Can the Ultra Get close to the II??

ps43203

Experienced
I am a LOOONNGG time lurker and finally getting an Ultra. I have read and heard the II is far more superior, yadda yadda. I just want to know in a nut shell, can the Ultra get close to the II? In terms of, sound quality? I have no problem tweaking. If takes more than the II, than so be it. I have given up, on trying to get a hold of II, the money is just not there and never will be. I am settling for an Ultra and I am fine with it. I am disabled and just want a SUPER light rig to take and jam again. Axe-Power Amp- Cab- Done. It still beats anything else right? Aside from the II? Correct? I want a rack unit too, so the ax8 is out. Can't stand long enough to stomp on it anyway, lol. Thanks Y'all.
 
yes and no. for live use it still rocks like it did when it was built, for studio use you can really tell the difference. the axe fx II it is not.
 
I have played side by side with a friend of mine with my 2 and his ultra. In terms of sound quality I would say they are definitely close. We could jam and there wasn't some huge drop in quality from his ultra to my 2.

Obviously the 2 is more powerful and is updated to Q4.0+, think I was on firmware 18 last I played with him.

I highly doubt you would be disappointed.
 
I Own both , the crazy thing my main preset is from my Ultra. I still haven't done the "tone match" with my Axe2. Call me lazy, but I'm having too much fun.
 
I'm not sure if your disability affects your legs/feet, but you'll also need a controller with your light jamming rig. Maybe the AX-8 is affordable and includes the foot controls.
 
This is also of interest to me, as my keyboard player is considering either an AFX Ultra or an HD500 or one of the Line 6 offerings for his electric Pianos, Hammond organ, synths and sampler (guitar, bass)... so how does the Ultra stack up to these other guitar amp processors?
 
Yes, it depends on you if "close enough" to your target tone...

The Ultra in terms of fx is 2 step above L6. ;)
 
The Ultra can be dialed in to sound and feel amazing. It is a great box. It requires more work than the II and does not sound the same but it is a helluva tone machine and that is reason enough to appreciate it for what it is. I love mine so much, I could not bear to sell it after I got the II even though I had said to myself I would when I ordered the II.

I have owned nearly every plugin and modeler under the Sun and honestly, I think the II is the only thing I would take over the Ultra.

Enjoy it, man. Killer tone is killer tone and will be till the end of time. They're a classic.
 
The Ultra can be dialed in to sound and feel amazing. It is a great box. It requires more work than the II and does not sound the same but it is a helluva tone machine and that is reason enough to appreciate it for what it is. I love mine so much, I could not bear to sell it after I got the II even though I had said to myself I would when I ordered the II.

I have owned nearly every plugin and modeler under the Sun and honestly, I think the II is the only thing I would take over the Ultra.

Enjoy it, man. Killer tone is killer tone and will be till the end of time. They're a classic.
This is all I needed to hear. I am good. I use my ears to make tones and as long as they can be had
I WILL get them. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I just want to be done and play and be happy
with some killer presets and write and jam away. No updating, no hype, just playing. :) \m/
 
I keep gasing for a ll.... that is until i plug into my ultra and then 2 hours later im still smiling like i was years ago when i bought it. The feel and tone will never be any less than it is today which is still awesome. Someday i might buy an ax8 or a ll, or a 3 but i never feel like it is not the tone beast it is.

I also have a pod hd500 which is surprisingly good, (i use it as my non studio or jamming rig), but the effects are no where near the ultra's and the ultra shines in all aspects. The ultra is and always will be an amazing machine. Remember, gen1 is what put fractal on the map and raised the game compared to every other modeller out there.
 
I keep gasing for a ll.... that is until i plug into my ultra and then 2 hours later im still smiling like i was years ago when i bought it. The feel and tone will never be any less than it is today which is still awesome. Someday i might buy an ax8 or a ll, or a 3 but i never feel like it is not the tone beast it is.

I'm totally okay with you!!!
I feel the same!
 
After using the II for the last 2 years I pulled my Ultra out & played around with it. Forgot how great it sounded. The II seemed a little easier to work with straight out the box, but once you know what your doing you can get some fantastic tones from the Ultra. I certainly plan on keeping mine. I'll post some of my Ultra patches once I'm done fine tuning.
 
My trade deal for the Ultra fell through and I have been quite bummed about it. Anyway, I am going to just use ebay and try and sell all my gear and hopefully, get a hold of one before the snow flies. It is going suck but I have convinced myself that there is no better option under 2k out there. I know the Ultra smokes everything out there STILL, aside from Axe II. Hopefully I will be back with good news, This has been a 10 year project for me, just to get an axe-fx!!!
 
The Ultra SMOKES!! ....I had to sell mine to get the II but wish I did not have to sell. I'm looking forward to picking one up again. Super machine. Makes sure it's at fw11.
 
ultra is awesome, Like others I had to sell it to get the two. I think the only thing that will save your sound is being a good mix engineer. The products being described at this quality leve (or any)l won't save you.
 
I'm getting the deal done one way or another. I just can't rest until i have one, now that they are in range for me, financially. I want to finish a solo effort I have been working on forever. I am also broken as hell and want to take the axe and gig with one box. That's the main thing for me. I want to get out and play and I can't lug a rig around. So the axe is my ticket back to a stage. I don't want to sacrifice tone for my disability, and the axe is the only thing that can hang with the real deal.
 
Yay! I finally was able to get one, will be here tomorrow. I will share any cool presets I make/find.
The wait is finally over, probably will not kill the GAS, totally, but, hey you never know. It should
keep me busy for awhile and no more excuses, time to finish my project. Cheers!
 
I own and use both regularly. In very broad terms: the II can be made to sound somewhat like the Ultra, but the Ultra cannot be made to sound like the II. With work, the Ultra can sound fantastic. But the two sound fundamentally different. The II is far more realistic. No getting around that.
 
Axe-ultra is still up there in terms of quality, the newest thing is out doesn't make it obsolete like with most other processors!

As said before, you'll have to dive into the deep parameters and make some tweaks to it for it to really shine!

I'd also really recemmend grabbing some aftermarket IR's, I feel there's only a few stock cabs in there that still sound great. That and blend some of the Amps and Cabs together will make things sounding even better!

Fun will be had!
 
A simple thing that you can try is to change the mic in the cab block to R121. Maybe it was just my presets but it seemed to get it a little closer to the sound of the Axe II.
 
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