Tubes in Axe Fx III? (Line 6 DT25 inspired)

I don't think anyone hates line 6 as much as I do :D

but I'm actually digging this.......it actually sounds great....NEVER thought I'd hear myself say that of ANY line 6 product tho :S

I highly suspect the customer service and support sucks just as much as ever tho, so even tho this looks and sounds great, I'd still be giving my hard earned $$$ to fractal, because I prefer have a company I can count on.

Could it be that they realized that they can in no way match the axe and started to go all tube? :D
If they go all tube products like this I might probably even consider getting one to try out tho......
 
Do watch it till the end where they place a HD500 in the mix. It's interesting to see that by switching the preamp selection in the HD500 automatically switches the tube power amp in the DT25 to match. Eg. Class A tube power amp match with AC30 digital preamp. Amazing idea!
 
Yes, it is rather clever....line 6 have always had some REALLY clever ideas, just all their stuff pretty much SUCKED....till this I think :eek:
 
Amazing also when they plug in the pod how it sounds like a cardboard box again :/ Just about every single amp sound they previewed SUCKED except the divided by 13 and park p75 to my ears....that jcm 800 and ac30 sounded so terrible I almost took off the video :/
Some things never change - even thru a tube amp they still sound cold and dead and lifeless....and

DIGITAL :/
 
In my experience, Line 6's customer service has performed better than Fractal Audio's. This is a neat idea, but I can't see any other companies really trying it.
 
Jeez... When they realized they couldn't compete with Cliff's Axe'fx tonewise, they turned to hybrid stuff... And still they suck. I don't hate them, actually their Relay stuff is great.
 
Ya know .I applaud them ...

with the amount of money they have and capital I am sure they could have gone a reverse engineered the Fractal to a point and spent 2 years coming up with something.
In addition they also added tubes and have taken a lot of flack for that ..

They have chosen the full system approach with the amp, the modelling and the guitar modelling ..which certainly was not the easy way out and is a unique idea.

Rich Renken has always been a standup guy ,the players in there demos are getting way better.

I think they have there own thing going own and its cool for them

the vid of the D25 alone sounds really good for the most part ,through and axe 2 in the loop and who knows could be killer
 
I prefer a tubeless solution. That is why I got an Axe-FX in the first place. In short I view the tubes as a source of failure. There is a certain amount of care that needs to be taken and occasionally they have to be replaced. In the 4+ years of having my Axe-FX I never had a microphonic tube, I never needed to replace a tube, I didn't need to turn the Axe-FX on stand-by and let the tubes warm up, and I didn't need to re-bias anything... well actually I can... virtually.

I like that maintenance free concept. Taking it a step further I have been thinking about getting a "real" piano for the house and a new drum set. But then I've started thinking maybe I should just get a real top-notch digital piano because then I don't need someone to come from time to time to tune it. And with the drums... and this is the real killer for me is that I started on that instrument... if I got like a V-Drums kit and used that to trigger Superior Drummer 2 samples then I never have to worry about tuning my kit or changing heads. The only thing that kills me is that plastic slap (I don't know about the V-Drum mesh heads maybe that is different) when playing.

But it comes back to the same thing... repeatable, no-maintenance tones... the Axe-FX delivers that. So from my perspective I hope there aren't any tubes added.
 
No need to discredit Line 6, or any other company doing modeling.
They all do some things well.

I still use Podfarm, and a Pod XT.
I had an HD500 and did not like it.

As for the "digital" claims- Jeff Beck used an original Line 6 POD on some album work.
As he said "I did not hear anyone complaining".

Fractal does more things better than anyone in most people's opinion, me included, but I do like Line 6 gear.

They have been trying different stuff with Bogner for awhile.
Some of it is quite good.
 
I have never been a fan of Line 6 tone replication. The HD series sounded good but this little amp sounds really good and for a (grab and go) at the money they are talking it should be very hard for GC stores to keep it in stock. This coupled with the HD series and Variax makes it a really potent and compact rig... not bad Line 6 I'm officially impressed.
 
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dezng said:
I can't help thinking how nice if the next Axe FX will have matching tube power amp section incorporated into the system.
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I think this was already done when FAS teamed up with Atomic, not so much incorporated into the unit it's self but tubes for the volume side of things. I think Cliffs algos are on par with replicating the power amp sections of all the amps out there. You just need a good FR system to hear the details with out any coloration.
 
Sixstring said:
I have never been a fan of Line 6 tone replication. The HD series sounded good but this little amp sounds really good and for a (grab and go) at the money they are talking it should be very hard for GC stores to keep it in stock. This coupled with the HD series and Variax makes it a really potent and compact rig... not bad Line 6 I'm officially impressed.
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yea, I actually LOVE the concept.....you have any guitar, any preamp, any stomp box, any amp and any cab and any power section to amplify it all. The problem is that except for the power amp, the rest sucks big time. Yes, there are big names who use the pod, and there are unknown artistes who use the axe fx, doesn't mean anything - a good player's PLAYING will sound good with a pod or an axe, but his tone may or may not....I've heard a great player like guthrie play thru a little amp and play AMAZINGLY, but his tone wasn't impressive at ALL. I'd def take my chances with the fractal.

I see this as a really great setup for a person who is new in the business and doesn't really know good tone yet but wants a decent sound and the flexibility.....or someone who's into a lot of experimentation and is on a budget....or someone who plays all different types of styles and has gigs and sessions almost everyday (pretty much story of my life here, but I use an axe :p)

I don't think anyone on this board wants to discredit digital modeling.....after all, we praise the virtues of the axe all the time.....but there's something to be said for quality, and that's where the men and boys of the digital modelers part ways.

I'd like to see atomic come up with something like this.....run in different classes in different modes.....all in a rack-mount solution of course! :p
 
If line 6 wanted to compete in the $2000 modeling marketplace, they could come out with some seriously great stuff. The customer base for this price point is just way too small to fit their business plan.

This is why a small mom&pop operation like Fractal can survive. Fractal indeed has the best modeling device on the market by far, but this is mostly because Line6 is not interested in competing in what really is just a small niche market.

If anyone thinks Line6 could not make an awesome sounding state of the art modeling device,think again. Their years of experience, huge cash flow and ability to hire some of the best minds out there, would make this a rather easy thing for them to do. They just make too much darn money in the $500 modeling market for them to change their business model.

Cliff fills the cutting edge modeling niche market rather well i must say!!(Line6 will probably buy Fractal and Cliff's mind for a bunch of $, and we will then get the AxeFx 3HD for $1200 with no waiting list!!)
 
So, you could use it with an axe fx in the loop, midi connected, use the preamp section of the axe fx (sag to 0) and have patches that change both the power section of the dt50 AND the preamo in the axe fx. Add to that a Tyler Variax...
Hmmm.... That might be interesting...
 
willowdale said:
If line 6 wanted to compete in the $2000 modeling marketplace, they could come out with some seriously great stuff. The customer base for this price point is just way too small to fit their business plan.

This is why a small mom&pop operation like Fractal can survive. Fractal indeed has the best modeling device on the market by far, but this is mostly because Line6 is not interested in competing in what really is just a small niche market.

If anyone thinks Line6 could not make an awesome sounding state of the art modeling device,think again. Their years of experience, huge cash flow and ability to hire some of the best minds out there, would make this a rather easy thing for them to do. They just make too much darn money in the $500 modeling market for them to change their business model.

Cliff fills the cutting edge modeling niche market rather well i must say!!(Line6 will probably buy Fractal and Cliff's mind for a bunch of $, and we will then get the AxeFx 3HD for $1200 with no waiting list!!)
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*****
I 100% agree with this .and I believe there is a mutual respect .Line6 probably knows a lot of what Cliff is doing and COULD duplicate it but they dont want to play at $1800 price points ..they play Like the HD when they can get faster chips at lower prices and sell 1000 hD500 instead of 2 Vettas... Line 6 also runs 5 year product life cycle so they will continue that ..HD apparently is the start of the new products

Willow is right if they really wanted to they could pretty much finish off most of the modelling companys and to believe not is silly .It like mom and pop store VS Walmart
 
All this full tube amp talk is a lie.
The DTs are a HD modelling preamp (with only 4 modells) and a tube power amp section.

To fully use it - effects, store presets - we need the HD500 and the DT amp.

The switchable poweramp section is a nice idea for a tube amp.

And no, we dont need it in the AxeFx since Cliff created a great power amp emulation in the Axe as well.

btw I sold my HD500 after getting the II - I have no need for HD modelling anymore ;)


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willowdale said:
If line 6 wanted to compete in the $2000 modeling marketplace, they could come out with some seriously great stuff. The customer base for this price point is just way too small to fit their business plan.

This is why a small mom&pop operation like Fractal can survive. Fractal indeed has the best modeling device on the market by far, but this is mostly because Line6 is not interested in competing in what really is just a small niche market.

If anyone thinks Line6 could not make an awesome sounding state of the art modeling device,think again. Their years of experience, huge cash flow and ability to hire some of the best minds out there, would make this a rather easy thing for them to do. They just make too much darn money in the $500 modeling market for them to change their business model.
Click to expand...

+1

If you're a strapped for cash kid (or adult) Line6 will get you sorted out with something from their ever increasing stable. Hell, you can buy a ready to roll combo from Line6 for less than the price of the MFC.

Get the Axe, MFC, a couple of expression pedals, a power amp and cab(s) and what have you just spent? Personally I'd be very disappointed if it didn't sound way better than a Line6 combo :)

Line6 did the groundwork on being the first real affordable all in one modelling processor and completely own the lucrative middle market. They provided the inspiration for the high end modelling manufacturers, so we reap the benefit from that by having the Axe.

I know guitarists are expected to be a bit boorish about equipment and 'Tone' - but I suspect most of us started as kids with basic stuff and had a hell of a lot of fun. I'd gladly go back to my first (playable) guitar and the beaten up s/h Peavey Deuce if I could be 17 again ;)
 
Well, I was mostly refering to people who might use an axe fx with a tube p.a. (power amp sims off) and guitar cabs
In that case, the dt might be a better amp for the axe...
 
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