Axe FX Ultra vs. Avid Eleven Rack

Hey Rebel, I'm scouring the net for a Axe FX standard or Ultra in same price range as you.. We should coordinate this so we don't end up in a bidding war on Ebay! LOL ;)
 
That sounds good, Brandon. Fortunately, we won't have to worry about that situation. I struck a deal with someone earlier today and will soon be joining the Fractal Audio family.:mrgreen

Hopefully you'll get one soon.:D
 
congrats! Did you get an Ultra? I'm probably going to go with the standard (if I can find one). I'm moving from the Eleven Rack and it almost did what I needed. I'm sure the standard will blow me away. Especially in the FX department.. which is one of my biggest nags about the 11R.
 
Thanks, Brandon. From the standpoint of feeling "amp like", I've heard a lot of favorable reviews regarding the 11 Rack. From an amp sim and some FX standpoint, it's a very good unit. The Axe FX is just a few notches above the 11 Rack. Ultimately, that's what made my decision. I've done enough upgrading from shitty to "just ok" equipment. I'm ready to get something pro-grade.
 
Buy the 11r at Guitar Center. That'll give you a 30-day trial. If you're happy, you saved money. While there's overlap in their target markets, they're two different products. You have to make up your own mind dude. We can't tell you which one's gonna float your boat. Come on...
 
That's true.. another thing I don't like about the eleven rack is that Digidesign/Avid really doesn't seem to care too much about guitarist and seem to be focused almost entirely on the high end studio professionals. This is understandable since that is where most of their money comes from.. but I don't think they should put out a product that almost immediately feels abandoned and obsolete. They could've added so many little features with updates but they choose not to. For years folks have been asking for a separate tremolo/vibrato effect that's independent from the Fender Amp model..This could be added in a day but no dice. They could easily add an envelope filter or autowah to there existing wah models.. but again nothing. I ended up trying many outboard effects to compensate for what was missing (Boss Gt6,Line6 M13,M9,Digitech GNX3000,etc) but all that did was add tons of noise. I dunno if it was cheap A/D converters or Opamps but the effects loops on the 11R was garbage! When you factor in all the stuff that the Axe FX can do out of the box and consider that you can MAKE effects like envelope filters/followers and other outlandish stuff with modifiers.. I'm sold! I've never played an Axe FX before but strictly based on reviews, sound clips and the feature set I'm really excited about getting one. :)
 
Another thing to consider is total cost of usage. For the Ultra, I also use a rack case, power thingy, power amp, cab, midi controller, expression pedals, cabling, etc. All those peripherals REALLY add up, and I don't record at all.
 
To any new axe fx user, do NOT expect to plug it in and expect the heavens to shine down from "tone heaven". I did after spending like a year reading and listening to clips and for the first while really questioned the cash I spen on it. That being said, take your time and get accustomed to your new acquisition and the heavens WILL shine. I've had my ultra 1 year, 3 months, 22 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes and.... 42 seconds, and I still smile every time I plug in and feel I have scratched maybe 4% of what it can do.when people say "enjoy the ride", it really is an accurate description of what it's like being an axe fx owner.
 
yeah I know what that's like and its even true with real amps. I had that same experience when I bought a Mesa Boogie 3 channel Recto. Even if the Axe FX only sounded "as good as" Pod HD or Eleven Rack I still think I would be happier with it just due to the flexibility of routing options, all the I/O and HUGE amount of tweakability
 
Why are you fixated on the Ultra if your budget is limited? If you're willing to consider the 11r the Axe Standard is easily a better sounding and more feature rich unit than the 11r and is hardly limited compared to the Ultra but routinely goes for $300 to $400 less than Ultra. Sounds like a fantastic option for you.

Fyi there is no TONAL difference between the units. They just vary in features.
 
RebelRocker20 said:
Thanks, Brandon. From the standpoint of feeling "amp like", I've heard a lot of favorable reviews regarding the 11 Rack. From an amp sim and some FX standpoint, it's a very good unit. The Axe FX is just a few notches above the 11 Rack. Ultimately, that's what made my decision. I've done enough upgrading from shitty to "just ok" equipment. I'm ready to get something pro-grade.
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This is so wrong- few notches above? Amp feel? Honestly you shouldn't give opinions about something you've never played-axe is miles ahead, not a few notches and the amp feel, as you put it-blows away the 11R. All 3 axe models.
Perhaps you've noticed the $399 and $425 11R's on ebay-It's called you get what you paid for.
But you'll find all this out soon enough.
 
I'm just telling what I've gathered from all of the other feedback from forums, reviews, etc.


My point was with the the favorable reviews I gathered from the 11 rack, I wanted more opinions on whether the axe fx units are really worth that much more money. Obviously, I've decided that the Ultra is worth that.
 
Stratman68 said:
This is so wrong- few notches above? Amp feel? Honestly you shouldn't give opinions about something you've never played-axe is miles ahead, not a few notches and the amp feel, as you put it-blows away the 11R. All 3 axe models.
Perhaps you've noticed the $399 and $425 11R's on ebay-It's called you get what you paid for.
But you'll find all this out soon enough.
Click to expand...

Or not. He might disagree. I do.
 
I started trying to like the Line 6 stuff, and after a week or two I always returned them.

Then I read how revolutionary the 11rack was and ordered one. Two days later I returned the 11 rack.

I was about to give up on the modeling stuff, but again everyone was saying how different and better the Axe-Fx is. WELL, two years latter I LOVE my Axe-Fx standard!!! The Axe-Fx is that much better!!! The thing that REALLY made the AF Standard superior to anything is the IR Redwirez speaker cabs. For $125 it makes the Axe-Fx superior.

I want to save up for an Axe-Fx II but my Standard with the patches I made and the IR cabs, I am not sure how much better it could be!!
 
RebelRocker20 said:
...Because I can't find an Axe FX standard for sale...:lol
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Keep your eye out for one. I see them on ebay w/ some regularity. I find them tempting as a backup unit for what they go for... I'm really tempted to get a Std+1u power amp to build a little 4u grab and go "head".
 
RebelRocker20 said:
I'm just telling what I've gathered from all of the other feedback from forums, reviews, etc.


My point was with the the favorable reviews I gathered from the 11 rack, I wanted more opinions on whether the axe fx units are really worth that much more money. Obviously, I've decided that the Ultra is worth that.
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Only you can find out-Since you never played one I just cannot understand the few notches above and the feel thing. Just saying that's totally wrong. Also the Standard is nice also. Ultra is a "few notches up" though.
I saw 11R's for $399-new condition on ebay. Quite a few. For that price it'd a good investment. Should always retain that selling price I would think. You are right on wanting the Ultra. Hope you can swing it-but if you cannot right now the world won't end and you can always do something later. And you did say exactly this: "The Axe FX is just a few notches above the 11 Rack."
Good luck huntinhg-I am all over the web quite a bit. If I see one reasonable I'll shoot you a PM
Frank
 
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