WHAT IS THE BEST HOME SETUP FOR THE FX II

To me, headphones arwnt ideal for the axe fx or any modeller. You need speakers in the room for proper sustain. Plus the bottom end gets too flubby too easy on almost all the amp models with most headphones.

Because pf this Im looking upgrade my headphones to an Alto powered PA wedge or two. The reason im doing this over studio monitors is because of my band and I need a solution for home and practice/shows
 
I mainly run into my PC into Sonar and listen through headphones, but occasionally I run the same set up into studio monitors.
 
Most people have a problem believing studio monitors can reproduce guitar tones. How can that desktop speaker sound as good as my Marshall 4x12? Its not possible!

Not only is it possible, its amazing that a pair of relatively inexpensive FRFR studio nearfield monitors can do a tremendous job reproducing guitar tones. And because of the stereo separation, IMHO they often kick butt on many high end cabs. I have some pretty nice cabs and amps - A Badcat Hotcat 30R head with a 2x12 cabinet that is running 2 Alnico Blue "Scumnico" guitar speakers. I also have a Mesa Roadster with 2 Tone Tubby Reds. Killer speakers, but my studio monitors, JBL LSR4328s with the 4312 Sub just do it up. These are really great speakers. I can play any style, any guitar, any tone thru them and they easily handle it. Just as loud, move just as much air. And they sound better. I know they arent "cheap" but before I had them I had a pair of Mackie HR824s and they were close to as good.

So to the OP, save your money, sell some stuff, have a car wash, bake some cookies... Whatever it takes. Just grab some good studio monitors. They are the best thing you can do.

Joe
 
Yep... A pair of good studio monitors ftw...
My choice was a pair of Yamaha HS80M.
Got rid of my 4x12 and 2x12, got rid of my atomic frfr and went to studio monitors. Never been happier.
 
I tried Yamaha HS50 and Genelec 6010, both small nearfield monitors ... but, sorry, does not feel as a guitar amp at all ... sounds processed (when you play with the backing track, you are part of the mix) ... my opinion: for listener ok, for player unsatisfying

Headphones are (for me) pure catastrophe (AKG K271, AKG K450) ... such a feeling and sound can you buy much cheaper
 
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In my experience you get two sounds out of the Axe-Fx depending on what you use with it: with studio monitors, you get a sound similar to a miced cab. Thru a FRFR cab like the Atomic FR, you get the "amp in a room" tone. I don't really like the "miced cab" sound even though it will be the one that sits perfectly in a mix. But on its own it's not that nice.
 
I use Genelec 8040s - powered monitors with superb clarity across the range, and lots of punch. They are clearly a very well made piece of kit and look the part as well! i would wholly recommend you try FRFR monitors, and this brand in particular.
 
seanthesheep said:
To me, headphones arwnt ideal for the axe fx or any modeller. You need speakers in the room for proper sustain. Plus the bottom end gets too flubby too easy on almost all the amp models with most headphones.

Because pf this Im looking upgrade my headphones to an Alto powered PA wedge or two. The reason im doing this over studio monitors is because of my band and I need a solution for home and practice/shows
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I'm using Shure srh440 and haven't encountered that at all. At 100$ when I purchased them they are probably on the low end of high quality headphones. I imagine if you pick up higher quality it will even sound better but to me it sounds great.
 
Thanks everyone, great feedback as usual from the best ears in the business. Im headin over to a friends house to check out some gear. He has a bunch of real nice hi fi stuff he ditching, I believe he has a couple of sets of monitors and the sub woofs for either a stereo or his tv he does not want. I will check tonight and throw back what the stuff is and see if its worth grabing and setting up. Thank again for all your time and your input. I trust most anyone on this site for if you own an AXE you know what goin on!! Peace!!
 
Near-field studio monitors just don't fill a room with enough sound; get mid-fields. I like the Atomic products
 
sarge said:
I'm using Shure srh440 and haven't encountered that at all. At 100$ when I purchased them they are probably on the low end of high quality headphones. I imagine if you pick up higher quality it will even sound better but to me it sounds great.
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Yep, using Shure SRH940 myself, they work beautifully. None of that muddy/boomy bass that most headsets have, just tight all over :)
 
FrenchFry said:
I've been very happy with Yamaha studio monitors at home studio. Hs50m I think.

RCF 12 monitor for live, but I'll bet my studio monitors would keep up with the band at our jammin volume
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I use the Yamaha HS50Ms in my project studio too. I think they work very well for the money (about $400 for the pair, if I recall). They seem pretty flat which is important. Axe-Fx into the interface, into the DAW (Pro Tools) out to the monitors. Super easy and sounds great!
 
k2sparks said:
HELLO ALL

Im looking for everyones opinions and EXPERIENCE, on which or what is the best way to reproduce what the AXE FX II can deliver. I currenly use AF2 --into--MArshall 9100--into two 4-12's with v-30's and anniversary heritages. I will not be moving around and giging, this is for my home JAMMIN room. Thanks everyone.

Sparky
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I like my set up where I plug the Axe into a mixer where there are other things plugged in (CD trainer, mike, recorder, etc) and then out to studio monitors. I could go out to FRFR if desired also. You can go into cabs if you want and can stand the volume, but one of the real beauties of the Axe for home use IMO is that you can get a wide variety of really great tones at reasonable volumes. It records exceptionally well also.
 
Yeah the HS50m are great for me.
I originally had the HS80's, but they were too big for my new studio setup, so I downsized to the HS50's and added the yamaha hs10 subwoofer.

Great sounding setup, and I bought the monitors + sub as a package from sweetwater for $700. Patches dialed in to the monitors translate very well to my RCF NX12.

There are lots of great options, but for the price, I don't think I could be any happier.
 
seanthesheep said:
To me, headphones arwnt ideal for the axe fx or any modeller. You need speakers in the room for proper sustain. Plus the bottom end gets too flubby too easy on almost all the amp models with most headphones.

Because pf this Im looking upgrade my headphones to an Alto powered PA wedge or two. The reason im doing this over studio monitors is because of my band and I need a solution for home and practice/shows
Click to expand...

That hasn't been my experience with headphones at all, and I use headphones with the Axe nearly exclusively. I get tons of sustain and rarely does the bottom end get flubby with the headphones I've used.

Of course, there are certain tricks that make headphones sound a WHOLE lot better. I always use a good amount of room level in the cab block. Sometimes I'll also use an enhancer or pitch block set to detune a bit. On high gain patches I like to set up a volume block and delay block at the end of my chain panned hard left/right ala the "Petrucci Rhythm" preset. I also tend to use at least a little stereo delay when using headphones. Seems to make it sound less "dry".
 
i have 3 devices for monitoring: for studio work and patch creation: mackie hk824mk2 and dt770 pro headphones. both have their pros and cons. most of the time im using headphones to create the live-patches (best thing is you can do this at night!) and use the studio monitors to check the low end. for studio work i only use my monitors cause thats where im mixing so no problem to dial here the best sound possibly direct out of the box so tweaking in daw is just slightly eq and compressor most of the time.

third device is an old marshall mg250. im just using the fx return for just playing around and getting the amp in the room feel. sometimes thats just the most inspiring thing. pick an amp go to out 2 and you're done ^^ also when other guitarists with less studio experience are over ill show the axe first on the marshall cause it produced the amp in the room feeling they are used to.
 
FrenchFry said:
Yeah the HS50m are great for me.
I originally had the HS80's, but they were too big for my new studio setup, so I downsized to the HS50's and added the yamaha hs10 subwoofer.

Great sounding setup, and I bought the monitors + sub as a package from sweetwater for $700. Patches dialed in to the monitors translate very well to my RCF NX12.

There are lots of great options, but for the price, I don't think I could be any happier.
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Did you feel a lot of low end was missing when you switched from the HS80Ms to the HS50Ms? How much difference do you think the subwoofer makes - considered buying one but haven't yet.
 
I was very happy with the bass response on the hs80's and I was concerned about losing some low end with the 50's, which is why I bought the package with the sub right off the bat.

I haven't spent any time evaluating the 50s to see how they stand up without the sub.
I set the low cut to 100hz on each, dialed in the sub level, and I've been happy. I don't miss the 80's at all.
 
I use my AxeII at home with NHTPro studio monitors with a sub. I plug the II into a Metric Halo ULN-8 with a pair of XLR cables and a 1/4 cable for DI. The DI is for a dry signal for recording. So I typical record with three tracks: stereo effected and dry DI.

My live playing set up is much different, but at home it's for practice and recording.
 
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