Yet another Axe-fx Thread .....

[degenaro]

I love how this unit gets naysayed by those who either haven't tried it or have only heard clips.

With a few notable exceptions (donbarzini being one), pretty much everyone who actually spends some time with one of these bad boys, with some objectivity, comes away not only liking the unit, but with their head awhirl with new possibilities and ideas.


I have been spending quality time with one for quite a while now and still stumble onto EUREKA moments on a regular basis.

PLUS....and this is the clincher for me because I don't care how many whosits or whatnots something has built into it if this isn't there....it feels like an amp If that wasn't part of the equation, I would have grown bored with it a long time ago.

At this point, I really couldn't see myself not having one of these units as part of my gear.

I agree with you. The problem I was having is that I don't like direct tones and when I heard it through the QSC monitors at teh amp show, it was still using the cab sims and going direct, which is why I didn't dig it so much. Playing this through a poweramp and through speakers is a whole new level of cool. I haven't even scratched the surface yet but I could gig tomorrow with this thing and be comfortable. That says a lot and it really does feel like an amp.

Ralph try the cab sims Jay made of the Golds and 65s I sent him.

 

[Chubtone]

Ralph,
You gotta try getting some good direct sounds either with the cab sims in the unit or with these newfangled IR's these guys keep talking about. Personally I don't care if it's great with a power amp. So are 500 other preamps. I want it to punch me in the face for direct recording.

 

[Gainfreak]

I love how this unit gets naysayed by those who either haven't tried it or have only heard clips.

With a few notable exceptions (donbarzini being one), pretty much everyone who actually spends some time with one of these bad boys, with some objectivity, comes away not only liking the unit, but with their head awhirl with new possibilities and ideas.


I have been spending quality time with one for quite a while now and still stumble onto EUREKA moments on a regular basis.

PLUS....and this is the clincher for me because I don't care how many whosits or whatnots something has built into it if this isn't there....it feels like an amp If that wasn't part of the equation, I would have grown bored with it a long time ago.

At this point, I really couldn't see myself not having one of these units as part of my gear.

I agree with you. The problem I was having is that I don't like direct tones and when I heard it through the QSC monitors at teh amp show, it was still using the cab sims and going direct, which is why I didn't dig it so much. Playing this through a poweramp and through speakers is a whole new level of cool. I haven't even scratched the surface yet but I could gig tomorrow with this thing and be comfortable. That says a lot and it really does feel like an amp.

Ralph try the cab sims Jay made of the Golds and 65s I sent him.

How do I go about doing that brother?

 

[Gainfreak]

Ralph,
You gotta try getting some good direct sounds either with the cab sims in the unit or with these newfangled IR's these guys keep talking about. Personally I don't care if it's great with a power amp. So are 500 other preamps. I want it to punch me in the face for direct recording.

I'll give it a go! I wanted to see what I can come up with going direct.

 

[degenaro]

Start here...
http://fractalaudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=15

Get the IRs from http://www.axechange.net
Get midi ox or better yet Borne's SendSx and load them to the user slots on the cab locations.

Up until Cliff put the last cab in there I was okay with the direct sound, when that cab happened, plus the warmth parameter things got to the point where I really can't tell anymore what I prefer. Especially when using the cab with 65s and using IRs of the at the same time.
BTW, yesterdays gig with the Country hang was hilarious. Had to get to an island which is a total of about 90 minute commute with a 20 minute ferry ride. Got on the wrong ferry and it took me 5 hours to get there. Arrived 45 minutes past show time.

 

[Gainfreak]

Start here...
http://fractalaudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=15

Get the IRs from http://www.axechange.net
Get midi ox or better yet Borne's SendSx and load them to the user slots on the cab locations.

Up until Cliff put the last cab in there I was okay with the direct sound, when that cab happened, plus the warmth parameter things got to the point where I really can't tell anymore what I prefer. Especially when using the cab with 65s and using IRs of the at the same time.
BTW, yesterdays gig with the Country hang was hilarious. Had to get to an island which is a total of about 90 minute commute with a 20 minute ferry ride. Got on the wrong ferry and it took me 5 hours to get there. Arrived 45 minutes past show time.

I'll try that tomorrow and your gig story is hysterical !! Now that's rock n roll!!

 

[GITTarzann]

The new editor has a cool speaker IR feature, just drag and drop into user slots, and as long as you use the editor exclusively you can see what IR's are where.

http://www.axechange.net/downloads/axef ... nstall.jar


Of course you need a midi interface to get any of this to work.

Try some of Clawfingers IR's too.

http://fractalaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22

 

[GITTarzann]

 

[SkyhighRocks]

when did that editor version come out? I just upgraded to a beta last week and the cab feature is not there.

 

[GITTarzann]

About 5 minutes after I upgraded to 1.11

 

[Gainfreak]

The new editor has a cool speaker IR feature, just drag and drop into user slots, and as long as you use the editor exclusively you can see what IR's are where.

http://www.axechange.net/downloads/axef ... nstall.jar


Of course you need a midi interface to get any of this to work.

Try some of Clawfingers IR's too.

http://fractalaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22

I'll give this a try tonight! Thanks for the heads up!!

~R~

 

[squealie]

I predict you'll eventually love it direct too.

I'm betting that it wasn't the fact that you were running direct, that put you off at the show...it was the fact that the presets you heard/played were tweaked for a wayyy different style than what you lean to. At least that's the way it was for me.

I had this conversation with Kage the other day. I've been using mine through a tube poweramp into 4x12s for stage, and direct for FOH. Now, I cannot wait to dump the guitar cabs and go full range onstage.

I also don't think you HAVE to have custom IR's to get a happening tone together. I've dicked around with Clawfinger's and Jay's.... and I think they have their place, but the stock cabs are nothing to sneeze at. The recto, cali, and 4x12 20/w cab models are killer for hard rock tones. And there are plenty for any style you can imagine.

YMMV.

 

[SkyhighRocks]

I predict you'll eventually love it direct too.

I'm betting that it wasn't the fact that you were running direct, that put you off at the show...it was the fact that the presets you heard/played were tweaked for a wayyy different style than what you lean to. At least that's the way it was for me.

I had this conversation with Kage the other day. I've been using mine through a tube poweramp into 4x12s for stage, and direct for FOH. Now, I cannot wait to dump the guitar cabs and go full range onstage.

That's what I'm thinking too. To me, 90% of the presets sound...well...not good. But once I downloaded some user patches and created my own, that did it for me. I took a chance on a QSC (got a great deal on one) and now am glad I tried that because it made it sound even better.

 

[Gainfreak]

Ralph,
You gotta try getting some good direct sounds either with the cab sims in the unit or with these newfangled IR's these guys keep talking about. Personally I don't care if it's great with a power amp. So are 500 other preamps. I want it to punch me in the face for direct recording.

Yeah, c'mon big shot, we don't want no power amps and cabs. Let's hear Bad Boys direct.

Nice avatar
What's that from? Kelly's heroes or Mash?

 

[Gainfreak]

I predict you'll eventually love it direct too.

I'm betting that it wasn't the fact that you were running direct, that put you off at the show...it was the fact that the presets you heard/played were tweaked for a wayyy different style than what you lean to. At least that's the way it was for me.

I had this conversation with Kage the other day. I've been using mine through a tube poweramp into 4x12s for stage, and direct for FOH. Now, I cannot wait to dump the guitar cabs and go full range onstage.

I also don't think you HAVE to have custom IR's to get a happening tone together. I've dicked around with Clawfinger's and Jay's.... and I think they have their place, but the stock cabs are nothing to sneeze at. The recto, cali, and 4x12 20/w cab models are killer for hard rock tones. And there are plenty for any style you can imagine.

YMMV.

Id really have to try going direct with some Ir's and I'll definitely get to that later on tonight if I can.
I will be totally open minded to. Id love to get a direct solution....trust me. It would make life so much easier!

 

[squealie]

That's what I'm thinking too. To me, 90% of the presets sound...well...not good. But once I downloaded some user patches and created my own, that did it for me. I took a chance on a QSC (got a great deal on one) and now am glad I tried that because it made it sound even better.

At first, I was really disappointed in the presets. Then I just decided that if I created all the presets, nobody else would like them either. Everybody has their own feel. It's the same when you walk up to somebody else's amp...the first thing you do, is get rid of their retarded settings. I believe Cliff did most of those original presets himself..and it's a testament to his patience that he came up with hundreds of them.

I've grown to be really fond of playing with the presets now. He's tweaked them recently, and I can ALWAYS find something to get inspired with in there. His approach to effects is crazy! And I couldn't dream of making some of those patches myself.

 

[SkyhighRocks]

They're definitely a good starting point and a good knowledge boost to see how certain configurations work together.

 

[Gainfreak]

Nice avatar
What's that from? Kelly's heroes or Mash?

Hey Man, I'm drinking wine, eating cheese and catching some rays.

Kelly's heroes it is then

 

[squealie]

Id really have to try going direct with some Ir's and I'll definitely get to that later on tonight if I can.
I will be totally open minded to. Id love to get a direct solution....trust me. It would make life so much easier!

If you can, set up the rig going out2 (1/4") to your tube power and cabs. While simultaneously going out1 to your recording rig/studio monitors. You'll want to place your cab models at the end of your patch chain, and put the Loop block right below the cab block. Split off right there. That way you won't need to disable cabs globally.

Try to find the cab model that sounds closest to your real cabs. Go with the 'null mic' at least at first.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Have fun.

 

[duesentrieb]

If you can, set up the rig going out2 (1/4") to your tube power and cabs. While simultaneously going out1 to your recording rig/studio monitors. You'll want to place your cab models at the end of your patch chain, and put the Loop block right below the cab block. Split off right there. That way you won't need to disable cabs globally.

I will do that once my VHT is here. Using my Diezel 2x12" for myself and @ gigs and rehearsals the XLR outs for the others.

There are just two things annoying:
a) this way I cannot use my pre into th AF anymore (without adding a looper and a splitter)
b) I need another AxeFX - one for home use and one for the band - I'm too old to move 30 kilo rigs around