2nd Mini-amp fest with Axe-fx as the only "non-amp" in sight

[mortega76]

Had a wonderful time (again) at Matt's house... there were several folks that I had never met but were from (here in) the Rig-Talk forums...

Quick and to the point... the following amps where preset:

Cameron (I think) CCV-100... (I was surprised at how small it was) It sounded great, we initially couldn't turn it up very much and Matt later (about 5 minutes) found out he had a microphonic tube... I wish we could have cranked it a bit more...

Splawn (what looked like a) Quick Rod: it didn't have as much gain as the CCV-100 but it had more low end meat... very nice

Axe-fx Ultra w/ PV-1500: I had raved about how the Axe-fx (10.1) was able to sound better than a 5150 with a GEQ in the chain bumping the lows and mids a bit... well, this time around with 10.03, there was no comparison. Axe-fx hands down when compared to the 5150. The one thing that the Axe-fx didn't have that night was all the noise that all the Cameron, Splawn and 5150 had...

Diamond Nitrox: Funny because I had just heard about these amps that same more on the "Monsters of High Gain Shoot-out" thread... and I was very eager to hear this one but alas I didn't have time... I had already made plans to go watch UFC 123 and I had already been there for about 2.5 hours.

Modified Marshall (someone who was there please chime in and tell me what it was)

Engl SE: Heard it last time around but I didn't get a chance to hear it this time around...

All in all... I learned a couple of things...

1. The Axe-fx is missing one key ingredient that (I'm guessing) most tube amps have... noise. This noise is actually something that is "missing" in the tone that night.
2. The other missing ingredient was that it still needed a bit more of was tube "sizzle"...
3. Tube power is an impressive beast indeed. My Axe-fx set to just about full on the output and full on both channels was still not as loud as the tube amps set to about half... that's just crazy... I was pushing 500 watts of SS power into the power amp and it still wasn't as loud... I had to bridge the sucker and push out 1000 watts of juice before it was louder than any of the 100 watt tube amps... that's just crazy. I'm convinced I need either a 100 watt clean tube amp to push my Axe-fx or a 1000 watt per channel SS amp.
4. Mills cabs are freakin' beasts... they can handle any and all low end that the Axe-fx threw at it. My Marshall JCM900 fart out much faster than the Mills cabs did. As a matter of fact the "better than a 5150" patch sounded bad on my JCM900's but sounded awesome on the Mills cabs.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I think you should sell it.

 

[RedB4Black]

It was a Splawn Nitro and a Fortin Cali-modded Marshall JCM800 superbass. v1 in the CCV went microphonic and squealed like crazy when we turned it up. Once I replaced it, we cranked it up and it sounded great.

I thought the Axe FX sounded alot better to than the 5150 it was modeling. We played everything through a Mills Afterburner 412B with Scumback H55/H75LHDCs 75w each.

The statement "My Marshall JCM900 fart out much faster than the Mills cabs did" is misleading as the Mills cabs never fart out.

You didn't miss much on the Nitrox. I'm not a big fan of that amp. After you left a couple other guys came by and brought a Kasha Rockmod 100. Very cool amp. Like an SLO with more punch, low-end and gain.

 

[RedB4Black]

I think you should sell it.

Seriously. After hearing next to the 5150, I want another one. BTW that was your old Cali in attendence.

 

[cliffc8488]

I'm skeptical of that 1000W rating on the power amp. That's probably into two ohms. I'm guessing you are running into 8 ohms so you're probably only getting a couple hundred watts which won't be as loud as a 100W tube amp.

 

[Motorpud]

I think you should sell it.

 

[glpg80]

i appologize for the book. skip/ignore it if you would like



one thing the axe fx is missing, is an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface. less time tweaking, more time playing approach. alot of, if not all modeler's are guilty of this.

noise? quiet amplifiers exist in this world - quiet as a mouse - it falls on the engineer's shoulders and also the players. the only time i care about noise would be in the studio. because i dont care about what an amplifier sounds like when im not playing it, i care about what an amplifier sounds like when i am playing it. if noise bothers me enough on the high gain channels, i can switch to the clean channels, reduce the volume, or turn the gain down and the "problem" is solved.

high gain and no noise is not impossible, its simply complicated to prevent. that is all.

as for tone comparisons - that is all opinionated and strictly user preference like most of anything. like many others have stated playing an amplifier tells you alot more about it than simply listening to it. there are alot of variables the axe-fx cannot replicate and it does not matter how many patches he updates. what i wont argue at all is the fact that the axe fx a great tool for versatility, worth using for home practice, just for effects, easy to use in live band situations, and it has versatility which is great. that is what it is supposed to do by design.

but when you start comparing a modeling unit to a real tubed amplifier you have to understand the RECORDED tone of a tubed amplifier is not the same as a solid state reproduction. tubed amplifiers sound much different through the microphones and different speakers/rooms and even where you stand in relation to the cabinet source of sound in the real world. the added variables like speaker phase, cabinet construction, the ground it is sitting on, the grill cloth material, etc. - all variables that affect "tone" and could go on for forever.

that is another benefit of the axe-fx - constant tone that does not change day to day. you set it to what you like, and it helps to remove some of the common added variables that amplifiers have and will always have by design. tube amplifiers have even more (highly dependent) variables like capacitor age, voltage input/filtering, tube choices, tube age, etc. in the real world it simply impossible to compare a solid state modeling unit to a production model amplifier and expect the production model to automatically have the upper hand without taking care of all of the added variables in a controlled environment. just by changing the tubes of the tube amplifier you could deviate the tone of the modeling unit.

and my last point, im glad to see that so many people love the axe-fx. im surprised it has stuck around this long.

but, cliff needs to hire a customer service extension to his business, or learn customer service/social skills himself. as much as a douche cliff has been to others on the forum telling them to sell their products if they dont like it, and also my own first hand experience right here on RT, i would not own or purchase anything of his. if i built something i would do my best to offer help to those who own and use it and invested hard earned money into it.

it does not take much to be a nice person, and it says alot for the values and reasons X person makes the product that he does.

the only reason i would own an axe fx is when cliff offers a patch update that gives free blowjobs

 

[Digital Jams]

I think you should sell it.

Seriously. After hearing next to the 5150, I want another one. BTW that was your old Cali in attendence.

Well well well, thank you for outing that bitch Danny for going underground to fuel his gear flipping habits. I owe you one hot gossip item.


Danyeo you little bitch

 

[mortega76]

Hahaahaha... I should sell it and get a Mini POD

 

[Digital Jams]

I'm skeptical of that 1000W rating on the power amp. That's probably into two ohms. I'm guessing you are running into 8 ohms so you're probably only getting a couple hundred watts which won't be as loud as a 100W tube amp.

I have to agree in this case, 1000 watts regardless of the transister type is a shitload of power and I bet the 1000watts is at 2 ohms.

 

[RedB4Black]

I think you should sell it.

Seriously. After hearing next to the 5150, I want another one. BTW that was your old Cali in attendence.

Well well well, thank you for outing that bitch Danny for going underground to fuel his gear flipping habits. I owe you one hot gossip item.


Danyeo you little bitch

I thought that was old news. My friend has had it for at least a couple of months.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I think you should sell it.

Seriously. After hearing next to the 5150, I want another one. BTW that was your old Cali in attendence.

Well well well, thank you for outing that bitch Danny for going underground to fuel his gear flipping habits. I owe you one hot gossip item.


Danyeo you little bitch

One Fortin to replace another and i have an extra 1k in my pocket.

 

[RedB4Black]

I'm skeptical of that 1000W rating on the power amp. That's probably into two ohms. I'm guessing you are running into 8 ohms so you're probably only getting a couple hundred watts which won't be as loud as a 100W tube amp.

It was an 8 ohm cab. I thought it was pretty damn loud. It definitely outshined the 5150 in a direct comparison IMO

 

[Digital Jams]

I think you should sell it.

Seriously. After hearing next to the 5150, I want another one. BTW that was your old Cali in attendence.

Well well well, thank you for outing that bitch Danny for going underground to fuel his gear flipping habits. I owe you one hot gossip item.


Danyeo you little bitch

One Fortin to replace another and i have an extra 1k in my pocket.

Intervention time bro!

Hey, next summer ampfest I am taking my boat across the sound to get there so maybe we can hit some blues and stripers after the fest

You are still a bitch

 

[Riddick]

I'm skeptical of that 1000W rating on the power amp. That's probably into two ohms. I'm guessing you are running into 8 ohms so you're probably only getting a couple hundred watts which won't be as loud as a 100W tube amp.

It was an 8 ohm cab. I thought it was pretty damn loud. It definitely outshined the 5150 in a direct comparison IMO

Yea the AX FX destoyed the 5150 IMO, and it was F....ing loud as well with that Peavey Power Amp bridged.

 

[Flavatrocious]

My poor PV... Its needs love right now. All you 5150 owners know that these are the shit

 

[Riddick]

My poor PV... Its needs love right now. All you 5150 owners know that these are the shit

We need to do the Cameron mod on that thing

 

[mortega76]

My poor PV... Its needs love right now. All you 5150 owners know that these are the shit

Hey Paul, I still want a 5150... So whenever you're ready to sell... Let me know, if the price is right!

 

[mortega76]

They are running 500 watts at 4 ohm on my cabs... But Matt mentioned it was only running at 300 watts at 8 ohm... Hmmmm... Damn omhages!!!!!

 

[mortega76]

Fractal Audio customer service (even for out of warranty issues) has been nothing but top notch... There is always the possibility of "lost" emails and such but FAS will always take care of you.