I can't help but wonder...why do folks care so much about whether or not it sounds exactly like a "real" amp? Think about it...what if every sound that the Axe-FX II makes had absolutely nothing to do with a real world counterpart. Would you sell yours? I really don't understand it...the question isn't whether or not it sounds like something else, it is whether or not you LIKE the way the AXE-FX sounds. Right? Am I going crazy here?
This is why I've been an advocate of generic amp models for ages. It worked great with the Yamaha DG amps, nobody said that they sound crap or that they don't sound like tube amp X, people were able to enjoy the sound the amp models had on their own merits.
I know many love being able to select Fender/Marshall/Mesa/Vox this and that. I'm not above that, I liked the JCM900 model in the Standard because it was like an instant "early Manic Street Preachers" sound to me. Not a great sound but an apt sound for those songs. Yet with a little tweaking I could've probably gotten that out of some of the FAS models as well. When people are given too much choice, they often have a difficulty making a choice at all and at nearly 100 amp models, the Axe Fx 2 has gone past that point long ago.
If you ask me, Fractal could do away with many redundant amp models in the unit. Do we really need the following?
1987X - It doesn't really do anything that can't be achieved with the Plexi models
Das Metall - There is already a better Diezel VH4 model
FAS Brown, FAS Wreck - Axe 2 already contains supposedly more accurate versions of these
VOX AC30 - I reckon the Top Boost version with some high cut applied would get pretty much the same tones..hell, even the AC15 model might not be all that necessary
Carvin Legacy - Would this amp be anything more than an affordable tube amp if it wasn't for the Steve Vai connection? It's not like it's the quintessential Vai tone either
I'd rather see Fractal add amp models that epitomise a typical tone of a genre (like the wished Matamp, Sunn etc amps for stoner/doom stuff) or make the sound of a certain famous band or album. Things that are different enough to warrant their existence rather than something simply because someone sent one to them or it happens to be their favorite amp.
tl;dr: too many features, too many things that do nearly the same thing