Axe Fx II smokes the Ultra

Z

Zman

Inspired
I am simply amazed at the new amp modeling in the Axe Fx II. I worked on dialing in my own sounds today and it is amazing. I never never been so satified with a purchase. I am dumb founded with the sound. Also I was hesitant to try recording with the usb feature fearing that with sonar X1 it might be tricky to get working but It pretty much plugin and play no settings to configure and no issues and so cool. I might post some clips later this week. I dont think it can get better than this. It smokes the Ultra!
 
Congratulations. Glad to see you're so happy with your purchase.


But please stop nuking the resale value of the Gen1s for everyone that still has to sell theirs? Totally selfserving of course because I still have to wait a bit before I can sell mine.
Still, it also isn't really fair to the Gen1 which is an amazing unit and very close to real already. Unless you would consider closing the gap even more "smoking it" please use realistic terms in your descriptions.
 
Got my II on Friday. Played thru the first couple dozen factory presets, which are pretty basic amp demos. They sounded awesome. Wanted to use it Sunday evening at church. So on Saturday I proceeded to "copy" my go to worship patches, a Class A (with Top Boost tonestack) and a Plexi. Carefully entered all the settings exactly as they are on my Standard. Whoa - this was not working.

So I instead went to the factory presets for those two amps, tweaked a little for volume, chorus and delay and just like that I was in business. I hadn't looked earlier but now I discovered that the settings in these presets are very close to default, not extensively tweaked like my old ones. And they sound truer - richer, lush, more complex, more authentic. Some realistic terms for you Dutch! :)

Sunday I quickly changed the default CC's to match what was already set up in my Liquid Foot Jr and everything worked perfectly and sounded better than ever! That impression held and was was confirmed by comments made at rehearsal and during the service by my bandmates, only one of which knew I had a new black box.

Based on this short experience, I can see I'm going do be doing away with a few former practices - drives in front of low/medium gain amps to add hair (the hair is already there), blocking and shaping PEQ's to cut in the mix, a lot of bass, mid & treble dialing, to name a few.

The II is a whole new beast, the new algorithms sound superior, and old settings won't map to the new box. This is going to make dialing tones much more straightforward and rewarding.

So, yeah, 'smokes' is pretty much dead on!
 
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quonsar said:
old settings won't map to the new box.
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thanks for making that very clear.
Now I know I won't switch units in mid-project (first 3 recording sessions took place this weekend and I started editing them today) but only after it's completely done (September).
 
Dutch said:
Congratulations. Glad to see you're so happy with your purchase.


But please stop nuking the resale value of the Gen1s for everyone that still has to sell theirs? Totally selfserving of course because I still have to wait a bit before I can sell mine.
Still, it also isn't really fair to the Gen1 which is an amazing unit and very close to real already. Unless you would consider closing the gap even more "smoking it" please use realistic terms in your descriptions.
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I have to agree with Dutch, but not for the same reasons... I have no intention of ditching my Ultra (it has some things that are lacking in the II), so for me, resale value is of no immediate consequence.

No, my issue with the statement "II smokes Ultra" is with the overwhelming use of unrealistic, over-the-top statements. It occurred at every firmware release for Standard and Ultra in the past. "Wow, whatever was missing before is now completely there now!" ... or ... "the ultimate update, can't get any better!" ... you see the point. If the last update was so unbeatable, how can the II "smoke the Ultra"? That kind of statement is just as useless as the counterarguments such as "it sounds digital or unrealistic".

So please, enough of these over-the-top statements that completely fail the credibility test. I don't think anything exists out there that can "smoke an Ultra".
 
Dpoirier said:
No, my issue with the statement "II smokes Ultra" is with the overwhelming use of unrealistic, over-the-top statements. It occurred at every firmware release for Standard and Ultra in the past. "Wow, whatever was missing before is now completely there now!" ... or ... "the ultimate update, can't get any better!" ... you see the point. If the last update was so unbeatable, how can the II "smoke the Ultra"? That kind of statement is just as useless as the counterarguments such as "it sounds digital or unrealistic".
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Thank you. I said when I first got my Standard that future improvements would tend to be of a subtle nature. That statement was predicated on the ability to effectively use the available tools to get the sounds you want. As new firmware releases became available, at times the default settings sounded different (not always better to my ears BTW) in not-so-subtle ways, but the ability of the device to create the sounds I wanted improved gradually, as opposed to dramatically.

So please, enough of these over-the-top statements that completely fail the credibility test.
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Motion seconded.

I don't think anything exists out there that can "smoke an Ultra".
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I've got a II and a Standard right here. While there are some compelling reasons to upgrade to the new unit, it doesn't "smoke" the old one by any stretch. The Gen I devices remain as viable as they ever were.

Hyperbole tends to reduce one's credibility. Careful comparison with detailed descriptions of the differences is more valuable to the community and more believable as well.
 
Dpoirier said:
So please, enough of these over-the-top statements that completely fail the credibility test. I don't think anything exists out there that can "smoke an Ultra".
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Sorry if you feel its hyperbolic, but the new modeling is stunning. I gleefully anticipate your inevitable future retractions. :p
 
Well, axe 2 doesnt SMOKE the first gen, absolutely not. The only thing i really notice is that Axe 2 is alot easier to dial in. The first generation needs a little more work. other than that, there is a lot of hype on this forum regarding axe 2. there's a difference, but its not as much as many wants us to believe. Sorta reminds me of new apple products, everyhone hypes how much better the new product is, every single year. But fails to realize last years product is still a freakin' great product.
 
quonsar said:
Sorry if you feel its hyperbolic, but the new modeling is stunning. I gleefully anticipate your inevitable future retractions. :p
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I've got one now. You've seen what I've had to say, and I even posted comparison clips. There's nothing to retract. The Gen I devices are good enough that nothing can "smoke" them.

Something may be getting "smoked" here, but it ain't Gen I Axe-Fxs. :)
 
I think nay know my ultra still sounds killer. I still learn stuff about it every day. I've yet to hear a clip from the II that "smokes" the I, when I do I might consider upgrading. Some people need the latest greatest. Little bummed that there wont be any more "Lifetime updates" for the for the gen I's, but what I / we have now is a lot to work with to get great tones.
 
It's hard for me to read past the first post "The II Smokes the Ultra" when there are no clips. just sayin.......

At Least In Terminator II we see the T-800(Arnold) smoke the upgraded T-1000 (liquid metal)........ most of the new II clips that I have heard, are probably not doing the 2 justice!
 
quonsar said:
The II is a whole new beast, the new algorithms sound superior, and old settings won't map to the new box. This is going to make dialing tones much more straightforward and rewarding.
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Does that imply that the new settings also won't map to the old box? I'm wondering whether the major difference between the II and I in terms of sonic performance is that the II has default values which are "optimized ( I know - optimized is a very subjective term). If the default values of the II were translated to the I, how does the I compare? Is that possible to check out or are the settings simply so apples and oranges different that they can't be compared?
 
Jay Mitchell said:
I've got one now. You've seen what I've had to say, and I even posted comparison clips. There's nothing to retract. The Gen I devices are good enough that nothing can "smoke" them.

Something may be getting "smoked" here, but it ain't Gen I Axe-Fxs. :)
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Jay, you posted while I was composing. I was responding to Dpoirier :)

Would you agree that, interface improvements aside, Axe II is more than just Gen1 with V11 on a bunch of new hardware?
 
Zman -

What is your definition of "smokes?" You made a few conclusions in your post without any justification, so I cannot assign any value to your conclusions. I am sure you are excited, hyped, etc. Good for you! I am happy that you are pleased with your purchase. Would you care to share more details about your impressions? Just a suggestion, but maybe something along the lines of the following:

"The Axe II smokes the Axe I because..." It might help others understand your perspective better.

Just a thought.

Enjoy your Axe II.
 
GuitarDojo said:
It's hard for me to read past the first post "The II Smokes the Ultra" when there are no clips. just sayin.......
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Hyperbole aside, a lot of the improvements in the II go beyond what can be captured in clips: usability enhancements, USB, change in amp model responsiveness. Besides, most of the sonic improvements aren't likely to be discernible in a YouTube-quality clip anyway.

Dpoirier said:
No, my issue with the statement "II smokes Ultra" is with the overwhelming use of unrealistic, over-the-top statements. It occurred at every firmware release for Standard and Ultra in the past.
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It's not just AxeFx users. That sort of gushing is commonplace in internet discussion of most any new piece of gear, especially higher-end stuff.
 
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