Very nice, however, nothing you can't do with the Ultra...
May very well be true.
I have a feeling that where the two differ may be on the super 3D cleans and in betweens and on the smoother high gain sounds which have more even harmonics, or sound like there are more even harmonics, which is not as important to some as others.
You know where the overdrive suggests violins, cellos, flutes and stuff 'cause even though there's a lot of gain it's still relatively smooth and consonant ( obvious examples are many of EJs overdrive tones, And there are other examples ).
This is also evident with playing chords and extended chords with medium and fairly high gain , and very few tube amps do it ( the real smooth stuff ) well and only with an optimal signal path and conditions ( and often VERY high volume ).
I mean this only as my opinion NOT as a scientific fact:
But just generally as distortion gets narlier and nastier and edgier and more harsh, the easier it is to achieve on various devices, it seems to be the real gainy but clearer sounding stuff in the tube world AND the modeling world is harder to achieve and in the really 3D cleans and lighter drives as well.
Just my opinion ( which is based on some early clips only and I don't HAVE either one, so I sort of have no right to this opinion, in some ways , but...) I think these are the areas in which the two units will diverge tonewise, with the Axe 2 pulling ahead more on the more "pure" , smoother , more even harmonic distortions and on the cleaner and light drives........................
Dialing in "Brutal Metal Tones " (which I admittedly know very little about what are the "better " ones)and also some of the higher gain , edgier, more raw Rock tones( which I DO know about )- IMO the differences between the tones of the Ultra and Axe 2 on recordings will probably be less apparent.
But as I often say experience wins over theory , so if you guys have both units or a specific experience that negates my "theory " - I believe you.