Wow! It really does sound better...

And this morning's love affair is the High Power Twin, with a spring reverb between the amp and a (factory) cab.

Good grief!
 
Rane said:
Has anyone else noticed improved dynamics compared to the II, or is my brain playing tricks on me?
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I agree, there's an improvement in feel, as hard as it is to quantify. I just upgraded my Axe II to 10.x a week or two ago, which was an improvement in itself in the tone department (to something that already sounded fantastic). Still the III has more "punch" to it. I haven't remade all my presets yet, but so far, the USA high gain models feel more aggressive and immediate now.
 
I was a little worried that I might be underwhelmed by any improvements in sound but yesterday I received my Axe-III and noticed the difference from the very first note! Outstanding!
 
Everything is cleaner, more responsive, and eliminates the white noise. Sure do miss my foot controller and easy access to the effects. Finding in it not so intuitive... for me, I'm real bad at this stuff. I have a confession... I never went beyond the presets of my axe. Used the mark foot controller and used what they gave me per preset. And enjoyed every second of it.. :) only updated once after 3 yrs. Never installed any free cab packs, or bought IR's. Not even sure how yet to install Cliffs recent axe 3 patch... I'll get to that..lol
I'm not a guy who likes to tinker around with these things, I just want to play. But I decided I would push the envelope and grow into the process of it all with a unit that's going also grow.
Kind Regards
BVG
 
FreeMind said:
To me, the difference between Axe 2 Q9 and Q10 is pretty clear.
But how noticable is Q10 difference to Axe 3?
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It's hard to describe what you feel, and how to put it into words. My monitors sound better, which is trivial yet interesting. I didn't know that they still had room to grow. If the 2 was super sensitive to your guitar, then the 3 would be hypersensitive. I'm puzzled myself on it all. And then there is the additional cabs, amps, effects...then bring able to more with them without muddying up the sound... the 2 has a unnoticeable white noise that's not there in the 3, and you don't notice it until your on the 3...... not having the white noise, that leaves you the unexpected room to become hypersensitive. I've had it for a short time. The 2 wasn't addictive to me for me to dig into the box, and I pretty much just enjoyed the presets. Couldn't get into using the laptop, and I was too intimidated by it and just didn't have time. This one... I'm digging into it, and it's addictive because it's so easy to be self taught on the navigation of it. Mastering it, would probably require some assistance.
Like anything, if the technology is there use it. Especially if your going to use it and get your money's worth out of it. If you can, you buy the best bed money can buy, you spend a great deal of time in it.
 
I just got mine a few days ago and I am blown away. I have owned many Fractal products and have loved them but I always felt the Fender cleans were the weak link (just my opinion). In the Axe III the Fender cleans are awesome right from the beginning, just like everything else!
 
Are there other amps besides fenders where the III is a definite improvement? How do the Boogies sound? How does the Carvin sound? Any other amps that are changed with especially changed with the Ares firmware?
 
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jesussaddle said:
Are there other amps besides fenders where the III is a definite improvement? How do the Boogies sound? How does the Carvin sound? Any other amps that are changed with especially changed with the Ares firmware?
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I’m finding that I’m using different amps and cabs compared to my Ax8 running 9 software (sold it instead of upgrading to 10). I didn’t feel successful manually copying presets from one device to another. I knew I would sell the ax8, so I treated the 3 as an entirely new rig. I’ve enjoyed the marshalls and vox-like amps (matchless, etc.) more. In general, I feel like the presets in the 3 are better overall, and get me where I want more quickly than my ax8 running v9.x.

After a month of tweaking, tonight was the first major gig. All went well tone-wise. Not necessarily a paradigm shift from the ax8, but I’m happy I made the switch.
 
I brought my Axe3 over to my good buddy who bought my Axe2XL off me. We were playing mostly high gain Plexi and BE models. I asked my buddy if he felt like he could hear or feel a difference. Both were running into a Mackie VLZ mixer into his monitor speakers. He’d play a riff and I’d copy him. He was on a Fender HSS and I was on an RG570. Not apples to apples exactly but on high gain stuff we really couldnt say the III was better. The IIXL on 10.01 is still a formidable piece of gear. On the cleaner patches I thought my III had a slight edge but I wouldnt say the III wipes the floor with the II. I may have current state of the art but my friend got the best bargain.
 
I think the III has more subtle playing feel on the patches I like (clean and just not quite breaking up)
These are the criteria on which I select and dial-in my boutiquey amps, so if I can detect this in the III, it must be a good thing for my wallet in the future
 
Yes it does sound better to my ears than the II. It is more immediate, more fluent, more organic, more tight.
I had not expected a big improvement but yes it is. Even on my cheapo speakers & headphone to my non-tube-amp-connoisseur ears.
 
I've had mine for just under a week & the difference is definitely there. Better string definition on high gain stuff, more punch on clean and edge-of-breakup tones. I had several patches that sounded "just ok" on the II now sound great on the III. Very little tweaking required for my old patches other than boosting the volume. Couldn't be happier with it!
 
I suppose for me there are some few amp models in the II for which I can't find a particularly fitting cab IR - something in the overall response was a bit harsh still. Aside from this, the Mark IV stuff and certain other random amps, like maybe the Carvin, were not saturating the way I was used to with my Boogie and MP-1 through my Peavey 412. Other amp models sound fantastic in the II - could be that I just happen to have found a good fit of an IR though.

Having a III with so many IR slots would be a plus.

I'm not sure when I may be able to afford a III. Its a good thing to keep in mind if it really does have a slight edge.

Thus far I had one dream in which I was playing some kind of futuristic guitar-box combination that may possibly be in the next round of modelers. But my fingers were doing all the work for me without my thinking. I couldn't understand how it was possible, and I wound up playing many bizzare things and forgetting it all upon awaking.
 
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