Is Axe Fx too perfect sounding?

Clockwork Creep

Clockwork Creep

Power User
I've seen one person state this: The axe sounds great, but it sounds too perfect, too idealized, which makes it easy to identify as a modeller. Like, it's almost as if everything the Axe produces a bit too sterile, as if all recording conditions are unrealistically perfect, which takes out some of the character and makes the axe still stand out as a modeller and not 'the real thing' for analog junkies.
Do you agree with this statement?
Myself, I am not sure. Maybe it could be a placebo that person has - A result of prejudice towards modellers. Or maybe the settings?

I started to think about that more seriously after I've listen to some good ol' rage against the machine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_zyb-XXWz0
My Axe recordings don't sound like that.

Digging deeper into "Naturality":
For a long time I was aiming my recordings to get this "Real, natural and alive" vibe, maybe, like, "Trusty amp in a garage" maybe "A little vintage" vibe. That's something that modern metal recordings lack, especially Djent, in my opinion.
I don't think I've achieved this goal so far. No loops, no time alignment, no autotune...
Still, What I get is something that still sounds modern and "Produced", maybe could be called "sterile".
Like, comparing "Remember who you are" and "Paradigm shift" in KoRn albums.
Not sure what to blame. Is it the user, or the tool? Or maybe the guitar tone isn't the problem at all, and the other instruments, such as drums, is the complete deal breaker? (Using drum VSTi is obviously not the best choice for natural sounding recordings)
My guess, the problem in the Axe, if there is one, is likely hanging in the Cab simulation. Maybe, for best results, I should find a good sounding room and record a real cab?

What are your thoughts?
 
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i dont think so...i get great vintage tones out of axe. and if you want that traditional live recording vibe where everything is in one room and you mic bleed than run your axe through a traditional cab and mic the cab...i think axe makes literaly everything possible in a much easier wat. its all about your imaginations/limits.
 
RUSH are perfect sounding. I got a bit overwhelmed seeing them also, they set the bar so high.
 
Balderdash.

To me that vibe you speak of is much more about the playing than the amp. I hear you on modern vs vintage recordings. Give me some raw 70's rock any day. But I can capture that with My Axe. Dial up a Plexi, plug in a Les Paul, put on some bell bottoms and live in 1975.
 
Work on your patches, and a real cab helps too.

I played some Santana songs with a band at my sister's graduation party and some of the band's promoters were shocked when they found out I wasn't using a real IIC.

My setup was Power Amp --> Axe Fx --> Orange 4x12 and I was playing my Les Paul Custom.

You can make an Axe Fx sound like whatever you want it to sound like but it's up to YOU to get the sound out of it.
 
I honestly don't think "too perfect" is a bad thing. Most professional recordings we listen to use tons of very expensive processing to achieve "perfect" and we have it bottled.

On the other hand, my 50w Plexi sounds exactly like the one at the local guitar store.


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The Axe Fx is a modeler, not an amp. Cliff and company have done a tremendous job in closing the gap between modeling and true amps. However, a tube amp is a high voltage device, containing high voltage components and circuitry, much more temperamental than a modeler. They will never behave exactly the same, and that's just fact. It's a matter of choice, if the level of modeling has reached a point that satisfies the user (or not), that's all that really matters. Debates regarding amps and modelers won't change that.
 
I don't think the Axe sounds too 'perfect' at all. Even through FRFR, via my active CLR with the Fender Twin amp dialled in I can hear just the mildest hint of push from the amp, boost the mids in the EQ at 1K and even more 2K (sometimes I lower 500K very slightly depending on the cab used) then add some very mild overdrive from one of the drive models, add spring reverb and some tremelo and I'm right back to the 60s.

It sounds as authentic as anything can, warm, dirty, clean, edgy, it's all in there.

via FRFR, I find boosting those mid frequencies and restricting the hi & lo cut range on the cab IR is what really sends my tones into authentic amp sounding territory
 
Is it really a problem that it sounds too good? It's almost like asking the question, is my wife too hot? I'm not sure either of these are a problem. But yes the axe sounds to good, too good for us to only pay $2500 Cliff should charge more it's worth every cent.
 
No offense to the OP, but isn't the goal to have a "polished" sound...,.. A sound that fits in the mix of a full band or recording and sounds, well, good? For years I always wished I had a consistent, "idealized sound" when performing and or recording. The AxeFX provides all of this. I love hearing a great amp tone through a great speaker cabinet captured through a great mic and preamp in a great room. It inspires me, it excites me and my performances are better because I like what I hear. Maybe it's just me...
 
Hey freemind, I actually don't find this. I get it with other high-end modellers that I own but not with the AxeFX. I think it's one area that the Axe has excelled in with since the last couple of upgrades, especially with the Quantum beta.
 
What I meant by "Perfect" is not "Too good". What I mean't is more like "Unnaturally idealized". Kind of like comparing a perfect sine wave versus a sine wave running through a speaker in a room, recorded with a mic. More likely, you will enjoy the latter one more, even if the first one is a perfect wave.

No offense to the OP, but isn't the goal to have a "polished" sound...,.. A sound that fits in the mix of a full band or recording and sounds, well, good?
Click to expand...

What tones you like is completely up to taste.
If you like modern productions - all power to you.
I like them too, but those others recordings that are not so "overpolished" sounding have a certain charm to me...
 
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