The new MATRIX GT800FX. THE amp for THE Axe-Fx

zurdyo said:
This might sound like a banal question, but I've never used the combination pre + power amp and have always been a regular tube amp user.

I'm mostly using the Axe at home, so more often than not, my volumes need to be low. Will I be able to still get the full range of response from this amp?
I'd be using it with a 2x12 VHT flat bottom cabinet loaded with V30's.

Thanks! :)
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If just for home use you may consider just using a pair of active full range monitor speakers and using cab sims. Would work out cheaper and be useful if you start recording etc. If that doesnt float your boat then the Matrix will run fine at lower volume but maybe even the Rocktron offerings would suit or the Sla1 or Sla2. If you plan to start or are playing live then the Matrix would be a good bet. I know PaulMapp plays primarily in the bedroom and has a similar set up speaker wise and is happy enough even with the standard XT.
 
Lightningboy said:
If just for home use you may consider just using a pair of active full range monitor speakers and using cab sims. Would work out cheaper and be useful if you start recording etc. If that doesnt float your boat then the Matrix will run fine at lower volume but maybe even the Rocktron offerings would suit or the Sla1 or Sla2. If you plan to start or are playing live then the Matrix would be a good bet. I know PaulMapp plays primarily in the bedroom and has a similar set up speaker wise and is happy enough even with the standard XT.
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Hey Lightingboy,
thanks for your reply.
I actually already own both the Axe FX and the cabinet. I'm presently only using the Axe FX through my studio monitors, but both for live and practice purposes, I just need a power amp and I'm set. But I'm quite sure the sound of Axe FX + amp + cabinet is better than just Axe + smaller monitors. So I'm considering the possibility of using the live set up for home with lower volumes. In this sense I was wondering if the volume (since the Matrix appears to be quite a loud amp) would be a determining factor for sound quality.
:)
 
Ive used the Art SLA-1 - into the VHT Fatbottom 2x12 V30 cab (though i changed on Vc30 for a g12H). Ive run the VHT 2:50:2 in tot he same setup. I then changed cabs but kept the same speakers - and then added the Matrix XT800. The amp is fine for use with the VHT cab, and fine for low volume. its better than the Art i feel - certainly from a build quality perspective (having been inside both amps).

Im getting the GT amp to try in a couple of weeks. im hopng its an improvement on the XT. It may not be of course (to my ears) but knowing it has some higher quality components in it makes me think that it will be - regardless of any other reason.
 
Fletcher-Munson aside, I'm assuming that an amp of the price and stated quality level of the Matrix series doesn't sound texturally different from one volume level to the next. Anything that sounds good at low volume would sound just as good at higher volume, just louder, and vice versa. If not, then I'm not sure I understand the design goals of a truly "linear" amp.
 
Lightningboy said:
Glad you like it! Thats great news indeed! What's your signal chain? FRFR or traditional cab?
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Well, for now, I'm just using my Mesa Boogie 1x12 cab with (I believe) an EV speaker. Not sure on the speaker. I want to eventually move to FRFR, mainly so that I can have a wedge design that directionally points the sweet-spot tone right at me. Having additional speaker options is nice as well, but the directional aspect of guitar speakers always pisses me off and I wish to remedy this. It is such a huge difference in tone between being near a speaker's range and facing directly in the pathway of the cone's center. That matters to me greatly.

About the Matrix: To be fair, I have only been able to compare it to my Engl Powerball's power section (when I attempt to make the Engl as "flat" as possible). I don't hear a difference, after increasing the power amp modeling on the Axefx. As such, it is entirely possible that a Carvin DCM-1540 or 300 would have been fine for my needs. I'm not sure. In any case, I do like the Matrix very much, and it does blow me away that there are now no tubes in my signal path.

Signal chain: I have one preset that I'm happy with. Noise reduction moderately high for start-stop rhythm playing--> Filter (the high-gain filter trick by Cliff; although I have to be honest, I don't hear any difference with or without it)---> Pitch Detune in parallel (for occasional subtle overdubbing sounds)-----> Amp (Energyball)---> Cabs (off)---> GEQ (set in smiley face; use sparingly and only activate for "And Justice for All" type tone; for over-the-top scooped-mids when I really want to exaggerate it)----> PEQ (BBE Maximizer settings; really brings out the character of a good distortion tone, always on)----> stereo Delay and small room Reverb in parallel (sometimes I want it, sometimes I don't)---> Stereo Enhancer (not used until I can go stereo)

The signal chain is not that crazy compared to most members here. I'm still building and changing it, however. The AxeFx Ultra, when I first got it, almost brought I tear to my eye... I've wanted something this good sounding, simple and elegant in design for many, many years... Cliff Chase, I want to thank you for such a necessary and wonderful product!
 
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thats perfectly true - and should be for most SS amps in a perfect world.

That said, I d actually LIKE to see an amp that starts of perfectly linear at its maximum, but as the volume is reduced, the amp applies an "anti FM EQ curve". Design one sound at any volume and it sounds the same at any volume. :)




zslane said:
Fletcher-Munson aside, I'm assuming that an amp of the price and stated quality level of the Matrix series doesn't sound texturally different from one volume level to the next. Anything that sounds good at low volume would sound just as good at higher volume, just louder, and vice versa. If not, then I'm not sure I understand the design goals of a truly "linear" amp.
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zslane said:
Fletcher-Munson aside, I'm assuming that an amp of the price and stated quality level of the Matrix series doesn't sound texturally different from one volume level to the next. Anything that sounds good at low volume would sound just as good at higher volume, just louder, and vice versa. If not, then I'm not sure I understand the design goals of a truly "linear" amp.
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Assuming you have a honest interest in the Matrix amp maybe it is an idea to meet up with member claxor. He is also living in Los Angeles so you guys can hook up easely. Then you can check it with your own ears. And hearing an amp is always better then explaining.

Have fun
 
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Claxor,

Thanks for the info! Could you post your so beloved patch at the patch sharing part of this website?

Would love to check it out.

Greetings
 
zslane said:
Fletcher-Munson aside, I'm assuming that an amp of the price and stated quality level of the Matrix series doesn't sound texturally different from one volume level to the next. Anything that sounds good at low volume would sound just as good at higher volume, just louder, and vice versa. If not, then I'm not sure I understand the design goals of a truly "linear" amp.
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Thank, szslane, that clarifies some of it regarding lower volumes.
Furthermore, beyond the concept of "sounds just as good at a higher volume", do you think that it would sound "different"?
I mean, the V30's are speakers that, if driven, tend to put their own signature to the sound...
Takes in this sense?
 
zslane said:
Fletcher-Munson aside, I'm assuming that an amp of the price and stated quality level of the Matrix series doesn't sound texturally different from one volume level to the next. Anything that sounds good at low volume would sound just as good at higher volume, just louder, and vice versa. If not, then I'm not sure I understand the design goals of a truly "linear" amp.
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The goals of a perfectly linear amp is just as you stated.
However most of the users contributing in this thread are/or plan on using the Matrix with a regular guitar cab and thus the tone will not be "the same only louder or more quiet" at different volume levels, simply becaurse guitar speakers changes their sound/tone to varying degrees at different volumes and impart their own sonic attributes, on top of that you have the Fletcher-Munson curve to consider.

PaulMapp´s wish for an amp with a anti-FM curve EQ will never happen (even if it is doable) for the above stated reason.
 
DADA said:
Assuming you have a honest interest in the Matrix amp maybe it is an idea to meet up with member claxor. He is also living in Los Angeles so you guys can hook up easely. Then you can check it with your own ears. And hearing an amp is always better then explaining.

Have fun
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I'd be happy to meet with him in L.A. and show him the Matrix. Perhaps he can give me a hand with IR transferring, preset transferring, and saving with Axe-Edit. I should be able to do this, but for the life of me, I can't get them to work!
 
Rocket Brother said:
The goals of a perfectly linear amp is just as you stated.
However most of the users contributing in this thread are/or plan on using the Matrix with a regular guitar cab and thus the tone will not be "the same only louder or more quiet" at different volume levels, simply becaurse guitar speakers changes their sound/tone to varying degrees at different volumes and impart their own sonic attributes, on top of that you have the Fletcher-Munson curve to consider.
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Sure. But the person I was responding to asked specifically about the "response" of the amp. I figured this was a separate consideration from how a chosen speaker would further color the sound.
 
Hey,

I would like to use a clean solid state power amp with the Axe-Fx. My goal is to bypass just the cabinet emulation, NOT power amp emulation.

Then, I would like to record the Axe-Fx through some real cabinets. I have a good sounding room and some decent mics (e.g. SM57, R-121).

Is it possible to use the GT800FX with any of the following cabinets (one at a time, of course)!?

Vox 2x12" (Celestion - Alnico Blue) Celestion | Guitar Loudspeakers
Fender 2x12" (Celestion - Vintage 30) Celestion | Guitar Loudspeakers
Marshall 4x12" (Celestion - G12-H30) Celestion | Guitar Loudspeakers

Thank you in advance.

Best regards, Kwinn from Germany
 
yek said:
No reviews from owners of the FX yet?
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Nope. Give yourself another week. They are now building them and in the next days shipping them

I will have the GT800FX over 2,5 weeks when I am back from Bonaire :D

Regards
 
DADA said:
Nope. Give yourself another week. They are now building them and in the next days shipping them

I will have the GT800FX over 2,5 weeks when I am back from Bonaire :D

Regards
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Sorry for the hijack but what a small world. The other guitar player in my band is visiting his dad in Bonaire this week.
 
Will there be any possibility of getting the "GT" treatment to some of the other higher watt models? Actually I already use speakon jacks so I guess the only alteration I would need is the input sensativity modification unless I overlooked some other difference.
 
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Velociryan said:
Sorry for the hijack but what a small world. The other guitar player in my band is visiting his dad in Bonaire this week.
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So two owners here on this little tropic island in the carabien. :mrgreen

I did not brought my Axie with me by the way. But the dives compansate that very well

Greetings
 
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