AX8 Drives

J

jonny gardiner

Member
Hey folks. Im new here. Im loving the AX8. Its an absolute game changer.

I think all of the effects are stellar EXCEPT the drives. Does anyone feel the same?

I have a vast collection of overdrives (OCD V3, Xotic RC, TS9, TS808, Rat, Pi Fuzz, Boss BD2 & OD3, Analogue Man Silicon Fuzz, Hendrix Fuzz, Micro Boost and many more) and dont think the AX8 does a great job of modelling them. My fav drive on the AX8 is the Blues Drive, but I have to turn the tone control fully counter clockwise to make it work. I certainly don't have to do that with the original Blues Driver , which I ab'd against the AX8 and the Blues Driver model on the GT100 .

I find most of the overdrives muddy. In fact I think the Boss GT100 does a much better job at OD modelling.

Am I missing something? Are there go to adjustments people are making with the drives to make them work?

The amp and Cab modelling are soooo good you can almost forget about the drives but I really want to use the AX8 occasionally as a pedal board in front of a clean tube amp.

Looking forward to your input.
 
Many people feel the drives are the weakest link in the FAS paradigm, but most of them can be tweaked into usability (my fave is the FAS Boost) and Ax8 users will also soon get the just-added
Benefit of upgraded clip behavior for the drives in the newest firmware
 
I would do a search on the forum for some of the drives you mentioned to see if you can find some settings that correlate to what you are looking for. The drives are extremely flexible and some don't like the default settings which is understandable. There have been some pretty good threads here over the years that list out various settings to help you get closer to what you are looking for.

Hopefully, you've seen these links already:

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2/index.php?title=Drive_effect

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threa...-all-pedal-and-effect-emulations-thread.79617
 
I agree, I find that a filter block in front of the amp with a mid boost and some cutting is often a much more effective way to get the sounds I need than trying the filter blocks.

I think, the FAS boost, and the 3-knob tube driver are kind of cool, but I rarely use them.
 
I only use a few of them but get good results with them. I don't think you should worry about setting the blues driver different than you would a real one. The knobs on the Ax are not (never have been) a one to one match. If it sounds good it sounds good
 
jonny gardiner said:
Does anyone feel the same?
Click to expand...

Not really, not trying to be a fanboy here but they're actually pretty spectacular. My experience has got me to my favorite three: ZenMaster, TD 808 & Mid Boost depending on which amp combo I'm going for.

jonny gardiner said:
Am I missing something? Are there go to adjustments people are making with the drives to make them work?
Click to expand...

One suggestion I could field is try not using the drives in the traditional sense you would with a real amp. What I mean is that in a real life scenario you take a Fender Twin 'Verb and put a Tube Screamer in front of it expecting it to push the overdrive of the signal hotter. One way that I've discovered FAS is different is that yes you can approach it the same way, but the results are a bit different. The Amp modeling drives and cab combos are really what make the approach unique. My suggestion: try to use the drives as an OD boost rather than the definitive overdrive of your overall tone. Does that make sense? Try playing with just the Amp + Cab blocks first getting the tone you want. Then you can A/B compare your favorite drives in the AX8 using the X/Y parameters to find the right combo. Ultimately, don't take the lackluster feel that you're hearing to be the authoritative approach in obtaining that tone you're looking for. The drives really are phenomenal once you find the one that works the best.

Try this combo:
I | >>> [DRV: ZenMaster Drive 3; Tone 6] >> [AMP: Two Stone J35 1 Default Settings] >> [CAB: Stereo Cab (non UltraRes) 4X12 V30 with the right same cab but Delay: .300 ms] >> | O

See if that whistles your dixie, cheers.
 
I understand what you mean I think but I usually manage do dial in great ones anyway. I almost always experiment with the high- and lowcut to open them up. I use the Tube 3knob, FAS Drive, TS808, TS808mod, Treble Boost and Tape dist mostly (with a physical amp), also find the Oct drive to be fantastic when I line the unit with its own amp.
But sometimes yeah, it can feel like the amp models got more love than the drive models :)
 
jonny gardiner said:
Hey folks. Im new here. Im loving the AX8. Its an absolute game changer.

I think all of the effects are stellar EXCEPT the drives. Does anyone feel the same?

I have a vast collection of overdrives (OCD V3, Xotic RC, TS9, TS808, Rat, Pi Fuzz, Boss BD2 & OD3, Analogue Man Silicon Fuzz, Hendrix Fuzz, Micro Boost and many more) and dont think the AX8 does a great job of modelling them. My fav drive on the AX8 is the Blues Drive, but I have to turn the tone control fully counter clockwise to make it work. I certainly don't have to do that with the original Blues Driver , which I ab'd against the AX8 and the Blues Driver model on the GT100 .

I find most of the overdrives muddy. In fact I think the Boss GT100 does a much better job at OD modelling.

Am I missing something? Are there go to adjustments people are making with the drives to make them work?

The amp and Cab modelling are soooo good you can almost forget about the drives but I really want to use the AX8 occasionally as a pedal board in front of a clean tube amp.

Looking forward to your input.
Click to expand...
The Blues OD in the AxeFx & AX8 are a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, not a Boss Blues Driver
 
OP, what A/B method are you using? I've actually not done any A/B testing myself, but personally have had some success with the AX8 drives with the following caveats:

1. Some models take drives better than others, which mirrors real life. A cranked up model with limited clean headroom isn't going to take drives very well without getting muddy, clean boosts typically with a significant low cut and mid or treble boost work best in these scenarios.

2. Modeled amp settings matter, again this mirrors real life. If you have an amp model set clean-ish with a lot of clean headroom and treble/presence settings high and hit it with a modeled drive pedal with the treble settings set to noon or above, it's going to sound pretty harsh. In the real world we benefit greatly of off axis monitoring of amps which really tames the high end (though doesn't spare your audience directly in front of your amp). Using the typical close miced cab IR with all that treble is akin to putting your ear right on the speaker.

3. Just like in real life...I tend to prefer amp drive to pedal drive. I really prefer pedals more to augment the sound of the amp drive rather than use the pedal to be the generator of all the dirt. I know some may prefer to set up AX8 chains to mirror a more real world scenario with a clean amp and multiple drives to get their dirt, but in the virtual world such limitations needn't be when we can switch so easily from a JC120 to a cranked plexi. YMMV.
 
I´m in the same boat. I don't have much use for the drives, ocasionally the FET boost or the TS 3 knob, that=s it. Some drives like the Ruckus need extreme settings to be usable. My 2 cents.
 
a couple of things:

on almost all of the drives i have to keep the level very low to make them usable. most between 1.5 and 2. a few even lower. too much level is going to fart out your virtual power amp and turn it to much.

you can run the amps in the Ax8 hotter than you'd usually ever be able to run them in real life, especially the Fenders. you can get crazy good natural power amp breakup and conversational listening volume....if you hit that with a really hot OD it's not going to sound great.
 
jlynnb1 said:
a couple of things:

on almost all of the drives i have to keep the level very low to make them usable. most between 1.5 and 2. a few even lower. too much level is going to fart out your virtual power amp and turn it to much.

you can run the amps in the Ax8 hotter than you'd usually ever be able to run them in real life, especially the Fenders. you can get crazy good natural power amp breakup and conversational listening volume....if you hit that with a really hot OD it's not going to sound great.
Click to expand...
do you run higher drive level? My drives level are a but higher than yours but I use super low drive if the model will let me I run the drive at 0
 
I've never been a big real drive pedal player because the ones I tried didn't sound good to me even though they were highly touted. With AX8 drives I hear some of the same sounds that I didn't care for in real pedals but found other options that I do like and that I had never tried before.

Haven't been hanging out in the AXII forum much. Any word on the drive clipping improvements in 4.01? Guess I'll go take look.
 
Lots of good points and tips in here. My take is to lower the mix of the drive a bit to help clear things up. I also liked @jlynnb1 point about how most amps are running hotter than you would with the real amp and thus higher drive level starts to fart the amp model.
 
Wow...I think the drives are stellar...better than my Kemper or AmpliFIRE.
My favs are the 808 and Zen.
In front of a medium gain Dirty Shirley I get fantastic results.
 
I am no expert, but I have found good use of them. However there are so many contingencies: how the amp parameters are set with input drive and MV (plus fat, cut, depth, bright, saturation, and all the deeper parameters) and which amp you are using and which drive pedal combination - and which guitar you are playing. Also, with the A/B you can have an amp with input drive to clean on A and then increased drive to taste for B.

But I agree, the AX8 is a game changer. I cannot imagine someone not being able to dial in what they are looking for out of that box.
 
jonny gardiner said:
Hey folks. Im new here. Im loving the AX8. Its an absolute game changer.

I think all of the effects are stellar EXCEPT the drives. Does anyone feel the same?

I have a vast collection of overdrives (OCD V3, Xotic RC, TS9, TS808, Rat, Pi Fuzz, Boss BD2 & OD3, Analogue Man Silicon Fuzz, Hendrix Fuzz, Micro Boost and many more) and dont think the AX8 does a great job of modelling them. My fav drive on the AX8 is the Blues Drive, but I have to turn the tone control fully counter clockwise to make it work. I certainly don't have to do that with the original Blues Driver , which I ab'd against the AX8 and the Blues Driver model on the GT100 .

I find most of the overdrives muddy. In fact I think the Boss GT100 does a much better job at OD modelling.

Am I missing something? Are there go to adjustments people are making with the drives to make them work?

The amp and Cab modelling are soooo good you can almost forget about the drives but I really want to use the AX8 occasionally as a pedal board in front of a clean tube amp.

Looking forward to your input.
Click to expand...

Also since you own all these real models - have you tried running them into the ax8 and switching between them tweaking to make the ax8 drives sound the same? Admittedly those of us without the real pedals can't have as good of an opinion on the subject.
 
I've had mixed results with the drives. I keep the mix at 50% rather than 100% like the defaults. I also usually turn down the drive (less than 5) so I can keep the input gate either off or very low. To my ears, the input gate is a tone suck. I get excellent results. Of course "excellent results" is a subjective opinion. I do not like a wall of distortion, preferring a cleaner tone with more note dynamics so my idea of "excellent results" might be different than yours. There have been a lot of great responses to your post and some good suggestions to get better results.
 
Keg8605 said:
Also since you own all these real models - have you tried running them into the ax8 and switching between them tweaking to make the ax8 drives sound the same? Admittedly those of us without the real pedals can't have as good of an opinion on the subject.
Click to expand...
When I had the FX8 I did not achieve the same results as with my Himmelstrutz, Wampler plexi, EP booster. I liked the real pedals better for low and mid OD, clarity, note separation. Admittedly this was with the first firmware and little experience from my side. Today, with the AX8, I find there are a LOT of ways to get there without the drives. And when I use them I use extremely low gain settings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom