AXE 8 VS. Helix GAME Over!!!

Wow...some blatant fan-boy-ism on show in this thread. I will reserve judgement on the AXE8 until I have it plugged into my rig......ditto the Helix......however I have seen and heard the Helix in person and I am impressed with the the ruggedness and build quality - better than my MFC for instance.......and the sounds and tones were certainly impressive. As for the ergonomics and display.....well I'm sorry - anyone who takes a knife along to that particular gun fight is deluding themselves.
 
The Ax-8 will sound like the AxeFx II (but with only one amp at a time).

Helix fans: Please post a clip that approaches the AxeFx II. Then I'll pay attention.
 
Look in the Helix samples thread on TGP and play the two SLO lead clips. I am using my iPad and can't link to it (I've never really got the hang of using this thing). I think they sound as good as the Axe II model. I think the Helix will be a real success. In the right hands, even an old Pod can sound awesome. People get too hung up on A vs B. It's just great that there is competition, it can only be good for us Axe II users.
 
The helix's color display is look good, but... If it's not a touch screen then it become just ordinary.

I like the particle reverb though. How can I create particle verb preset or block in fx8? Anyone?
 
Dealmaker said:
Wow...some blatant fan-boy-ism on show in this thread. I will reserve judgement on the AXE8 until I have it plugged into my rig......ditto the Helix......however I have seen and heard the Helix in person and I am impressed with the the ruggedness and build quality - better than my MFC for instance.......and the sounds and tones were certainly impressive. As for the ergonomics and display.....well I'm sorry - anyone who takes a knife along to that particular gun fight is deluding themselves.
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If you have an Axe II you already know what the AX8 sounds like. I couldn't imagine anything sounding different except maybe the noise floor?

The MFC is built like a tank so I have no idea what you mean there.

As far as fan-boy-ism you have defended L6 a few times and seem a little cynical vs AX8. You can want or even get the L6 its perfectly ok without somehow making the other unit a loser. I guess some need to do this to justify the purchase.

I have watched and heard all the L6 demos so far and I will be getting the AX8. I may even get the L6 down the road but for now I think the clean amps were nice, the crunch and high gain are really lacking.
 
NeoSound said:
If you have an Axe II you already know what the AX8 sounds like. I couldn't imagine anything sounding different except maybe the noise floor?

The MFC is built like a tank so I have no idea what you mean there.

As far as fan-boy-ism you have defended L6 a few times and seem a little cynical vs AX8. You can want or even get the L6 its perfectly ok without somehow making the other unit a loser. I guess some need to do this to justify the purchase.

I have watched and heard all the L6 demos so far and I will be getting the AX8. I may even get the L6 down the road but for now I think the clean amps were nice, the crunch and high gain are really lacking.
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I love my AXE FXII but it hasn't been without problems.....the MFC (a Mk 1) has had some reliability issues and some footswitch problems plus a couple of bugs.....but I wouldn't swap it .....and I will be getting an AXE8 no matter what. I am not a Fractal Fanboy and nor am I a Line 6 advocate....I simply call things as I see them and I always audition myself and don't buy into any internet hype. I do think some of the anti Line 6 stuff can be a bit unfair especially with regard to reliability. I only have a few items of Line 6 gear at the moment - some G90 wireless gear for my rigs....and an Amplifi for messing around in the den......and I have to say it has never given me one single problem......I have a lot of money tied up in my Fractal gear and being brutally honest the Fractal stuff is the one that's let me down during a gig.....but it's no worse than failures I have had with pedal boards and amps in my "old" rigs.......

As I say...I will be buying both set ups.....I think they will both have their pluses and minuses and I think both will sell well to their respective markets......here is a post I put up on The Gear Page - in a similar thread:-

"I have ordered a Helix and I am on the wait list for the AXE8......I already have an FXII and a
Load of tube amps and pedals. I want a quick set up floor rig for those "quick change" multi-band gigs and even just for regular pub and club gigs where you dont want to have to load in a truck load of gear. It's likely I will keep both and compare them in the real world......

I have only one valid observation at this stage - as I don't rely on YouTube quality sound clips through my laptop speakers.......and that is that my very favourite tones that I get at home are always where I running TWO amps ...one a Marshall style tone and one a "Fender style" tone.......this , to my ears gives a lovely full and warm tone.

I can replicate this on the FXII and get 98% of the way there ....and obviously that's MUCH easier than lugging two amps and cabs into a gig......

Now I get the "oh the AXE8 has the FXII QUANTUM modelling in it" argument - I really do - and maybe that's better than the Helix modelling , who knows , I certainly won't make my decision until I have heard them back to back.......however the AXE8 CAN'T do the two amp tones I enjoy and that I would predominantly use in any gig presets I use......

...so to me the argument becomes ....will the AXE8's single amp tones be better than the Helix's two amp tones......and I think that will be a much harder contest for the AXE8's allegedly better modelling to win convincingly?"
 
Sound quality is everything, I don't care how it get's there, as long as it works and presets change fast. The rest is moot,
Looks great, I can route it into my ass, but does it sound good? Well, it's better than the Pod Hd, that is not enough, give
me an axe please. It's the same as buying a Mustang with a 4 cylinder and thinking it is just as good. If it's not the real
deal, it's NOT the real deal. You can't polish a turd. :)
 
I love tube amps and I love my digital modeling axe FX II. I've used lots of modelings through the years of guitar playing. And I just can't wait to get my hands on AX8. it will be a great tool for gigs and band jamming. With the kind of support that fractal does, I just can't see myself going with the L6 route. and let's not forget all those glorious mesa mark series that Fractal has and other modelers lack! Can't wait to try the new ax8.
 
ps43203 said:
Sound quality is everything ... I can route it into my ass, but does it sound good?
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It is still too early to know what it sounds like. But in the meantime you should consider a career as a proctologist!
 
Dealmaker said:
I have a lot of money tied up in my Fractal gear and being brutally honest the Fractal stuff is the one that's let me down during a gig.....but it's no worse than failures I have had with pedal boards and amps in my "old" rigs.......
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So the Axe fx modelling is so real now that it models failures of the original amps and pedals? :devilish:

On the serious side: I totally agree with you. This Helix/Axe8 comparison is getting out of hand. People judging the Helix from YT videos without having tried it for themselves doesn't make sense. Can we all just wait when we have tried both units? Lot of biased judgements here. Also some people just can't take any criticism of the Axe fx.
 
I'm wondering if Cliff built the AX-8 too great? So far it seems the only sacrifice is only having one amp model at a time available yet you gain foot switches and amp knobs.

(I thought) his original intentions was a scaled down unit that could be sold cheaper to a different market segment. Now I'm wondering can it really be sold cheaper?

I will get one for portability reasons but I hope the pricing is competitive vs the Helix? for the sake of others wanting Fractal sounds.
 
NeoSound said:
If you have an Axe II you already know what the AX8 sounds like. I couldn't imagine anything sounding different except maybe the noise floor?

The MFC is built like a tank so I have no idea what you mean there.

As far as fan-boy-ism you have defended L6 a few times and seem a little cynical vs AX8. You can want or even get the L6 its perfectly ok without somehow making the other unit a loser. I guess some need to do this to justify the purchase.

I have watched and heard all the L6 demos so far and I will be getting the AX8. I may even get the L6 down the road but for now I think the clean amps were nice, the crunch and high gain are really lacking.
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In a thread labeled "game over"? I can count on one hand, make that one finger the amount of people that have played both. Announcing game over does seem a bit fanboyish.
 
lqdsnddist said:
As nice as a Helix LCD looks, I really can't see a 6.2" screen being better than my 30" monitor running Axe-Edit.

I mean sure it looks nicer than the Axe front panel, but do I really want to be bend over for an hour tweaking Helix patches (or trying to do it using my feet) instead of just sitting down in front of my PC in a comfortable deskchair, with a nice monitor and mouse and doing the same thing ?
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You do know there will be an editor for Helix right? I painfully remember waiting for an Axe Edit that worked and all the fan boy, "use the front panel" posts. The front panel editing is painful, especially when your Axe is 2 feet off the floor mounted in a rack.

Spin it any way you want, and it is quite possible AX8 will have en edge on sound quality and certainly has the edge in quantity of amps and IRs, scenes, controllers etc. But UI? Really?
 
toasterdude said:
In a thread labeled "game over"? I can count on one hand, make that one finger the amount of people that have played both. Announcing game over does seem a bit fanboyish.
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The game over was his personal experience - not everyone's.

There have been at least a hundred to one people with L6 pre-orders that have said the same thing in regards of Helix vs Axe with no experience of each. And there is enough info/media around to form somewhat of an opinion, even though not complete.
 
NeoSound said:
I'm wondering if Cliff built the AX-8 too great? So far it seems the only sacrifice is only having one amp model at a time available yet you gain foot switches and amp knobs. (I thought) his original intentions was a scaled down unit that could be sold cheaper to a different.
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If you mean sacrifice over Axefx2, I think's it's more than just ability to run 2 amps. IE - Overall CPU availability for FX. The form factor and likely lower price is a great tradeoff however - I'm thinking one of these would be a great companion to my Axefx II - Gas gas gas
 
toasterdude said:
You do know there will be an editor for Helix right? I painfully remember waiting for an Axe Edit that worked and all the fan boy, "use the front panel" posts. The front panel editing is painful, especially when your Axe is 2 feet off the floor mounted in a rack.

Spin it any way you want, and it is quite possible AX8 will have en edge on sound quality and certainly has the edge in quantity of amps and IRs, scenes, controllers etc. But UI? Really?
Click to expand...

The Helix interface is pretty but I still expect both floor units to be a PITA to adjust live because you have to bend over or kneel down. In this scenario if you can really edit parameters on the Helix with your feet like they say, it could help but anything advanced will take hands on.
 
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