# NGD: I got my Axefx II! (Review, Pics and Videos inside!)



## bulb (Jul 19, 2011)

So i finally got mine!
Instead of opening it here, i brought it over to Jakes so he could take part in the unboxing and powering it up for the first time. Hell being the good buddy i am, i worked the camera and let him try it first too, so you can see our inital reactions and impressions!

First Impressions:
First off it is definitely bigger, and it looks like its made to be even tougher than the ultra! It has thicker panels and it does weigh a bit more as a result, but its still a relatively light unit for what it is.
The screen is bigger and better and the only knobs that arent "soft" knobs are the out1 and 2 knobs which is cool.
The quick control knobs are GREAT for tweaking, it feels more like tweaking an amp in that sense, and the x/y compare feature is SERIOUSLY useful.

As far as tone goes i have to say, i wasnt expecting to hear much of a difference after what some people have been saying, but my god, it is seriously better. In a blind test i could definitely tell the difference between the two. First off, this has that tube amp top end "sparkle" that seems to elude all modelers, even the ultra. It makes your monitors sound like your amp is IN THE ROOM with you. Absolutely insane, maybe something that wouldnt translate as blatantly in the context of a mix, but would always be appreciated! 
Then the feel. I have always maintained that the Ultra feels like an amp, so i didnt expect or feel the need for improvement in that area, but my god, improvement there is nonetheless! I dare anyone to try this and tell me the feel isnt absolutely SPOT ON with a tube amp (of which i have owned many of all caliber)
Now keep in mind i have spent 30 minutes with this thing, i really havent even begun to scratch the surface of this unit, so i cant add much more at this point. But let me put it this way. I expected to get an Ultra with useful features like usb, a headphone jack and unity gain (which is really useful by the way, no more messing with the input gain when you switch guitars!)
But instead i got a whole different beast.
This is truly the next level for Fractal, simply incredible!

Here are pics:






















And here are videos:
Powering it up for the first time:

Dialed in a high gain patch:

And jake jamming a new riff out on it:


Enjoy!

EDIT: Here is a quick test clip i whipped up of a high gain sound i dialed in really quick on my axefx II. I am amazed at how well this tone sat in my mix! 
http://soundcloud.com/iambulb/axefx-ii-high-gain-test-clip
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10868685

EDIT: Clean test:
Axefx II Clean Test by iambulb on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


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## nostealbucket (Jul 19, 2011)

I love you.


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## JamesM (Jul 19, 2011)

Jelly jam.


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## Menigguh (Jul 19, 2011)

Hell yea


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## Hemi-Powered Drone (Jul 19, 2011)

I saw this on Facebook(because, for some reason, I can see your status when I've only sent a request) you are unbelievably lucky/awesome! You're already getting good tones out of it!


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## themike (Jul 19, 2011)

I don't know what I'm more excited about - you getting the II or finally getting a DSLR and filming amazing looking videos haha


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 19, 2011)

nice.. really making me wonder if I should save up and wait for a II instead of getting a Standard/Ultra now.. ahh.


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## Leuchty (Jul 19, 2011)

Very nice. Awesome pics!

Congrats. See you next week in Brisbane! haha!


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## ROAR (Jul 19, 2011)

Selling my Ultra since I'm on the waiting list for this.
This is incredible.
Thanks Misha


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## Insanity (Jul 19, 2011)

Grats Mish and Jake!.
Now gief moar samples! ^^


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## itscurbe (Jul 19, 2011)

Ahhhh.... maybe some day... just maybe

thanks for the pics deeeewd.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 19, 2011)

So jealous!!!! Damn waiting list!!



> It makes your monitors sound like your amp is IN THE ROOM with you.



This is a huge thing for me, hope to see more videos soon!


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## leonardo7 (Jul 19, 2011)

Awesome!! Congrats and thanks for the sharing your thoughts on it! Im getting one of these soon for sure. Then I will use my Ultra for practices.


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## Metalhead77479 (Jul 19, 2011)

Must......Get.....One.......


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## DakoRob (Jul 19, 2011)

Super djelly. Put that thing to use on the new albums!


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## AvengedESP (Jul 19, 2011)

Great, something else I wish I could afford ¬.¬

You could always donate your Ultra...


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## SilenceIsACrime (Jul 19, 2011)

Man, I certainly wasn't against the notion of getting one of these before, but now I am definitely thinking it would be an awesome thing indeed....


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## iamrichlol (Jul 19, 2011)

yay Elliot


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## TreWatson (Jul 19, 2011)

that elliot is thuch a handthum mayun....


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## Alan234 (Jul 19, 2011)

sounds sick, a lot of money but it seems to be able to perfect any tone, would you say its worth the extra money compared to the axe fx standard (the first one)


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## atticmike (Jul 19, 2011)

brütal mate 

seriously, I'd love to have one. On the other hand, I'd hate any newer release what automatically lets your previous axe look like oldtimer 

That's what all the axe fx ultra owner are getting right now ^^


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## maximummetal288 (Jul 19, 2011)

I bought my Standard back in October, and when Fractal announced the II I didn't feel the urge to buy one. I knew one day I'd own a II, and I was perfectly OK with waiting. Now I am looking at my guitars figuring out which ones I could sell so I can buy the II. God Dammit.

Congrats though, we all know you'll put it to good use!!


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## atticmike (Jul 19, 2011)

maximummetal288 said:


> I bought my Standard back in October, and when Fractal announced the II I didn't feel the urge to buy one. I knew one day I'd own a II, and I was perfectly OK with waiting. Now I am looking at my guitars figuring out which ones I could sell so I can buy the II. God Dammit.
> 
> Congrats though, we all know you'll put it to good use!!



That's what I've been talking about. 

By the time they release a newer revision, yours will be outdated 

Circle of doom my friend. 

However, you choose to be standing right in the middle of it.

Send satan my best regards


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## bulb (Jul 19, 2011)

Here is a quick test clip i whipped up of a high gain sound i dialed in really quick on my axefx II. I am amazed at how well this tone sat in my mix! 
Axefx II High Gain Test Clip by iambulb on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
SoundClick artist: Bulb - Hello! I am Bulb! Enjoy the tunes!


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## Adeamus (Jul 19, 2011)

bulb said:


> Here is a quick test clip i whipped up of a high gain sound i dialed in really quick on my axefx II. I am amazed at how well this tone sat in my mix!
> Axefx II High Gain Test Clip by iambulb on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
> SoundClick artist: Bulb - Hello! I am Bulb! Enjoy the tunes!



Is that an autowah effect at first or just the midbump from the tubescreamer throwing me?


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## bulb (Jul 19, 2011)

Adeamus said:


> Is that an autowah effect at first or just the midbump from the tubescreamer throwing me?



haha its actually the chords im playing, just high chords followed by low ones, the change in timbre is what you are hearing


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## Adeamus (Jul 19, 2011)

bulb said:


> haha its actually the chords im playing, just high chords followed by low ones, the change in timbre is what you are hearing



It's a pretty dramatic effect. I think Mid bump is just made much more apparent in the higher register....

....That stated, I'm gonna go put me together an autowah riff in drop Ab and give you NONE OF THE CREDIT MWAHAHAHA


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## signalgrey (Jul 19, 2011)

first time ive really like the axefx was just now. wow.


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## toiletstand (Jul 19, 2011)

you dialed in a sweet tone pretty quick! nice m this makes me want one even more


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## FrancescoFiligoi (Jul 19, 2011)

I can definitely hear improvements in the harmonic content. I mean, it's still your playing and your signature sound (even if a quick preset) but the guitar tone blends much better with the drums now, the mix sounds very solid and cohesive!


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## Curt (Jul 19, 2011)

Sounds thicker than most clips i've heard by you from your ultra. Looks like they beefed this thing up tonally slightly more than I thought. hmm.

Any harder to dial in than the ultra?


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## mhickman2 (Jul 19, 2011)

Impossible for me to tell honestly. Definitely gauging my interest but I still feel with the clips I've heard from all axe II owners, are easily replicable with the axe I. I'll still buy one, but if it's not as promised, I'll sell it for profit.


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## Joelan (Jul 19, 2011)

I have an Ultra on the way and I came into this thread hoping to hear how the II wasn't a huge improvement or anything, so


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## Opion (Jul 19, 2011)

That clip sounds like you're using more gain than usual, which is surprising since most of your stuff sounds like it's the right amount of layers and gain (which I've seen you mention it helps with the multiple layers periphery uses, like quad tracking and stuff). I can totally hear that sparkle you're talking about too, fucking beautiful man.

Can't wait to hear you get used to this thing and whip up some beautiful clips!


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## Alimination (Jul 19, 2011)

Axe FX aside... anyone else impressed by the camera he's using? makes it extra purrtty lol


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## AngstRiddenDreams (Jul 20, 2011)

That little bit right between :35 and :36 seconds was fucking great. haha I bow to the Axe II. I'm super jealous...how many others here are stuck with Spider 3's?


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## VILARIKA (Jul 20, 2011)

I got mine today also!


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## ShadyDavey (Jul 20, 2011)

Just floopin' epic!


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 20, 2011)

That clip sounds so awesome


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## bluffalo (Jul 20, 2011)

Does this mean the new stuff will be re-recorded?


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## Speculum Speculorum (Jul 20, 2011)

It seems to me that people are forgetting that it took him about ten minutes to craft the tone. Ten minutes. Imagine what can be done with the unit after hours, days, a month, of tweaking.

I want one badly. I just cannot justify paying $3,600 to get one off of ebay. So God only knows when I will finally come up on the waiting list and can purchase one.

Anyhow, my hat is off to you, Mr. Mansoor. Great job!


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## Prydogga (Jul 20, 2011)

Curt said:


> Sounds thicker than most clips i've heard by you from your ultra. Looks like they beefed this thing up tonally slightly more than I thought. hmm.
> 
> Any harder to dial in than the ultra?



My guess is, since the new mix makes the other mix on the soundcloud Bulb posted reminds me of the improvements comparing his Axe FX Ultra clips to Pod X3 clips, and it was done in 10 minutes, I'd guess probably not, although they *could* have been the most intense 10 minutes of tweaking in his life..


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## sol niger 333 (Jul 20, 2011)

Cram me with cocks. Heavy tone. Haven't quite warmed to the grit in the mids of the aftermath yet but this clip has started to sway me. Would love to hear a cold sweat version of that soundcloud riff


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## TaylorMacPhail (Jul 20, 2011)

You are the god of tone and gear dude and when I hear you give this unit such praise, it gives me the chills, I can't wait to receive mine, you rock Bulb!


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## AngstRiddenDreams (Jul 20, 2011)

^ Win post is win.


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## Taylor2 (Jul 20, 2011)

Misha,


How much better REALLY is it?

Can we get a bit of a comparison?


I honestly am still on the fence about selling mine.


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 20, 2011)

nope.
nope.
nope.
nope.


Congrats so much man! seriously, jesus, i want one so damn much!

edit: aaaaaaaand it sounds fantastic! is it possible for you to just program your current axe-fx patches into it, or do you have to rework everything from scratch?


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## BigPhi84 (Jul 20, 2011)

MF_Kitten said:


> nope.
> nope.
> nope.
> nope.
> ...




Patches aren't interchangeable, so you'll have to completely rebuild your patches from scratch.


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## bulb (Jul 20, 2011)

sol niger 333 said:


> Cram me with cocks. Heavy tone. Haven't quite warmed to the grit in the mids of the aftermath yet but this clip has started to sway me. Would love to hear a cold sweat version of that soundcloud riff



Im honestly not a fan of the coldsweat 7, only the 6


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## MobiusR (Jul 20, 2011)

so much sex....


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## Sepultorture (Jul 20, 2011)

MobiusR said:


> so much sex....



yep, and the blue balls boner i have for this peice of ass gear won't quit till i have one, then i will blow my chord load all over it's interface

FUCK YES

\m/


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## jon66 (Jul 20, 2011)

Sepultorture said:


> yep, and the blue balls boner i have for this peice of ass gear won't quit till i have one, then i will blow my chord load all over it's interface
> 
> FUCK YES
> 
> \m/





Congratz guys! Put 'er to good use!


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## jsousa (Jul 20, 2011)

fantastic.


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## bulb (Jul 20, 2011)

Clean test:
Axefx II Clean Test by iambulb on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


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## Sepultorture (Jul 21, 2011)

got to hear the test clips just now, fuck it's dream tone man, amazing low end character, nice chugs, tight and articulate sounding

i was gunna save for a custom after i get new monitors and a bass, but i think fuck it, i'll just get an AXE FX 2, when they become a little more available-ish


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## technomancer (Jul 21, 2011)

Sounds great, have to get one of these eventually. Also edited the first post to add the clean clip


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## MobiusR (Jul 21, 2011)

Now bulb and VILARIKA and everyone else who has a axefx 2 can use this picture.....


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## Lothar (Jul 21, 2011)

Congrats! That sounds pretty sweet.


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## Malkav (Jul 21, 2011)

I am jelly...so jelly...

I know this is strange to ask but as a comparison when you're done learning the unit could you maybe take something like New Groove or a Periphery track and re-record it with said Axe-FX? Maybe use the original mix and just input a new guitar track? Just to get some sort of before and after comparison?

You're gonna need to sit and tweak new patches for live and in studio use so maybe if you have the time you could throw on a camera and just talk about what you look for in a sound, or which frequencies you'd accentuate in a tone to cut in the way you'd like. 

I'm sure we'd all be hugely appreciative if you could do some sort of tutorial on what it is you look for in a guitar tone, maybe do a walk through of how you like to create tones for multi tracking and give pointers on what to look for in complimentary EQ or how to make them mesh well when put together in a mix. If you don't mind sounding all naked and shit, you know just sorta show what your preferences in a patch would sound like before all of the post EQ and compression etc get added. Maybe even do a comparisson of this studio kind of patch to a live patch and what differences in EQ etc would apply to fatten things up outside of the studio environment?

While you're creating all your new patches you could perhaps take a track like New Groove and do a comparison of the live vs studio tone and all the aforementioned stuff and maybe just throw in a few pointers about what you'd do post? Maybe make it less Axe-FX specific and more just talking about general guitar tone?

I know you guys are super busy and that what I'm asking for is majorly ridiculous, but I'm sure everyone here would not only value your input but also go and make use of it so it wouldn't be falling on deaf ears  and you're gonna have to sit and make a ton of new patches anyway so maybe you could kill two birds with one stone? We'd all love you forever even more 

Anyway I figure it couldn't hurt to ask  Congratulations on the new unit, I'm sure you're going to do an amazing job of utlising it and making super insane tones that'll make us jelly


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 21, 2011)

i gotta ask: when the first chord hits in the distorted test clip, how the FUCK do you make it smack so hard?!

it sounds like you've got a compressor on there that makes any new transients snap hard as hell, but then there's no pumping or other compressor artifacts, and i'm now stumped. love it!


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## Andromalia (Jul 21, 2011)

Meanwhile, at G66...>_<


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## Invader (Jul 21, 2011)

I've been listening to that high gain clip over and over and over again. Those chords starting from 0:36... insane.


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## HighGain510 (Jul 21, 2011)

Andromalia said:


> Meanwhile, at G66...>_<



I got on the waiting list for the coupon the day it was announced and still haven't received my email. I'd say it's going to be a LOOOONG time for you guys!


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## HighGain510 (Jul 21, 2011)

Sounds awesome as usual Misha, I need to swing by with some of the new toys and run them through that!  You around next weekend?


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## Speculum Speculorum (Jul 21, 2011)

I attended a concert a while back where the guitarist got up on stage with a PRS Custom 22 with a black stained maple top, a mesa triple rectifier stack, and a sweet-ass pedal board that looked like something Adam Jones would walk out and stomp on. I found myself getting excited to hear a pretty good show. He then proceeded to play 45 minutes of some of the worst sounds I have ever heard, period. Not just subjective "Oh I don't like that music" bad, but horrible, horrible tones that pretty much made me want to stick something hot and sharp into my ear canal.

And I've heard a lot of terrible music.

Misha Mansoor has a unique picking style and finger tone that, when paired with a specific set of techniques he has developed over his years of playing guitar, give him his unique tone. Youtube up some videos of him for God's sake. Look at how he holds his pick and look at what his left hand does when he strikes the string(s). 

About 90% of anybody's tone is going to come from the way that they physically play the instrument, all gear considerations aside. Bulb could hand over his rig to you and tweak the knobs so that you had his exact settings, and guess what? You'd still sound not a thing like him.


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## Lothar (Jul 21, 2011)

Speculum Speculorum said:


> Misha Mansoor has a unique picking style and finger tone that, when paired with a specific set of techniques he has developed over his years of playing guitar, give him his unique tone. Youtube up some videos of him for God's sake. Look at how he holds his pick and look at what his left hand does when he strikes the string(s).
> 
> About 90% of anybody's tone is going to come from the way that they physically play the instrument, all gear considerations aside. Bulb could hand over his rig to you and tweak the knobs so that you had his exact settings, and guess what? You'd still sound not a thing like him.



That's exactly what I wanted to say. +1, man.


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## JP Universe (Jul 21, 2011)

I've gotta stay away from the forums! I got my Ultra last week and I can't resist opening threads up like this!


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## asmegin_slayer (Jul 22, 2011)

Speculum Speculorum said:


> Look at how he holds his pick and look at what his left hand does when he strikes the string(s).



The banana finger some call it. That type of picking isn't really new but some people do a great job taking advantage of that style.


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## Malkav (Jul 22, 2011)

Speculum Speculorum said:


> About 90% of anybody's tone is going to come from the way that they physically play the instrument, all gear considerations aside. Bulb could hand over his rig to you and tweak the knobs so that you had his exact settings, and guess what? You'd still sound not a thing like him.



Hmmmm...I'm not sure if your post is directed at me, but just to clarify I don't want to sound like Misha, I don't even really want to use a djenty tone most of time cause it doesn't really work too well with the music I play.

That being said though it's seldom that people ever do instructionals on guitar tone or actual studio work, I had once seen a really good instructional video where Dan Huff talks about in studio work and how he layers and the various tricks he'd use to help make things sound bigger etc. That tutorial was more or less made in the 80s though and alot of the tones and general production is reflective of that sort of era of rock.

I think it would be cool if a modern player in a metal context, perhaps someone like Misha who actually has a good knowledge of production and tone, could maybe talk about or share their tonal experiences and knowledge with regards to how they beef things up, or for instance when they're looking at doing multi tracks how they'd setup each tone (e.g having one track be more bass heavy with less treble and maybe layering it with something brighter with less gain but more upper mids and treble).

I also realise he's been on this forum for ages and has shared tons of his knowledge already, and I have searched and learnt alot, but the nice thing about a video tutorial is that when someone is talking about which frequency would help with x factor of the tone they can then fiddle with the EQ in question and make it blatantly obvious as to what characteristics they're referring to.

Misha gets great tones and they work really well in a mix and on top of that he's got really good mixing skills so in a lot of ways he sees things from both sides of the fence, his input regarding these things could be invaluable whether it be for a djenty type tone or just to pick up something new you'd never thought of before.

There are a legion of worshippers who'll no doubt use it to emulate him in a generic and boring way, this can't be avoided and already exists, so for those people who'd just like to hear his input or are maybe in the process of learning more about how to create good tones that will work in studio (which means they may sound shit on their own) it could be incredibly valuable. His application may be for djenty sounds, but that doesn't mean there aren't any universal laws your mind may need refreshing on or that you perhaps didn't know about.

He's a busy guy though and to do a proper instructional video would be a long and painful process that takes planning, but seeing as he'll be needing to setup a bunch of new tones throwing a camera on and talking about them as he makes them couldn't hurt either. It was just a suggestion, and quite a ridiculous one at that, heck if I were Misha I'd probably be a bit offended that someone is asking for something so ridiculous especially after all he's already done to try and help with regards to teaching others about these things. I just figured it couldn't hurt to ask, so I did


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## sol niger 333 (Jul 22, 2011)

bulb said:


> Im honestly not a fan of the coldsweat 7, only the 6


Mish I remember hearing your aftermath clip with the picture of the chrome pup on youtube. I managed to track down that exact same clip you'd done with the cold sweat. Both sound killer but I preferred the smoothness of the CS mids and its clarity, I'd be really interested to hear your preference. Not to derail or anything ololol. I'm looking forward to getting my axe fx II sometime mid 2012 hahaa


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## sol niger 333 (Jul 22, 2011)

Speculum Speculorum said:


> I attended a concert a while back where the guitarist got up on stage with a PRS Custom 22 with a black stained maple top, a mesa triple rectifier stack, and a sweet-ass pedal board that looked like something Adam Jones would walk out and stomp on. I found myself getting excited to hear a pretty good show. He then proceeded to play 45 minutes of some of the worst sounds I have ever heard, period. Not just subjective "Oh I don't like that music" bad, but horrible, horrible tones that pretty much made me want to stick something hot and sharp into my ear canal.
> 
> And I've heard a lot of terrible music.
> 
> ...



Too true. I hold my pick in a retarded way and I feel that adds to my tone. IMO it makes chugging sound heavier, more note, less pick sound. The original Cannibal Corpse guitarist held it the same way I think. Kinda like holding chopsticks and using the edge of the pick rather than the flat of it. Tone is the big picture of technique and how well you can dial in what you want to hear though. Misha has the trifecta of gear ear and chops.


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## themike (Jul 22, 2011)

Malkav said:


> Hmmmm...I'm not sure if your post is directed at me, but just to clarify I don't want to sound like Misha




Whoa whoa whoa, no need to go all Comic Sans on us buddy


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## Doomcreeper (Jul 22, 2011)

DakoRob said:


> Super djelly. Put that thing to use on the new albums!


I hear he's gonna start using the standard on albums instead now


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## Malkav (Jul 22, 2011)

th3m1ke said:


> Whoa whoa whoa, no need to go all Comic Sans on us buddy


 
Hahahaha 

Only people who are truly *BRUTAL* post in Comic Sans  It's the *KVLT *thing to do


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## Rick (Jul 22, 2011)

Hear that sound? It's Axe FXs flying to eBay to be sold for $800.


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## 0 Xero 0 (Jul 22, 2011)

sol niger 333 said:


> Mish I remember hearing your aftermath clip with the picture of the chrome pup on youtube. I managed to track down that exact same clip you'd done with the cold sweat. Both sound killer but I preferred the smoothness of the CS mids and its clarity, I'd be really interested to hear your preference. Not to derail or anything ololol. I'm looking forward to getting my axe fx II sometime mid 2012 hahaa



May I ask where you heard the CS clip? You've piqued my curiousity.


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## Jzbass25 (Jul 22, 2011)

Man all the reviews coming in make me want one, anyone wanna give me 2.3k? lol!

Also I expected to hear a huge difference between the 2 unlike what I hear from most people and I'm glad its meeting my expectations. I figured with an extra dsp chip and even more emulation code would really change things. It's all about point to point component emulation, other modelers haven't been able to compete probably because the gratuitous code/math. Also since processing is getting cheaper I think its extending the range of emulation, I expect near perfect emulation soon. But I expect the axe-2 is good enough for most people.


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## TMM (Jul 22, 2011)

Wasn't really loving anything in the vids, and good clean clips never impress me, because I feel you can get those out of just about anything, but that hi-gain tone in the Soundcloud clip is just flooring. One of the best tones I've heard and (no offense) I'm not typically a fan of the tones in your recordings - they're good, but just not my style. This however, een-cred-eee-bleh.


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## bulb (Jul 23, 2011)

sol niger 333 said:


> Mish I remember hearing your aftermath clip with the picture of the chrome pup on youtube. I managed to track down that exact same clip you'd done with the cold sweat. Both sound killer but I preferred the smoothness of the CS mids and its clarity, I'd be really interested to hear your preference. Not to derail or anything ololol. I'm looking forward to getting my axe fx II sometime mid 2012 hahaa



The other clip wasnt a Coldsweat, not really sure where you got that info?
It was my original run JP7 that has those incredible custom Dimarzio pickups made specifically for the EBMM Petrucci series before they switched to the d-sonic. It is one of my absolute favorite pickups out there and that guitar is one of my holy grails of tone (which is why i used it to track all of the 7 string songs on the periphery album)


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## bulb (Jul 23, 2011)

Jzbass25 said:


> Man all the reviews coming in make me want one, anyone wanna give me 2.3k? lol!
> 
> Also I expected to hear a huge difference between the 2 unlike what I hear from most people and I'm glad its meeting my expectations. I figured with an extra dsp chip and even more emulation code would really change things. It's all about point to point component emulation, other modelers haven't been able to compete probably because the gratuitous code/math. Also since processing is getting cheaper I think its extending the range of emulation, I expect near perfect emulation soon. But I expect the axe-2 is good enough for most people.



Honestly the only thing it seems to be missing at this point is the extra noise and tube amp imprefections, and that i can personally do without. I guess thats the real tradeoff, and i TOTALLY get why some people would be into those aspects, but for me i find the Axefx II to be the best of both worlds!


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## Customisbetter (Jul 23, 2011)

^Play a Tesla guitar through the Axe and you have the best of both worlds.


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## bulb (Jul 24, 2011)

Customisbetter said:


> ^Play a Tesla guitar through the Axe and you have the best of both worlds.



As in a Teuffel? Would LOVE to try one of those out, always wondered how they sounded.


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## Curt (Jul 24, 2011)

th3m1ke said:


> Whoa whoa whoa, no need to go all Comic Sans on us buddy













/thread derailment


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## Cancer (Jul 24, 2011)

Malkav said:


> He's a busy guy though and to do a proper instructional video would be a long and painful process that takes planning, but seeing as he'll be needing to setup a bunch of new tones throwing a camera on and talking about them as he makes them couldn't hurt either. It was just a suggestion, and quite a ridiculous one at that, heck if I were Misha I'd probably be a bit offended that someone is asking for something so ridiculous especially after all he's already done to try and help with regards to teaching others about these things. I just figured it couldn't hurt to ask, so I did




Personally, I would buy this were it released on DVD or something (or maybe arrange for streaming on Netflix). I used buy tons of technique videos, but you're right in that their aren't alot of instructional studio videos, and given that most guitar players have some access to a decent DAW, seems like an untapped market to me.


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## Thor1777 (Jul 24, 2011)

clips sound nice, wish the axe fx II was more readily available


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## Andromalia (Jul 25, 2011)

Rick said:


> Hear that sound? It's Axe FXs flying to eBay to be sold for $800.




Not really: 
axe fx | eBay

^^


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## Malkav (Jul 25, 2011)

Cancer said:


> Personally, I would buy this were it released on DVD or something (or maybe arrange for streaming on Netflix). I used buy tons of technique videos, but you're right in that their aren't alot of instructional studio videos, and given that most guitar players have some access to a decent DAW, seems like an untapped market to me.



Exactly!

As I said I had one that Dan Huff made, but it's a bit dated 

Now if someone who gets awesome modern tones like Misha were to do one that would be awesome and very relevant to my interests and I'm sure lots of other peoples as well  

Fanboyism aside I'm sure there's a wealth of information he could impart on us, whether you like his style or not, and there may be things that you could apply to your own mixes whether you like Periphery's mixes or not. If someone leads the way then maybe one day more people will follow  and then maybe if we're all super lucky John Petrucci would do an instructional on tone and I would die on the spot from an overload of awesome directly to my brain  

inb4 Mesa Boogie tone video with John Petrucci - I would hope for it to be more in depth, talking about wood types, pickups, amps, tubes, mics - just all that shit that normally involves a lot of research, speculation, face-palming, trying again etc I don't underestimate the value of drawing your own opinions and all that either and I do believe you have to put in the mileage yourself to really figure out what you want, but it could really help create ball park concepts for you to build on.

In my country guitars and amps etc are hellishly expensive and most of the super awesome stuff you see on forums like this is quite literally not available and though you could import it you would be opening yourself to quite a bit of risk. Anything that can assist me in knowing a product before laying down the money for it is majorly advantageous and honestly most of the Youtube reviews that are out there sound like shit, or the quality of the audio/video is just so abysmal there's no point, or the guitarist in question can't play for shit and does nothing to help actually illustrate the finer points of the tone.


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## K3V1N SHR3DZ (Jul 25, 2011)

info on Snare sound, plz!? It sounds amazing


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## atticmike (Jul 26, 2011)

If all of you have to do more than just flipping a coin for any axe fx, skip the investment. There is way more hype in the price than the thing is actually worth.

I'm not saying the axe fx I & II suck. I'd freaking love to have one at home but lots of people sell their high quality strings / tube gear for a freaking overhyped (over the actually threshold of its awesomeness) price just to have high end hardware, which ultimately has to be replaced in the near future anyways as soon as an update comes out. The infinite circle of doom of computer hardware / chips. 

Regardless of my hate-talk, the axe fx two sounds surprisingly good compared to the previous revision which is really not what I expected.

The effect loops got even more insane than they already were. 

Also, the europeans got cut off again with their unexpected delivery status at g66. Gotta love it


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## sk3ks1s (Jul 26, 2011)

atticmike said:


> ... but lots of people sell their high quality strings / tube gear for a freaking overhyped (over the actually threshold of its awesomeness) price just to have high end hardware, which ultimately has to be replaced in the near future anyways as soon as an update comes out. The infinite circle of doom of computer hardware / chips.


 
By that logic, given our accelerated technological progression over then past 20 years, you're saying that people should have nothing.
They're over priced 'cause of demand. 
If Fractal opened a lemonade stand across from the MinuteMaid lemonade factory, they would sell for $1.00
A lemonade stand in the desert, $2800 + s/h... and they would sell out. 


Then we would have Lemonadjent. Sour at first, with a sweet after taste.
Oh my.


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## Underworld (Jul 26, 2011)

Wow. Impressive!


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## atticmike (Jul 26, 2011)

sk3ks1s said:


> By that logic, given our accelerated technological progression over then past 20 years, you're saying that people should have nothing.
> They're over priced 'cause of demand.
> If Fractal opened a lemonade stand across from the MinuteMaid lemonade factory, they would sell for $1.00
> A lemonade stand in the desert, $2800 + s/h... and they would sell out.
> ...



I'm not saying people should have nothing, not even my logic conveys such a thrifty / technology reluctant attitude. 

They are overpriced because fractal audio does this kind of control on purpose. It boosts your sales and minimizes a cheaper used price market. Actually, they've created another sales platform between private individuals, based on a higher than the actual listed price luxury phenomena.

With little knowledge on business distribution, you can do the math yourself. 

In addition to your "given our accelerated technological progression over then past 20 years, you're saying that people should have nothing." objection, what does this have to do with instruments and amplifiers? 

I agree with you on the technology aspect, guess we're all kind of fucked with that. That is why you have to meticulously reflect about any high end hardware purchase in the near future before you actually take a step. 

Now, what does have a tube amplifier or an instrument to do with computer chips or a software-driven modeler? 

I'm just talking about people who don't enjoy the privilege of having several amps and instruments at home. Driven by the gadget's awesomeness and infesting hype, they swap their reliable, "almost" ageless amplifier for something that is subject to technological progress and broken chips you can't just get fixed by a local engineer.

You can't compare regular consumers with artists such as bulb or any other fractual audio "effectively" using person.

*Closed*

*Back to the topic, has there ever been a review about having this unit just as an effect processor along with a regular amplifier?*


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## Speculum Speculorum (Jul 26, 2011)

Look - There are always morons who will sell everything to purchase the next big thing so they can "sound like _____". They'll buy the Axe II, set it to djent/metal/sparkly clean mode and never move away from "their sound". As the cogs slowly turn, they will begin to wonder if their investment was a bad choice. But as the thought develops, they'll be off chasing the next big deal.

For every ten-or-so of these folks, there will be one person who understands that technology is simply a tool that helps drive their creative gain.

I just bought the Axe II at the current premium price, and I don't feel badly about it at all. I was on the wait list, but having found out that I screwed up the first email I sent, I was probably so far down the wait list that I wouldn't get the damn thing until mid-2012. My deadline for beginning production is too soon for that to be okay, so when I magically happened upon one while drifting in on their website, I pulled the trigger. I will have to do the majority of recording at night in an apartment, so investing more into my amp gear, buying a bass rig with mics/preamps, and building an iso box while hoping I don't piss off my neighbors just isn't worth it. The Axe is literally perfect for the technology and flexibility that I need, as I write a very wide variety of music, but am specialized in the fact that everything I write is heavily influenced by modern classical music.

Now in response to your question regarding using the Axe-fx purely as an effects unit: if that's all you are going to do with it, you're probably better off with a specialized unit by TC Electronics or Eventide. If I remember correctly, when Tesseract toured the US they used 6505+ amps with Ultras as effects. Acle was pretty happy with the combo. You can shut off the amp/cab sims and strip it down, and you still get top-quality effects, but if you don't want to use it to it's end, the Axe probably isn't for you.


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## leandroab (Jul 26, 2011)

Honestly, I only see this as an Ultra with more I/Os (usb, headphone, etc)





Rick said:


> Hear that sound? It's Axe FXs flying to eBay to be sold for $800.



I sure hope so! hahahaha


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## Larrikin666 (Jul 26, 2011)

leandroab said:


> Honestly, I only see this as an Ultra with more I/Os (usb, headphone, etc)



Your two cents aren't really worth a damn without having played one. The difference in sound and feel is significant. You could scrape out all of the added features (usb, headphones, etc), and the modeling improvements alone are worth the upgrade. Calling this an Ultra with more I/Os is just baseless trolling.


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## Andromalia (Jul 27, 2011)

> I'm not saying the axe fx I & II suck. I'd freaking love to have one at home but lots of people sell their high quality strings / tube gear for a freaking overhyped (over the actually threshold of its awesomeness) price just to have high end hardware, which ultimately has to be replaced in the near future anyways as soon as an update comes out.



If we bought the axe 1 and are lining up to buy the 2, maybe there's a reason you know. One of them being, it's actually _cheaper _than an amp+effects+cab+recording setup rig.


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## sol niger 333 (Jul 29, 2011)

bulb said:


> The other clip wasnt a Coldsweat, not really sure where you got that info?
> It was my original run JP7 that has those incredible custom Dimarzio pickups made specifically for the EBMM Petrucci series before they switched to the d-sonic. It is one of my absolute favorite pickups out there and that guitar is one of my holy grails of tone (which is why i used it to track all of the 7 string songs on the periphery album)



Ah!! Well whatever it was I definitely preferred it to the aftermath version although I liked both. It was a link I followed lost in the labyrinth of the internet haha, someone elses misinformation unfortunately, and some time ago. That tone is just perfect. I am still searching for the holy grail. The closest I have come is a 1980 les paul custom with maple neck. A set of Crawlers might just take it there. The tone you had on that clip is drooly!


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## ThePinealGland (Jul 30, 2011)

bulb said:


> Honestly the only thing it seems to be missing at this point is the extra noise and tube amp imprefections, and that i can personally do without. I guess thats the real tradeoff, and i TOTALLY get why some people would be into those aspects, but for me i find the Axefx II to be the best of both worlds!



You've got to be kidding, man.... Not missing anything other than noise and imperfections? How about realistic cab emulation for one? It's still using impulse responses for fuck's sake, and it most definitely still sounds like it too...

I gotta agree with the guy about not being too impressed by great clean sounds too. The effects sounds great, but... plenty of people get amazing clean sounds out of PODs and Axe-FX 1s...


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## MF_Kitten (Aug 1, 2011)

ThePinealGland said:


> You've got to be kidding, man.... Not missing anything other than noise and imperfections? How about realistic cab emulation for one? It's still using impulse responses for fuck's sake, and it most definitely still sounds like it too...
> 
> I gotta agree with the guy about not being too impressed by great clean sounds too. The effects sounds great, but... plenty of people get amazing clean sounds out of PODs and Axe-FX 1s...



impulses are the most realistic emulation we have of cabs right now, at least that is readily available, with impulses sitting around all over the place. The Axe FX II, however, also does speaker distortion emulation. if that doesn't get you close as fuck, i don't know what does.


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## bulb (Aug 5, 2011)

ThePinealGland said:


> You've got to be kidding, man.... Not missing anything other than noise and imperfections? How about realistic cab emulation for one? It's still using impulse responses for fuck's sake, and it most definitely still sounds like it too...
> 
> I gotta agree with the guy about not being too impressed by great clean sounds too. The effects sounds great, but... plenty of people get amazing clean sounds out of PODs and Axe-FX 1s...



then stick to amps and cabs and miking, but for me im really happy with the way impulses sound and the consistency we get live
not going back to amps any time soon


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## TMM (Aug 5, 2011)

Hey, I may have said I wasn't really wild about the cleans, but those OD tones in the clip...


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## TaylorMacPhail (Aug 25, 2011)

> They are overpriced because fractal audio does this kind of control on purpose. It boosts your sales and minimizes a cheaper used price market. Actually, they've created another sales platform between private individuals, based on a higher than the actual listed price luxury phenomena



Overpriced?....dude....considering what you get in this unit, at the click of a button or turn of a knob, it should be retailing for SO much more. Plus do you have any idea how much it costs to purchase and install the TigerSHARC chips alone? A LOT! I think this is a steal IMHO, even at the MRSP! 

They are much lighter, consistent, reliable, and up-to-date than any 'ol tube amp out there


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