Got my Axe Fx.....but not impressed so far.

If you are going to spend $2500 on something to make sound you have to listen to that on something appropriate - would you buy a CD player that costs $2500 + and hope it sound great through computer speakers ... no of course not .... the AXEFX is no different. Its not magic - but it does sound amazing.
 
It does take a while to find your 'sound' like everyone says 'it's in there'..
You will find it harder to find if you're not into metal etc however, as about 99% of the presets are distortion patches (which I did find all sound the same)....
But stick with it, other sounds are in there but if you are not a metal head you will be in the minority ;)

But stick with it, it is a class piece of equipment, it's replaced all my boogie amps.
 
The main issue, is your monitoring a $2000+ processor though a $200 max monitor. The Cube isnt flat, and we dont know what phones your using. That means the factory presets arnt going to sound great. Now this doesnt mean you cant get good tones - but you have work them yourself to suit you monitoring. If you prefer the feel of teh cube - use than by all means, but you going to have to EQ/tweek (amp block) out the limitations of the cube. Its just going to take time to get to know the AFX and to tweek to taste.
 
rich2k4 said:
Turning off the cab block makes everything sound buzzy. If I was running straight into the cube through the main guitar input, maybe, but I am running it into the aux in. This is meant for mp3's/ipods. So I am sure it is pretty flat.
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Nowhere near flat unfortunately. Nor is the speaker a guitar speaker, so you cant really turn off the cab block (if you want real feel via a real speaker thats kid of what you need), but if you leave it on it has the cubes inherent deficiencies.
 
Remember that loudspeakers have a strong effect on your sound. If you don't have a real guitar cab or a proper FRFR cab or nice headphones it's likely that you will not be impressed. Just know that you're not impressed with your monitoring and you have not yet heard how the Axe-Fx sounds. The reason I say this is because a bad start can ruin the experience. Luckily you came to the right place. :)

Are you going to gig or play with a band with the Axe-Fx? If not then you want studio monitors. If you need loudness that's when you need more watts. If you play quietly at home and want to be able to play at night also, I suggest getting a good pair of headphones instead since it's the cheapest solution.
 
andyp13 said:
It does take a while to find your 'sound' like everyone says 'it's in there'..
You will find it harder to find if you're not into metal etc however, as about 99% of the presets are distortion patches (which I did find all sound the same)....
But stick with it, other sounds are in there but if you are not a metal head you will be in the minority ;)

But stick with it, it is a class piece of equipment, it's replaced all my boogie amps.
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Couldn't disagree more - wide variety of useable sounds - even the Marshalls all sound different, cleans are great - the AxeFX isn't a one trick metal pony. Like a real amp you can quickly dial in great sounds with the basic controls....
 
Good monitoring is key. Without it, using the Fractal with something like a Cube is like try to enjoy and replicate an expensive painting by looking at its reflection using a fun house mirror as the only way to view it.

I started with a moderately priced pair atm studio headphones. then I added a neutral power amp and some krk k-roks as I mixed using them for years so I know how translatable their tonal palette is to other monitoring situations. In the future I may add an NL-212 or may try to make a gigable weight stereo concentric monitor.

Monitoring is one of those subjects like choosing a guitar or life partner, it is very personal in terms of goals, taste, and what works, using a baseline of standards that you define as making you happy.
 
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Cainer said:
just don't get overwhelmed with all the advanced deep-dive settings.
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This. SO this.

First just pick and amp model and a cab that you've always like the sound of, then start dialing in the settings you've used on those. Leave all the extra stuff for later, but get a good base tone first. Next toss in a delay, or a chorus and tweak a bit.

You'll find it's not all that intimidating and pretty easy to get great tones with very little tweaking.
 
I had pretty much the same first impression, so here are some points:
1) If you've never had a real tube amp, you might not know how to properly dial in a tone on one. It takes a while to get used to, and to grow on you. I've been using amp modellers forever before I got the axe, and because of habits and/or expectations I've gained from them, I couldn't get the Axe to sound the way I want it...
2) If you have some big tube amps and such, you might be comparing the sensation of playing through a real 4x12 cab in the room with the sensation of playing through headphones. If possible, mic your cab and listen to it in another room with the same headphones. See if that's better or worse than the axe.
3) Try this: Find a song you like, that has a great raw guitar tone.
Listen to the guitars on the same monitoring you listen to the axe trough and compare. Is it really that much worse quality wise?
4) Matching virtual cabs to amps in the axe is a little more fiddly than with real amps. The Amps in the axe have no idea what cab is connected, so some parameters that happen naturally have to be dialed in manually. Check out the "Speaker" page in the Amp block.
 
andyp13 said:
It does take a while to find your 'sound' like everyone says 'it's in there'..
You will find it harder to find if you're not into metal etc however, as about 99% of the presets are distortion patches (which I did find all sound the same)....
But stick with it, other sounds are in there but if you are not a metal head you will be in the minority ;)

But stick with it, it is a class piece of equipment, it's replaced all my boogie amps.
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Strange post...you find that 99% of the presets sound the same? Do you own an AXE FX?
 
andyp13 said:
It does take a while to find your 'sound' like everyone says 'it's in there'..
You will find it harder to find if you're not into metal etc however, as about 99% of the presets are distortion patches (which I did find all sound the same)....
But stick with it, other sounds are in there but if you are not a metal head you will be in the minority ;)

But stick with it, it is a class piece of equipment, it's replaced all my boogie amps.
Click to expand...
I bet you're not a metal guy right? :) I would say metal guys are just as picky with their tone as old school rock guys. Someone like me who tries to be a little bit of everything might say that there's no genre that is harder to tweak than the other. More gain will rely more on the IR being used so if you're just changing the amps and not the IR you may in fact end up with similar tones.

It did take me a bit of time to get my sound just like I wanted it but that was in the Axe-Fx Standard days. Anyways in the end my lesson was "less is more". 90% of all my clips you'll hear are the amp and cab block only and the amp has pretty much default settings. It really is super easy. F.ex. check this video:

 
Where are you from?

The reason I ask, is that at some guitar stores, you can rent monitors by the day, week of month. For example in Canada, at Long and McQuade, you can rent a pair of monitors for $6, $12 or $24 (day, week, month). Then if you decide to buy them, the money you paid for the rental goes towards the purchase price.

https://www.long-mcquade.com/pdf/lm rental cat 2016LR.pdf
 
Another thing I noticed. I literally only need to turn the Axe's output level knob just a hair. literally on 8 o click or less. I was really surprised by the output power that it can put out. Would this also have something to do with it? Would it be like putting a marshall plexi amp on 1 and expecting it to sound good?
 
The output level has no effect on the tone of the models. It is not analogous to a master volume on an amp. There's a master volume on each model for that.
 
Keep in mind also that the cab models have a huge effect on the sound and your preference may tend to a certain type of cab or speaker. I've been playing an Axe Fx through a poweramp/cab configuration since 2008 and am only just now starting to explore the option of using the cabinet modeling for my FOH signal.

I know the sounds are in there because what comes out of my speaker cab is incredible. But right now, there are only 3 stock cab models that get me anywhere near where I want to be for my standard "rock" sound - when I use my power amp/cab as the litmus test. So if you are coming from a traditional amp/cab setup, you are going to have a harder time finding cab models that satisfy you. It might be better to run the Axe through a power amp/cab, dial in amp sounds you like, the find the appropriate cabinet model that gets you a mostly equivalent sound through monitors.

Also, IMO "god tones" only happen 2 ways: complimenting the guitar tone with a good mix in the context of a song, or in a live situation with massive amounts of volume. As everyone here has said, a Cube probably won't get you there, don't give up til you try some other monitoring options.
 
The Axe has a learning curve, figure a year at least if your a hobby player. The tweaking /learning experience will take time away from the craft of actual guitar playing and practice. Be prepared. As previously mentioned focus on one amp and one cab and make it sound good to your ear then add reverb, delay, etc. This will help tremendously.

You get an ALOT for your money in that black box so it really is actually cost effective. The peripherals to make you sound good to your ear (and the audience) are expensive. You will be investing at least $4.5k on this rig before this is over. At least that number. All in all it will be a significant investment so you need to ask yourself if your really IN it for the long haul.

It doesn't happen over nite, but it does happen!
 
Stick with it man. Trust us and definitely invest in a better monitoring solution.

I contemplated selling mine the first year, but I stuck with it and now thinking about going back to a normal rig starts making me sweat lol (setup is way more simple with the axe for me and I no longer have to tap dance when I need multiple effects on at once).
 
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