Have an FX8...considering an AX8

Jalevinemd

Jalevinemd

Inspired
Guess the title is self explanatory. I am currently running my FX8 with a Quilter Tone Block 201 and a Mesa Boogie LoneStar 1x12. I'm occasionally having trouble getting specific tones I'm looking for and attribute it to having ditched the tube amp for the Quilter which, while an amazing product, has a more limited EQ section. So, I'm thinking of an AX8 and powered cab. I have four questions:


1. Is the menu of effects in the AX8 just as extensive as the FX8 or is the AX8 missing some?

2. Do you need to take up a separate block for the amp and cab?

3. Is the basic operation regarding presets, scenes, X/Y, block selection and editing the same between the FX8 and AX8 or is there an entirely new learning curve?

4. Can I upload presets from my FX8 to my AX8?




Thanks,

Jonathan
 
1. The FX8 has a few more blocks where you can have two instances per preset (like chorus), but other than that the two devices are mostly equal on the effects side. They both have the synth block, for example (it was missing when the FX8 first launched). All the normal expected stuff is on the AX8 (2 drives, 2 delays, reverb, rotary, comp, etc and so forth).

The obvious omission is the Relay Block, as AX8 has no relay outs. The glaring omission is the MIDI Block. AX8 can only send MIDI PCs, and only via scenes.

2. Yes, the amp and cab are two separate blocks. However...

3. Presets, scenes and XY are the same. Editing is just a bit different. Rather than 8 effect slots and 8 footswitches, you have an entire grid (12 columns by 4 rows) where you can place as many effects in the preset in any configuration you can think of, CPU permitting. In practice, you can't fit any more effects than an FX8 preset, but you can do more advanced routing like MultiDelay into Reverb, both parallel with the main signal path.

So the fact that amp and cab are separate blocks is a really good thing. You aren't limited to just 8 slots, and it means you can place effects between the amp and cab.

The footswitch editing is identical. The 8 footswitches can be any effect in the preset, or scene/preset control, or a control switch, or Amp XY, or Looper access.

4. No. If you keep both units, you can have FX8-Edit and AX8-Edit open while both units are on and I think (but I might be mistaken) that you can drag blocks between them. If not, you can at least export the separate blocks from each preset using the FX8-Edit "Export blocks" feature. The blocks are intercompatible, assuming both units are on the latest firmware.

The 3rd party FracTool won't help in preset translation here because the FX8 preset structure is too different.
 
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