AX8 vs Axe FX II pros and cons live use

H

Hansen

Experienced
I currently own an Axe FX II. I am very happy with the unit. Could someone please provide a list of the pros and cons with using the AX8 live vs the Axe FX II?

I appreciate the idea of having to bring less gear, however as I use the Axe FX II at home as a sound system, I guess I would still keep it.

Do many of you own both AX8 and Axe FX II?
 
I own both. The AX8 is my live rig, unless I need something that the Axe-Fx has and the AX8 doesn't.
 
Axe: stays safe in the rack. Needs a foot controller.

Ax8: is in danger zone for the inevitable spilled beer in the front row. Less gear to carry.
 
I used the Axe FX II for about a year before switching to the Ax8, my Axe is up on reverb now because I never use it. Here are my observations.
When using one preset per song the Ax8 is much easier to set up where the foot switches do what you want. You can set up the default scene per preset in the Ax8 so that when you switch to the next preset it is already on the correct scene. This allows you to always use the same foot switch layout for clean, crunch, gain and solo scenes. This is very important to me personally because I often have to go from a clean rhythm sound to a boosted lead sound with very little time, with the Ax8 I can do it with on press on a foot switch because I can set the default for the next preset to my scene 4 lead sound.
If you don't use a preset per song this won't matter so much and I think the Axe FX ii is better at doing single presets that cover everything due to the increase in CPU and the increase in foot switches (depending on your midi controller).
There are a ton of well documented differences between the two units but these are the ones that pushed me over to using the Ax8 exclusively.
 
I found the need to run leads for both audio, as well as power to the front of the stage, something I could easily work with, however, as Aziz stated, the rack is nice because you can set it up at the back or side of the stage, powered up, and plugged into the FOH without any extra cables across the stage, save for one cable going to a MFC101, which does make things a little neater/safer on stage, not to mention the MFC101 is going to fare better with a drunk person on stage stepping on it than the AX8, depending where their foot falls

I also found the MFC101 setup a little easier to read with the larger LCD than the AX8, and the top row of switches on the AX8 where hard to hit on the fly, due to the bar across the top. I've seen some add on risers for the switches which would probably resolve that.

AX8 is also easier to setup with a few external pedals since you can wire it all together like a typical pedal board, AxeII being racked just doesn't work as easily, at least as far as switching goes

Both work really great, but the AX8 is a lot less gear to haul in/out though!
 
I have both. I now only use my Axe in my studio. I use the AX8 for live gigs. It did take a bit of adjusting to get used to using the AX8, but at this stage (no pun intended) I really love the AX8 for live use. Simplicity was my goal and with the AX8 I get the unparalleled tone of Fractal in an easy to use floor unit.

I use a rolling laptop computer bag to carry my AX8. I use 1 expression pedal (EV-1) and that's my rig. I keep quality cables (XLR and 1/4") so I can make any connection I need to make. I also have a small tool kit in the bag. If I play a really large venue, I do use my trusty old Line 6 Flextone II XL for a stage monitor. For most performances, I take 1 guitar, my AX8 rig, and I'm ready to rock. I always get great tone from the AX8. I do not spend a lot of time or thought to obsessing over my gear. It frees me up to focus on what the other musicians are playing so I can add my guitar voice to the music. I focus on playing. The AX8 frees me to do that.
 
I think the biggest difference you'll experience has been stated already. You'll need a separate controller another $700 and the a few bucks for the editor. What you'll lack is the ability to run two amps at a time. Personally I'd find that more useful for recording. The only thing you'll need for the AX-8 is an expression pedal. I'm using the Moog EP3 expression pedal $40. Plug and play, throws like a regular wah or volume pedal. I had the Fractal pedal but thought the travel was way too far for me.

Also, in some rare cases you might run out of CPU with the AX-8 if you run everything on high res like the speaker sims X2, reverbs with 4 sec delay times etc.
 
I have both and after gigging for a few years w/ an AFXII switched to the AX8. The pros of the AX8 for me are that it's less gear to carry, can dial in basic Drive/Bass/Mid/Treble directly from the front panel if you need to tweak something on the fly, you have customizable footswitches per patch so you're not locked into only one layout (can't do this on the MFC, but you can on some other controllers). A con of the AX8 is that sometimes I can't quite get everything I want into one preset, and I have to use Spring reverb to save CPU - but really, I can't hear a difference in a live setting unless I'm doing a really ambient thing that requirs a big spacey verb, in which case I'd just make a preset for that song that worked.

Pros of the AFX are that you can have two amps for totally seamless switching (or you can have up to 4 amps in one preset), you have more CPU so you can have more fx in one preset if you want even more of a pedalboard-style setup (for example if you play a lot of improv where you might want access to more options in the moment), and it's not on the floor in front of you (but your controller still is). The extra x/y options, a few extra parameters (like dephase and mics in the cab block) and more instances of some fx blocks might appeal to some people but I haven't run into any situations where I needed them.
 
There is a lot of power/versatility in being able to run 2 instances of each block, including amps and cabs, though its not really a "make or break" thing in most situations

For example, being able to run 2 amps, and instantly/smoothly switch between them, or use both at once, does open up some creative options. Likewise, being able to have each of those amp chains have their own cab blocks, and reverbs is powerful too.

Running something like a cleaner Blackface style amp, with a 1x12 cab IR, and a spring reverb, in addition to running a Marshall type model, with a 4x12 cab, and then a studio reverb, is pretty cool.

I'm working on a kind of stereo wet/dry rig right now, and I have the rotary effect going to the stereo wet monitor, while my CLR is the dry signal. I wanted a little reverb on the dry though, just for a touch of depth, while the parallel chain with the rotary I gave a much deeper reverb. One could put the block before splitting it, and that would get the job done, but, being able to have the ability to call up a second reverb, not to mention the CPU for it, is nice, because you can simply do what you want, not work around things.

With my AX8 what I often had to do was break up parts of songs into patches, since I couldn't have like a real ambient intro with lots of effects, and then just turn those off and have CPU left for the main sections of the song. Had to change presets, while on the AXEII, you can pretty much have everything and the kitchen sink all in one patch and use just what you need as you need it.
 
I have both but have only used the AX8 for gigs since it came out.
Less gear to carry and a smaller stage footprint.
I also bought the smaller EV2 Expression/Volume pedal.
Seems like we are playing smaller places lately.
I will use the Axe FX for recording or jamming at home when my AX8 is packed up for gigs.
 
I think there may be some Bluetooth solutions for the Axe-Fx II xl that would allow you to modify parameters from you phone or tablet if you needed to tweak the volume, treble, middle, bass or any other parameter on the fly. A lot of players are using a tablet instead of printed sheet music anyway if you do that at all
 
MesaGuitarGuy said:
I have both but have only used the AX8 for gigs since it came out.
Less gear to carry and a smaller stage footprint.
I also bought the smaller EV2 Expression/Volume pedal.
Seems like we are playing smaller places lately.
I will use the Axe FX for recording or jamming at home when my AX8 is packed up for gigs.
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Yes, I am doing the same AX8 Live and Axe-FX II at home studio. Enough to carry with the PA....
 
Yes, but a $800 foot controller is not required. I use a $200 midi board, and I have a "custom controller" for the worst danger zones, it's made from a tuna can and a switch. Connect just that and you can do lots of stuff already.
 
I downgraded from an axII to an ax8. Sold my midi controller and now I have one less thing to carry. Ax8 sounds just as good, only occasionally will I run into CPU usage issues.

I've got the smallest best sounding rig of my life and i couldn't be happier.
 
gdgross said:
I downgraded from an axII to an ax8. Sold my midi controller and now I have one less thing to carry. Ax8 sounds just as good, only occasionally will I run into CPU usage issues.

I've got the smallest best sounding rig of my life and i couldn't be happier.
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This matches my own story precisely. No regrets at all for live use. Sometimes I miss having the Axe-Fx at home, but more for the convenience than it's extra capability.
 
Axe-FX II -

Pros:
Global blocks. If I need to tweak the volume of my solo sound, I can do it in one preset and it works everywhere.
Two amp blocks, which means I can seamlessly crossfade or switch between different sounds with no audio gap.
Lots of horsepower, so I can do more with one preset, especially using scenes.
Not tied to any particular MIDI controller, so you can have many more than 8 footswitches available.

Cons:
Need a MIDI controller, which means more stuff to carry and program.
Hard to get at basic parameters to adjust them in comparison to AX8.

AX8 pros and cons are, well, the opposite of the above. :) No global blocks, one amp block, less horsepower overall, only 8 switches. Less to carry, less to program, easier to adjust.
 
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