Having the Axe Fx II Mark I… crazy to consider buying a Boss SE-70 or VF-1?

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Just like the title says…

Having the Axe Fx II Mark I… Am I crazy to consider buying a Boss SE-70 or VF-1?

I mean, I’ve heard so much good things about these units, are they still worth buying when I have an Axe Fx II?

Anything these units can do that the Axe II can’t?

Or would be a waste of money?
 
Waste of money IMHO. The Axe II is superior in every way. I can't speak to the SE-70, but the noise floor of the VF-1 is terrible. It hissed like a pissed off cat. I had one for a couple years for effects with my old Boogie Triaxis and 2:90 rig. The effects were pretty good for the time, but the amp models in it were very weak, especially the high gain ones. Very one dimensional and artificial sounding. The Line 6 beans had much better amp models at the time. I replaced the VF-1 with a TC Electronics G-Major which was whisper quiet and had fewer but better sounding effects. The Axe II is in another league to both in comparison.
 
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I understand that the quality itself of the effects and quality of them are better on the Axe.

The issue here are the algorithms that these units have, that supposedly are very cool.

And since I don’t have one to compare, I don’t know how to reproduce them on the Axe… :(
 
Crazy? No.... still hiting the spot with my AX8 but I still have my Roland GP-16 bought from new, for the unique,crazy,left field (by modern standards!),playable sounds... that are fun to play and listen to(the reason!)... like alot of the units of this era... but to quote "it wont change your life"
 
Crazier things have been done (gulp), but generally I only go for such when I’ve a particular sound in mind.

I’m more likely to buy an older unit for one sound than the promise of yesterday’s multis. 🤷🏻
 
advideo said:
Just like the title says…

Having the Axe Fx II Mark I… Am I crazy to consider buying a Boss SE-70 or VF-1?

I mean, I’ve heard so much good things about these units, are they still worth buying when I have an Axe Fx II?

Anything these units can do that the Axe II can’t?

Or would be a waste of money?
Click to expand...

It could be cool to get a SE-70 or VF-1 if you are curious, and just want to play with one. However, I doubt it would do anything your Axe II can do.

I kind of went through this over the last several years. I had the Axe II, but eventually bought a G Major 2, MPX-1, Intellifex, and Replifex. I basically wanted all the cool stuff I couldn't afford when I was younger, lol. They all sound good for various reasons, but they all got their issues compared to just using the Axe II with my tube gear. The MPX-1 cant use chorus and detune at the same time, and is a PITA to use, the G Major 2 has weak reverb, and both really require a parallel mixer. The Intellifex is super limited, has short delay times, but sounds great, and the Replifex is a great do-all, but the Reverb is weak. They both have analog mixers built in though, so that is awesome.

I was going to grab a SE-70 also, but I couldn't find any at a decent price, and I started to realize after awhile I am not sure what I would do with it. I am still curious, but all of these units have limitations the Axe II dont have, and the Axe II is way easier to use since it has USB, an editor that still works. As much as I like all the units, they really dont do anything the Axe II cant do, and the Axe II is easier to deal with overall.

I like to switch between all the units, but in the end, I use my Axe II the most with my tube gear. The main thing I hate is the Axe II + a parallel mixer takes a up a whole lot of space for some effects. I would love a Fractal that is one rack space, less than 10" deep, and included an analog parallel mixer. I use one preset with pitch, chorus, delay, and reverb in parallel. I use this with my Synergy and Tube Heads. I have a FM3 that I use stand alone.

Leon @2112 has cool videos on all this gear. It is fun to play with all these old units, but I don't really think they do anything the Axe II can't do, in terms of effects. Of course, anything Fractal would kill any of their drive effects.
 
Not for me but I have to say I have always liked Boss products-still have my Boss GX700. Had all the GT's at one time or another also.
 
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