Only 2 Amps?

Alexis

Inspired
I wanted to ask why the Axe III is capable of only using 2 Amps at the same time.
It has so much more power and I anticipated it to be having at least 4 Amps on hi-res or even more on low-res.
Right now even the Line 6 Helix can use more amps at the same time and I own both devices Fractal and L6 and I have to say that L6 Amp Sims are not worse than the Fractal ones.
So why is a 2500$ unit not capable of beating a 1000$ devices?
This is not an insult or anything to drive the community go rage. I just don't understand and I can't figure out why I should get the Axe III in comparison to price/value
 
The price of a device does not indicate how many things it has compared to a less expensive device. I see this time and time again, especially with the Axe. “The Axe is more expensive, why not 6 amps, 8 cabs, 6 expression pedal ports, why doesn’t it have this effect, that feature etc - this cheaper thing does.”

It’s about how the designer wants his device to work. There’s no play book that the different companies look at together with different amounts of features at different price points.

This is a general statement regarding this topic, not a statement directly to the original post or person.

I personally wouldn’t want 4 amps that don’t sound as good as 2 amps do. Fractal is about high quality sound and feel. I disagree that the Line 6 amps sims are just as good as the FAS sims. I mean just tonight I played my Axe with someone’s Line 6 and everyone was like “wow it’s night and day.” No bias and no judgment - we play together often and they work well and sound good. But compared side by side at the gig, it is clear. And I dialed in both tones.

Maybe in the future it can be done. This product just got announced yesterday. I saw someone else say they “need” 8 guitar cabs. I won’t judge what anyone feels they need, but things are designed a certain way for reasons.
 
2 amps, 4 seamless channels each.
I'd prefer 3 amps, 3 channels each. That makes more sense to me.

If you can't connect more guitars than you did with the Axe 2, having so many inputs looks a bit of a waste, I think...
 
I got a Helix at the same time I got my AxeFx 2 XL+. I have to say that I disagree. The Helix models were better than previous Line 6 offerings and were decent enough but they weren’t nearly as good as the AxeFx. If they were I would have returned the AxeFx and saved myself some money.
 
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Well, sure. You are right.
Connecting mics to it for effects is a cool idea. Too bad there are no mic preamps.
There are so many other things that guitarists usually plug into their rigs. Mics are way down on the list. I think Fractal did a service to their customers by not adding to the cost by including a high-end mic preamp (you know they'd go high-end) that most guitarists wouldn't use.
 
There are so many other things that guitarists usually plug into their rigs. Mics are way down on the list. I think Fractal did a service to their customers by not adding to the cost by including a high-end mic preamp (you know they'd go high-end) that most guitarists wouldn't use.
I can't really think of anything else that I'd want to plug to the axe, except for instruments and mics... :D
Still, there are 7 analog inputs. Only 2 for guitars. 5 inputs for something else?... A bit too much attention for that "Something else"...

EDIT: Oh, an acoustic guitar doesn't require an amp block... So hey, here's another thing... Still, you can do the same on the axe 2...
 
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I can't really think of anything else that I'd want to plug to the axe, except for instruments and mics... :D
Can't help you there. We all have different needs.


Still, there are 7 analog inputs. Only 2 for guitars. 5 inputs for something else?... A bit too much attention for that "Something else"...

EDIT: Oh, an acoustic guitar doesn't require an amp block... So hey, here's another thing... Still, you can do the same on the axe 2...
The OP asked about four amps vs. two. You've checked in with a list of stuff you don't like. TBH, brother, it feels like you're just looking for a fight. I'm not gonna fight you.
 
I can't really think of anything else that I'd want to plug to the axe, except for instruments and mics... :D
Still, there are 7 analog inputs. Only 2 for guitars. 5 inputs for something else?... A bit too much attention for that "Something else"...

EDIT: Oh, an acoustic guitar doesn't require an amp block... So hey, here's another thing... Still, you can do the same on the axe 2...

It's about flexibility.

You want to keep using an external talkbox and insert it between AMP and CAB? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
You want to add an Eventide H9000 as an insert? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
You want to add an old Fuzz Face pedal or an EHX Mel9 between WAH and AMP? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
etc.

People have been asking for extra I/O's, instead of the single FXL, for ages, and here it is.
It may not be something that YOU want to do, but that's not relevant. As said, it's all about flexibility and pro audio.
 
It's about flexibility.

You want to keep using an external talkbox and insert it between AMP and CAB? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
You want to add an Eventide H9000 as an insert? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
You want to add a old Fuzz Face pedal or an EHX Mel9 between WAH and AMP? Those extra I/O's let you do that.
etc.

People have been asking for extra I/O's, instead of the single FXL, for ages, and here it is.
It may not be something that YOU want to do, but that's not relevant. As said, it's all about flexibility and pro audio.
Ok that makes sense.
Not looking for a fight, btw. Just expressing my thoughts.
 
As an idiot playing alone at home, I didn't ever considered that some people wanted to plug more than one guitar or bass at a time into the Axe FX.
Because of that, I didn't really understood the point of having 4 amps available.
For me alone , two amps have always been enough :D
 
Very interesting conversation going on here. Can someone tell me more about the inputs? For example, back in the day I used a GCX switcher with my Egnater iE4. It was awesome to be able to keep my pedals "on," and behind the amp, and switch them "active/inactive" via GCP midi pedal in any combo - single or multiple. Is that how the newer inputs on Axe III will work? Can I finally fasten my Zvex Fuzz Factory to the rack and just plug it in, turn it on, an control it's presence in the chain via midi? Essentially, turning the new inputs into a mini GCX switcher?
 
I'm not sure why anyone would want mic preamps on the Axe. The mic preamps on any line6 are junk. Most people who
want a mic pre just buy one and the sky is the limit on price and quality. Unless we are looking to pay over 4k for the Axe FX with a decent quality preamp.
 
Very interesting conversation going on here. Can someone tell me more about the inputs? For example, back in the day I used a GCX switcher with my Egnater iE4. It was awesome to be able to keep my pedals "on," and behind the amp, and switch them "active/inactive" via GCP midi pedal in any combo - single or multiple. Is that how the newer inputs on Axe III will work? Can I finally fasten my Zvex Fuzz Factory to the rack and just plug it in, turn it on, an control it's presence in the chain via midi? Essentially, turning the new inputs into a mini GCX switcher?

Yep. or if you have a rack compressor or something like that just plop it in. flexibility is the name of the game.

One way to handle the why doesn't it have X amount of Y would be to allow the addition of said Y until you run out of cpu. But i'm sure there is a reason behind only allowing so many of something architecture wise we are unaware of.
 
Designing a product is all about compromises. Do you want a phantom power mic input? Well that costs money. So either you have to raise the price of the product or cut costs somewhere else. For something that only a small percentage of people will use. Since we target the pro market our customers will likely use their own mic pre's like a Neve or API. So we don't include it and don't have to cut costs on other things.

If you open up any of the other modelers/profilers out there I guarantee you will find an OPA2134 on the instrument input and the rest of the op-amps will be NE5532 and/or TL07x (or some of those crappy NJR things). The OP2134 is okay, the rest are cheap. They are low-end, consumer-grade stuff and cost about 10 cents each. We use premium op-amps (over $1 each) because I can hear the difference and if I can hear the difference then the studio cats can too because they have better ears than I do.
 
Designing a product is all about compromises. Do you want a phantom power mic input? Well that costs money. So either you have to raise the price of the product or cut costs somewhere else. For something that only a small percentage of people will use. Since we target the pro market our customers will likely use their own mic pre's like a Neve or API. So we don't include it and don't have to cut costs on other things.

If you open up any of the other modelers/profilers out there I guarantee you will find an OPA2134 on the instrument input and the rest of the op-amps will be NE5532 and/or TL07x (or some of those crappy NJR things). The OP2134 is okay, the rest are cheap. They are low-end, consumer-grade stuff and cost about 10 cents each. We use premium op-amps (over $1 each) because I can hear the difference and if I can hear the difference then the studio cats can too because they have better ears than I do.


So what you’re saying is you don’t design then product around the comments of forum knuckleheads. I’m good with that.
 
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