Got a Fractal AX8 last week...Man does it rock!!!

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GuitarGuyLP

GuitarGuyLP

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I picked up a new AX8, got it Friday last week, and it is killer!!! I had an AxeFx standard a number of years ago, but I can't get over how far the modellers have come!!! IMO they are the best rig for playing at home especially if you have to keep the volume down. I have been playing though headphones so far, and a couple of times I added an FX send before the cab block, and sent that to the FX return of my Archon to use it as a power amp, and speaker. I think part of the reason the Fractal stuff has become so good are all the options for cab IRs. With the right IR, and a bit of reverb, and delay it works pretty good through headphones.
 
Congrats, they are great man. I had one but could not justify keeping it. My purpose was for convenient live use and with my lack of FOH experience it wasn't worth it.

To buy FRFR and have to bring them with me or using a guitar cab/tube power just defeated the purpose.

With that said, it was some of the best recorded tones I have gotten and I have a Helix on the radar for one day down the road.
 
Congrats! I had one for a minute, great unit and perfect for recording and low volume playing. My issue was 2 fold...I'd compare it to my tube amps, which is no contest...but I couldn't help it lol. Then I would think "if I sell it, then I can buy...."
So I sold it. Lol. But If I were still gigging or recording I probably would have kept it. Comparing it to my tube amps isn't really fair..
 
I played around with the free demo of the Helix native plugin, and for me it was no where near as intuitive as the AX8 with Axe edit. Also I didn't find the tone to be in the same league as the fractal stuff. Might have had something to do with my interface. I had to find a quiet setup since I have a baby on the way, so I figured it is a good time to dive in. I'm going to pick up a headrush FRFR eventually for a powered speaker, and I am going to sell my Archon. When I had the AX8 plugged into the FX return of the Archon I was able to go back and forth between the AX8, and Archon using the same speaker, and I was able to tweek the amp block with I think a Herbert sim, using the amp controls, and some of the advanced parameters I was able to nail the sound of the Archon pretty good!!
 
I got one a few weeks ago too. I dig it. I have an axe 2 and run 2 cab blocks in parallel and wish the ax8 could do that too. I guess I'll have to buy cab lab so i can mix my IRs. That said it sounds great and does 95% of what the 2 does at a much lower price. And you obviously don't have the added cost of the mfc.

I'll be selling my axe2 and mfc in the next few weeks.
 
PeteLaramee":18lyog7f said:
I got one a few weeks ago too. I dig it. I have an axe 2 and run 2 cab blocks in parallel and wish the ax8 could do that too. I guess I'll have to buy cab lab so i can mix my IRs. That said it sounds great and does 95% of what the 2 does at a much lower price. And you obviously don't have the added cost of the mfc.

I'll be selling my axe2 and mfc in the next few weeks.
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you can run two cabs. Change your cab block to stereo, then you can run two cabs in the same block, and pan them however you want. It is even cool to add a very small amount of delay on one of them to get a bit of a comb filter effect like you get in a 412 cab. I have been playing around with the cab blocks a lot, and just picked up the ML Misha pack last night.
 
Congrats!

I got the Helix LT recently and can't believe how far modelers have come in recent years. I think Fractal has driven the modeler market to increase their quality.
 
BigBellyRocker":taw5g8hz said:
Congrats!!....I'm waiting for the AX9.
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If you're just playing at home I wouldn't bother. As far as the modelers have come I feel the plugins have now caught the modelers.....see the Fortin Nameless plugin. AX8 is great for all-round effects and pedalboard and whatnot.
 
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