How accurate is Fractal's amp modeling?

I will have to try that technique but lately I've been able to get away with just setting the knobs just like my amps here and bam! I've been doing overdubs on some stuff that was done with an amp into loadbox so using just the Axe and the same IR has made pretty seamless results, especially with cygnus.
 
Smittefar said:
Sure, I was aware that you did not mean input trim - But I am one of those guys that will choose a different amp model, if I cannot get the sound I want without touching the advanced parameters (except for speaker impedance curve and speaker dynamics (including saturation))
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I hear ya guy, it also can be time consuming and certainly don't have the time to be playing with this nearly as much as I'd love to, but I think you're missing out on some interesting and fun stuff. It's like building your own amp from scratch, and that is too cool!
 
This is a bit OT, but with the ac30 posts I thought one or two of you might find this interesting. I cannot remember where I originally read this (maybe on this forum), but I saved it into a note on my iPhone back in August. Someone name Michael Dumond wrote this about one of Edge’s ac30s.

I have a schematic and specs of the original Vox 1 when i was working with Vox to build him a backup amp for the 360 tour. We used an ac30cc2x back then as a base and tweaked it to his specs which is pretty much similar to his more recent Vox 1 replacement which he uses now. The reason why his Vox 1 sounds different from other 60s is because his isn't a early 60s, its a 1969 model which sounds different from the early ones. The cabinet is the original cabinet that came with the amp. In the 360 tour backup, we used a MM transformer, changed some resistor values, speaker recone to vintage spec (cc2x came with Chinese blues), and added the mid knob per his request to adjust mid eq. In all honesty, his amps are definitely modded, but nothing too different than what you can buy off the shelf.
 
Glenn Wiebe said:
This is a bit OT, but with the ac30 posts I thought one or two of you might find this interesting. I cannot remember where I originally read this (maybe on this forum), but I saved it into a note on my iPhone back in August. Someone name Michael Dumond wrote this about one of Edge’s ac30s.

I have a schematic and specs of the original Vox 1 when i was working with Vox to build him a backup amp for the 360 tour. We used an ac30cc2x back then as a base and tweaked it to his specs which is pretty much similar to his more recent Vox 1 replacement which he uses now. The reason why his Vox 1 sounds different from other 60s is because his isn't a early 60s, its a 1969 model which sounds different from the early ones. The cabinet is the original cabinet that came with the amp. In the 360 tour backup, we used a MM transformer, changed some resistor values, speaker recone to vintage spec (cc2x came with Chinese blues), and added the mid knob per his request to adjust mid eq. In all honesty, his amps are definitely modded, but nothing too different than what you can buy off the shelf.
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Thank for posting that, very interesting!
 
I'm new to Fractal/modeling/Axe III but I can't wait to toss up some "guess which is which" clips with my real amps (SLO and XTC 101B), should be fun. I need some time to get comfy with the Axe FX of course and refine the tones to make a fair comparison....but my first few days and impressions have me pretty amazed at the tones they managed to capture and spit out of this machine!
 
Kabala said:
but my first few days and impressions have me pretty amazed at the tones they managed to capture and spit out of this machine!
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"capture"? Remember, these aren't profilers, they're modelers using mathematical manipulation to get the sound we hear. I think it's what distinguishes Fractal's sound quality.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
"capture"? Remember, these aren't profilers, they're modelers using mathematical manipulation to get the sound we hear. I think it's what distinguishes Fractal's sound quality.
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Ok, thanks for clarifying, didn't mean that as a slight - was just saying it's very impressive how this device is able to replicate the real/physical versions...and I and haven't even really played with any settings yet, just skipping around and grinning with guitar in hand over the stock presets.
 
York Audio said:
All I gotta say is that there's magic in FW15. So far I've been able to match all of my high gain amps, but yesterday I wanted to see how Fractal's AC30 compared to a '94 Korg Era Vox AC30 I recently picked up for a gritty Voxy tone with a tube screamer in front of it. The test was more about determining accuracy rather than dialing in a perfect tone, so I just threw a 57 in front of a cab to see how comparable the amp and the model were.

For anyone questioning the accuracy of Fractal's amp modeling, rest easy... you'll save yourself a lot of time and money. Maybe some of you can hear a difference, but if someone played me either of these clips on their own, I'd have no idea if I was hearing a real amp or a modeler.

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Great post. I’ve purchased your ac30 pack and really like it. Do you recall which IR used on this recording?
 
sskkmm said:
Just in to say wow didn't think I would see one of Lyle's videos here.

He is great guy when it comes to Voxes. On a side note I own one of his custom tube amps (Aztlan) that is a great take on some Fender models.

On another note, I once had a great 60s vintage AC30 in my house for about a month. A 1964 AC-30 T with silverbells. My Matchless SC30 could do it all and more and was more dependable and reliable. :/ But the Vox won in the mojo dept.
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Interesting. I believe Edge’s ‘63/‘64 original #1 ac30 had one blue bulldog and one silver speaker. Not sure which one he mic’d for live, but his mic was definitely to one side.
 
StingRay said:
Ya, I just found Lyle not too long ago. I'm really impressed by his work and innovation in his videos. He seems like a very nice guy too. I didn't know he made custom amps in the past...pedals yes, but amps no. That's interesting. I just wrote him recently to see if you'll work on a Top Hat Club Royal for me. Still waiting to hear back from him.

Don Butler who is well known for his Vox upgrade work was always the one who did work for me before. He's a great guy and knows AC30s as well or better than anyone, but I think Lyle is more cut out for what I want in this case.
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I was on a yahoo music/recording group a long time ago with Lyle. He got into modifying ac30’s to old specs - sort of doing a more accurate thorough job than Butler. This was at least 10-15 yrs ago.
 
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