Anybody confused with two different Fractal rigs?

yek said:
I'm hooked on the Axe-Fx and my RJM controller.
The AX8 is sonically the same and much more portable, but I love having immediate access to all my favorite effects and functionality, at home and when playing live. No justification needed.
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Rjm in place of the MFC101??
 
Geezerjohn said:
Started with an Ultra, then went to AxeFX. Have not gone with the XL. I have the MFC to control the Axe FX. I bought and really like the AX8 for gigs. My Axe FX was getting worn with dragging it to rehearsals and gigs. Mostly, the connections, and especially the CAT5 connection. Now, the FX stays in the studio, and I use the AX8 for gigs. At this point, I am interested in ease of use. Set up and tear down is a breeze with the AX8. For most gigs I can haul my AX8, wires and an expression pedal in a rolling computer laptop bag. Rolling bag and a guitar and I'm good to go. I get great tones in a gig-friendly package.

I have a few presets that I built that use 2 amps in the Axe, and initially, I missed having them in the AX8, but at this point, I have built other presets that work well for the music that I play. I have no issues with my gear Henry. Obviously the interfaces between the 2 are different, so the logistics of operating them is different. It was a bit awkward initially, but at this point, I have gigged so many times with the AX8, I am completely comfortable with it. I still like the Axe for study work, but presently, I am moving and my studio is packed up in boxes, so I am just using the AX8 for gigs. At this point, I have come to appreciate the differences between the Axe and the AX8. I am blessed to have both.
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Sp much like my story! Even to the point that I'm in between studios. Not exactly packed up in boxes, but I'm in a temporary space until I build my new one! Thanks!
 
in the same boat, started with an Ultra, got AxeFx MkII, then got a Ax8. Sold MkII, got a good deal on an XL..wasn't really using it much sold XL to buy RCF NX10 SMA's. thinking about buying a Mk I for cheap just to have in the studio or take it out to gigs again.
 
If the AX-8 had the same processing power as the Axe Fx, I'd probably get one and use it for gigging...

Henry - you saw my rig on Saturday... I've got a front of rack panel and a nice pedal board and case with MFC and expression pedals mounted and wired up.

At a gig, it's a bit more to carry than an AX-8 and expression pedals, but not any more cabling (1 power cable, 2 speaker cables, 1 XLR for MFC). The front panel means it takes literally a couple minutes to plug everything in and the back of the rack case never comes off.
 
unix-guy said:
If the AX-8 had the same processing power as the Axe Fx, I'd probably get one and use it for gigging...

Henry - you saw my rig on Saturday... I've got a front of rack panel and a nice pedal board and case with MFC and expression pedals mounted and wired up.

At a gig, it's a bit more to carry than an AX-8 and expression pedals, but not any more cabling (1 power cable, 2 speaker cables, 1 XLR for MFC). The front panel means it takes literally a couple minutes to plug everything in and the back of the rack case never comes off.
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Yes, but I'm done with big racks. I did that for 20 years. No more. Not if I'm hauling it. I'm done with small racks. I used to lug and 6 space rack AND a four space.
 
I'm with some of the others here. I use both an XL+ and an AXEFXII for live, and my AX8 is my back up as well as what I use for smaller jams. I just played a party this weekend with it and was actually blown away at how great it sounded. Everyone commented that they couldn't believe such big sound came from that little board. ;) Anyway....

I have identical presets in all of them. So things don't differentiate too much when using the different rigs. My AXE II uses older FW which just works for me. I have an original band as well as a Van Halen tribute band I play in, and I just find the older FW works for that stuff. In my other projects, I use the XL+ using the latest FW and the presets are very similar. The extra horsepower in the XL+ and AXEII are noticeable enough for me to need them in a live situation.

This is more the case in my original band and specialty projects. There are certain situations where the AX8 just doesn't allow for me to use the amount of effects I need in a particular patch. Other than that, the sound it gives me is nearly identical to its rack brothers. I use the MFC 101 with the rack stuff and am VERY happy with it because it comes right out of the box working with the rack units with little to no tweaking.

I was looking at the liquid foot....but that thing scared me. LOL! I don't feel like doing a whole lot of reading, learning and programming. I make my living strictly from music and recording so I have to be ready and able with my sounds etc. So in a nutshell, it's nice for me to have something in the studio, something for live, and the AX8 for back-up with the occasional showing of the XL+ live every once in a while. It's expensive, but well worth it.

Not to jinx myself or anyone else...(touches wood) but I'd probably blow up a power amp before I'd toast anything from my Fractal family. Hopefully it stays that way as I've had enough issues with gear letting me down when I needed it most.
 
I have both. I mainly use the AX8 because of the smaller stages we play.

There are features in the AXE-FX II that I really like that the AX8 doesn't have.
I've been dialing in sounds to use the AXE-FX II for upcoming gigs though, and like Matt says, it's only adding one more connection.

it has been time consuming updating patches on both devices though. I really should use FracTool more to convert those I can.

I love both units and plan on keeping them.
 
Another nice reason to have both is that it makes it super convenient when a friend comes over to jam :)
 
henryrobinett said:
Anyone else have this issue? How are you using two rigs?
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Same here, the AFX II MI doesn't get much love these days. But, I justify it by the following:
- If I want to quickly record a riff, I can do so with my laptop and AFX II with ease as a dedicated "desktop" home unit without plugging in 1/4" or XLR cables to the AX8
- I can preview Firmwares and what may or may not change in similar amp/cab/FX combos prior to upgrading my primary AX8 rig
- My MFC is rarely plugged in, however, if needed I could use it for larger gigs requiring more horsepower/FX/etc.
- I can test more functionality improvements, IRs, etc. on the AFX rather than my primary gigging AX8 to get the tone just right without complicating the two

Essentially I use the AFX II for home studio use leveraging the USB audio interface, previewing firmwares and creating "expendable" presets. I do find it difficult to move between the two mainly because I have a PedalTrain Pro and unpacking the AX8 takes some effort.

Plenty of uses for me, I don't see a need to get rid of something that does everything required in either case. Additionally, it is my "backup" rig as my Vox Valvetronix hasn't been turned on in about a year now ;)
 
I have a live rig and a home rig.

My live rig is my Axe-Fx II MkI in a 4 space rolling rack, FAMC LF+ 12+ MFC which connects with a 7pin cable for bidirectional MIDI and power, Two Yamaha DXR12 FRFR powered cabs. I was thinking about getting an AX8 but it can't handle some of my presets. The only extra step over having an AX8 is I have to connect my MIDI cable. Also, if I had an AX8, I'd transport it in a case which would probably be larger than my 4 space rack case.

My home rig is my Axe-Fx II XL+ with a FAMC LF+ PRO+.

At band practice I use my live rig but sometimes use my LF+ PRO+ as an Expander with my LF+ 12+ as master when we write, improvise or jam, so I have access to a bunch of IA's for FX. I use my 12+ in set list mode and setup songs, so each section of the song has a preset for intro, verse, Pre chorus, chorus... etc. I only have to step on one button to change the song's presets, so I don't ever have to remember when to change presets or what button to step on and just step on the button for every song section change.

I use my home rig to test out new Axe-Fx II firmware, program my LF+ and record. I like having a LF+ at home, so I can switch presets when recording, learning new songs or practicing. My dogs like all the colored displays on the LF+ too haha.
 
henryrobinett said:
Yes! Actually, I have students. The student take the AX8 and I take the XL+!
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Wow! That is so cool. I think of taking guitar lessons years ago where I'd plug into some tiny practice amp. I hope your students know what an amazing piece of gear they have to play through at their lesson.
 
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