So far completely unimpressed.

You're never going to find the sounds your after in the AxeII,so just pack it in and sell it.........to me!:)
 
HOLD THE FORT!!! Just modeled my V30 warhead cab and it's a whole new world new. What an amazing feature and it made my tone about a 100 times better. I wish I wouldn't have sold my Vader cab last week. I used to run them both together and it was huge sounding. Now I have to track the kid down that bought it and go model it. I wanted to edit the title of my post to say things are on the right track but it wouldn't let me edit the title. The IR modeling is the goods.
 
schlagdog said:
HOLD THE FORT!!! Just modeled my V30 warhead cab and it's a whole new world new. What an amazing feature and it made my tone about a 100 times better. I wish I wouldn't have sold my Vader cab last week. I used to run them both together and it was huge sounding. Now I have to track the kid down that bought it and go model it. I wanted to edit the title of my post to say things are on the right track but it wouldn't let me edit the title. The IR modeling is the goods.
Click to expand...

Wow -that's a pretty cool outcome!
 
schlagdog said:
HOLD THE FORT!!! Just modeled my V30 warhead cab and it's a whole new world new. What an amazing feature and it made my tone about a 100 times better. I wish I wouldn't have sold my Vader cab last week. I used to run them both together and it was huge sounding. Now I have to track the kid down that bought it and go model it. I wanted to edit the title of my post to say things are on the right track but it wouldn't let me edit the title. The IR modeling is the goods.
Click to expand...

That makes me suspect "you were not hearing what your used to , to some extent anyway. You really need to run thru the presets. Use your Cab for them-you may be very surprised. I'm not saying they won't need tweaking for you to get a liking to them-But I always see the presets getting written off way too quickly.
 
When I switched from an X3 Live to the Ultra I instinctively tried to make the Ultra sound like the X3 cause that was the sound in my head (I know, I know, how stupid). Over the course of a year and a half the "sound in my head" has changed. Now when I go back the X3 - yuck! That's my experience. YMMV.
 
Schlagdog,

I can undersand what you are going through, I had a hard time in the very beginning with the two until I got it setup correctly. One thing that got me over the hump was getting one of the ownhammer IR sets running with that for a little while. It took the whole cabinet block out of the equation and allowed me to focus on everything else. After that, it seemed to make a lot more sense. I am glad to hear that things are getting better for you. It's not like a POD at all and it is more difficult but, once you get use to it, you wont turn back.

Best of luck,

-Nate
 
"Do you hear what I hear?"

jjozwia said:
Have to say was in the same boat when I started using Fractal at the beginning of the year, so many settings compared to anything I had ever touched but this is my story on it… Used POD XT Live for years plugging directly into the PC and being lazy basically downloaded the vast majority of the tones I used. Got the Ultra… very noticeable improvement for bedroom playing direct to PC but then started getting more serious and wanting to play out again so hooked up to the gear I had… a non-recommended class D amp and Gemini 15" speakers. Ultra was so/so in this setup, used it anyhow since it was way smaller/lighter than lugging around my Traynor head, pedals, and Marshall 4x12 cabs had used in the distant past plus I didn't have a vehicle large enough for that stuff so didn't have much choice. Picked up the FXII when it came out and went whoa… it doesn't sound much better than the Ultra at volume how can that be? Even tried my Marshall cabs with cab sims on/off… my Traynor head is a '75 so 4C wasn't a setup could try, just wasn't happy. Few days later cleaning out the garage found my old ADA Microtube 100 from back in the day and swapped out the non-recommended class D amp had been using. Ran through the presets and WOW, FX2 had seriously grown instant balls, even with the Gemini speakers… then took a few of my favorites from that to keep it simple (like 284 Recto Lead) and started tweaking based off the FXII manual and the wiki which are a wealth of expertise. Finally was becoming a happy camper and starting to get the feel of the settings however if I could move my old gear around probably would have used it at that point. Few weeks after that was goofing around and tossed the wireless on, the instant I wasn't right on top of the speakers my eyes lit up and holy crap! Wife couldn't figure out why I was jumping around like a kid on Xmas morning but everything finally clicked, at that point I was pursuing a sounds for the most part had already had found and didn't realize it being right on top of the speakers. Haven't looked back since, we use the FXII/Ultra for both guitars these days and finally understand the people dumping their old gear… while the old gear has good memories and years of enjoyment honestly can't image ever using/lugging that stuff around ever again.
Click to expand...

jjozwia,

When you say that you were: "on top of the speakers" do you mean that you were: "standing too close to your speakers" whilst monitoring/tweaking? I'm just trying to make sense of what you said...I mean, if you were in fact standing too close to your speakers whilst evaluating, you probably would've been misinterpreting your low-end for sure (thinking there wasn't enough "oomph") as well as treble (too "piercing" with your "ears next to your cab!) When you stand back, you probably heard a bigger and rounder low-end, as well as the treble (by virtue of breathing a bit and NOT pummeling your eardrums - LOL!) sounding "sweeter!" The midrange content (although super-important) IMO, doesn't change too much whether you are standing close or far away from your speakers, but for the lows (which for guitar-response is really "low-mids") and highs, (which for guitar-response is really "high-mids") your ears' proximity to your monitoring-speakers is VERY important!

When I'm creating "live-patches," I try to use the exact setup that I'm planning to use live! I know that might seem obvious, but it always surprises me to see/hear stories in these forums about people who use one setup (I.E: headphones or tiny computer-speakers!) to create there patches, and then they'll complain when they drag-out there: Axe-FX-->FX-Return/Output Power-Amp of Mesa Triple-Rectifier-->Mesa 4x12 Celestion V30's onstage and realize that it sounds totally different (and worse somehow?!?) Really? OF COURSE IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT!!! That (example) live-setup had NOTHING to do with the monitoring-system they used whilst patch-editing/creating!!! Now I'm not saying that you made that monitoring mistake, and I know that ultimately, you (like I am) are happy with your Axe-FX. I'm just saying that some users make these blatant mistakes that are usually avoidable! It seems like your persistence and willingness to try a few different setups paid-off for you as you eventually got the results you were seeking (which is great!)

Just my 2-pennies...

Bill
 
schlagdog, Try stripping back your presets down to amp & cab with default settings. Assume Cliff knows what he's doing and you need to get to know the sound of the Axe, if it's not sounding right for your cans/monitors - adjust the eq and Lo & Hi Pass Filters and see if you can get the defaults for amp/cab working for you.

Now experiment just a little with some of the amp block parameters (tube hardness, Triode Plate Freq, Hi Cut and Low Cut) this will really help tune the model. Then audition some different cab sims - go with what you know if you like Greenbacks, use the Greenback IR's.

I've found if something isn't sounding right, it's probably my setup - so I go back to the defaults for Amp/Cab and work from there. The basic default values on the amp block are pretty spot on, for me it's just little tweaks in the advanced features. Once you find the tweaks that work for you, these will likely transfer these to other patches.
 
nateb said:
Schlagdog,

I can undersand what you are going through, I had a hard time in the very beginning with the two until I got it setup correctly. One thing that got me over the hump was getting one of the ownhammer IR sets running with that for a little while. It took the whole cabinet block out of the equation and allowed me to focus on everything else. After that, it seemed to make a lot more sense. I am glad to hear that things are getting better for you. It's not like a POD at all and it is more difficult but, once you get use to it, you wont turn back.

Best of luck,

-Nate
Click to expand...


I have a whole set of the OWNHAMMERs and for some reason they won't load. All the redwirez seem to work perfect but the ownhammers won't go. I have all the new axefx2 ones also but there is a problem with them. I'm actually having the best time modeling my speaker cab. I have a triple rec, peavey xxx, and a randall rm100 I am using as the poweramp to model the same randall warhead cab with vintage 30's and each cab model sounds totally different. It's really pretty awesome getting some slight characteristics of each amps power section along with the speaker. They all sound better than all the speaker models I have tried already. Like another poster said I may just be used to the sound of each though.
 
jjozwia said:
Have to say was in the same boat when I started using Fractal at the beginning of the year, so many settings compared to anything I had ever touched but this is my story on it… Used POD XT Live for years plugging directly into the PC and being lazy basically downloaded the vast majority of the tones I used. Got the Ultra… very noticeable improvement for bedroom playing direct to PC but then started getting more serious and wanting to play out again so hooked up to the gear I had… a non-recommended class D amp and Gemini 15" speakers. Ultra was so/so in this setup, used it anyhow since it was way smaller/lighter than lugging around my Traynor head, pedals, and Marshall 4x12 cabs had used in the distant past plus I didn't have a vehicle large enough for that stuff so didn't have much choice. Picked up the FXII when it came out and went whoa… it doesn't sound much better than the Ultra at volume how can that be? Even tried my Marshall cabs with cab sims on/off… my Traynor head is a '75 so 4C wasn't a setup could try, just wasn't happy. Few days later cleaning out the garage found my old ADA Microtube 100 from back in the day and swapped out the non-recommended class D amp had been using. Ran through the presets and WOW, FX2 had seriously grown instant balls, even with the Gemini speakers… then took a few of my favorites from that to keep it simple (like 284 Recto Lead) and started tweaking based off the FXII manual and the wiki which are a wealth of expertise. Finally was becoming a happy camper and starting to get the feel of the settings however if I could move my old gear around probably would have used it at that point. Few weeks after that was goofing around and tossed the wireless on, the instant I wasn't right on top of the speakers my eyes lit up and holy crap! Wife couldn't figure out why I was jumping around like a kid on Xmas morning but everything finally clicked, at that point I was pursuing a sounds for the most part had already had found and didn't realize it being right on top of the speakers. Haven't looked back since, we use the FXII/Ultra for both guitars these days and finally understand the people dumping their old gear… while the old gear has good memories and years of enjoyment honestly can't image ever using/lugging that stuff around ever again.
Click to expand...

Jjozwia, so you found that by playing through the pre-amp tubes of the ADA microtube, leaving your amp sims on, that your sound grew balls? Would this be from the actual preamp tubes in that microtube? Or what else would be causing it? I'm thinking of buying a cheap power amp to try one day, to see what it does, but I'm confused since there doesn't seem to be a consensus here. Most people seem to prefer the solid state amplification, and others like the leaving the preamp on with the sims, and others like using tube amps with them, others turn the sims off, and so on.

I had a little tube preamp, but after a while I found it was so infrequently of benefit to the sound, that I stopped using it, so I just run through monitors... Is the ADA microtube in anyone elses rig, or do a lot of you use tube preamps and leave your power amp sims on? Curiously, I gather the ADA microtube was originally supposed to be used together with the MP-1, that also has preamp tubes. (I had an MP-1 that I had run into a Boogie 295 power amp. I guess there were preamp tubes in that though as well - sorry, I'm really a novice at this). So is the preamp section radically altering the sound? Anyone have recommendations as to whether to play through tubes, and what to expect?
 
A preamp tube in the ADA is more of a marketing ploy .They may be using it to add a little warmth or to boost the signal but the main part of that amp is a mosfet power section.. if you were going tube something like a Atomic .or carvin Ts100 is going to give more of the tube compression and vibe ..my 2cents
 
IR's

schlagdog said:
I have a whole set of the OWNHAMMERs and for some reason they won't load. All the redwirez seem to work perfect but the ownhammers won't go. I have all the new axefx2 ones also but there is a problem with them. I'm actually having the best time modeling my speaker cab. I have a triple rec, peavey xxx, and a randall rm100 I am using as the poweramp to model the same randall warhead cab with vintage 30's and each cab model sounds totally different. It's really pretty awesome getting some slight characteristics of each amps power section along with the speaker. They all sound better than all the speaker models I have tried already. Like another poster said I may just be used to the sound of each though.
Click to expand...


Hey if you would I would love to try out your IR's could you post them?
 
Porkchop Xpress said:
Anyone not impressed by the Axe-Fx is doing it wrong.
Click to expand...
Or maybe they simply can't tell the difference ?? I read thru this entire thread before posting and my first impression of the OP and subsequent posts was "needs help". My second was that anyone who compares any Axe-Fx model to POD FARM (or Revalver) is simply NOT using their ears, or doesn't know how to . Those products are simply not comparable.

Yes, the Axe is a really deep complex device with loads of flexibility, but it doesn't have to be. Pick an amp. Pick a Cab. Get it sounding the way you like it using the basic controls.. just like you would with a real amp. Until you know what you are doing (and that may be quite some time) STAY AWAY from the advanced controls. The Axe is not a toy! Then add in effects once you have something usable. I'd say there's a better than even chance that you will not be able to instantly dial in the sound of your old rig. That takes practice, time and experience.

I recommend that you read, read, read. Read the User Manual, read the Wiki, then ask questions on the forum. Plenty of people willing to help. Having a low post count on any forum and stating that the device basically sucks does not win friends and influence people in a positive manner. Reserve the frustration for elsewhere.Try asking the right questions.

And...As far a 10 times the price .. the effects in this box are worth the price alone.
<my $0.02>
 
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jesussaddle said:
Jjozwia, so you found that by playing through the pre-amp tubes of the ADA microtube, leaving your amp sims on, that your sound grew balls? Would this be from the actual preamp tubes in that microtube? Or what else would be causing it? I'm thinking of buying a cheap power amp to try one day, to see what it does, but I'm confused since there doesn't seem to be a consensus here. Most people seem to prefer the solid state amplification, and others like the leaving the preamp on with the sims, and others like using tube amps with them, others turn the sims off, and so on.

I had a little tube preamp, but after a while I found it was so infrequently of benefit to the sound, that I stopped using it, so I just run through monitors... Is the ADA microtube in anyone elses rig, or do a lot of you use tube preamps and leave your power amp sims on? Curiously, I gather the ADA microtube was originally supposed to be used together with the MP-1, that also has preamp tubes. (I had an MP-1 that I had run into a Boogie 295 power amp. I guess there were preamp tubes in that though as well - sorry, I'm really a novice at this). So is the preamp section radically altering the sound? Anyone have recommendations as to whether to play through tubes, and what to expect?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusion! Guess in short I could have just said my off-brand class d solid state poweramp blew donkeys (bad cheap gear). The ADA Microtube 200 is just a stereo poweramp so tonality is coming from the AXEFX (amp/cabs on). The chain is AXEFX->Mixer->ADA->PA Speakers. Does the ADA color the tone… sure but it's pretty minor. When it eventually dies I'll swap it out with a Matrix since that seems to be the popular choice for light 1U but very happy till that time comes. Over the weekend heard another new tone I had never heard coming from the setup too. Friend picked up some cheapo Ibanez GTO or the sorts from the pawn shop… previous owner had replaced the pups with active EMGs… tossed the AXEFX on "Thor's Hammer…" and damn, it was that mean modern metal/metalocalypse type tone to a tee. Before then had only heard that type of tone on youtube and never experienced it on the gear myself. Very different tonality compared against the Parker Fly Mojo I play on as one would expect lol.
 
schlagdog said:
So far I'm leaning on selling the unit. It's far too complicated to set up and really doesn't sound much better than POD FARM or Peavey revalver yet cost almost 10 times as much. I'm going to spend the week with it still though and see if I start to enjoy it more. Maybe I will find the magic in it. I still can't figure out how to use my Redwirez IR's with it yet either.
Click to expand...

I have the latest Revalver and it never sounded nearly as good as even my Ultra. There's really no comparison to the Axe2.
If you've removed all the effects and played around with just amp and cab combinations and don't think this thing sounds great then I would question either your ears or your listening eviornment. If you have a power amp and cab, play the Axe through that chain so it's coming from the same cab you're used to and turn off the power amp and cab sims in the Axe.
I've recorded this thing direct and through a tube amp and cab with mics etc and I DO like it slightly better going the old school route, but it sounds damn good direct too so I'm not sure what your issue is that's turning you off to it.
I would recommend you trust the masses on this one and give yourself a few months before making a decision. If you really think it sounds about the same as Pod Farm then something is very wrong.

good luck,
Steve
 
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