Currently I'm using the G-System from TC Electronics with a Boogie Mark V, and that G-System even colors the tone in ways that bug me...so THAT's how picky I am! (wish I could be satisfied with no FX...just go thru Guitar>Amp and that's it!). I've tried so many alternatives over the years...I had a Line-6 amp for a while, a Boss floor based modeler, a Digitech 2101 with a Triaxis setup (that was pretty good actually!), and even a Pearce solid state amp in the 80's. I could never get used to the tone of a non tube amp though, so I always went back to Boogies, Marshalls & Fenders. This is obviously going to be a big change for me. I'll be working on basic tones and specific song related presets for a good while before I finally take it out on a gig.
I used similar systems. I have a Mark V, and a Carvin V3, and had a Marshall JCM2000. and a JCM 900 all of which I gigged with. I played with a Mesa Road King, a Splawn, and other amps. I liked all the amps. I even tried (for a minute) a POD XT Pro (before the HD stuff - yech! unusable!) I used pedals as as well as at various times GSP1101, Gmaj 2, Gforce, and even tried an Eventide Eclipse. All of them sucked the tone out of the amp. Of the rack gear, the Eventide was the best, but it was only borrowed. I rebuilt my rack every few months searching for the answers to my tone desires. I used GCX switchers, Decimator noise gates, line buffers and boosters, and all manner of rack insanity in a 16 space 100+ lb beast. STILL... I never got the tone I really wanted. I even played 2 amp stereo rigs and a monster wet/dry/wet rig. (That was AWESOME by the way. Best rig ever, but totally impractical, unmovable and unusable. It never made it out of my garage. )
Now it's too early for me to give a verdict on the XL... but early signs are looking good, and I am thinking this may be the best piece of gear... ever. I get my CLR on Wed, and I'm going to do some A/B against my MarkV and my Carvin just for amp tone. I'll report back then.
Having said that... for me it's much more than the "amp tone". You can have BEAUTIFUL amp tone, but if you lose that tone when you hook all of your effects up to it then it doesn't matter. That has been my issue when using FX loops. Even the Gforce colored (more like flattened) my tone, and I hated that. My hope and dream is that the AXE is going to give me both the amp tone and transparent effects with all the bells and whistles I seek.
So far through monitors, it seems great, but until I hear it at real volume through a sizable speaker I won't know for sure. I think the CLR next to my 1x12 Mesa should be a good clean comparison. I'm not looking for an exact tone match, just that the AXE
convinces me and has real amp tone. I believe it is going to do just that.