Incredibly long winded, wandering, loquacious, geeky, effluviastic review

I must admit, your way of writing has me intrigued. I read all of your posts in this thread with interest and all I can say is: Thanks for doing this, I find it highly informative (still wainting for my AxeII, but still loving the Ultra) and entertaining!
 
If I continue to learn the definitions of the words presented in nikki's posts, I'm sure my IQ will raise a few points... at some point. :lol

Seriously, digging the review thus far, and looking forward to more. :)
 
lol on the dictionary-esque jabs/refs/fun :lol I truly wish I could express myself better.

Onward!!! First up today..

BASS!!!
Ah, yes. The oft neglected but oh-so-needed bassists. I have played bass in bands, from garages to stages to drunken circuit tours of the US. And still, I am horribly (technically, technique-wise) incompetent. I cringe and weep inside when I encounter bassists who are perfectly content to, "Just DI me." Doug (dUg) (most notably) of King's X turns those tears of sorrow to ones of joy. One bassist that caught my attention early on was Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick). His use of a 12-string bass (arguably, he created it, or at the very least was a primary contributor to its development) was an ear and mind opener. I love textural players, and though this was not someone painting vast soundscapes, his was one that spoke of power, harmony, and.. beauty. What is my point? The Axe FX II allows me to build a virtual, multi-amp soundstage. I can split, effect, etc and run each split to a different amp. For bass.. especially a 12-string bass.. this is HUGE. To be able to throw, say, a drive or fuzz on the upper frequency content, and then compress the low end a bit.. or even do some parallel compression fun.. is amazing and inspiring. Having a tonal palette to freely experiment with is so freeing. And, once again (here it comes), Axe-Edit!!! To sit here playing my fretless bass and use a well thought out and implemented GUI to arrange the colors on my palette is so.. incredible! Yes, I know other effect/gear manufacturers have provided similar tools for their gear, but this is hands-down my favorite. As nice as the Axe's screen is.. and it IS beautiful.. Axe-Edit is a whole new ballgame for me. Being in a wheelchair as a high-level paraplegic, movement once I have an instrument in hand is difficult at best. To hold it and peck-peck-scroll-spinwheel etc is just time consuming and an inspiration killer for me. To simply click about several times and have instant results allows inspiration to continue unheeded. THIS makes me smile and WANT to create music.

Okay.. but how is the sound? So far, I love it! The variety is still a bit limited for bass-specific amps, cabs, and effects, but of what is there, I do not have much to complain about, and much to be quite happy.. perhaps even rave positively.. about. I think my favorite amp + cab would be (big shocker) the SVT + Bassguy 4x10 (RW). I do have some bass cab IRs to try (10's, 12's and 15's), and need to spend a lot more time digging into other amps, cabs, and effects, along with creating Pinnick-inspired 12-string mondo rigs :mrgreen . I am also considering a nice bass comp/limiter pedal to front-end the Axe. Why? Two reasons primarily. First, I am far from being that dependable studio player that has their technique down to a near infallible science. As such, and due to the digital nature of the beast, I would prefer to preempt any nastiness brought about by my plucking/slapping just that wee bit too enthusiastically, thereby producing that all-too-ugly -OVERLOAD- on an otherwise *perfect* take. I would not be concerned with the compressor aspect, per se. And, number Two (tee-heee!), I am lazy. "Huh?" you respond? :eek: Yes, if I can find an easier way to do something, I will.. so long as quality is not adversely affected. In this case, my laziness is not wanting to change the Input trim for each instrument. I almost wish the Axe had a second input up front, like one would find on many (guitar) amps. The second input could be set differently, say for active bass. With the Input trim now set for a few of my passive, humbucker equipped guitars, my passive pick-up'd basses have done fine, but the actives tickled the red a bit too much. I will likely be trying my MXR 10-band EQ pedal in front of the Axe soon, maybe tomorrow. I am simply curious of what, if anything, it would alter with my tone, if left neutral, and then with the trim varied for different instruments such as an active bass. Experimentation!!!

Now, the negatives. Well, I do not actually consider them negatives, per se. The Synth block was a bit wonky with notes below about 55Hz (A, standard tuning). Response with my fretless 5 was actually quite nice!!! I could do slides galore, and even do plucked harmonic slides and the synth kept up! Granted I have not spent nearly enough time with it to condemn or praise it, but my first impression is a decent one. I do not think it will replace a decent bass synth pedal (ala Boss Syb-5, etc), but I could be wrong. The only other immediate frown for me was in the compressor department. Once again, please do not lynch me (yet); I may likely be missing some hidden nugget of gold. I love variety in compressor character; from a classic DBX 160(A) to a Boss LMB to an Aguilar to ???, this is one piece in a bassist's arsenal that can be a lot of fun (IMO, of course; I realize some/many bassists dislike/despise compression :mrgreen ), and coloration, as well as "action," are vital.

I love a solid foundation for any rig. I will always end up back at my roots, and my roots include clean amplification, including the speaker (cab). At least slightly overrated so I do not get unexpected nastiness. With a clean amplification system, now I can begin painting with sound.. some nice pedals, maybe some OD or a sweet fuzz.. a nice crossover/splitter, and maybe a second "dirty rig." While the Axe does not have a couple dozen boo-tique/unique pedals inside, what it does have makes up for every single other aspect of what I could ever want as a bassist. I can do crazy "black hole flange" if I want. I can do some oddball simple synthy stuff. And I can do my mondo Pinnick 12-string bass (mine is a Dean, btw) rig if I want. And half of those pedals? Probably do not need them anymore.

If you want to be rock solid at every gig, in every studio, and have YOUR sound, an Axe FX II is not overkill IMO. Very far from it. If all you want is that "plug straight into an SVT + 4x10 + 1x15" gig, then yes, the Axe is massive overkill for you. If you think a DI is acceptable for any situation, and you do not understand why that is horrible to settle for, then go elsewhere as well. I would bring a nice DI for backup, but otherwise, I would go Axe every time. As for the bassist in me, the Axe FX II is a 9.3 out of 10. That last little bit would be history if I had a "synth pedal replacement" and more compressor tonal variety, and, as the score reflects, that is being damn picky on my part. Oh, and the fact that I have not dUg into the Axe deeply enough to truly proclaim, "10 out of 10!" without fear of error. YMWV, of course ;)
 
Ooops.. yes, once i get some bass rigs built, including any IRs that are not infringing on property/licensing rights, I will absolutely be sharing them here. In fact, I am so taken by this piece of gear, and so sure that I will be devoting much of my time to it, that I am creating my own little bloggy-"here are some patches and clips" site. I will always share here (so long as I am welcome), but will direct my yet-more-babbling-ish bombast, hyperbole, and otherwise unceasingly wandering blather there.
 
Hey Nikki ,

Glad you are digging it .I think I remember you from the Randall MTS forum?
If that is you how do you find the Axe stacks up to some of the modules you played.?
Don't know if you still have the Lynchbox w/the superVs but if you are doing IR that would be a killer one to have IMO
My Axe 2 will be here Monday I'm stoked .I also used to use the MTS stuff for a while . I Really liked the Lynch mods ,SL+ but I have heard Axe tones that get that and much more
 
Randalljax said:
Glad you are digging it .I think I remember you from the Randall MTS forum?
If that is you how do you find the Axe stacks up to some of the modules you played.?
Click to expand...
Hi!
Yes, I was on there, and I owned an RM100 (very briefly), and an RM-4. Modules: SL+ (later ver), Recto, Modern, Plexi, 1086, Top Boost, and PeteMod Ultra Lead (my favorite).

Once again, I must preface my reply with this: I do not expect to "identically match" how one amp sounds with another. I will hear something I like, and that becomes a "tonal ball park" that I will investigate. Since I believe that much of how something sounds typically has to do with the player (not always!), plus a recorded tone is not the same as being in a room with an amp (IMO), and finally that I love sounding like me (not someone else).. discovering the equipment and settings used simply provide inspiration for the "gear slut" and "aural sculpter" parts of me. When not actually sculpting/painting/etc, I like to funnel creative energies into the mechanical side (and practicing/learning, of course).

I really love the MTS concept. The Axe *virtualizes* that, with a more accessible and vast set of "virtual amp pieces." IOW, with MTS, while one could assemble a similar (please allow me this comparison) stable of hardware amps as the Axe offers virtually, the space, maintenance, etc required would be ridiculous IMO. The effort required to assemble a rig on a whim would be... well, the whim would likely be long gone. Axe wins. Sure, the Axe offers a multitude of a select number of tweakable underpinnings (tube parameters, B+, etc); however, actual hardware allows the ability to tweak.. everything. Caveat? One must have the knowledge and ability to do so, or a work force to do so for them. Plus, mistakes can be costly. I prefer the Axe in this scope of things, hands down. However, optimally, I would also love working on actual hardware. I began dismantling (and "remantling" lol).. anything I could get my hands on.. when I was a toddler. So, as stated previously, the Axe is supplemental, not substitutional. In this case, the Axe is also the preferential choice for me :mrgreen .

As far as sound and feel... I am still in an... "arranged marriage honeymoon phase." I am absent of a better metaphor (metaphor, idiom, analogy.. I fail with these too often). I can say that I am incredibly pleased so far. Okay, I am honestly infatuated. I began fiddling with those aforementioned underpinnings yesterday (got sidetracked while playing with.. erm, I mean.. assessing the included IRs and related IR capabilities), and it is simply amazing what can be done, and how relatively *accurate* those functions are to actual hardware functions/components. Take something (seemingly to some) as simple as the bright cap; consider the interaction of this with the volume pot on, say, an old Marshall. The Axe not only handles/*models* this well, one can utilize funky values if they wish (not to mention.. 10000pF? lol!), and not ever have to fire up a soldering iron. Sure, you are *stuck* with a virtual ceramic cap (assumption on my part), and I would love to be able to pop some poly films in there, but what is there is plenty. And this is only one component!!! Try moving your tonestack sometime.. then try it with the Axe.

The Axe is different (of course, IMO). Even if it were indiscernable aurally, psychologically, for me, it will always be different. And I embrace it for that (as well as so many other reasons). "In a perfect world.." I would own all my MTS stuff AND the Axe. Actually, I would own.. all the gear I would want (note that I said, "I want"), have a staff (of Oompa-Loompas, trained and managed by Yoda) to care for it and assemble it as I so desired. In my case, I had to sell something to afford the Axe, and the MTS stuff was part of that sacrifice. I now do not regret it, and if someone had a box with that stuff, and another with an Axe-Fx II, the Axe gets my immediate, no-consideration-required choice. I would never state that one piece sounds better than another; the Axe-Fx II is, very simply, the tool that feels best in my hand in a quest to most seamlessly enable my form of artistic expression.. at this time. YMWV, of course :D
 
Day 3!

(With some old ('95-'97) Porcupine Tree playing in the background...)
I am really starting to fall in love. I am still battling with the pick/attack issue I mentioned a ways back, but I am working on it- internally and externally.

IRs
Where to start? I suppose with the "included" IRs.

I like the variety of the stock IRs. There are some really nice ones that I will undoubtedly use, and several I will most certainly use often. I am finding that I prefer the Redwirez IRs most, with the very scant few JMs tagging along in second place. I am not really a fan of the OwnHammer IRs; this could be a matter of taste (most likely), or a matter of.. I do not know how to phrase this properly; "target audience" perhaps? The Redwirez IRs have me quite intrigued, so I will be looking into their library and see what might interest me. I may be able to obtain some IRs that I will love though. How? Oh, I think you know how!

User IRs!!! I LOVE this! And for more than (just) the ability to (relatively) easily create your own with the Axe-Fx II unit itself. I grabbed the Axe-O-Matic utility (so far, very nice), and will need to go through my library and choose a few to try out. I also have a decent library of odd IRs; tin can, back area of a hatchback (car), etc. But, of course, the feature that piqued my curiosity entirely was the "do it yourself" feature.

Once again, being a high-level paraplegic creates a situation that would have otherwise been a relatively simple matter. Moving items, equipment, etc becomes a difficult task at best (with no one present to help out), not to mention placing microphones, etc. Despite that little pity party, I managed to play around a bit. I decided to use my Earthworks LAB 102 preamp, and an Earthworks TC30 microphone for my initial run. I am not a fan of "right on the speaker" (sic) sounds, but I suppose I should qualify that. I like to have a track of close mic'd guitar, but prefer to blend it, or omit entirely if I can get a nice recording a bit further back. The TC30 is a pretty hardy little guy, so I can shove it right down the speaker's throat if I desire, or I can pull it back a foot or so. Beyond about 15" or so, I prefer a nice ribbon (R121.. mmm), or perhaps a large diaphragm condenser. The TC30 can do a decent enough job, albeit somewhat sterile (comparatively), even at as much as 20" or so (with a decent volume, placement, room, etc). BTW- I love the TC30 on acoustic.. very sweet). So, first time out with the IR feature onboard the Axe-Fx II (thank you Cliff and version 3!), and I did hit some glitches. Before you light those torches (kill her! Blasphemer!), these are my own neuronal glitches :eek:ops I must have captured 4-5 IRs before realizing that amidst my excitement, I had forgotten to hit.. Save. :lol Oh, it gets better. Following my successful round of captures, I had loaded an empty User slot to my Axe, forgotten about that, and upon rewiring it back for recording/monitor playback, no sound. I was pulling this wire, replacing that one.. after three or four rewiring failures, I did as I always try to do: mouse, electricity.. if it continues to fail.. Calm, stop thinking. Or, think of something else. Hmm.. stupid Devils lost yet again today, Penguins won... and I forgot to set the Cab to a populated IR slot!!!

I ended up capturing AND saving four IRs. That may not seem like too many, but with my dorkiness and a desire to not be evicted for annoying a neighbor enough with the load Warp Pipe sound at about 80dB too many times in one day, I opted on the side of caution. What did I get? LOL! I was able to grab a decent IR of one of my 2x12 Greenback speakers, and one of the 2x12 with Hellatone H30's. I used the TC30, placed it about 12" out, just over mid way from the cone, slightly off axis, on both of those. Both are decoupled and a few feet off the floor. I also was able to grab one of the Greenback cab using an SM57, about 3" away, angled in slightly, about midway out from the cone. The final one I managed to capture and save was not pretty at all. I have a 4x12 with two EVM12L 200watt speakers in it; the cab itself is modified acoustically. I wanted something.. "Thiele-like," and discussed some options with my father.. but I deviate (yet again). I could not get close enough to capture a nice IR. The one I did manage to grab is quite thin and brittle IMO.

I am very impressed with the IR capture feature. It is very well implemented, and is quite intuitive. I did experiment with some aspects of the feature in order to ascertain various aspects of the feature, and so far it appears to be quite idiot-proof. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of my poor little brain :lol. I do wish one could operate the IR capture process completely from Axe-Edit and Axe Manage. Oh! Almost forgot! I did spend a bit more time with AxeManage as well today, and it is brilliant as well. I have not researched deeply enough yet, but so far I have been unable to find a way to quickly toggle between the two windows while using AxeManage and Axe-Edit simultaneously.

Day 3 comes to end, and I am really happy. Really, really happy :mrgreen I will share my (somewhat shoddy and minimal) IR adventure files in a bit. I have created a blog for my adventures in Axe-Fx land (I am calling it.. get ready to moan.. "Axeplorations"), and will link the files in a follow-up later. I am not sure what tomorrow will inspire me to try, but as of now I am wanting to try either a bi-amp bass rig, or some "soundscape-ish" type patches, something a bit more complex. Soon I will need to try using a DAWquencer to trigger some controls, as I am unable to use a footpedal/board. I can honestly see myself a month form now still only having scratched the surface. Well, maybe a decent hole here and there! ;)
 
I've to say that's a little hard to follow you Nikki (french inside)
But your thread really deserves to be read and assimilate w/ a "surgical" precision ;) Such great infos here !!! It's really not time consuming.
Knowing we are only at the beginning of your revue, I can't stand to wait the suite !
Please post the Url of your blog to come (I bet it will be a "must "),
and please, excuse my beginner english level.
 
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epistemological
Click to expand...

epistemological (ɪˌpɪstɪməˈlɒdʒɪk [SUP]ə [/SUP]l)
— adj
1. concerned with or arising from epistemology
2. (of a philosophical problem) requiring an account of how knowledge of the given subject could be obtained
 
cobbler said:
They should be there ( as the last two in the list) if you are running the latest version (1.0.242). They are on my Win 7 64 machine.
Click to expand...
Quick follow up...
I launched Axe-Edit the following day, maximized it, and the full list was there. Returned it to *floating window size* and the list remained. When I saw the full list on my MacBook Pro, I figured it might be a glitch; I have experienced this before with Windows pop-out menus with multi-column displays, but a presence I've not felt since..

Still have not discovered the full story on pentode/triode bits yet.
 
Hey nikki,

don't give up on the synth block and compressor quite yet.
the synth block looks deceptively simple, but it is quite powerful, especially if enhanced with further filters and added modulation (envelope/LFO/sequencer).
the high/band/lowpass filters sound ridiciously good, even when compared to Waldorf or other synths I have here. If you know a bit about substactive synthesis and programming, a LOT of possibilities open up.




this one is all AxeFx, one patch - pretty good 808 style kick for a guitar processor ;)


The tracking was optimized for guitar, there apparently is a trade-off between tracking speed and how low it can track.
btw. If you want sub octaves, one way to go is to use a ringmodulator, set to track the pitch and set it to 0.5.

The compressor block defaults to an o.k. setting, but I usually turn off auto-makeup and the lookahead can give it more of a LA2A character if needed, also a Tape Dist in front or after the compressor can add nice saturation, without distorting.
 
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@Don: Yes!
I figured that the Synth block was (mainly?) a "building block," and it would be other blocks + controllers that would really open it up. Sort of like working with a modular synth, albeit differently. Not less, different. The only real (longer term) point of concern was the tracking with lower notes (bass).

Sidenote: I watched a video from an Axe owner on here about the various delays and *models* of delays in the Axe (U2 stuff as the foundation). Very, very cool, and indicative of what I figure I will find as I dig in deeper. I am curious as to what a six month progress report form me will include :D
 
I am not sure if I should post these, but here goes...
I began creating a blog dedicated to my journey with the Axe-Fx II, and the first (real) entry is outlining the first IRs I made. The entry outlines my naming scheme, and other bits of information. To keep this post to a smaller size, here are the basics (the full version.. not much longer.. is on my blog):

The "n" is the initial for my first name, and thus allows alphabetical sorting to keep my own IRs together. Next is the speaker type; "green" is a Celestion Greenback (25w), hella30 is a Hellatone H30 (Celestion H30, broken in over many, many hours), and "evm12l" is an Electrovoice EVM12L 200w. Next is the mic position, distance first; "3i" is 3", "12i" is 12", etc. The position is next; "cent" means the mic was positioned pointing toward the center of the speaker, "edge-off" means it was pointing at the edge of the speaker, then tilted off-axis a bit. In these cases, I actually did not point the mic at the edge first, but rather just past midway between the cone and the edge. To keep the name short, that was how I named it. Last is the microphone used. For these, as I wrote in a previous post, I used an SM57 for several IRs, but forgot to use the "SAVE" function, so I only actually saved the final one, lol. The rest of the IRs were created using an Earthworks TC30 microphone. All IRs I have made, and will make, will/have used my Earthworks LAB 102 preamp. I feel it is a high enough quality and also quite clean, thus.. especially when paired with the TC30.. capable of capturing clean, neutral audio. I did this to better (IMO) allow use of Fractal's included microphone *models* in the Cab block.

I typically utilize close-mic'd recordings as something to blend with recordings made with a microphone or microphones pulled back a bit, and possibly room mics. With the feature set of the Cab block, you could (virtually) move the mics in closer, or further out. I like a 12" distance, blended with a close mic and a room mic, so I will likely make a bunch of IRs over time to allow me to blend in the Axe-Fx II (if I can find some mojo to do so ;) ).

The Hellatones (2) are in a standard, closed-back 2x12, as are the Greenbacks. The EVM12L speakers (2) are in a modified 4x12, top loaded. Cabinets are decoupled, and the 2x12 cabs are about 3' off the ground.
(not sure about linking to my blog, or including it in my signature, so I am not including it this post initially; I will search for that information and edit this post accordingly)

nhella30_12i_edge-off_tc30
nhella30_12i_cent_tc30
ngreen_12i_edge-off_tc30
ngreen_12i_cent_tc30
nevm12l_12i_cent_tc30
nevm12l_16i_edge-off_tc30
ngreen_3i_edge-off_57
 
I think I will wrap this one up early. It is obvious that I have absolutely fallen in love with it. I will be replacing the fan on mine, it is simply far, far too noisy. It appears to be hit-or-miss, with some people getting (relatively) quiet fans, while others have fans pushing some decent dB. After seeing a guinea pig on TV rowing a boat.. and one calling the command, "row!", I am convinced there is one in my Axe with a vacuum, and he simply wants to annoy me when I want to play ;) I am going to grab this fan (Papst 612F), as it appears to meet/exceed the specs of the stock fan, is reportedly quieter, and I have seen users here use it.

Any patches, IRs, etc that I come up with I will share in the appropriate areas, as well as on my blog. Thanks to all who followed this, and I am sorry I cannot offer much more at this point. This unit is incredibly deep, and my obsession with understanding it is now bordering on unhealthy ;) Great forum, lots of good people. Thanks to Cliff and Fractal for such an incredible piece of gear.. erm, art. Thanks to Rob at Tone Merchants for enduring my incessant babbling. Time to shut up and play! 8)
 
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Your word "Axeplorations' describes your ongoing review so adequately!
 
Wow, very welcome!
I am still playing with the IR feature set, and trying to find sweet spots. Going to try some large condenser IRs next.
 
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