KVR Audio

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:29 am

I think there is a review of this in the current GP (santana on the cover)

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:14 am

hibidy wrote:I think there is a review of this in the current GP (santana on the cover)

Yep .. it got "Editor's Pick award"

Also these guys are using it (3 of them

)
From this concert (not my type of music

):

bottom left:

ccosta · Post by **ccosta** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:22 am

robojam wrote:$1749.95????

You've got to be friggin kidding me!!!!

You could buy a good tube amp and some decent pedals for that.

And buy some oral sex with the change, lol !

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:46 pm

robojam wrote:$1749.95????

You've got to be friggin kidding me!!!!

You could buy a good tube amp and some decent pedals for that.

.... but I already have several tube amps and boutique pedals....
yet I prefer the AXE-FX for recording and home playing....

vespers75 · Post by **vespers75** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:51 pm

ccosta wrote:
robojam wrote:$1749.95????

You've got to be friggin kidding me!!!!

You could buy a good tube amp and some decent pedals for that.
And buy some oral sex with the change, lol !

Hell yeah.

I bet Fractal Audio is really selling alot of these at that crazy price

Dean Aka Nekro · Post by **Dean Aka Nekro** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:17 pm

Lunch Money wrote:
Hink wrote:
Lunch Money wrote:This thing is still "software".... it's just run onboard instead of through your computer.
yeah...and...so isn't a pod
Yup, so is a pod.

and so is a Vetta II!

but with a power amp added on

(which is the closest thing i can think of compared to the FAS Axe-FX)

But if it sounds good then tis worth it: i sure want too try one out

*i used the quote just as a point, it aint aimed at you guys

*

Nekro

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:42 pm

I'd love to read an unbiased side by side comparison with IK's Stomp IO. Coming in at $900 leaves enough to buy a nice computer to run it and still not reach the $1800 they want for AXE-FX.

I've never spent $1800 in a pure guitar rig of any kind... I've always managed to get what I'd concider to be great sound for much, much less. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that cost. Maybe part of me is afraid that if I heard the AXE-FX I'd be "ruined" and never be able to listen to my crappy VOX Tonelab or Amplitube again.

There's another part of me that knows that my gear lust is usually misdirected longing to play more.

buscemi · Post by **buscemi** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:57 pm

Seems like the same possibility of the "Receptor Effect" - you have a set, barely (or non-) upgradeable hardware path and the possibility that the software can't go all that far forward without said hardware being upgraded. In other words, it will be obsolete in what I consider a short amount of time with the advances in software and hardware. That's why I'd rather just pay a couple hundred for a good sim to get good short-term (and with software advances these days it is ALL short-term) gain and make up the rest with good real amps. The sims will be a joke in short order, the amps (if I chose well) not so much.

Sounds good, looks like the interface is nice, has a lot going for it. Obviously it is more flexible than a single amp that may cost about the same. Except in balance with the things about hardware/software becoming obsolete mentioned above, well... not so much per-dollar-spent value any more.

This simply won't get better with age like a good tube amp either, so that comparison is somewhat valid because the amp will likely hold its value better. I don't see many people really stoked because they are running their mainframe from the 70s today, but I DO see a lot of people stoked that they have a sweet tube amp from that era. Software and dedicated PC-based hardware are a different beast and will be obsolete in a shorter period of time.

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:30 pm

zerocrossing wrote: I've never spent $1800 in a pure guitar rig of any kind... I've always managed to get what I'd concider to be great sound for much, much less. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that cost. Maybe part of me is afraid that if I heard the AXE-FX I'd be "ruined" and never be able to listen to my crappy VOX Tonelab or Amplitube again.

Let's clear up a few things, the MSRP is $1799.99
but the actual price is $1499.99 and when I purchased it, it was $1350.
Some real early adopters got it for $999.
Either way, if you are a poor college student, it's probably more then you can cough up.

Here is how it went down for me.
I already owned 3 Xotic pedals, a Groove Tube "the brick" DI, several tube amps and amp sims.
When I first saw the AXE-FX (stumbled on it from a Google search for "amp sim") I went to their web site, listened to the samples on the site (those clips really don't do it any justice), saw the price and I went like most of you....
"Yeah right, good luck selling that overpriced POD"

.... but I kept it in the back of my head, I visited the AXE-FX forum occasionally, heard user clips, reviews and so on.....
Still I was not convinced, then one day I heard a clip by Javajunkie, a simple overdriven Fender amp with a Strat that demanded my attention.
..... I went "OK maybe there is something there".... at this point
the "30 Day Satisfaction Guaranteed or your Money Back" really kicked in for me (they cut it down to 15 days since then).... I also got a Credit Card offer with 0% interest for 12 months.... so I said, hey why not, I'll order this thing, I'll play it for a month and most likely return it for a refund.

I'll loose the shipping charges... but hey for $40 I'll get to play for 30 days with one of most esoteric amps sims on the market.

Anyway... the thing arrives, I plug in.... and after 5 minutes of playing I go:

"There is no f*cking way I'm returning this thing"

OK how do I afford this?... well I sell the 3 pedals and the tube DI, I also sell one of my tube amps .... and that's it!

What do I get for it?... almost anything I ever dreamed about.
After learning the ins and outs of this magic box I can nail any tone that's in my head.
At this point the AXE-FX in my mind becomes a real bargain, the best gear purchase I ever made!

Later on I purchased the ULTRA... once you understand what it can give you,
you realize the price is really a bargain.... not cheap but definitely worth it.

Again, if you are a poor student on a shoe string budget this is probably a no go for you... but if you can somehow make it happen I urge you give it a try.
Right now it comes with "15 Day Money Back Guarranteed".... give it a spin,
if you don't like it, return it for a full refund.... or maybe you will discover the tool of your dreams, like I did.

BTW, I know I sound like a salesman at this point but I'm not.
I'm not affiliated by any way with Fractal Audio, I'm just a happy customer.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 4:22 pm

After listening to quite some Axe FX clips by now, all I can say is that this is the best amp sim I have ever heard. I have tried all plugin based solutions, I own a few preamps that I've been running through all sorts of speaker sims, I also have a Pod XT (plus some other stuff) and I also own a few quality amps (and owned even more during the last 2.5 decades) which I had the pleasure of recording under ideal conditions. Axe FX seems to beat all the software solutions by miles. Easily. I mean, really easily. And it even beats any amp recorded under less than ideal conditions.
All that is left is that I would like to get my hands on one of the units for a testdrive. But I really hope this won't happen too soon because I'm afraid I would have to buy it then.

- Sascha

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:35 pm

Yeah, be careful Sascha Franck...... your name is all over this one.
The majority of AXE-FX owners are people like you who preform live on stage in all kind of cover bands where you need multiple setups and tones.

I love this one:

http://www.pacocasanovas.ch/PacolinoODV602.mp3

Legal note:
No real amp or real speakers were abused in the creation of this clip.

And for those who don't like Blues... here is some METAL!
http://www.falstudios.com/Junk/Meat_v.6.0.mp3

shogger · Post by **shogger** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:52 pm

AndrewSimon wrote:I love this one:

http://www.pacocasanovas.ch/PacolinoODV602.mp3

Legal note:
No real amp or real speakers were abused in the creation of this clip.

Nice one! Great player, good sounding guitar. Not too hard to sound good then.

Shogger

shogger · Post by **shogger** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:04 pm

AndrewSimon wrote:And for those who don't like Blues... here is some METAL!
http://www.falstudios.com/Junk/Meat_v.6.0.mp3

Oh yes, much more my thing. Great. Simply great. Who did that?

Shogger

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:34 pm

shogger wrote:
AndrewSimon wrote:And for those who don't like Blues... here is some METAL!
http://www.falstudios.com/Junk/Meat_v.6.0.mp3

Oh yes, much more my thing. Great. Simply great. Who did that?

Shogger

The guitar player from a Swedish band.....
NO... not ABBA

The band is called Clawfinger:

He is very active in the AXE-FX community, he created some
very cool cab IR's some of them got into the official release
of the AXE-FX.

The Blues clip was done by Paco.
Paco is a studio engineer who plays the guitar just for fun.
I love his style.
http://www.pacocasanovas.ch/paco1.html

shogger · Post by **shogger** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:48 am

AndrewSimon wrote:
shogger wrote:
AndrewSimon wrote:And for those who don't like Blues... here is some METAL!
http://www.falstudios.com/Junk/Meat_v.6.0.mp3
Oh yes, much more my thing. Great. Simply great. Who did that?
Shogger
The guitar player from a Swedish band.....
NO... not ABBA

The band is called Clawfinger:

Hehe, while ABBA is was a really cool band so much more good music came and comes from sweden.

I like the guitar approach of the Clawfinger guys. Great music, too.

AndrewSimon wrote:The Blues clip was done by Paco.
Paco is a studio engineer who plays the guitar just for fun.
I love his style.
http://www.pacocasanovas.ch/paco1.html

Yes, yes, yes! Just for fun you say?

Shogger

P.S. Thanx for the links!

Guitar players! The search for Amp Sims is over AXE-FX