Axe-FX review after several weeks

[jrockbridge]

^ I think you summed it up very well, Ashasha. I suspect it's so easy to get a great sound using the AFX for direct recording that many people are completely missing the fact that it poses specific challenges in a live situation. Often, great technology seems to fall victim to user error.

 

I'm glad you posted those clips of Mark Day. I suspected the AFX could sound great live if applied correctly. No wonder Atomic and Fractal Audio have become partners. It's a really good match of gear!

[_pete_]

 

I'm asking about a live recording in a band mix. By live recording, I mean something that would be somewhat representative of how it would sit in the mix at a live show. Usually, that means a camcorder that was held by somebody in the audience. But, other recording devices would work as well.

 

 

I know where you're coming from but I would chalk a lot of that up to user error as Ashasha stated. Lots of guitarists (and soundmen) really don't take the time to dial the things in right.

I don't have an Ave FX (yet) but I've been using modelers for a long time and I will never, ever go back to tubes. Too much inconsistency, hassle, and too many variables in getting a good sound in any venue.

While this clip is not an Axe FX, it's my old zenTera head. It's probably 5 years behind the Axe in tech but it never got lost in the mix.

This was recorded with a small cheap digital camera hence the crappy sound quality. The sound is pretty much all from the mains since the drums and bass have basically no stage volume and my amp is set very, very. very. low.

 

[YOUTUBE]jhjvo5NNfO8[/YOUTUBE]

 

This one is taken with an equally crappy camera from 2 different spots in the club.

 

[YOUTUBE]Xw3ky7hLX0k[/YOUTUBE]

[jrockbridge]

^ That Zen Tera sits very well in the live mix in those clips. Fantastic playing as well!

[_pete_]

^ That Zen Tera sits very well in the live mix in those clips. Fantastic playing as well!

Thanks!

The key is in eq'ing the amp to sound good in the monitors and FOH.

Since I kept the amp volume really low (can't do that with a tube amp), I ran my guitar strong in my monitor and used the amp's global eq to get it sounding good there. That signal would then sound really good through the FOH system.

The sound guys loved the fact that they didn't have a guitar amp blaring through the mix and the guitar signal could be heard evenly anywhere in the venue.

Most of those mixes you heard probably had the Axe very loud on stage so it wasn't in the mains very much. It was probably very loud if you were in the direct line of the cabinet though.

[mortkort]

@ pete, when is that guy down in florida going to finish up with the live video of your band? its been some time since ive heard how that was going.

 

btw do you remember what amp sim you used for TMMB? sounds awesome

[_pete_]

 

@ pete, when is that guy down in florida going to finish up with the live video of your band? its been some time since ive heard how that was going. btw do you remember what amp sim you used for TMMB? sounds awesome

 

 

 

No idea on the vid.

 

The amp sim was the zen's Plexi 100 with a light bit of chorus on it.

[ashasha]

Instead of starting a new thread, I thought that I'd just bump this one to say that I absolutely love this damn thing.

 

Spent the entire weekend playing. Kind of sucks that I have to go back to work tomorrow; I actually started getting some of my chops back, which isn't saying much.

 

I started to get into editing patches a lot more now and even loaded some impulse responses that I found on the internet. Came across a lot of crap, but I found a few really good ones in there too. It's like an entire new door was opened up on this thing. Being able to mix 4 cabs with different mics and stuff is just amazing.

 

And a tip that I found on the Fractal forums; use the oval speaker in one of the cabinets with whatever other speaker you want and it opens it up a lot more. I suppose it's a bit of a mid boost, but 9 times out of 10 it just sounds killer.

 

In 20 years of playing the guitar I've never been happier with my tone and gear.

[DeadNight Warrior]

Yep, I'm much the same. I've never been so happy with a single piece of amp/FX gear. Actually, I've never been as happy with complete rigs I've had in the past either.

 

I've had mine for about 1.5 years and only recently started playing around with user IRs. Bought a few of the RW cabs and the possibilities are just endless.