Here is the deal with the axe-fx.
Is it a really good FX Unit? Yes
Can it make good sounds? Yes
Does it sound just as good direct as a good tube amp mic'd? No , unless you suck at hearing detail in a recording.
Does it truly different amp sounds? No , unless you think new eq constitutes a new amp model.
You know how different amplifiers are like champagne? Different flavors, different consistency, different bubble size, different grain in the distortion.
Well with the axe its like cliff has figured out how to get ONE type of b grade chamapagne accurately recreated.
Then he adds food coloring in the form of layers of EQ, and calls them different amp models.
To my ear none of the different distorted amp models truly sounded different. It just sounds like the same basic distortion with which someone then made drastic EQ changes to. But nothing about the distortion truly changes. Changing amp models felt exactly like just playing with the eq.
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Second i think his cab/mic modelling is seriously lacking, you never really get the sound of it being real. In your face, in the room with you.
And im not comparing this to playing a real amp in a room, but to recording one. Before i got it, i recorded my VHT mic'd up. Just all amp no fx.
Then when i got the axe-fx i pulled up the vht model (which sounded exactly like the mesa models) and tried to record a somewhat similar sample.
What i heard was like a chariccature of my sound. No realism, the grain was all wrong. There is a certain ALIVE dynamic to a real mic'd recorded sound , and excitement if you will. Its not there. in the axe.
There were also none of the inbetween magic tones, that you can get with say a mark III clean channel.
I know good cab modelling can be done digitally. I think axe would be served well if they used line-6's reverb algorithms, which to my ear are far more spontaneous and realistic.
Also when i dialed up any high gain sounds on the axe-fx it lost tons of clarity. I couldnt hear notes i could hear clearly on my bugera 333xl.
The clean unless slatherered with fx, was bland and had no bounce what so ever.
In the end, i realised i had paid 1500 for an ampmodeller, and i truly liked the sounds of my old 300 dollar Digitech Gnx3000 better. At least that unit sounded like maybe 4 distinct amp models with eq applied, and they all felt and reacted great.'
The axe is basically an overpriced software amp modeller. Not a replacement for a real amp by any means. My bugera slays it tone wise.
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In the end i think there are two guitarist, one set who are focused on the notes played. And those to whowm the tone of the notes can be more important than the actual notes played. The former are likely not to notice the fine details of the axe sound. They hear a general eq change and say, it sounds just like the real thing!
Personally im one of those folks who would rather hear grandma play an e minor chord with a beautifully glassy in between sound, or big truck driving through your house distortion tone, than hear a virtuoso fire off eruption on a old crate solid state.
tone means alot to me, and to my ears the difference is unacceptable.
Now if the axe-fx was 500 dollars? I'd say it would be whole heartedly worth it. But for 1500? 500 more and you can have one of the best amps ever made.
And for 219 bucks you can buy a b stock gnx-3000 that is JUST as good imho as the axe-fx.
And to all the bums who say you have to spend forever tweaking to understand what it can do...
A) I DO understand it, its quite EASY to use.
B I didnt want ALL of what it could do. I wanted one thing. I DRY no fx cept reverb, basic amp tone.
that doesnt take lots of tweaking in the axe-fx world. It takes an amp cab and reverb module. And boom thats what the axe sounds like. That BASIC tone that isnt compensated for by cheesey half second delay and 8 phasers just inst there. but once again , it may take weeks to create fancy tones, but it takes 5 MINUTES to pull up a basic tone, and that basic tone is lacking compared directly to a basic recorded amp tone ( which i threw up a cheap behringer mic randomly infront of my cab for).
Ok.... done lol!
~mike~
