Guitar cab or FRFR for your Axe-Fx

Do you currently use FRFR or guitar cab?

  • FRFR

    Votes: 71 55.5%

  • Guitar Cab

    Votes: 33 25.8%

  • Both

    Votes: 24 18.8%
  • Total voters
    128
FRFR for me. I like the finished sound of it. I do still love the sound of a cranked amp through a cab, I admit. I am just finding that using FRFR is helping me get a sound that sits better in a live band mix, with a lot less effort all around.
 
Amp/Cab for me. i dont need the full versatility of using cab sims live - and I prefer the push of a cab. Maybe one day, when I find an FRFR solution that works for me - but I havent found it yet. Recording is a different matter, I use the whole versatility therer - and its easier to record v micing up.
 
I'd be curious to see what people are using the Axe-FX II for, for example live use or only for bedroom playing, etc.

I just wonder if folks like the amp/cab thing because it works better for gigs or if they like having that pushed air at home as well.
 
romanianreaper said:
I'd be curious to see what people are using the Axe-FX II for, for example live use or only for bedroom playing, etc.

I just wonder if folks like the amp/cab thing because it works better for gigs or if they like having that pushed air at home as well.
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I've done both amp and cab and FR for a live gig though not with the Axe ll and it really depends on the stage application. If you need to keep SPL at a minimum a wedge at your feet really works the best but if your trying to carry the house and stage some prefer amp and cab but one could use both. As to bedroom warriors personal preference is a bitch...:lol
 
Sixstring said:
I've done both amp and cab and FR for a live gig though not with the Axe ll and it really depends on the stage application. If you need to keep SPL at a minimum a wedge at your feet really works the best but if your trying to carry the house and stage some prefer amp and cab but one could use both. As to bedroom warriors personal preference is a bitch...:lol
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:) I have never heard the Axe-FX II thru FRFR, etc. so I don't know if I would like it better or worse than my setup. I'll still keep my cabs for the future regardless. I have been thinking about getting a better power amp but then wonder if two KRK monitors would be fine for my home use. So many choices.
 
romanianreaper said:
:) I have never heard the Axe-FX II thru FRFR, etc. so I don't know if I would like it better or worse than my setup. I'll still keep my cabs for the future regardless. I have been thinking about getting a better power amp but then wonder if two KRK monitors would be fine for my home use. So many choices.
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All you can do is try it out for your self to see if you like it but find the best FR you can to demo. That's the beauty of the Axe, you can run ether setup it doesn't have to be one or the other. I will say when I first started using the Axe almost 5 years ago, like so many others here I used it with with cabs for about year. Once I figured out FR I never went back and really don't have any want to go back even though I still have them to play through.
 
So when you guys refer to FRFR, does that cover something like a QSC K10 as well as KRK Rokit 8 desktop monitors? I know there will obviously be somewhat of a difference in tone, etc. but curious if it will be a similar sound?

I'm at a point where I don't know if I'm better off with something like a QSC K-10 or the KRKs. I am a bedroom player but I have my Axe-FX II setup in my basement in a "guitar room" away from my computer. I like to put backing tracks on my stereo and play along.

The one benefit from KRKs, is that I'd have two and can capture that stereo sound. If I got a QSC K-10 or similar I could only afford one and wonder if I'd miss the stereo sound I currently get from having two Marshall 4x12 cabs.
 
The RKR's should get loud enough for the bedroom and should translate well to a good FR powered wedge. I would also add if your just only a bedroom player the RKR's will do just fine. If you ever plan on giging or jamming with a buddy you will need something with a little more horse power.
 
When you play through a cab all your presets are heard through that prism, with FRFR you can use many virtual cabinets to have a more tonal options. Since the Axe is about options, restricting them seems counterproductive.
 
luke said:
When you play through a cab all your presets are heard through that prism, with FRFR you can use many virtual cabinets to have a more tonal options. Since the Axe is about options, restricting them seems counterproductive.
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You leave one important option out....speaker sims does not give you the option to play through a cabinet. It only gives you the option to play through recordings of cabinets. Quite different.
 
Still cabs for me. Two 2x12 vertical Zilla cabs with V30s. I dug out my RCF after V6.0 came out just to see how the results of using virtual cabs compared to the real thing and there's no doubt in my mind that cabs are still better (for me).
 
Both.

Cab with power amp:
- has that familiar punch of the real thing
- is easier, no endless experimenting with IRs, EQing etc.
- is consistent
- looks good
- sounds better than a monitor when playing small gigs without a PA.
- saves a lot of CPU when disabling cab sim.

FRFR:
- easier to connect to PA, studio etc.
- more flexible, ideal cab for each amp possible
- can amplify stuff like acoustic guitars
- same sound on stage as thru FOH
- can be silent on stage (InEar).

I use a real cab on stage, with a direct line (cab sim) to FOH, and mostly FRFR at home.
 
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Trazan said:
You leave one important option out....speaker sims does not give you the option to play through a cabinet. It only gives you the option to play through recordings of cabinets. Quite different.
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I disagree.

The purpose of buying the Axe, for myself and many others, is the ability to mimic many different amplifier and cabinet combinations. The IRs heard through a FRFR sound the same as you would sound through the PA at any venue. You are trying to make the argument that there is this vast difference between what the musician on the stage hears versus the audience, but I do not find that to be true at all.

If you are only going for a few sounds, a cabinet is fine. If you want a Plexi through basketweave tone and then on the drop of a dime a Bassman through 4x10s, followed by a Jazz Chorus through JBLs, FRFR is the only way to do that IMO. Between RW, OH and the stock cabinets there are well over 2500 choices, why someone would choose to reduce down to ONE is beyond me.
 
luke said:
I disagree.

The purpose of buying the Axe, for myself and many others, is the ability to mimic many different amplifier and cabinet combinations. The IRs heard through a FRFR sound the same as you would sound through the PA at any venue. You are trying to make the argument that there is this vast difference between what the musician on the stage hears versus the audience, but I do not find that to be true at all.
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You're saying a recording of an instrument isn't much different than listening to the instrument itself? Then we must definitely agree to disagree ;) Like any other acoustic instrument, the guitar cab throws sound in all directions (esp open backed cabs). Often defined as "fills the room". FRFR can't, and will never simulate that effect. You may not want or need that character, but I certainly do!
 
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