this is new info to us. you mentioned tone match, but didn't mention that it was satisfactory. now i can suggest something, but i couldn't until now.
we're trying to help you. words alone are difficult to communicate descriptions of sounds, and we don't know all that you know as far as what you've tried, liked, disliked, etc.
we'll need to continue getting info from you by making statements and asking questions so we can help more.
if a tone match is what gets you to the sound you want, then we only now know that you do get a satisfactory result from the Axe-Fx.
the tone match could be pulling out low and high end from the signal that makes it sound more "real" to you.
many Axe2 users use the Low and High cut controls in the Cab block to adjust the sound. i did it on all my sounds. don't let the numbers restrict you either. at times i'd put the low cut all the way up to 300Hz, maybe more, and the high cut down to 1000Hz. this was just sometimes, but it wasn't rare. let your ear guide you, but i'm just saying don't think "oh i shouldn't have to go above 125 Hz" etc. this is a digital modeler and we can use whatever gives us the result we need.
start with that and let us know how that works. IRs were shot differently back then. more recent IR capture techniques are yielding better "more real" results. many would say that on the Axe2 with most full-range setups, you'd need to do the low and high cuts in the Cab block.
Ok so this is an update to my previous reply to this message.
I've looked into more videos that showcase stock presets or patches with default amp/cab settings.
I found a few good videos, each with a different firmware, varying from v15 non-quantum, to quantum 5.
Even FW15 sounded miles ahead of the sound I got, playing the exact same stock preset.
It's like they're playing an Axe Fx and I'm playing a POD.
This makes me think something is wrong with my unit?
But then again, what can be wrong with a digital processor?
I've installed almost every firmware version from Quantum 2 to Ares 2, and reset the settings, reloaded the factory presets, there was no noticable change in sound.
I even tried to re-amp a DI track that a preset store once sent me, still the same sound.
I'm still trying to test some things to maybe find out what's wrong.
I can objectively state as a matter of unquestionable fact with pure authority that the following statement is untrue:
The reason I can state this is that I was present while many of those IRs were captured, and each capture sounded exactly like the mic'd amp it represents. I suspect that what you were trying to say is that they don't sound how YOU mic an amp, which is something I can't contest. The following video speaks to my position:
Obviously the sounds in this video have none of the issues I mentioned in my post!
This video further makes me think something is wrong with my unit, but I still don't know if that's even possible.