Wow! It really does sound better...

Rane

Experienced
I honestly didn't expect to immediately notice a difference in tone. I've had an Axe II since 2011 and the modeling has made great improvements since then, but I bought the III based on the I/O, and UI improvements; I didn't really think the modeling improvements would be all that noticeable.

It could just be placebo (I no longer have my II, or any tube amp to compare), but man does this thing sound and "feel" good. With the II, I often found myself trying to dial in the dynamic characteristics that my tube amps had, but with the III, it's just there.

Has anyone else noticed improved dynamics compared to the II, or is my brain playing tricks on me?
 
I noticed also. The first amp I ever had was a univox in the 70's. It was tube with a single 12" jenson speaker. It wasn't very loud but when it was cranked all the way up I could get a pretty nice distortion break up controlled by how hard I played. I made a deluxe reverb patch and set it to the edge of break up.
It was exactly the same feel as the old univox - I could play hard and have distortion and back off and be around the edge of break up. The dynamics are spot imo.

I definitely notice an improvement. Play with the levels of gain and master on the mv amps also. Maybe it's just more usable range but I believe there's a big difference there too. :)
 
To me it it’s more noticeable when I’m playing. How it reacts. Which then feeds back into how I play. There is something else there now that wasn’t before. It’s subtle but noticeable. Especially since I held in to my XL+ for a while after I got the III. I spent a good amount of time A/Bing my main preset on both units. The more I played the III, the more I noticed something was almost missing on the II. It could all be in my head. Who knows. It might be like, how could anything ever be better than 1080 HD video. Then you see something In 4K... but aside from the sound. Just the flexibility of the unit is awesome.
 
Envy might be the reason I say this because I don't have a III yet, but the jump from Ultra to a II or AX8 was also night and day for me.
 
I can't get past the Marshalls right now. I'm just like the rest of you though. Better , clearer , more responsive ? It sounds amazing.

I've only had the AX8 previously , and when I first got that , I went thru something very similar.- ( in terms of being amazed by the sound.)

I can't see myself getting into the Deep Editing for quite a while. THE single best piece of gear I have ever purchased. No question.

I want the FS !
 
I just came to the Axe III from the Helix.... I can't believe how fantastic the III sounds and feels. I'm in love. Helix is now my controller/backup :D
 
To me it it’s more noticeable when I’m playing. How it reacts. Which then feeds back into how I play. There is something else there now that wasn’t before. It’s subtle but noticeable. Especially since I held in to my XL+ for a while after I got the III. I spent a good amount of time A/Bing my main preset on both units. The more I played the III, the more I noticed something was almost missing on the II. It could all be in my head. Who knows. It might be like, how could anything ever be better than 1080 HD video. Then you see something In 4K... but aside from the sound. Just the flexibility of the unit is awesome.
Exactly! I really noticed something was missing in my II XL+ after comparing the Vai patches created by Moke. Both are great inventions and the patcehes sound great on both...but what does the III have that is missing from the II? The suspension of disbelief never fails on the III - whereas it dies with the II. That is , there are times when a patch doesn’t sound spectacular in all areas of the fretboard or in all bends, power chords, and whatnot. Thus, at times your disbelief fails and you realize, if only for an instant, that it is NOT an amplifier. However, the III does not have this weakness. It’s as if you really have all those amplifiers in a black box. It’s scary because it is so magical and you believe..no that’s not quite right...you KNOW the III is what you have always fantasized...the perfect guitar amplifier. And this is just the beginning? Be afraid competitors...be very afraid.
 
Its been about 2 months since I played on an Axe2 with Q10. Initial 5 minute impression was that it was smoother than Axe2 and slightly better overall. Then I spent the next 5 hours playing on most of the presets. The display is a big improvement. Channels are nice and preset switching seems gapless. The presets answered any question about whether there was any sound you can’t get. I haven’t even connected a foot controller or Axe Edit yet. It may be a few days before I do that. I’m going to force myself to get familiar with the front panel UI first. I was expecting to be blown away by the new Trichorus and reverbs. Instead, I found myself concentrating on the amps with their default cabs. The sound quality and feel is subtly closer to an ideal amp. I am glad I got the Axe3.
 
Its been about 2 months since I played on an Axe2 with Q10. Initial 5 minute impression was that it was smoother than Axe2 and slightly better overall. Then I spent the next 5 hours playing on most of the presets. The display is a big improvement. Channels are nice and preset switching seems gapless. The presets answered any question about whether there was any sound you can’t get. I haven’t even connected a foot controller or Axe Edit yet. It may be a few days before I do that. I’m going to force myself to get familiar with the front panel UI first. I was expecting to be blown away by the new Trichorus and reverbs. Instead, I found myself concentrating on the amps with their default cabs. The sound quality and feel is subtly closer to an ideal amp. I am glad I got the Axe3.
Preset changes are not seamless... Scenes are (mostly) seamless.;)
 
Thanks for the correction. I was mostly twisting the A knob which I’m now wondering if that’s considered a scene or channel switch.
I think that's scenes... Presets scroll from the Home page with the big value knob. ;)
 
I've come from an AX8 and completely agree with all of the above.

On the AX8, I barely used the Marshalls (using Friedman's instead), now most of my time is JTM45 or Plexi, there's just the right amount of low thump now.

And at last! A Jubilee model which fits my memory of the original I had.

Apart from the amps, I'm finding the delays significantly better - just blend with the sound by default, wonderful
 
It's pretty killer, really. The Double Verb has become my main clean amp, and covers a ton of ground with just an 808 added. The Triptik and Tucana also sound really good. I was happy to see that everything I liked in the XL+ either got better, or didn't lose anything.
 
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