produced? What did they run it through and what were there complaints?

This is a pretty pointless thread, just try an axe-fx out, if you like it then keep it, if not send it back. Axe-fx are happy for you to do that.

 

[greyskull]

I was attending to Sucide season when it was recorded in Studio Fredman so i can for sure say you are wrong man. Dont blame the amp for your short comings when it comes to dial in an amp. Dont want to offend you but i we cant have people running around and spread information that isn't true.

Im pretty sure the pictures that was posted here was from there live settings.

yep.
Someone else from round these parts was there i think, and told me it was 5150 3, and that the 5150 3 was definitely flavour of the month at Fredmann.
haven't played one myself yet, but reviews look great.
If it wasnt for me already owning a 5150 and shopping for an Ac30 and a Jmp/800 id be all over it!

 

[-Loco-]

Joe: Same opinions as me, they are players and not producers but I value their opinions and advice as well. Through an OS and the EVH cab.

006: Yeah, I meant they've given themselves a chance to grab that share of the market because they've done something a bit new. I totally didn't like their line6 valves either. They've only been selling these units for a few years though, I think with time we might see a cut-down competitor for the POD.

Good luck with your choice Simon!

 

[egan.]

Could we please talk about the f'ing axe-fx instead of the EVH? I know there have been other threads but I'm pretty curious about this as well. I'd also be curious to hear some high gain tones that aren't meshuggah-esque. From the samples I've head I'm most impressed with it as an effects unit rather than an amp sim.

 

[-Loco-]

You sound like everyone else on here. 'I haven't heard tonez that arentz meshuggahz'. Quit waiting for somebody else to come along and do it and get one yourself and try it! You get a satisfaction guarantee on it. Curious about what, the Axe-Fx? You have to remember a lot of the target audience is aimed at rock'n'roll which is another genre that the unit excels greatly. For something that's so diverse it covers all bats exceedingly well.

 

[006]

You sound like everyone else on here. 'I haven't heard tonez that arentz meshuggahz'. Quit waiting for somebody else to come along and do it and get one yourself and try it! You get a satisfaction guarantee on it. Curious about what, the Axe-Fx? You have to remember a lot of the target audience is aimed at rock'n'roll which is another genre that the unit excels greatly. For something that's so diverse it covers all bats exceedingly well.

No offense, but it makes no sense to save up and drop $1,500+ on an AxeFX just to try it out, regardless of any money-back guarantee. It takes a long ass time to learn the ins/outs and how to tweak a POD variant to get any sort of quasi-decent tone, the AxeFX is like a hardware version of ReValver in regards to it's tweakability if I'm not mistaken. I don't think two weeks is enough to be quite honest - so it's irrelevant to me what their policy is, personally. But that's just me.

If it's so amazing how come nobody has put up a decent clip of it doing something other than Meshuggah rip off? All the clips of anything BUT Meshuggah shit do not sound too impressive - and at that point it's arguable that POD can do just as well, including the djent, in the right hands (Bulb and a league of musicians that want to be him, anyone?).

Not trying to be antagonistic here, please don't take it that way. I just always see someone defending AxeFX swearing it's the shit just try it bla bla bla - but never a clip that'll prove it. Honestly so far I'd still take PODfarm over an AxeFX at this point, myself. Again, still waiting for some demos that can showcase it's superiority. Maybe Fractal needs to start selling their units at GC or something so you can try it out without putting up money first.

 

[egan.]

You sound like everyone else on here. 'I haven't heard tonez that arentz meshuggahz'. Quit waiting for somebody else to come along and do it and get one yourself and try it! You get a satisfaction guarantee on it. Curious about what, the Axe-Fx? You have to remember a lot of the target audience is aimed at rock'n'roll which is another genre that the unit excels greatly. For something that's so diverse it covers all bats exceedingly well.

Jesus Christ that was a lot of words for no content. If I do "sound like everyone else on here" it is b/c it is a pretty reasonable request. It isn't our job to sell ourselves on the product. If it's awesome I want to hear it. If it's awesome, I'll want to buy it.

Curious about what?:

The actual tones-- not hyperbolic nonspecific references to what they are better/worse than. I don't care if it sounds exactly like a specific amp. I care if it can sound awesome to me.

The actual usability -- I keep hearing vague references to how hard it is to dial in. Specifics? How is the interface from a user perspective. Can you dial in a tone in under 20 minutes that isn't a preset you've worked on for months? etc.

What I find so puzzling about your posts is that while you seem to love the product, you take the request for pretty simple information as an assault on the products good name. I'm just not going to buy something to find out whether I like it. Sorry.

 

[guitarguru777]

being a tube purest I want to say FU AxeFX but I simply cant!

The thing is amazing. I am in the process of saving up for one so I can add it to the arsenal in the studio

 

[guitarguru777]

Can you dial in a tone in under 20 minutes that isn't a preset you've worked on for months?

To get something usable yes! To get something truly brilliant, probably not.

The process works like this......

Create a new patch:
1. Shunt the input to output chain a billion times.
2. Choose Stombox
3. Choose Amp
4. Choose FX
5. Choose Cab
6. Choose Mic
7. Choose outboard gear (it comps, eqs)

Each one takes about 30 seconds to shunt into the signal, and you haven't even gotten to tone tweaking yet.

Lets put it this way, if you are a tweaker and don't mind playing with knobs and pushing buttons for hours you will love it. If you are a plug and playing kinda guy you probably wont.

I was able to dial in some very usable tones on xxxPetes unit in about 10 minutes. They were nothing remarkable, but they definitely sounded great and I enjoyed them. With more time I could have made them amazing.

I would venture to say about an hour per patch is about what it takes to get something amazing out of the unit.

 

[lolzgreg]

You must have picked the shittest tube amp to compare with an Axe-Fx. The EVH is AWFUL. I played it next to a peavey 6505 and an uberschall and it was dry,dull and lifeless.

This is a ridiculous, bullshit statement.

I have made comments about unreliability, but let me analyze your statements here:

"The EVH is AWFUL"- This would explain why Andy, James Murphy, Lasse and I, as well as other people on this forum all own and love them. This would also explain why Gojira uses them live.

"...it was dry,dull and lifeless."- If you think the EVH is a DRY amp, you are indeed deaf as a fucking dead snake. The EVH is a super saturated amp. DRYNESS isn't even an option when it comes to dialing it in, unless you have the gain near off on the blue channel.

Dull to me means lack of high end and sheen. The high mids on this thing are definitely more prominent than a 5150, as I have done shootouts of the same mic positioning and same settings on BOTH amps.

Lifeless is really up to you, but I think I've made my point already

EDIT: I'm aware I didn't read the other responses, but that proves my point even more.

 

[guitarguru777]

I love you man!

 

[-Loco-]

It's still shit.

.


If you want to know how the Axe-Fx works then read the manual. If you want to know more of it's users opinions go on the Fractal Forum.

 

[-Loco-]

Oh and I don't get the name promotion thing either It's as bad as telling me or other Axe-Fx users that we are buying them to sound like Bulb. It's like trying to convince me it's good because someone else uses it. If it doesn't work for me then it doesn't. Why can't any of you drop it already? I said what I had to say about the EVH.

 

[guitarguru777]

Cause your making false claims about the perfect metal amp of all time.

Great cleans, great rhythm sound, great chunk. Hence why its the GO TO metal amp nowadays for just about every producer that does metal.

 

[-Loco-]

Go To metal amp, my ass. When people think of a high gain metal amp they think of recto's or peavey 6505 or in my case Bogner. I'm stating my opinion i'm not preaching it to people constantly and insisting that I have a screw loose which you seem to be claiming i do.

 

[SimonSez]

Sam Hill has some impressive high-gain stuff on youtube. He plays a lot of EVH stuff and it sounds great and it's been the biggest selling point to me. I love the saturated ultra-high-gain almost fizzy stuff that was in the 80's and early 90's.

It looks like I will be ordering my Axe-FX before the 4th of July. The only thing is I want the Ultra because I don't want to regret getting the Standard.