AX8 first gig initial impressions vs. Axe-FX

[bjjp2]

Got the AX8 on Thursday. Spent some time setting it up and then gigged with it Saturday night. Some initial impressions.

1. I went with my usual setup of Matrix power amp and 1x12 cab with EV-12L. Was small bar so didn't go direct to FOH.

2. Sounds great--just like my Axe-fx II (duh). Switched between 4 presets--clean twin, AC-15, Friedman BE and Dumble.

3. Was somewhat surprised that I ran into CPU issues when I was setting it up as my layouts are pretty simple I think. Comp, wah, drive, filter (for volume boost), delay, reverb, chorus, cab. Tried to add a Flanger and this resulted in disabling reverb. Will have to work on this.

4. I definitely missed the ability to change settings on the fly without having to bend down. I was hoping my RAC12 would work with the AX8, but so far it doesn't seem to.

5. I set up the switches to be 4 presets and 4 effects (chorus, delay, filter and drive). Worked great during the gig, but I definitely missed having the greater number of switches on the MFC. Could have used another amp preset or two and a couple more effects. (Also ran a wah.)

6. Compared to using Ax-Fx, I don't know if I'm sold on it. For the benefit of saving two rack spaces I lost the ability to make adjustments without bending down, the more switches of the MFC, the CPU issue, and cab de-phase and channel strip (for when I go direct). If I hadn't already used AX-Fx I would be blown away though. Sounds great and easy to use. Easy to set up (with AX8-Edit).

Here's a pic of last night's rig:

 

[chris]

Cool, glad it sounded good!

The AX8 is indeed a slightly less powerful unit with less knobs and switches than an Axe-Fx II and separate MIDI controller.

We are trading some power and control surface for a very compact package, but the real goal was to sound exactly like the Axe-Fx II, which it does! We could of course add another midi controller to the AX8 for more switches, but to many, that wouldn't "make sense."

Perhaps the compact package isn't much of a benefit for your setup where you bring a rack unit amp and cab. But imagine showing up to a gig with back line provided and all you bring is the AX8, some cables and your guitar. That's maybe a more ideal situation for the compact setup?

For many people, taking a rack and separate controller to gigs is already compact enough. But for others, the all-in-one unit is even more ideal, walking from gig to gig, 3 gigs back to back around town, very small stage setups, etc. I'm glad we have the AX8 option now. Some gigs I show up with a 3 space rack and controller and they look at me like I'm crazy for bringing so much gear, like restaurants and small clubs. The AX8 fits in better there, and again, sounds the same which is great.

Thanks for the review. It's always nice to see how others are using the gear!

 

[Johan Allard]

Waiting for my Ax8 so eagerly reading these reports

It seem with the CPU issue that what will most likely end up happening is that we'll have to create more presets. With the Axe Fx 2, especially with recent CPU savings, it's possible to pretty much throw everything and the kitching sink in every preset with no issues. But lets say I'm planning to play a cover of She Sells Sanctuary, maybe I'll just have to create a separate preset for the heavily modulated intro instead of using scenes and the one preset? It's going to be interesting nevertheless!

Edit: Just saw that this is my post number 1000 - forum addict!!

 

[bishop5150]

Glad you had a good gig. Considering using mine next weekend at an out of town show. Would be my first show ever not using my tube amp rig so I'm a little nervous about taking that initial leap. I've only used my Axe for home practice up to this point I ran into the CPU issues as well when transferring over my presets from my Axe. I had to switch to a different reverb type to solve the issue. No biggie.

 

[ethomas1013]

3. Was somewhat surprised that I ran into CPU issues when I was setting it up as my layouts are pretty simple I think. Comp, wah, drive, filter (for volume boost), delay, reverb, chorus, cab. Tried to add a Flanger and this resulted in disabling reverb. Will have to work on this.

Did you lower the reverb quality to "normal"? I run a similar chain and have not had problems (ok, no flangers for me...)


Edit:
I just had a little time to lay out a preset with these blocks. All on default settings (Reverb set to Normal quality on Medium Room) and I have no problem. I'm at 79% CPU so there's some room for changing some of the blocks to settings that might use a bit more CPU. I had room to add a volume block and a couple PEQ blocks (for signal routing only to bypass the Wah in one scene) and I'm at 87%.