Rhiza
Inspired
This review will be divided in four parts:
1. First impression
2. Price
3. Sounds, features and functionality
4. easy of use and practicality.
1: I remember the day when I got my axe fx II... "Wow!" was my first impression.
Start was is very fast, and the blinking LED's made it more exciting. Seeing this thing powering up was like turning on a Christmas tree!
Scrolling through the first presets, I immediately felt the urge to start making my own presets. I had been reading a bit on the forums and watching youtube videos for a good way to make presets, especially for metal and rock.
I liked how the buttons was set up, very slick and easy to learn how to use them. I liked the LCD screen, very bright and detailed enough. Installing drivers was easy and in no time I was able to use Axe-edit to make editing easier.
2. I'm going to say exactly the same that boy-in-a-band said about the price. "It's a lot of money", but comparing this to the price of a Mesa Boogie Triple rectifier (including the cabinet) It's two thirds of the price! And counting in all the other amp simulations, Cabinets, Effects pedals and connectivity features. This is a bargain!
3. I didn't care much for a lot of the presets, and felt that this was mostly to show what this piece of gear is capable of. Some of the presets were inspiring, but as I said before, I started making my own presets pretty quickly!
I was amazed with the tube-like feeling and how the amp simulations reacted. It felt like playing on a real amp, but then not really. Hard to explain but I like what I'm experiencing!
With the massive selection of amps, all styles and preferences in amp sound are achieved. You don't have to screw around to get a good amp sound. Pretty neat!
I haven't tried all the stomp box effects yet, but the ones I tried sounded sweet and there are so many of them!
I love the whole idea about making your own Impulse response files, and having the ability to import and export existing ones is fantastic! Brings up a whole floor of open source people sharing ideas, files and giving a hand. Love that shit!
I didn't like the Axe FX II as a "sound card". I used ableton live and even though it was very easy to set up, I had problems with latency. Recording guitars were no fun because I had to mute the track while recording cause of the incoming guitar signal got on top of the guitar signal from the track in Ableton live, resulting in a "phasing" sound. I could probably set it up more practically but I have a RME fireface 400 which I in general like better. I stick with the RME for recording audio signals.
4. Installing was easy, hooking up with Axe-Edit was easy, making presets and changing them was easy, learning curve from day one was a no-brainer!
I bought the Axe-FX II cause I move a lot from place to place. I can't always make so much noise so it is very practical to record directly into pro tools or ableton Live. I can use headphones, I can import and export or make Impulse response files. I can re-amp guitar tracks that needs that "extra punch". The sounds I use on my albums can be played live. Just in general I love this unit!
Summary:
Eventhough I wasn't impressed with the "soundcard" features of the Axe FX II, this unit has become stronger, more realistic sounding, packed with features and at that price it beats anything on the market!
Nice job Fractal Audio, you made a believer out of me
1. First impression
2. Price
3. Sounds, features and functionality
4. easy of use and practicality.
1: I remember the day when I got my axe fx II... "Wow!" was my first impression.
Start was is very fast, and the blinking LED's made it more exciting. Seeing this thing powering up was like turning on a Christmas tree!
Scrolling through the first presets, I immediately felt the urge to start making my own presets. I had been reading a bit on the forums and watching youtube videos for a good way to make presets, especially for metal and rock.
I liked how the buttons was set up, very slick and easy to learn how to use them. I liked the LCD screen, very bright and detailed enough. Installing drivers was easy and in no time I was able to use Axe-edit to make editing easier.
2. I'm going to say exactly the same that boy-in-a-band said about the price. "It's a lot of money", but comparing this to the price of a Mesa Boogie Triple rectifier (including the cabinet) It's two thirds of the price! And counting in all the other amp simulations, Cabinets, Effects pedals and connectivity features. This is a bargain!
3. I didn't care much for a lot of the presets, and felt that this was mostly to show what this piece of gear is capable of. Some of the presets were inspiring, but as I said before, I started making my own presets pretty quickly!
I was amazed with the tube-like feeling and how the amp simulations reacted. It felt like playing on a real amp, but then not really. Hard to explain but I like what I'm experiencing!
With the massive selection of amps, all styles and preferences in amp sound are achieved. You don't have to screw around to get a good amp sound. Pretty neat!
I haven't tried all the stomp box effects yet, but the ones I tried sounded sweet and there are so many of them!
I love the whole idea about making your own Impulse response files, and having the ability to import and export existing ones is fantastic! Brings up a whole floor of open source people sharing ideas, files and giving a hand. Love that shit!
I didn't like the Axe FX II as a "sound card". I used ableton live and even though it was very easy to set up, I had problems with latency. Recording guitars were no fun because I had to mute the track while recording cause of the incoming guitar signal got on top of the guitar signal from the track in Ableton live, resulting in a "phasing" sound. I could probably set it up more practically but I have a RME fireface 400 which I in general like better. I stick with the RME for recording audio signals.
4. Installing was easy, hooking up with Axe-Edit was easy, making presets and changing them was easy, learning curve from day one was a no-brainer!
I bought the Axe-FX II cause I move a lot from place to place. I can't always make so much noise so it is very practical to record directly into pro tools or ableton Live. I can use headphones, I can import and export or make Impulse response files. I can re-amp guitar tracks that needs that "extra punch". The sounds I use on my albums can be played live. Just in general I love this unit!
Summary:
Eventhough I wasn't impressed with the "soundcard" features of the Axe FX II, this unit has become stronger, more realistic sounding, packed with features and at that price it beats anything on the market!
Nice job Fractal Audio, you made a believer out of me
