GAS'ing for an AX8, but...

edo

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I'm seriously considering to get an AX8 as a backup for my main axe fx rig. However, the only thing that stops me from going for it is the single amp / cab limit, as 95% of my patches use 2+ amps. So the question is, is dual amp dependent on hw or sf? In other words, is the dual amp capability something we could see in future fw updates or should I wait for an eventual ax8mk2? And if that's the case, how far is it from now?
 
AX8 will most likely never have dual amps as it has 1 DSP chip that processes everything.The Axe-Fx 2 has two DSP chips, one dedicated to amp modelling and the other for everything else.

Don't know about the AX8 Mk2 but even if it happens, the likely hood of it supporting dual amps is very unlikely. Adding a second DSP would put the price up by quite a considerable amount, plus I don't know if it's possible to fit one in.
 
Yea I don't think the AX8 will see dual amps considering cpu is already a bit of a contstraint. But for a backup... its a great option to have...
 
Yea, I dont think we will see dual amps in the AX8. Dont forget you can do stereo cabs with two IR's... but with a single amp.
 
The AX8 has two DSPs as well...

But they aren't TigerSharcs, they're a cheaper, slower, more efficient Sharc variant. One is dedicated to the single Amp block, and some of the Class A models (of importance to you I'm sure) utilize most of it.

The single amp/cab is a hardware limitation and is one of the fundamental design concepts of the AX8 vs Axe-Fx II.
 
Gear choices are always a personal thing. That said, I have both a FX and an AX8. I prefer the AX8 for gigging. It is a different thing than the FX, but if you like the fractal for gear, then the AX8 is a great solution. Guessing from your post that you are happy with your FX and not really looking to replace it. My FX was getting worn with dragging it all over the place and I was looking to have a more road-worthy rig. The AX8 was the perfect solution. I was able to create presets that, although slightly different, were still awesome guitar tone. I too, doubt that the AX8 will be retooled for 2 chips, at least for the foreseeable future.
 
As far as I read in the ax8 product specs it already has 2 dsp chips, that's why I was asking if an upgraded ax8 is in the making or at least in the future plans.
I called it a backup, but as a matter of fact the ideal scenario for me would be to leave the main axe fx rig with the tour production and have the ax8 at home for side projects, other gigs and to make presets for the main axe fx rig when its on the road. I could easily give up on reverbs and other hi quality fx, but as much as I know how good 1 amp sounds, the dual amp is truly a main concern for me, for what I just said above!
 
95% of my patches use 2+ amps

Do you have more than one amp active at any given time? Or are these multiple amps for "channel-switching" behavior?

I'm surprised if you use multiple amps simultaneously that much. Having only one amp and one cab has not felt like a limitation to me, especially since there is X/Y switching. If multiple simultaneous amps is a must for you, then AX8 is simply not for you.
 
There are a few times that I miss not having two amp blocks - mostly for channel switching. There are a bunch of amps that have more than 2 channels - for example, the Hook has 6... I'd love to have 4 in one preset but in actual real-world scenarios it's rare that I actually need that much flexibility. But I can see that others may have different needs - for example if you want to run most of the night w/ one preset and want 4 channels available.

I also liked being able to compare 4 similar amps in one preset to see which one worked the best - to choose among the Fenders, or between different Marshall-mod types or different Class A amps - what sounds good in my headphones or at home may or may not work in the band context - but really, how necessary is that? ;-) We can take any of a number of similar amps and dial them in to where it sounds great. If I really want to, I can clone a preset and compare that way. (I guess we could say the same thing about Cabs, too. On an AFX you could try 4 different cabs as well to see what really nailed the sound.)

In actual use, the AX8 is WAY more than adequate...
 
I'm sure you're doing this already, but I have 2 amps loaded into practically every patch, however, I have them as X & Y. Most of the music that we play in the band is hi-gain with some clean sections here and there. So I'm pretty much toggling from the HBE (is X) to the Shiver Clean (which is Y).

Works a treat if you're not looking two blend amps, like James Hetfield does with the Diezel and Mesa's..
 
Hey Edo, I'm actually using 3 of your packs on the AX8, to my ears they sound amazing so I'm not sure if I lost anything converting to one amp. Your U2 packs sound better than anything I dialled up before so definitely loving them on the AX8
 
Hey Edo, I'm actually using 3 of your packs on the AX8, to my ears they sound amazing so I'm not sure if I lost anything converting to one amp. Your U2 packs sound better than anything I dialled up before so definitely loving them on the AX8

How fast is the amp / cab x/y switch within the same preset using different scenes? Is the audio drop acceptable?
 
Whether the audio drop is acceptable or not is a matter of opinion. There is a lot of disagreement on that amongst the AX8 community.

A better approach would be to provide amp block and cab block settings files for two amps and cab blocks that you want to switch between and ask if someone can record it for you. That way you can listen and judge for yourself. If you post a couple block definitions, I could make a simple recording for you, and I'm sure there are several others that would be willing to do so as well.

On a personal note, I find the drop acceptable but I rarely switch between amp or cabs within the same preset. There are several threads in this forum that discuss ways to manage the dropout.
 
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Just wanted to ask if the X/Y dropout behavior is the same as the axe fx 2, so I could easily get the idea by testing it on the af2
 
I'm no help there. I sold my AxeFX II when I got the AX8 so I cannot offer a comparison.

And I guess you are right. That would be the only effective way to test it. Listening to an example would not give you the "feel" for it.
 
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