Questions about Axe FX from a possible buyer . . .

Bark Dark Aardvark Bark

Bark Dark Aardvark Bark

Member
Greetings Fractal Forum! I have a few questions about this company, the Axe FX II+ and actually, about this forum itself. I know people get bored fast so I'll get to it.

1. Is the most current version of the "flagship unit" good with headphones? I use a lot of amps (primarily Bogners) in the recording studio I work in (and own . . . be impressed by that so I can bring it up often . . . ha ha) but sometimes, I just wanna practice with a good sound and not have to be in there. Sometimes, it would be nice to be in the house. One person told me that the Axe FX was "nothing more than a more expensive Pod" . . . but I didn't like the Pods much . . . so they got the boot pretty quick.

2. I tried the "competition" as it were, the Kemper KPA and while it seemed interesting, the latency was a bit of a turn-off. Everything comes down to "what you're used to" as a player . . . but since I have no way to try this machine without ordering one, (the locals don't have one) I thought I'd just ask. Do you detect any space between when you play and when you hear it?

3. One of the things I've learned seems to be "common knowledge" since I started investigating this machinery was that the people who come on to THIS FORUM and criticize the Fractal machine will be lambasted with insults and profanity . . . which I didn't see any criticisms to critique, so it made it worth asking. In one instance, it was inferred that the owner of the company even chimed in to hammer on a critical voice . . . which is kinda weird . . . but again . . . is there "no tolerance for criticism" here?

Anyway, I'm gonna continue digging around in case I can see these issues addressed . . . chances are, I'm new so I might not see many responses. I have zero experience with this machine thus far, but I DO know lots about lots of other things so perhaps I can contribute in some other worthwhile way.

Oh . . . here's #4 . . . .

If I ordered an AXE FX II+, how long would I wait to see it get shipped my way? (almost forgot that one!) Thank you, in advance, if anybody decides to humor me on these questions.

-BDAB
 
1) works flawless with headphones. It's a very expensive POD, but IMHO you get the quality of much more than a POD so I guess it's justified...but WTF : I never owned a POD !
2) Personnally I do not detect any "space" between when I play and hear, maybe this will come when I'll be over 50.
3) Boff...as far as I saw only non-constructive critics get mowed to lawn level; but am not active enough on the forum to help you with this question; give it a try !
4) Haven't got a clue; call G66, they'll tell you instantly

Good luck for your choice and keep on rocking Aard
 
While I vastly prefer speakers in open space over headphones, the headphone output is very high fidelity. I play while listening to headphones quite often late at night while the family is sleeping. I've just learned to resist building patches with them because they just don't seem to translate to open speakers that well.

The Axe II is the best thing in musical equipment I've ever bought (I'm on my third). It solves so many problems while sounding so good.

And POD-like? Not even close. Those are toys. The Axe II is pro-level all the way.
 
Bark Dark Aardvark Bark said:
1. Is the most current version of the "flagship unit" good with headphones?

2. I tried the "competition" as it were, the Kemper KPA and while it seemed interesting, the latency was a bit of a turn-off.

3. One of the things I've learned seems to be "common knowledge" since I started investigating this machinery was that the people who come on to THIS FORUM and criticize the Fractal machine will be lambasted with insults and profanity
Click to expand...

1. I use mine with IEMs. As always, space is a good thing. Give yourself some ambient reverb and you'll have a good time.

2. KPA latency out of the box was a problem for me too. Not so with the Axe.

3. Criticism is fine so long as it's not whining. If you have a legitimate gripe, Cliff has been known to incorporate a "fix" into a firmware here and there....BUT...be prepared to put up or shut up. I complained about having to work hard to get good sounding delays and wanting a "preset" for good analog and tape sounds. He challenged me to provide my analog and tape presets. I did, and they were in the very next firmware.
 
1. Never used mine with headphones
2. Never detected any latency.
3. Constructive criticism is fine and Fractal respond remarkably quickly to reported bugs and actually fix them.
4. You have to order through g66 if in Europe; they have superb support and will respond to queries very quickly. Not sure what the current wait time is, they may well be available immediately
 
scorch said:
...And POD-like? Not even close. Those are toys. The Axe II is pro-level all the way.
Click to expand...

Plenty of Pro stuff has been recorded on Pods over the years. I'd say this comment is indicative of the Fractal forum's general brand of "touchiness" when it comes to anything that is not a Fractal product.

As for the OP's questions:

1) The headphone output on the Axe FX units is just fine, but playing through headphones is a completely different ballgame, so just because the output is good doesn't mean you'll like what you hear.

2) If the latency bothered you on the Kemper, it will probably bother you on the Axe. It is something the vast majority of people don't notice/adapt to very quickly on both units and any unit out there will have it.

4) The Axe FX XL+ is showing in stock right now. If you order one and it's in stock, it has been my experience that it will ship within a day.

My advice would be to buy one from the Fractal store if you're interested. If you don't like it, send it back within the return period. It's really the only way to know if it will be a fit for you.
-
Austin
 
I have often used a lose comparison to a POD because people know what a POD is. I explain it is like a pod in that it is designed to go direct and model amps ect but that is where the comparison ends. It is a high end modeler. The components are high end, the sound quality is high end and it was a vast feature set. I never noticed any latency. The headphones verb is a must, even if only a very little bit. I use IEM (not through head phone port and have a great experience.

The thing about FAS is it is still a smaller company and Cliff (the owner and master mind) takes an active role in the community. He plays guitar and is not just an engineer. The guy is obsessed with the details and how things work. It is not uncommon for him to have an Epiphany that becomes a beta FW but then while we play with the beta his first Epiphany leads to another Epiphany and he works on it and pushes it through to us. The amount of updates and enhancements I have seen over the last 6 years here have been wild
 
1. It's as good as playing guitar thru headphones can be. Obviously you'll miss things like interaction of the pickups and guitar body with speakers in the same room. While you can use reverb to add space to the sound, playing thru headphones can never be as good as thru a speaker in the same room. Like with everything else, what headphones you use will matter.
2. Axe-Fx II latency is something like 1.3ms or something, in any case very very low. I've never noticed it and I'm generally quite picky about latency (whether it's in audio interfaces, game controllers or displays).
3. I haven't felt that criticism has been crushed but for posts like "My Axe-Fx doesn't sound as I want it to" you'll often get a lot of replies pointing out how you should use the device. But it's perfectly fine to criticise it - personally I feel that it has a rather rubbish hardware user interface (it's literally like a 1980s rack unit) and the Axe-Edit computer software is the only thing that keeps tweaking your sounds reasonably trouble-free. I feel many things in its UI could've been done a lot better. The new AX8 also fails in the UI department in many ways if you ask me. That said, my Axe-Fx 2 sounds absolutely amazing and there is no other device on the market with as good support as Cliff has provided over the years.
 
The Axe is light years ahead of the Pod. It sounds great with headphones but as others have said, adding ambience really helps. As far as complainers go, ones that only have that 1 or 2 posts, who obviously have an axe to grind & no real constructive input will get bashed as they should be since they are just here to stir things up. Legitimate complaints & concerns often get fixed or implemented in new firmware. Fractal is HIGHLY responsive to it's customers. Cliff will naturally chime in when people are posting false information about the Axe as he should. As far as latency, here is a recent quote from Cliff:
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-ii-two-weeks-in.109954/#post-1327939
 
laxu said:
1. It's as good as playing guitar thru headphones can be. Obviously you'll miss things like interaction of the pickups and guitar body with speakers in the same room. While you can use reverb to add space to the sound, playing thru headphones can never be as good as thru a speaker in the same room. Like with everything else, what headphones you use will matter.
2. Axe-Fx II latency is something like 1.3ms or something, in any case very very low. I've never noticed it and I'm generally quite picky about latency (whether it's in audio interfaces, game controllers or displays).
3. I haven't felt that criticism has been crushed but for posts like "My Axe-Fx doesn't sound as I want it to" you'll often get a lot of replies pointing out how you should use the device. But it's perfectly fine to criticise it - personally I feel that it has a rather rubbish hardware user interface (it's literally like a 1980s rack unit) and the Axe-Edit computer software is the only thing that keeps tweaking your sounds reasonably trouble-free. I feel many things in its UI could've been done a lot better. The new AX8 also fails in the UI department in many ways if you ask me. That said, my Axe-Fx 2 sounds absolutely amazing and there is no other device on the market with as good support as Cliff has provided over the years.
Click to expand...


Regards the ui. I like it. I prefer it over axe edit. I've created with the front panel since 2008. It is personal whether you like it or not. Use it or axe edit, whichever you click with
 
paulmapp8306 said:
Regards the ui. I like it. I prefer it over axe edit. I've created with the front panel since 2008. It is personal whether you like it or not. Use it or axe edit, whichever you click with
Click to expand...

I'm the same way. I prefer Axe Edit for some things but the vast majority of editing I do on the front panel.
 
blackmoreguitar said:
1. Never used mine with headphones
2. Never detected any latency.
3. Constructive criticism is fine and Fractal respond remarkably quickly to reported bugs and actually fix them.
4. You have to order through g66 if in Europe; they have superb support and will respond to queries very quickly. Not sure what the current wait time is, they may well be available immediately
Click to expand...
I am in Virginia, USA, so I won't need to contact G66! :)
 
Admin M@ said:
Last time I checked, the latency on the Axe-Fx is lower than that of the competition. In any case, it's not perceptible to most people I present the Axe-Fx to. You should try it!!
Click to expand...
Honestly, if I'm buying a product directly from the company that builds it and they'll take it back if I don't like it, I don't see how I could possibly complain. That's as fair as it could be!
 
Gday BDA,
First, let me say that I got my first axe fx 2 a few years ago, then got a second unit so the studio could record 'drums only' so you could say I'm a fan.

Headphones are great with the unit however they are still headphones :) if you can enjoy headphones you'll love the unit.
As far as latency goes it's never been an issue for me, or others that have used it in my studio. It's never been mentioned at all in fact - not an issue. Having said that, there was some guy made a post in these forums recently saying he perceived some latency so double check just to be sure. I think the actual latency equates to a mic one or two feet from a speaker so he must be very sensitive I would think.
Internet forums are interesting places with all manner of individuals - worse than reality because everyone is behind a screen an some leave their humility entirely. Having said that - my experience with the fractal forums, (and the kemper ones for that matter) have been mostly positive. There are a few members in my twit filter list, but not many. The vast majority here just want to help.

With that out of the way, I have tried many guitar amp modellers over the years, but none have ever come close to the axe fx. When I plug a guitar into it, often I'll just end up playing for hours because it sounds so good. There is nothing as good as this unit imho.

Hope you enjoy it too. And welcome!

Thanks
Pauly

Bark Dark Aardvark Bark said:
Greetings Fractal Forum! I have a few questions about this company, the Axe FX II+ and actually, about this forum itself. I know people get bored fast so I'll get to it.

1. Is the most current version of the "flagship unit" good with headphones? I use a lot of amps (primarily Bogners) in the recording studio I work in (and own . . . be impressed by that so I can bring it up often . . . ha ha) but sometimes, I just wanna practice with a good sound and not have to be in there. Sometimes, it would be nice to be in the house. One person told me that the Axe FX was "nothing more than a more expensive Pod" . . . but I didn't like the Pods much . . . so they got the boot pretty quick.

2. I tried the "competition" as it were, the Kemper KPA and while it seemed interesting, the latency was a bit of a turn-off. Everything comes down to "what you're used to" as a player . . . but since I have no way to try this machine without ordering one, (the locals don't have one) I thought I'd just ask. Do you detect any space between when you play and when you hear it?

3. One of the things I've learned seems to be "common knowledge" since I started investigating this machinery was that the people who come on to THIS FORUM and criticize the Fractal machine will be lambasted with insults and profanity . . . which I didn't see any criticisms to critique, so it made it worth asking. In one instance, it was inferred that the owner of the company even chimed in to hammer on a critical voice . . . which is kinda weird . . . but again . . . is there "no tolerance for criticism" here?

Anyway, I'm gonna continue digging around in case I can see these issues addressed . . . chances are, I'm new so I might not see many responses. I have zero experience with this machine thus far, but I DO know lots about lots of other things so perhaps I can contribute in some other worthwhile way.

Oh . . . here's #4 . . . .

If I ordered an AXE FX II+, how long would I wait to see it get shipped my way? (almost forgot that one!) Thank you, in advance, if anybody decides to humor me on these questions.

-BDAB
Click to expand...
 
Bark Dark Aardvark Bark said:
Honestly, if I'm buying a product directly from the company that builds it and they'll take it back if I don't like it, I don't see how I could possibly complain. That's as fair as it could be!
Click to expand...
I live in north east TN, just a few hundred miles southwest of you. When I ordered a new XL+ in November 5 months ago I had it in my house 4 days later with just normal shipping.
 
Since I brought up the issue of latency, I am wondering that in time, as the software that drives this machine is inevitably improved upon, it seems reasonable that the issue of latency could eventually be virtually a non-issue. Someone mentioned that if you stand a few feet from a tube amp, there's obviously latency as the sound travels from the amp to your ears . . . so 1.3 ms seems microscopic . . . and it will likely be improved upon eventually.
 
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