New Axe FX Owner

Clickonce said:
No experience with the monitors, but I use the Saffire.. works great. I can't think of any consumer purchases (houses/cars/guitars/amps/tvs/...) I've ever made that I was completely satisfied with years later... except for the Axe-FX II.
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And what this guy said. ^^ Totally agree!
 
Well, I've said this before and I'll say it again, I sold every damn thing I owned. All my heads, cabs, effects, both racked and floored. My wife thinks I am lying when I tell her DAILY that I will never, ever have to buy anything else. This is a done deal, there is nothing better on the market, yet still will only get better with every upgrade. My tone has never been better, and I'm no longer pigeon holed into being a one or two tone wonder (comments I've had in the past), as there is no tone I CAN'T get. This is simply the best investment I've ever made in my 30 years as a professional musician. I too am a newbie, I have had the Axe for 5 weeks and I'll never go back, ever. It's perfect for the TV stuff I do. Combined with the Matrix amps and cabs, it's perfect for my live gigs. Did I mention it's.......... PERFECT? So, take an hour a day and learn a new function of the unit, try not to lose any sleep in the process, and enjoy making music in a way that has never before been possible. Ok, I'll get off my horse now:lol
 
Yea, the final part of the chain is still as important as always. Today, I tested 6 pairs of different low cost active speakers, with music and Axe, and they all sounded like shit. I had to double check I wasn't playing through a POD. Behringer, three different Proels, db Chromo, and something I already forgot. Nothing will save you if the speaker is crappy!
 
rnjscooter said:
So, take an hour a day and learn a new function of the unit...
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Yes. That is a great approach. I also suggest you look into Cooper Carter's videos, which are well worth the investment.
Start with this one : https://www.creativelive.com/courses/using-axefx-cooper-carter
Then move on to the master class : https://www.creativelive.com/courses/axe-fx-master-class-cooper-carter
I'd strongly recommend these videos as new user immersion.

When I received my AxeFX II XL last April, I was completely new to the platform; I had spent a few weeks thoroughly reading the manual and looking through the Wiki, which I'd strongly recommend to anyone while they're waiting for their unit to arrive. Once it was in my hands, I had less than two weeks (!) before I we needed to hand off our gear for tour cartage. That meant I had to program our entire three+ hour show, along with setting up the MFC-101 Mk III for stage control. Once the truck pulled away from our rehearsal space, there was no going back to my previous rig. Although I was a little nervous about making such a drastic change to my touring rig with so little time, it was a fantastic success, and I've never looked back.
 
check out my site Axe-Fx Tutorials | Tutorials and Help for Fractal Audio Gear

i just started it last week and i'm starting to add more content including explanations for common questions, video tutorials found on youtube, and eventually will get to creating new videos of my own. you can see my previous videos here.

my chat is always open as well! people come in at different times of the day, so hang out if you can and we can all help each other out there too.

AxeFxTutorials Chat | Axe-Fx Tutorials

if you can, subscribe to my facebook and/or twitter too so you don't miss an update!
 
aziz said:
Yea, the final part of the chain is still as important as always. Today, I tested 6 pairs of different low cost active speakers, with music and Axe, and they all sounded like shit. I had to double check I wasn't playing through a POD. Behringer, three different Proels, db Chromo, and something I already forgot. Nothing will save you if the speaker is crappy!
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Very interesting (and shocked you just nearly compared your Axe-Fx to a P_D)..! :shock :lol

Without derailing the OP, I'd love to know what speakers you tested and what you decided to go for?
 
I don't even remember them all anymore, they were so bad, and I didn't make notes. Anyways, I've been thinking about adding one small speaker, for stereo, and for more coverage. Also, small size is a big plus, for when I don't want to haul around the Atomic CLR.

1. Proel Flash 8 v2: this was my favorite because of the very small size, and useable sound with music. Very middy with axe though. I didn't check if the shop had its settings goofed up (it has bass/treble knobs on the back). Also has separate mic and line inputs with independent volumes and a mix out, which is very good for allround use.

2. Some Behringer that copies the Mackie SRM450 look: the most horrible of the bunch, crazy hyped highs and lows. It might be a good deal though, if all what you want is to be loud and have trouser flapping bass for least $$$, nothing wrong with that as a guitar monitor. Don't do any tone tweaking with it though.

3. Proel V10 and V12. Out of these, the 12's were better, specially the 10 had piercing highs with bad mids.

4. Some very ugly speaker

5. db technologies chromo 10 and 8. The 8's didn't get a fair test, they were positioned on the floor. They're small, I might re-test them some day.

The shop had them all wired up to a switcher so you could switch between them, which is very nice. I decided go home empty handed and continue in mono. If I had to pick one, it'd be the small Proel 8", just for the size. Atomic and Genelec have spoiled me.
 
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rnjscooter said:
Well, I've said this before and I'll say it again, I sold every damn thing I owned. All my heads, cabs, effects, both racked and floored. My wife thinks I am lying when I tell her DAILY that I will never, ever have to buy anything else. This is a done deal, there is nothing better on the market, yet still will only get better with every upgrade. My tone has never been better, and I'm no longer pigeon holed into being a one or two tone wonder (comments I've had in the past), as there is no tone I CAN'T get. This is simply the best investment I've ever made in my 30 years as a professional musician. I too am a newbie, I have had the Axe for 5 weeks and I'll never go back, ever. It's perfect for the TV stuff I do. Combined with the Matrix amps and cabs, it's perfect for my live gigs. Did I mention it's.......... PERFECT? So, take an hour a day and learn a new function of the unit, try not to lose any sleep in the process, and enjoy making music in a way that has never before been possible. Ok, I'll get off my horse now:lol
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I know exactly what you mean. This is the first piece of gear that has ever "cured" my GAS. The dozen catalogs I get every month I just give away. Don't need anything. Nothing else is even remotely interesting.
 
I'm hoping to become a new owner soon myself. I've put 3 pieces of gear on craigs list and I'm hoping I can sell at least 2 of them. If I can cover around 3/4 (give or take) of the cost of a new Axe FX2 I'll pull the trigger. If I don't get any bites I might go to eBay as a last resort. I enjoy my Line6 HD500x but I'd be happy to sell that too if I was as impressed as I expect to be!
 
The problem with Craig's List is it's a pretty limited market, being mainly local. eBay puts your stuff in front of millions of people who will compete to pay the highest price.

The problem with eBay is you have to ship things. But, if you have a UPS store near you, they can package stuff up for you so you don't have to dig up a box and filler stuff. Customer pays for shipping, so it's no hardship.
 
Cagey said:
The problem with Craig's List is it's a pretty limited market, being mainly local. eBay puts your stuff in front of millions of people who will compete to pay the highest price.

The problem with eBay is you have to ship things. But, if you have a UPS store near you, they can package stuff up for you so you don't have to dig up a box and filler stuff. Customer pays for shipping, so it's no hardship.
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I agree on craigslist, although I've had pretty good luck. eBay is good, you might also try reverb.com, they take less of a cut than eBay.

On an unrelated note, the storm in the Northeast delayed my Axe FX II arrival... It was scheduled to arrive today, but now I have to wait till next Tuesday. Guess there are worse things, but was hoping to use this weekend... I'm reading the manuals like everyone suggested.
 
Cagey said:
The problem with Craig's List is it's a pretty limited market, being mainly local. eBay puts your stuff in front of millions of people who will compete to pay the highest price.

The problem with eBay is you have to ship things. But, if you have a UPS store near you, they can package stuff up for you so you don't have to dig up a box and filler stuff. Customer pays for shipping, so it's no hardship.
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I agree CL is a limited market but Ive had some success over the years, sold my Taylor last year and recently sold a complete drum kit for my brother. Ive also sold many things on Ebay over the years including guitars and amps. I figure I may as well try CL first and ask about what Id get out of Ebay in the end after fees.
 
It's certainly a valuable resource, and I didn't mean to imply that it shouldn't be used. When I'm going to sell something that's going to be a bitch to ship (amps and cabs, for instance), I always put it on CL first. But, I live in a major metropolitan area, so I have a large market to begin with. If you're in that situation, then by all means you should do the CL thing first. Doesn't cost you anything, and may save you (and the buyer) money, which is always good.

The nice thing about eBay is that people will bid things up. It's a fight to the highest price, which is always good for the seller. It's also a good resource for finding out what something is worth. As Ben Franklin said: "The worth of a thing is the price it will bring". A lot of people have some outrageous ideas about what something is worth, but the market will always teach them a lesson. You can check the "completed" sales on eBay to find out that the [widget] you thought was worth a million bucks goes for $9.50 and make a decision at that point whether you want to part with it, knowing what people will pay. I've been surprised more than once selling what I thought was worthless crap for a big pile or losing my ass on stuff I thought was great.
 
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