AX8 vs Helix: Amp Tone and Effects

schrismer said:
for what it is worth.... Last night was my first time rehearsing with the Helix (I just got the unit this past Sat) I connected straight to the board stereo.... and I will tell you.... That was the best tone I've ever had at rehearsal, and I have an Axe Fx II.
The only difference that I can think of between the 2 tone that I built for each machine was the "IR's" .... I tried an Ownhammer Marshall cab that I had. I'm in shock guys.... but good tone is good tone don't carry what brand it is. I will still buy my AX8 once I get my invite!
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Right... if someone can't get a good sounding, good feeling set of presets to get their gig done... it's on them not the gear.. it's quite capable I don't really see why people "feel the need to down talk any brand / product" (and they do blindly.) I was particularly impressed that they really got the 2204 right finally... their JCM800 offering was always since POD1.0 just crap and not representative of the essence of the JMP/JCM800 lineup. It's good product period and if there's a discrepancy in tone it's subjective and a matter of preference and it's feature set more than makes up for any gaps for a lot of people... There are some small minded people around the interwebz that's something we can all agree on at least. :)

I've always been a General Motors guy... my wife bought a Ford product... I can honestly say her Lincoln MKX is every bit as nice, well built and an absolute pleasure to drive as the Cadillac SRX that we were alternately considering. It is certainly "DIFFERENT" but in no way shape or form a lesser product. I would have preferred the Cadillac out of brand loyalty but it's my wife's car and she can get what the F'k she wants. That Ford doesn't suck just because I like my Chevy.

I like my Kemper and it sounded bad ass out in FOH this past weekend... I'm really impressed with my friend's Helix and can't wait to get my AX8... does that make me a disloyal a-hole to a brand? Or does that make me practical and open minded? I'll go with the latter....
 
I'm very happy with my Helix. Especially the UI when playing with others in a band situation. The AX8 is on my desk ready for testing, tweaking and evaluation. Just been too under the weather to really dig in. In my initial run through I found some killer sounding models on the AX8 that are not in the Helix.

I'm finding both to be excellent products with each having its own strengths and weaknesses.

I would not expect anyone used to a Fractal product to go with a Helix.
 
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Very much prefer the Axe-Fx to the Helix and the Axe edit to the Helix onboard editing-- and yes I did own a Helix for a few weeks. For me Fractal is the first time with digital modeling that I haven't missed tube amps and analog effects.
 
Gearzilla said:
Very much prefer the Axe-Fx to the Helix and the Axe edit to the Helix onboard editing-- and yes I did own a Helix for a few weeks. For me Fractal is the first time with digital modeling that I haven't missed tube amps and analog effects.
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Agreed... Until last night at rehearsal.... this is the first time everything was backwards, usually it is like this:

Axe Fx sounds AMAZING in my studio thru high end monitors preset dialed in, Rehersal good but not great

Helix- just got it sat.... worked on a tone, installed a Ownhammer cab IR because everything sounded bad and the Ownhammer cab help but still really didn't sound that good in the studio.... got to rehearsal.... and connected to the same PA... and started with the band... and it was freakin REAL GOOD!!! don't know why???

I'm going to dive in and see where the difference are as best as I can on the 2 presets but there was something different my Bassist has hated all my "Modeling gear" and he even ask... what was that I'm using now... it sounds killer!
 
schrismer said:
Agreed... Until last night at rehearsal.... this is the first time everything was backwards, usually it is like this:

Axe Fx sounds AMAZING in my studio thru high end monitors preset dialed in, Rehersal good but not great

Helix- just got it sat.... worked on a tone, installed a Ownhammer cab IR because everything sounded bad and the Ownhammer cab help but still really didn't sound that good in the studio.... got to rehearsal.... and connected to the same PA... and started with the band... and it was freakin REAL GOOD!!! don't know why???

I'm going to dive in and see where the difference are as best as I can on the 2 presets but there was something different my Bassist has hated all my "Modeling gear" and he even ask... what was that I'm using now... it sounds killer!
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There are many paths up the mountain.... :)
 
schrismer said:
Agreed... Until last night at rehearsal.... this is the first time everything was backwards, usually it is like this:

Axe Fx sounds AMAZING in my studio thru high end monitors preset dialed in, Rehersal good but not great

Helix- just got it sat.... worked on a tone, installed a Ownhammer cab IR because everything sounded bad and the Ownhammer cab help but still really didn't sound that good in the studio.... got to rehearsal.... and connected to the same PA... and started with the band... and it was freakin REAL GOOD!!! don't know why???

I'm going to dive in and see where the difference are as best as I can on the 2 presets but there was something different my Bassist has hated all my "Modeling gear" and he even ask... what was that I'm using now... it sounds killer!
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Your answer is right there in your post it seems to me. The Axe FX you're dialing in to sound amazing in your studio. If you dialed the Helix in to sound similarly amazing it would sound like crap in rehearsal too. Sounds like you need to setup your presets in the situation in which they will actually be used for maximum success. You just happened to get lucky with the Helix.
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Austin
 
atquinn said:
Your answer is right there in your post it seems to me. The Axe FX you're dialing in to sound amazing in your studio. If you dialed the Helix in to sound similarly amazing it would sound like crap in rehearsal too. Sounds like you need to setup your presets in the situation in which they will actually be used for maximum success. You just happened to get lucky with the Helix.
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Austin
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maybe I didn't type it right....

......... Studio Axe sounded amazing... live at Rehearsal NOT so much
Same Studio Helix sound ok at best!! .... Live at the same Rehearsal room sounded REAL GOOD!
 
schrismer said:
maybe I didn't type it right....

......... Studio Axe sounded amazing... live at Rehearsal NOT so much
Same Studio Helix sound ok at best!! .... Live at the same Rehearsal room sounded REAL GOOD!
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Seems like you need to make the Axe sound ok at best in the studio. ;-)) I think that's part of what Austin was saying.

Pete Thorn's Helix review comes out Thursday, but he already stated that IRs make a huge difference and he does love Ownhammer IRs.

This is certainly one area where Fractal is offering much more bang for the buck by including great IRs with the AX8. The pure content of the AX8 is simply outstanding from the amp offerings to the cabs and IRs.
 
schrismer said:
maybe I didn't type it right....

......... Studio Axe sounded amazing... live at Rehearsal NOT so much
Same Studio Helix sound ok at best!! .... Live at the same Rehearsal room sounded REAL GOOD!
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You seemed to have an expectation that tones that sound awesome in one situation will sound the same in a different situation. Hopefully your experience with the Helix has cured you of this mis-judgement.
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Austin
 
I love that there are a few really top quality modeling/profiling choices out there now. Line6 succeeding in the somewhat higher end of things will only be a positive for modeling products & customers going forward.
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
sucks that people dislike a company due to a comment from Joe Shmoe on an open registration forum.
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I agree. But if the community that endorses/supports a product is full of dicks (and, no, I'm not saying that that describes Fractal), then it can turn prospective buyers away from that product. Especially when the product in question is a luxury/prestige item. This is hardly a new/novel phenomenon.
-
Austin
 
nebbi said:
So if your amp gets famous then some time later we get a Lainegard amp in FAS devices :)
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Lol! :D Yeah, somehow I don't see that happening any time soon :p
One note though... I will (apart from the main three part mega demo) also
do a ton of Kemper profiles of this amp, and once/if the AX8 arrives,
do some tonematching as well to see how close I could get.
 
Richard Lainegard said:
Lol! :D Yeah, somehow I don't see that happening any time soon :p
One note though... I will (apart from the main three part mega demo) also
do a ton of Kemper profiles of this amp, and once/if the AX8 arrives,
do some tonematching as well to see how close I could get.
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No tone matching in the AX8.
 
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