AXE FX - MTS ?

[nikki-k]

Ahh.. sounds similar to what my experience was.
Points "a" and "c" and "e" were huge for me, and I could not get past them. For front end use, it killed it. Point "a".. I actually questioned latency, but after discussion, math and a big "Hmm..", realized the latency is so low.. well, it cannot be a "late latency" thing. Maybe too quick? While sag can "fix" how the power amp feels, there are no parameters for getting the front end feeling.. good enough (for me, IMO, etc). While trying to figure out "a" for myself, point "c" became even more apparent, and drove me up a wall.

Point "c"..lol!! I must have spent 30-45 minutes listening to the pick thing from every side. Friends who stopped by while I was doing that thought I needed a happy jacket and a padded cell. The pick attack was something I could not get past. It just isn't.. right...

Point "e" is something that not everyone will notice IMO. OK, a, c, and e will likely not be noticed by many, and those who do will not all be turned off enough to NOT use the Axe up front.

Semi-distorted -> clean sounds were great for me, but those Points still were there to some extent. This is the first time I have seen someone else post an experience that is so close to mine. I still do not know if I am simply imagining things, but at least I am not alone. It is like being 5 years old and not believing the schlock I was told about Santa, meanwhile all the other kids my age buy into it. "What is wrong with me? What am I missing? Why can't I just believe?"

I just got finished comparing the Axe Standard v5.x through a SS amp and dual 1X12's with EV Wizards vs my custom powered RM2 with it's transformerless tube power section (through the same cabs, with a modded for less gain Top Boost and Tweed mods installed), and I noticed the following (testing clean to front end boosted medium gain sounds, no high gain):

a) The Axe sounded fantastic, but did have a "disconnect" if you will, small latency perhaps.

b) The Axe could pretty well mimic our tube amp's natural compression, the mojo is on the advanced tab, "sag" and "dampening" etc, as well as level into the virtual power section (tube rectifier model of course).

c) The Axe's attack high freqs did not sound natural, the chirp coming off the pick etc.

d) The Axe's low freqs didn't compare well.

e) The Axe in no way "bloomed" like the tube amp on long sustaining notes, and this is what I missed the most.

f) All the above objections are not as noticeable in the context of a full mix, and even less so live, but were still noticeable to me in a test environment.

All in all, the Axe really sounds great though and is a screaming deal all things considered. The Axe's FX's are all first rate, and they're worth the money alone, plus it's wide open architecture allows it to integrate perfectly with MTS gear. I tested r5.x, and they're up to r7.x now with more experienced users saying there's been a lot of improvement between r5.x and r7.x, so my test report might no longer be accurate?

 

[bhuard75]

hey mike

i checked to see where to buy that axe-fx, looks like you buy it direct. they advertise a 15 day money back guarentee. buy the thing play the **** out of it for 10 days then deciede if you like enough to keep it or send it back knowing its not for you.

i do that to musicansfriend all the time.

 

[LRStrat]

The bad part is you are not going to know until YOU try it for yourself.

The rhythm guitar player uses a Line6 PodXT Live running it into the power amp in jack of his Fender Deville 4-10 combo amp. It sound 100% better than the Vetta II he use to have.

Just need to see if you could rent one for a month. It might work out fine for you. :idea:

BTW, My MTS rack completely blows his amp away........ but he like the simplicity of his setup, he is not as anal about his tone as I am.

 

[///MK]

Well after plenty of time to think about it I finally made the plunge and put in my order today. For me the big determining factor is the versatility I now need. I am currently working with a Progressive metal band. A top 40 goo goo dolls type band and a 60's 70's classic rock cover band. I am just getting sick of lugging around my randall MS head and 3 cabinets to go from practice to practice and gig to gig for my monster tone WDW rig. I am hoping the Axe will get me close enough and with some of the stuff I should be able to get away with going direct to FOH. Will keep all posted of how it goes. Im not selling my RM100 yet but I am selling alot of my other stuff. Also if anyone hasn't yet check out the clips of dweezil doing eruption on the Axe- the tone sounds amazing. Newest firmware really seems o get a better handle on the power amp feel. More to come.
VR,
///MK

 

[Bewitagos1]

I am just getting sick of lugging around my randall MS head and 3 cabinets to go from practice to practice and gig to gig for my monster tone WDW rig. VR,///MK

I hear that, so am building my own studio with the "build it and they will come" approach. I put up a 40 x 16 foot loft in my pole barn. I built it with scissor trusses in the celing so there is ample head room. I live out in the sticks 1/4 mile off the road. Only ones complaining are the deer and bears. second year into the project...
Jimmie

 

[okstrat]

Make sure the Axe-FX is running firmware 7.x - it's much improved, and I liked it at version 5. Some of the gigs I play are very low onstage volume, and the axe-fx is perfect for that. Plus the effects are very very good - eventide quality. Add to that the cab emulator uses impulses - it's a swiss army knife for recording, practicing and gigging.

I like mine and I have well over a dozen tube amp heads, everything from bogners to (duh) Randalls to amps I've built from scratch. The Axe sounds great.

Pete

 

[Mailman1971]

I am just getting sick of lugging around my randall MS head and 3 cabinets to go from practice to practice and gig to gig for my monster tone WDW rig. VR,///MK

I hear that, so am building my own studio with the "build it and they will come" approach. I put up a 40 x 16 foot loft in my pole barn. I built it with scissor trusses in the celing so there is ample head room. I live out in the sticks 1/4 mile off the road. Only ones complaining are the deer and bears. second year into the project...
Jimmie

Hey Jimmie,
Must be a "Michigan" thing! I built my music room in the back end of my Pole barn. Drywalled it and added carpet. Looks and sounds Great! But.....no heat cept a space heater in the winter and that sucks! We still play all winter long out there, but takes a while to warm it up. I keep lugging my Amp back in and out of the house. But my neighbors dont complain. I am usually done playing by 8pm on weekends and we have it pretty insulated. But we play loud as hell though!
Long live the Pole Barn Studios!!

 

[Bewitagos1]

Must be a "Michigan" thing! I built my music room in the back end of my Pole barn. Drywalled it and added carpet. Looks and sounds Great! But.....no heat cept a space heater in the winter and that sucks! We still play all winter long out there, but takes a while to warm it up.

No heat does suck. you couldn't tell by this photo, but it was only 9 degrees when we made the first pour. Notice the radiant pex tube that will hopefull be connected to a wood boiler by the next time the temp dips below comfortable playing range.

 

[Bewitagos1]

In cause anyone was wondering if a heated barn is essential, check out the opening to the door, you'll see how high the snow was. This was taken in the second week of december 2008 and we had at least another 100 inches fall after that. Big investment? yep, aside from the 15 grand I have into the barn so far, a broken collar bone last summer and all the time I could have been playing guitar. Some how it still seems worth it. The beam over my buddy Jack's head is the level of the sub floor.

 

[///MK]

After at first putting my RM100 and mods up for sale I had a bit of a change of heart. I have decided that the best rig for me is to have both. I use the RM100 (I actually have 2 now) through the Axe for recording and it sounds amazing. for most gigs I bring a small rig with my Axe-fx. works great for me. Truth be told the Axe works best as a compliment to your existing gear as it does sound amazing both as a preamp and esp as a great multi efx as well as offering unmatched flexibility. For my R&B/Jazz act using the AXE is straight to FOH is king. For my current metal band rehearsals I still prefer that sound screaming tubes pushing multiple 4x12's and shaking the room from the MTS rig. For Gigging I still try to go FOH whenever possible even with the Metal band as the less stuff to carry the better and truth is whatever sonic advantage a "real" tube amp may give in terms of feel does not overcome the benefits of the AXE-FX's consistent great sound via going direct and the portability and flexibility of its small form factor. I suspect others will eventually have a similar conclusion to fight the instinct to get rid of everything else. I wound up buying back pretty much the same mods a I had before.

so for me

Recording = AXE or MTS through AXE depending on tone needed
Rehearsal studio (MTS)
Live AXE-FX almost exclusively

 

[Ugg]

I've had my AxeFx Ultra for about a month now and I have to agree with ///MK. The Axe's amp and cab models sound great in a FOH or studio mix. In a live situation where you want to feel raw tube power, MTS is still king. Having both gives you complete flexibility: Axe into FOH, Axe into monitors, Axe into tube power & cab, MTS into Axe for FX and/or cab sim, etc.

The biggest drawback to the Axe is that it takes a LOT of tweaking for the amp models to sound good. It's easy to get lost in tweaking and forget the necessities.. oh, like sleeping or eating, LOL. Also, IMO, you really need good impulse responses (IR's) for the cab sim to sound less digital. The built-in IR's sound good, but custom loaded IR's sound much better (to me). The only other issue I have with the Axe is while the FX are top notch, there are some unique effects it can't emulate. The Axe does not emulate the "coloring" of certain gear.

The Axe is a killer piece of gear, but I'm not getting rid of my MTS / Egnater gear any time soon.

 

[destratification]

Haven't been to the board in a while and just caught onto this thread. I'm considering posting my RM50 head and mods up for sale (palamino, 1086, blackface, tweed) and selling some other gear to generate enough $ to sink into an Axe-fx. With a newborn and a small house, I'm not getting enough time to crank the amp and am generally limited to night hours and headphones. I would keep my egnater M4 and RT however...forever...

Prior to picking up the RM50 I tried the Line 6 route (vetta II) and could never warm to that amp (or I should say the tone and feel was never warm). Tone seemed ice picky, sterile and obviously lacked what tubes offer- the sag, articulation, dynamics - all lacked. My question for the Axe users is whether their technology is superior to Line 6's? I've read some generic reviews from mags that imply that it 'feels' like playing a tube amp...but these are paid reviews. thanks for any info...

 

[Julia]

Looking at the amount of money I spent on gear in the past two years, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have gotten the Axe FX Ultra, two very very good monitors, Crown 600W SS power amp, and a midi switching floorboard, and a 2 x 31 band graphic equalizer (needed to compensate for the Fletcher-Munson curves), and a better power conditioner. The thing is supposed to model tube sag, tube saturation, and tube distortion in the power section, as well as speaker cabs including cone breakup. I think it would be very complicated to dial in, but once you figure it out it'll put the Line 6 stuff to shame.

Remember the Line 6 Vetta II is just a POD XT Pro with a 300W stereo power amp.

 

[destratification]

Thanks Julia. That's what I was getting after, trying to determine whether the Axe is leaps beyond Line 6 as far as feel and dynamics of playing. The Vetta is my primary experience with modeling amps (and a bit of playing on a GNX4) so that's my baseline I guess. I've listened to many sound clips and the Axe definitely blows away line 6 in that regard.

My main application would be into mixing board > motu interface. So direct application and occasionally as a second amp > power amp with another guitarist in the house.

I used to have a digitech 2120 which worked great having it in the rack, connected to the interface and ready to go whenever I got in composition mode (or needed to play through headphones...). The Axe appears to be a modern day supersized version of that and might just suit my current needs...

 

[///MK]

The axe is light years ahead of the line 6 (I have a line 6 combo as well) In particular the way the clean sounds respond to the players dynamics as well as the great job of replicating tube sag. I still think that the AXE is best as a complement to your rig instead of a replacement of your rig.

 

[Julia]

yet it could be the perfect rig for apartment dwellers since you don't have to crank it to get good sound.

 

[Bewitagos1]

I've been chasing down "the" sound long before digital technology infiltrated guitardom. Fluctuating power conditions wreaking havoc to internal processors, poor R/D and a sterile sound have routinely been the reason I'd eventually run back to a Tube amp - reliability. My G/K 250ML was the only exception to that.

I'm also not entirely sold on the RM100. I have two heads here that I can only crank to 1/4 volume on the master before they start to arc and burn holes into their circuit boards.

I know a lot of effort has been placed on learning how to modify the modules. I wish some effort would be given to those of us with the lemon RM100-A circuit boards to modify them to run at full throtle.

Sorry to hijack the thread but maybe digital technology is finally catching up with "suitable" components. Perhaps its time to give it one more try.

Jimmie