AX8 Incoming

A

aftrshok99

Inspired
Hey everyone,
Hope to be joining the Fractal family for the long haul in a couple of days. I finally ordered an AX8 after using a Helix for a year. I've been reading all the posts on this forum and trying to learn everything I can. I've also watched countless videos until I can't see straight.

Little backstory: Last year the church I was attending bought me a Helix because at that time I was still on the waiting list for the AX8. Since then I have gone back to my home church and will be joining the praise band there again but I have nothing to use but my guitar. So that made me stop and think a lot about should I go back to the Helix or give the AX8 a try....I have wanted to try Fractal for years but just couldn't afford it at the time. Being familier with the Helix and some of the fancy things it has made it a hard decision. I decided if I didn't go with the AX8 that I'd be kicking myself by passing up on the chance to see how it will work for me.

Even with the Helix I used my pc to edit patches 95% of the time because I didn't have room on my desk for it. So that's not a deal breaker for me with the AX8. I do like the fact that there is some deep editing with the Fractal, whether or not I'll do that much deep editing who knows but I like it's there. I already have a interface for my other recording gear so that solves the no headphone out issue.

I had some pretty complex patches on the Helix but I think I can work around that on the AX8. I also use Ownhammer ir's, not sure if that's a must with the AX8 but for me it was on the Helix.

I'm really looking forward to using it and I hope I fall in love with it and forget about that other board I had.
 
I haven't personally used the helix. So, I have no means to compare. But, welcome to the fractal family! Make sure you keep your manual close, for a while. And, have fun!
 
The stock IR's are awesome! You don't "need" Ownhammer. But if you already have it and you are use to it, they work perfectly with the AX8. And... welcome to the club :)
 
Welcome and I think you'll be very happy! I'm a long-time tube amp guy who recently went to the AX8 and no regrets at all. My live playing is mostly P&W also and the AX8 sounds awesome. The editing software makes tweaking presets quite simple. There are a lot of parameters so you can go deep if you want but I haven't found much need for that as it is easy to get great tones with mostly the basic settings.
 
I recently purchased an AX8 as well and I can say for sure that you will love it. I used to own a Line 6 POD X3 Live and the tone from that thing was so bad that I literally swore to myself I'd never buy another L6 product again. In regard to the AX8, let me just put it like this, whatever guitar processor you were playing through before, forget it, the AX8 is going to blow it out of the water.
 
I ordered my AX8 as well. I can't wait until it gets here this friday!! Matching it up with the Mission Engineering Gemini 2 Cab. It's nice knowing that i won't be needing another live/recording rig for a long time.
 
Jammer77 said:
Welcome and I think you'll be very happy! I'm a long-time tube amp guy who recently went to the AX8 and no regrets at all. My live playing is mostly P&W also and the AX8 sounds awesome. The editing software makes tweaking presets quite simple. There are a lot of parameters so you can go deep if you want but I haven't found much need for that as it is easy to get great tones with mostly the basic settings.
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Thanks for the welcome!!!

BlackHelicopter said:
I recently purchased an AX8 as well and I can say for sure that you will love it. I used to own a Line 6 POD X3 Live and the tone from that thing was so bad that I literally swore to myself I'd never buy another L6 product again. In regard to the AX8, let me just put it like this, whatever guitar processor you were playing through before, forget it, the AX8 is going to blow it out of the water.
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It should be here tomorrow and I can't wait.

schrismer said:
Welcome aboard.... you will not look back!
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Hey schrismer, thanks for the welcome.

1poorplayer said:
This is a great time to look over the manual. It's hard to stop playing long enough to read through it once you get one.
The IR's that come with the unit are great.
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I probably will look over it again cause I know towards the end of the manual there were some sections I just kinda glazed over on...LOL

RumHam said:
I ordered my AX8 as well. I can't wait until it gets here this friday!! Matching it up with the Mission Engineering Gemini 2 Cab. It's nice knowing that i won't be needing another live/recording rig for a long time.
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Hey RumHam, sounds like you will be set.


I got to thinking about some of the things the Helix does that the AX8 doesn't do and if I'll miss those features or not.

I don't think I'll really miss the scribble strips, they were nice but I didn't really look at them that much. I knew what switch controlled what so it didn't matter if it said "QTR 8TH DLY". As long as I setup scenes and know what's were on the AX8 I'll be good. I won't miss the built in expression pedal I had issues with it being squeaky on me during church service a couple of times and let me tell you, when it's quite and you're doing volume swells and the pedal squeaks, it's loud, people hear it. I'm also certain I can learn to program the AX8 on the board itself and once I do it won't be an issue.

I know that tones, etc are subjective to each individual but I'm going with which unit sounds best to me. As long as I can get similar patches setup on the AX8 like I used on the Helix, I won't care about fancy scribble strips or some of those other things.

Can you only have two delays max in a patch on the AX8? I would like to have 32.....Just kidding about 32 delays. Not having used an AX8 yet I'm not even sure if having more than two delays is needed for anything. I just need to be able to get a good shimmer patch for swells and I'm sure the AX8 can do that.
 
aftrshok99 said:
Thanks for the welcome!!!



It should be here tomorrow and I can't wait.



Hey schrismer, thanks for the welcome.



I probably will look over it again cause I know towards the end of the manual there were some sections I just kinda glazed over on...LOL



Hey RumHam, sounds like you will be set.


I got to thinking about some of the things the Helix does that the AX8 doesn't do and if I'll miss those features or not.

I don't think I'll really miss the scribble strips, they were nice but I didn't really look at them that much. I knew what switch controlled what so it didn't matter if it said "QTR 8TH DLY". As long as I setup scenes and know what's were on the AX8 I'll be good. I won't miss the built in expression pedal I had issues with it being squeaky on me during church service a couple of times and let me tell you, when it's quite and you're doing volume swells and the pedal squeaks, it's loud, people hear it. I'm also certain I can learn to program the AX8 on the board itself and once I do it won't be an issue.

I know that tones, etc are subjective to each individual but I'm going with which unit sounds best to me. As long as I can get similar patches setup on the AX8 like I used on the Helix, I won't care about fancy scribble strips or some of those other things.

Can you only have two delays max in a patch on the AX8? I would like to have 32.....Just kidding about 32 delays. Not having used an AX8 yet I'm not even sure if having more than two delays is needed for anything. I just need to be able to get a good shimmer patch for swells and I'm sure the AX8 can do that.
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Welcome dude! I have my main patch set up with 2 delays and X/Y to give me 4 delay options per patch. More than enough for most folks I'd imagine. Have fun!
 
aftrshok99 said:
Can you only have two delays max in a patch on the AX8? I would like to have 32.....Just kidding about 32 delays. Not having used an AX8 yet I'm not even sure if having more than two delays is needed for anything. I just need to be able to get a good shimmer patch for swells and I'm sure the AX8 can do that.
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You'll find the multi-delay will give you a good shimmer option for your swells. I have a scene set up specifically for that.
 
Welcome! This is a good forum with people who are really helpful with suggestions, lots of knowledge here.

I could live without Ownhammer as the stock cabs are IMO better than Helix (and simpler which has pros and cons but I prefer), but I've really been liking them overall with the AX8. It's a consistent tonality. I really like the quick mix folder for the 57, 121, and OH1F.

Check out the thread on the scene controllers with the video, that's a huge help to unlock a lot of versatility out of patches.

I try to adopt a similar layout across my patches where I keep say scenes 1-4 on the bottom and toggle effects on the top. 1 would be clean, 2 would be crunch, 3 would be gain, 4 would be lead. Sounds like you did something similar.
 
KickTags Man said:
Welcome dude! I have my main patch set up with 2 delays and X/Y to give me 4 delay options per patch. More than enough for most folks I'd imagine. Have fun!
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Thanks man!!! Well that sounds like plenty of delays for me.

Jammer77 said:
You'll find the multi-delay will give you a good shimmer option for your swells. I have a scene set up specifically for that.
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I'll make sure to check that out.

Jarick said:
Welcome! This is a good forum with people who are really helpful with suggestions, lots of knowledge here.

I could live without Ownhammer as the stock cabs are IMO better than Helix (and simpler which has pros and cons but I prefer), but I've really been liking them overall with the AX8. It's a consistent tonality. I really like the quick mix folder for the 57, 121, and OH1F.

Check out the thread on the scene controllers with the video, that's a huge help to unlock a lot of versatility out of patches.

I try to adopt a similar layout across my patches where I keep say scenes 1-4 on the bottom and toggle effects on the top. 1 would be clean, 2 would be crunch, 3 would be gain, 4 would be lead. Sounds like you did something similar.
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I have noticed it seems to be a friendly and helpful place on here.

I only had those ir's because I didn't like the stock cabs in the Helix and have a couple that I really like from Ownhammer. I think that same quick mix you mentioned is similar to what I use.

I'm watching every video I can find, I think I broke the internet...LOL

That's what I was doing scenes 1-4 bottom and toggle effects on top. Then I pretty much copied this preset for every song and would tweak delay, reverb or whatever else I needed to taste for a given song.
 
I seriously need to quit reading posts about things like CPU limitations and audio gap between scenes, presets, etc. I just like reading all I can but dang, it's driving me nuts (meaning, I want my AX8 NOW, not tomorrow). Haha....Patience grasshopper patience!!!
 
The AX8 firmware is typically released shortly after the Axe-Fx II and all those pesky bugs have been squashed. So, yes they are in sync, but the AX8 typically lags just a little bit.
 
The moment has finally come, I have an AX8............but I'm at work....booooooooo

Of course I've unboxed it and will put it in my case that I have for it. Can't wait to get home!!!
 
aftrshok99 said:
The moment has finally come, I have an AX8............but I'm at work....booooooooo

Of course I've unboxed it and will put it in my case that I have for it. Can't wait to get home!!!
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It will be the longest day, sorry... being there :)
 
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