Studio Recording...anyone still w/ mics on cabs and tube heads but still own an Axe?

I've started mic'ing my cab (2x12 blue alnico) in dual mono with a Shure KSM313 ribbon mic on one side and an MD421 on the other. My "amp" is an AFII > Matrix GT. I prefer that instead if going DI to FOH 1.). I like the FOH sound better. 2.). It's not too loud. 3.). I have a little more control when going in to unknown mixing consoles / preamps some of which really colored the DI sound.

Check back next month.... :)

It never ends.
 
I own all digital devices, that are perfect guitar tones (AxeFX/Kemper) - but I still use real amps in studios all the time.... why? well there is still a LOT more you can do with real world amps that you cant do so well with digital boxes... like mic the hell out the room. blend 4 mics with a full chain of different equipment, be different by trying things you cant do in the digital world basically.

For smaller budget recordings then the digital devices always are used period!, as time is money..

To me, there is no difference between Kemper/Axefx and a real amp when miced up direct.sound quality is never the issue here, just limitations..as I said, I'd only use real amps if we want crazy. or totally ambient, oldschool and something just bespoke!. (or if the client doesn't have belief in digital, not all are converted yet)

Amps will never be obsolete, at the end of the day, Digital boxes "that sound like" will never be better than what they are trying to re-create..

I use all my gear all the time. else whats the point in owning them.. right? :)
 
TheAmpFactory said:
I own all digital devices, that are perfect guitar tones (AxeFX/Kemper) - but I still use real amps in studios all the time.... why? well there is still a LOT more you can do with real world amps that you cant do so well with digital boxes... like mic the hell out the room. blend 4 mics with a full chain of different equipment, be different by trying things you cant do in the digital world basically.

For smaller budget recordings then the digital devices always are used period!, as time is money..

To me, there is no difference between Kemper/Axefx and a real amp when miced up direct.sound quality is never the issue here, just limitations..as I said, I'd only use real amps if we want crazy. or totally ambient, oldschool and something just bespoke!. (or if the client doesn't have belief in digital, not all are converted yet)

Amps will never be obsolete, at the end of the day, Digital boxes "that sound like" will never be better than what they are trying to re-create..

I use all my gear all the time. else whats the point in owning them.. right? :)
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I like to just add... it's nice to have lot's of options for your canvas. Especially when experimenting in the studio. I'll use my Pig-nose amp if it will give me what I need. Why not?

Besides, finding some of those sounds will only enhance modeling, as they are translated to IR's.
 
Yep. I get a little more "life" in the sound from miking a cabinet, and I'm not sure why. I've convinced myself it's not a placebo, though. The last time I made a rigorous comparison was pre-Ultrares, though, and I've noticed in contexts outside the studio that Ultrares IRs feel and sound better to me, so it might be a different world these days.

I also like to be able to move a microphone an inch to the left and get what I want out of it, rather than dicking around with a bunch of IR files, but that's more of a workflow preference thing.

I should note that I have great preamps, microphones, converters, amps, cabinets, and space to record in at whatever volume I want. If any one of those weren't true, the Axe-FX would win hands-down.
 
I was just down at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, John and Martina McBride's place. (My son was attending a recording school.). I got to tour the various rooms and do a couple of listening sessions with the staff - a surround mix of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a couple of songs my son worked on with Martina singing! This is a $30 million facility. They can have any piece of recording gear they want, and do. We were talking gear and I was telling John McBride I used the Axe FX. He was mildly interested. That's not to knock the Axe - the Axe rules as a digital modeler but, I doubt that modeling will ever be "better" than a tried and true analog signal chain being driven by a decent engineer in a studio. For my purposes, quick, convenient and consistent trump the difference in tone. But, I don't have a $1,000,000 mic locker and a slew of interns either. ;-)

If you're interested in the recording school, it's called Blackbird Academy.
 
I still record with all my studio amps and mic's. Between tours, the Axe spends most of its time left in its flight case in the corner of my live room.
I have some nice amps and cabs and I like the way they sound.
 
AndyOrr said:
... I doubt that modeling will ever be "better" than a tried and true analog signal chain being driven by a decent engineer in a studio. For my purposes, quick, convenient and consistent trump the difference in tone. But, I don't have a $1,000,000 mic locker and a slew of interns either.
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I sort of agree with this...at least for the time being.

I initially purchased the Ultra but did sell it after a few months and stuck with my analog rig...but bought the XL last month and have slowly started to sell off my gear...Although I had great analog tone, it was very limited.

At this point, I think I have made the right decision for me...even without any further firmware updates...although I know where will be more coming.
 
For me it's a vibe thing. I play quite differently when plugged into an amp and a 4x12 than I do when plugged into a digital box and two 6" monitors. I can fly by the seat of my pants easier with the big rig, I can crank the amp and get it loud, and this creates a totally different experience. I come up with stuff I never would've written in a quiet bedroom small-rig situation.

I split my writing between sitting down with headphones on, or using my monitors... using the Axe, or Amplitube or whatever bit of software I've got. The other times is when we are rehearsing in the practice room or jamming, I do a chunk of writing there and record the good bits and take it back for further refinement. It's a loooong process.

These digital bits of kit really are timesaving devices. They sound good enough for putting together moodboards, but I don't think I would ever release a track that wasn't recorded with a real amp. Actually slight porky pie there... our first album has Amplitube 2 in sections for some clean parts. No-one ever spotted it.
 
I doubt I will be selling my main studio amps anytime. Reason being the way updates can change the sound of the axefx every time there is a new firmware.
It would be pointless to tone match something that would change in the next firmware. Still not upgraded from the original firmware that came with the XL. There is always something else broken that will be fixed in the next update so rolling back firmware is no good until they stop adding new stuff and just fix any instabilities.
It worries me that the sound of a preset can change once updated. Makes any fx library pointless as they only sound right with the firmware they were made with.
I think the next edition of the Axe needs a different approach. No other digital device I own changes the preset sounds when you upgrade a firmware.
When I turn my vintage Marshall's, Mesa's mk3's, Soldano SLO100 etc on, they sound the same every time. That is the whole idea of having them.
 
I use my real amps still, every chance I get. Which is often.

The Axe 2 is my live DI solution and it's the best one I've had, I think.


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I think the changing commercial landscape is going to make the huge studio with millions of dollars worth of cool gear, and bands able to hole up in a studio for 8 months just experimenting on the labels dime, things of the past.

People are going to have to work increasingly smarter/faster, often over distances. ITB (in the box) recording/mixing and units like the Axe can give pretty darn good results these days. This isn't to say they are better, but its sure most time/cost effective to go through a bunch of IR's than to spend 2 days of studio/engineer time trying different cab and mic combos.
 
lqdsnddist said:
I think the changing commercial landscape is going to make the huge studio with millions of dollars worth of cool gear, and bands able to hole up in a studio for 8 months just experimenting on the labels dime, things of the past.

People are going to have to work increasingly smarter/faster, often over distances. ITB (in the box) recording/mixing and units like the Axe can give pretty darn good results these days. This isn't to say they are better, but its sure most time/cost effective to go through a bunch of IR's than to spend 2 days of studio/engineer time trying different cab and mic combos.
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My studio didn't cost millions. Neither did my amp collection but I do agree with what you are saying.
The days are gone where you spend £150,000 in a studio doing you album. We all do it in our own studios now and have since the mid 90's. Nearly all my fellow professional musician mates have home studios. I have an identical recording signal chain as I had in the old days when using big commercial studios and it's great to be able to just spend the time recording when I want and not looking at the clock.
I am going to spend more and more time trying to get the sounds I want out of the axe. It is much more convenient but, when I already have my favourite amps set up permanently, it's just as quick to turn them on, put the mic' where I last had it and do it that way.
The drawback as I found yesterday is that real speakers can blow. Looks like two blackback speakers have given up in one of my Marshall 4x12's mid recording. That does not happen with the axe :)
After it happened, I pulled the axe from its case and started to create the sound I had. To get at that broken 4x12, I have to move 4 amp heads and another 3 Marshall 4x12's just to get the back off and have a look. Just not in the mood for doing that haha.
So, this week in the studio, to get that rhythm sound, I will be using the axe :)
 
I recently spent 2 weeks in a lovely studio recording/playing on an album. I borrowed/hired 10 different amps, and spend a couple of hours at the end of each day just playing and experimenting with raw tones within the live room.

There is something just about the simplicity of plugging a guitar straight into an amp and letting it push air around the room.

I love my Axe FX II for it's convenience - I still used 4CM into the amps to run it's FX as well as capturing a dry signal digitally.

Having the budget and time to use real amps with a good room, good mics and pre's though - it's pretty inspiring.
 
TheAmpFactory said:
I own all digital devices, that are perfect guitar tones (AxeFX/Kemper) - but I still use real amps in studios all the time.... why? well there is still a LOT more you can do with real world amps that you cant do so well with digital boxes... like mic the hell out the room. blend 4 mics with a full chain of different equipment, be different by trying things you cant do in the digital world basically.

For smaller budget recordings then the digital devices always are used period!, as time is money..

To me, there is no difference between Kemper/Axefx and a real amp when miced up direct.sound quality is never the issue here, just limitations..as I said, I'd only use real amps if we want crazy. or totally ambient, oldschool and something just bespoke!. (or if the client doesn't have belief in digital, not all are converted yet)

Amps will never be obsolete, at the end of the day, Digital boxes "that sound like" will never be better than what they are trying to re-create..

I use all my gear all the time. else whats the point in owning them.. right? :)
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, and agree with the exception that sometimes in capable hands the Axe (IMO anyway) can better the real world counterpart as we have access to deep and advanced parameters inside the amps in the Axe and using them I have been able to dial some things in or out of the sound in a way that would never be possible with the real amp.
On the other hand, if the sound you want is a straight up cranked plexi and you have the amp, the room, the gear/recording chain and just as important the knowhow / skills for micing and recording then I agree that the Axe will not better the real amp - but often it will equal the real amp with a faster workflow.
I use both the Axe and a few real amps when I record, and with the exception of 2 amps my amps are not modeled in the Axe Fx and they are really special so instead of approaching their sound by modifying an "somewhat similar" amp in the Axe, I record these amps in the old fashioned way and love it.
I love having both options available to me.

lqdsnddist said:
I think the changing commercial landscape is going to make the huge studio with millions of dollars worth of cool gear, and bands able to hole up in a studio for 8 months just experimenting on the labels dime, things of the past.

People are going to have to work increasingly smarter/faster, often over distances. ITB (in the box) recording/mixing and units like the Axe can give pretty darn good results these days. This isn't to say they are better, but its sure most time/cost effective to go through a bunch of IR's than to spend 2 days of studio/engineer time trying different cab and mic combos.
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I totally agree with the above.
I have a couple of amps that are modeled in the Axe and often use the Axe model of those when recording as it's often much faster, I can reamp to my hearts content and I can do it semi quietly or even silently with cans in the evening or at night in my appartment and check the results in the studio at volume the next day and if needed reamp in the Axe.
That has meant that even when I'm are pushing hard in the studio, I can go home and eat with my family and then push on at home when my son is tucked in.
 
I still love to plug into my amps- especially my vintage combo amps. There's something special about how an open back cab placed well in a descent size room reacts and sounds to me. But I can get extremely satisfying results using the Axe into a pair of CLRs as well. I haven't done any recording in a few years but I've never been big on sitting in front of studio monitors or playing through headphones. I much prefer playing in a descent size room (like the den in my house) with some volume... less sterile or controlled.
 
I still record with my amps(I have 7 of them), I solved the problem of having to switch cabinets by installing 4 different 12" on one of my Marshall's and miking each speaker with a 57 and a Royer 121 which I can switch via my patch bay. This saves a lot of time! I've tried recording the Axe Fx 2 through a tube power amp through a 4 x 12 cab and to my ears it sounds better than the IR's, but I still like the feel of a real amp so I'm never selling them! But for live playing, I'll always use the Axe Fx 2 because it sounds great without bringing a frig to a gig, but I still use a power amp with a 2 x 12 or 4 x 12 depending on the gig. Since FW 15, the Axe FX sounds better than ever!
 
geepee said:
I don't see it but anyone?
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Absolutely, you see, a client comes in and sees this beautiful studio, great recording rooms, great console, kick ass preamps, compressors etc. That client does not want to hear you say, i have a digital unit that is better then micing real amps... that client wants to turn his amp as loud as he can and be captured by a professional.

Just a few guys in my country know about the Axe FX and even if they hear it and play it they will record the guitars in the traditional way, its part of the experience and what they are paying for!!!
 
eljodon said:
I solved the problem of having to switch cabinets by installing 4 different 12" on one of my Marshall's and miking each speaker with a 57 and a Royer 121 which I can switch via my patch bay.
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I solved the same problem by having eight Marshall 4x12's connected to eight of my favourite heads :)
 
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