Brian Coonan
Power User
Last week I had 3 gigs in 3 days that all were pretty different and which I used the AX8 direct to FoH. The first one was a festival with other bands opening for the country act Thompson Square, the second, our own gig (and own PA) at an outdoor stage on a lake, and the third at a bar with house sound (kind of a junky PA).
In the two shows with other bands involved, I had guitar players giving the AX8 'the look' - like the 'What the heck is that?' look. One guy who did know what it was said the tone was great, and in his opinion, much better than the Kemper's that's he's heard at other shows - said it really sounded like an amp and well 'buttery' - which since he seemed excited, I will consider a compliment. haha
In 2 of the gigs - time was an issue - like I had to get on and off stage pretty quickly - even carrying the ASM-12 with me, I got on and off stage in one trip in like 2 minutes.
Still had a few issues with the sound techs (including our own) but that's no fault of the AX8. I tell them I'm sending a line level signal, and would like them to start with flat EQ for the guitar, yet, I get a look at the board at two of the gigs and see that is not the case. I would say this is one of the most important things about using the AX8 (and probably other modelers). At a different gig, the sound guy was like "man you're really really distorted" when I was on my clean channel, which I KNOW is clean - and it turned out he had the gain on my channel at around 60%. Once that was removed - everything was the way I would expect it to sound.
Bottom line though is that it still stands as the best thing I've bought in years...so freaking worth it. The consistency is such a relief. Hopefully I can get some decent quality vid from the shows.
In the two shows with other bands involved, I had guitar players giving the AX8 'the look' - like the 'What the heck is that?' look. One guy who did know what it was said the tone was great, and in his opinion, much better than the Kemper's that's he's heard at other shows - said it really sounded like an amp and well 'buttery' - which since he seemed excited, I will consider a compliment. haha
In 2 of the gigs - time was an issue - like I had to get on and off stage pretty quickly - even carrying the ASM-12 with me, I got on and off stage in one trip in like 2 minutes.
Still had a few issues with the sound techs (including our own) but that's no fault of the AX8. I tell them I'm sending a line level signal, and would like them to start with flat EQ for the guitar, yet, I get a look at the board at two of the gigs and see that is not the case. I would say this is one of the most important things about using the AX8 (and probably other modelers). At a different gig, the sound guy was like "man you're really really distorted" when I was on my clean channel, which I KNOW is clean - and it turned out he had the gain on my channel at around 60%. Once that was removed - everything was the way I would expect it to sound.
Bottom line though is that it still stands as the best thing I've bought in years...so freaking worth it. The consistency is such a relief. Hopefully I can get some decent quality vid from the shows.
