Well... I got the Axe FX II last night. Sorry to say, I'm not a fan. Ran it through my computer last night, and out through my studio speakers. Wasn't terribly impressed with the factory presets. Then I tone matched Doyle Bramhall II's tone at the intro of Problem Child. Was impressed. Then I found a Dumble patch in Axe-Exchange - Was really impressed, and had hope. Today I ran it through an old SS amp I have, via the power amp in section of the amp. Not impressed at all. Then I ran it stereo into the effects loop returns on the two Marshall JTM 30's I have. Sound better, but still not at all close to useable. As suggested, I turned off the speaker sims - Sounded worse. I'm sure I could spend hrs, if not days tweaking to get something close to what I'd consider a natural, organic amp tone - there's certainly enough tweakable parameters, but... I'd rather just stick to real amps. There's just a characteristic that sounds digital and harsh to my ears. Was considering getting a FRFR powered cab, but I've read comments suggesting those don't even produce the characteristics of a real cab.
Oh well...