Played my Axe-Fx II for the first time today...feel a bit let down

S

Synchros

Member
Hey guys, I got my new Axe-Fx II today and went through all the presets trying out the different tones. I particularly like the DAS Metal and FAS Modern for metal tones, as metal is what I predominately play. I don't know if it's because of the speakers I'm using (M-Audio BX5) or what, but I wasn't very impressed by the sound. It wasn't that is was bad, but moreso that it was dampened, or sounded like there was a wall in front of it. I kept going back and playing my 6505 212 combo to compare. The 6505 sounded much fuller and more present. Now, I haven't had a chance to try any custom tones from the axe change, or really dialing in, so with more time I'm sure my impressions will change. Anyone else experienced this when they first played their Axe?
 
Try making your own presets rather than using the factory ones. I didn't like them much either - it really does sound best when tweaked to suit the guitar you're playing, and your technique.
 
Yes. First try through an Ultra was not as great as I expected. It just took tweaking, then it sounded great. The II is much less tweaky. Sounds awesome through my THD cab (without cab sims) through my Verve 12ma (with) and to a lesser extent through my studio moniters (Adams A3s).
 
Try it with good headphones. You may find that there is a huge difference in sound quality. If it is significantly better, then your speakers may be the weak link.
 
BX5s are small studio recording monitors. Don't treat them like their your amp. If you want to compare your amp, mic it and listen through you monitors for comparison.
 
happend to me first time, I tell people I kept looking for the OMG switch. ev live x 112p very reasonable, will blow u away. I am a METAL HEAD through and through. ps do a bit more trying before too early "whining"
 
Since the new firmware came out, I lost all my good high gain tones (they were all peaveys). I switched to using the friedman hbe and throwing drive in front of it (On the drive turn your tone and volume all the way up and drive all the way down. adjust your gain in the amp block as needed). You have to do a bit of eq'ing to get rid of the fizziness. I run the cabs in stereo mode and use the citrus 4x12 and the 5153 4x12. I keep switching mics between the e609, sm57, sm58 and the u87. However, it does work very well!
 
It's a super common response when first using the Axe. What you run it through makes all the difference. +1 on the suggestion to run into fx return with cab sims off. Also +1 to making your own preset just with amp and cab (or no cab into Peavey).
 
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm anxious to play around with the Axe some more, but I'm currently stuck at work. I thought about running the Axe through the Peavey FX loop as well. I'll give it a try tomorrow and see what happens.
 
I wasn't a huge fan of the factory presets either, but you have to understand, they are a basis starting point and a recommended amp/cab match. There are so many parameters to tweak though so spend some time. I'd recommend going through a decent set of headphones until you acquire a decent FRFR solution.
 
I totally understand, and kinda felt the same way.... At first. Then I started tweaking, and there it was. Nirvana (not the band). And yes, your monitoring solution can make all the difference.

I have been spending a couple of days trying to get some good sounds direct out of my FOH wedges. Everything sounded kinda honky. Then I tried playing a cd through them, and guess what - that sounded kinda honky too.
 
You bought a $2000 preamp to play through $200 speakers.........

Plug it in to your 2x12 and compare apples with apples
 
Same thing happened to me.Like BammBamm said "If headphones sound significantly different than it's the speakers. I've heard good things about the bx5's though.
 
I use my $2000 preamp through the same $200 speakers

I don't do my own mixing/mastering so they're good enough for tracking

anyway- you really want to test the axe...
play it into the effects loop of the real 6505 maybe with a 5150 setting

with power amp sims on and speaker sims off-
if should sound the same as the real thing- or can be easily tweaked to sound the same.

the axe isn't polished- it's realistic.

and the preamp section of it- is flawless- the signal going into the power amp section of your amp and speakers are identical to what the real thing would put out...

try that- you'll be impressed then tweak the other stuff later around it....

also using the maudio monitors- make sure power amp sims are on and speaker sims are on

the first 20 presets are meant for single coil pickups

and it does overall need a ton of tweaking to make it work for you
 
for what reason would someone not be able to get a good sound out of the BX5's?!?!

and to the OP not sure what FW you are using but if its 10 IMO I couldn't get anything to have much clarity without some serious high end tweaks or other IR's , 9.02 works much better for me with the high gain stuff
 
animal said:
for what reason would someone not be able to get a good sound out of the BX5's?!?!
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I have Bx5a's and Bx8a's... and QSC K12s... among others. The 5s have poor low end (although tight) and overly pronounced highs in my opinion. I now use them solely for DJ reference monitors during live shows. I still use the 8s for monitoring, but the lows are a bit boomy. The AF2 sounds 'acceptable' through the 8s, but nowhere near as killer as through the 12s (or good phones for that matter). Throw a good set of phones on the axe and crank it.
 
Synchros said:
Anyone else experienced this when they first played their Axe?
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Yep. I had the very same reaction with my axe2. Was very disheartened at first... Even though I knew it was a matter of finding the right output rig that I liked.

Tried Yamaha hs80m.
Tried Atomic 50 (v2 w tweeter)
Tried Atomic v1 112-50
Tried FX loop return on Blackstar combo into different Celestion loaded cabs
Tried FX loop return on Peavey Classic 30
Tried Logitech 2.1 speaker system (nice sub)

Out of all these configs, I actually liked the low end 2.1 speaker system best. The Yamahas would work with a good sub to carry the thumpy lows like you get in traditional cab. I didn't like configs where I disabled cab models as they lost a lot of character and punch. The Atomics worked pretty good but you gotta dial out the boominess. I'm told the CLRs are better in that respect. That said, the 2.1 system sounded best right away, with no tweaking.

For a full band, you could go direct to FoH, then use in ear monitors or a small combo for yourself. You'll have to tweak a little depending on the rig.

I don't have the budget for the higher end rigs so I made due with what I had.
 
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