Axe-Fx II into Eleven Rack for Pro Tools on Mac?

Smokin-Joker

Smokin-Joker

Member
I have been running my EVH amp into an AxeTrack isolation cab, that I run the XLR out of the cab into my Eleven Rack, with all amp, cab etc bypassed on, just as an input to get me into Pro Tools recording on my Mac. The Eleven is really just my interface, since the sims are not near good enough to use since I am all about real tube amp tone ala DeMartini, Lynch, etc. with my Custom Shop Charvel/Jackson guitars with Duncan JB's, Duncan Distortion's, and Jazz neck pickups, but I recently saw what people have been saying about the Axe-Fx II so I checked it out and it looks awesome!! My question is can I just run out of the Axe Fx II into the digital inputs on the back of my Eleven rack to record with it in Pro Tools, and get killer tone like I do now with my current setup? Once again the Eleven Rack is just used as my input into Pro Tools and the output goes to a power amp and pair of KRK monitors, so all of my guitar amp, effects, and cab tone would be coming from the Axe-Fx II in this scenario. I just don't want to sell my EVH, my isolation cab, my pedals, and my pedalboard to raise cash for the Axe-Fx II if it won't be just as good or better, and if it isn't designed to use in the way I described? Any advice on this would be HIGHLY appreciated!! Thanks guys!
 
Axe has a USB interface for both MIDI and audio data... Install the drivers, and you can go DIRECT into PT !
No need for extra hardware in between..
 
My studio monitors are run from the XLR outs of the Eleven Rack, which is connected to the Mac by USB, so all of my audio from Pro Tools relies on the Eleven. The reason i got the Eleven a couple years ago is I wanted to switch to Pro Tools, and the Eleven came with Pro Tools 8, had quality inputs and outputs for recording guitars with my actual amp rig through the XLR mic in, mic level, and phantom power added for vocals, and also running my drum machine through midi in/out to trigger Slate Drums, and the Eleven was better quality as an overall interface than others Avid had in the same price range for making that switch to Pro Tools. I wasn't into the amp, cab, and effects sims in it since they don't sound real enough to not drive me crazy, so like i mentioned it was really just as an interface to get everything to pro Tools, but you're saying if I plug the Axe-Fx II into the USB like the Eleven, does that then go into Pro Tools and output through my Eleven Rack outputs to the KRK Studio Monitors? Like I said I record vocals with the Eleven's mic input along with it's phantom power and gain adjustment, and run my drum machine through the Eleven's midi in/out to trigger my Slate Drums plugin, so I need the Eleven for all of that, so I can't just use the Axe-Fx II in place of the Eleven for all of that by USB connection, and use the Axe-Fx II's main XLR outs to monitor Pro Tools through my power amp and KRK speakers like i do with the Eleven can I? I have also heard that Mac users have had issues with the USB output of the Axe-Fx II not working right, which is why I asked about using s/pdif or digital XLR input/outputs going into the Eleven Rack, which is already connected to the Mac by USB, and has everything flowing to the KRK's. Does that make sense or have I got myself all mixed up? Sorry this type of setup is a new concept for me. Patients with the Axe-Fx II new guy considering the big change, after already going through a big change to Pro Tools from analog recording 2 years ago, haha. Seems worth it though if I can make sense of it all, how it would work in my situation, and it's a good fit?
 
If you're all about good tone... get an Mbox, or an 003 rack (you can get a used 003 for $400- less than an eleven rack) you can get a decent two channel ART preamp for $200.... maybe a channel strip for $200 (presonus eureka or a joemeek) and you're set.

I have or have had all the gear were talking about (mbox, 003, 11r, axeII, high end tube amps, etc)

I don't think your protools will work without the 11r i'm guessing you have 8 or 9- and it uses the 11r as a 'dongle'

obiously protools 10+ will work fine with the axeII alone-
but if you care about good tone- i think you can do much better recording wise/interface wise than good tube stuff into an 11r or just the AxeII by itself

Sell the 11r- buy an 003
 
s0c9 said:
Axe has a USB interface for both MIDI and audio data... Install the drivers, and you can go DIRECT into PT !
No need for extra hardware in between..
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. Any PT version prior to 9 requires an Avid/Digi interface. Sounds like he is running PT 8 so the only way he would be able to use the Axe II as the interface is to update PT. May be able to create an aggregate device with the 11R and Axe II, but that is hit or miss at best.
 
I do have Pro Tools 8 which is part of the Eleven Rack, but even if I upgrade to pro Tools 10 I would need the Eleven for my interface for mic inputs, phantom power, etc for vocals, and I use it for my midi in/out for my drum machine to trigger my Slate Drums plugin. I was just wondering if I can just keep using the Eleven for all that and add the Axe-Fx II in place of my EVH tube amp, pedals, and iso cab which runs into the Eleven's XLR input? Basically just run the Axe-Fx II into the s/pdif on the back of the Eleven or one of the other inputs available (whichever sounds best) to get my complete guitar tones into Pro Tools like I was doing with my EVH rig? Eleven's inputs and converters etc are higher quality than an M-Box and basically the same as an 003 so selling the Eleven and losing money to get an 003 wouldn't make much sense. I do plan on upgrading to Pro Tools 10 at some point but again I don't think selling this to get an 003 which is basically the same thing sounds right? I'm going to have to sell a lot of my gear to get an Axe-Fx II and adding to my expense if this can work is a lot of cash! That's why i was asking if this could work with what I have for my interface, and sound killer?
 
you wouldn't loose money- you can sell the 11r for $200 more than what an 003 would cost (and spend the $200 on a good tube preamp which you will benefit from)

THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY BETWEEN THE 11R AND 003

Firewire is a huge difference- I've had mbox/protools rigs since I as 15.

overall its more stable, faster, and extremely responsive-- i think the preamps sound better too...
and you're also talking a ton of ins/outs...

you could record both outputs of the axe in stereo...along with mics and other stuff at the same time...

you may also have better results using the regular outputs instead of the digital outs w/protools

also- if you got an 003- the INs are much easier to control/record with- i remember hours of clicking to get the right in set up/front/back/xlr- where with the 003 its all already there/easy/ready to go
 
I don't see why it shouldn't work if you were to go spdif or one of the inputs. One tip of advice from a fellow pro tools user. 10 isn't that big of a deal. The time from 9 to 10 was wayyy too short. Also, PT 10 files are now as .ptx as opposed to the previous format and that means it isn't backwards compatible with previous forms of pt.

The only things that I saw were different other than the mentioned was that you can now have 32 floating bit sessions, a mixdown plugin, and a plugin that has a 4 band eq, filters, compressor, gate and something else all in one. Oh and it keeps insisting I have low RAM every time I open Pro Tools 10 which may be true or not, but that's just a waste of coding. I'm pretty sure I can figure that out on my own when my sessions start crinkling.

Sorry, got off in a tangent. But in basic, I see no issue with you using the 11R as an interface with PT. :)
 
Webb said:
Not entirely true. Any PT version prior to 9 requires an Avid/Digi interface. Sounds like he is running PT 8 so the only way he would be able to use the Axe II as the interface is to update PT. May be able to create an aggregate device with the 11R and Axe II, but that is hit or miss at best.
Click to expand...
You are correct..but the OP did not specify which PT version he was on in the OP :)
I'm not a PT users, but am aware of the Pre v9 requirements.. didn't think to add that to mine until I read yours :)
 
Is it worth it to upgrade to pro Tools 9? Pro Tools 8 is what came with the Eleven Rack. If I was to go to all the trouble of selling the Eleven Rack and getting Pro Tools 9 and a 003 then I wouldn't run into any issues with my old recording like i would with 10, and I could still have all the features I use the Eleven Rack for? Running out of the stereo outs of the Axe-Fx II makes a big difference in the sound anyway right? So that's the best way to get the full potential out of it while recording?
 
You are fine with what you have. There's no need to go through the hassle of buying and or selling anything. I run my Axe into 11R via S/PDIF on a Mac. It works quite well. Some things to keep in mind to set it up.

1. Under Setup and Playback engine (make sure this is set to 11R)
2. Under Setup and I/O, go to the "input" area and hit the DEFAULT button. This will insure your inputs reset.
3. Then set the track input to Digital Input L/R, or left or right. Depending on the type of track you are capturing stereo or mono.
4. Arm the track to record, engage and play..

The one item I'm looking to invest more time into figuring out yet on this setup is recording a dry track to re-amp later. The only other downside (can that even be true with an Axe-FX II?) Is embedding your recording settings like you can with the 11R into Pro Tools. It's back to taking notes again. :|
 
Yeah I really haven't used the re-amp or embedding settings features since i always ran my EVH amp into and iso cab, and then into the XLR Mic input on the front of the Eleven Rack with all the sims bypassed on the Eleven, just like when i record vocals, so that wouldn't change things for me. it would just be the Axe-Fx II sending my complete guitar signal through the Eleven's inputs and to Pro Tools 8, instead of my EVH+pedals+iso cab, going to the Mic input. After checking out a few video clips of the Axe-Fx II in action it just looks like I could get REALLY good tone for my next album if this is a good fit? My EVH tone is killer but this looks more versatile if the tones are for real, and this is really a step up? I originally was looking at a Legacy 3 since it has better clean tone than the EVH, and I saw in the Carvin video for that, Vai had the Axe-Fx II, and I saw the comments guys had left about it, which sounded interesting and made me look into it further. Until then I had really only seen the magazine ad for them.
 
HardAttack said:
You are fine with what you have. There's no need to go through the hassle of buying and or selling anything. I run my Axe into 11R via S/PDIF on a Mac. It works quite well. Some things to keep in mind to set it up.

1. Under Setup and Playback engine (make sure this is set to 11R)
2. Under Setup and I/O, go to the "input" area and hit the DEFAULT button. This will insure your inputs reset.
3. Then set the track input to Digital Input L/R, or left or right. Depending on the type of track you are capturing stereo or mono.
4. Arm the track to record, engage and play..

The one item I'm looking to invest more time into figuring out yet on this setup is recording a dry track to re-amp later. The only other downside (can that even be true with an Axe-FX II?) Is embedding your recording settings like you can with the 11R into Pro Tools. It's back to taking notes again. :|
Click to expand...

I know this is 6 years late, but for whomever comes after me: the S/PDIF method of recording has an enormous (very noticeable) sound difference vs recording straight through the AXE FX. I have the AXE FX II XL+ and the sound through the S/PDIF is tinnier, shriller, and has less bass definition. I keep the 11-RACK for voice recordings and multi-tracking since it has enough DSP to do that with high quantities of tracks. But when I record guitars, I switch to the AXE FX internal USB recording. The sound is just that must better.
Please do not start arguing about the DAC qualities in either, because when I record in AXE FX and play back in 11-Rack I get the exact same sound as coming from the head-phone jacks of the AXE FX. It is truly isolated to the S/PDIF recording.

Why am I not using the AXE FX as my sole audio interface? 2 reasons: it doesn't have a mic in with phantom power. And 2, when your guitar model takes up a lot of CPU, the audio processing starts stuttering with more than a few tracks. This may be fixed with larger buffers, but that creates so much latency that recording becomes impossible. I noticed this with AMP models that required more then 87% CPU.

If I really have to use that much CPU on an amp model, I have ways of working around it, but no more recording through S/PDIF for me.
 
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