my favorite..."i know there are some great sound guys out there....they are not gonna be working at the club your gigging at." Golden advice right there.
The thing is, it has nothing to do with the Fractal...... If the sound guy is shit, then he's not going to do your boutique amp and cab, mic'd with a 57 any more justice than he will the direct signal he's getting from an Axe FX. It was a pretty pointless thing to bring up. And if it comes to on stage monitoring, you can always pipe the extra output of the Fractal to a cab on stage. And yes, good sound men come and go in bars as well. Everyone has to start somewhere. :)
@@brianjones8432 this is so true. You can have a super nice tube amp and still not hear yourself on stage and sound like crap through FOH if the sound guy is bad. This guy in the video has a HARD bias and it shows.
Good video. I recently bought an Axe FX 2, a good power amp and I already had my Orange 4x12 cab. I have my Orange Rockerverb 50 head still, but honestly the sim for this amp in the Axe Fx literally sounds the same. You're also right, the axe fx is expensive. I bought the Axe Fx 2, the foot controller, 2 fractal expressions pedals, a Matrix Power amp, Power conditioner, Rack Tuner, and Clydesdale cases for my rack gear and a live in case for my cab. YES!!! It's expensive... but now i have hundreds of tones instead of one head. That's what I like about it.
I just learned today that Metallica has been using Axe Effects for their live shows, with solid state rack-mounted power amps, since 2013. I was quite astounded.
Their patches have obviously been created with a studio engineer but they are certainly not nearly as organic as they used to be. Especially the shrill "kill em all patch" with nothing below 200hz.. the mids are also way too harsh.. while their patches are better than stock axefx iii files they don't hold up to that old boogie tone James used to have.
I was digging this till the running direct speech. My band has been using my fractal and an hd500 live direct forever and 99% of the sound guys love it. If they cant dial in a direct produced signal they surely can't dial in a cab.
I had the same thoughts that you mentioned when we decided to drop the cabs. Ultimately I found that even when I was playing with a killer live rig most sound guys wouldn't dial it in for shit anyway. If there is one thing that I do miss however it's the live ambiance of having your gear onstage. You never quite get over having an amp screaming up your ass. On the flip side, my rig weighs about 40lbs now! BTW you dialed in the Axe well!!
Matt Shaffer From my own experience of gigging on an Axe FX II for over a year, even with a FRFR monitor, I couldn't hear myself well on stage next to the bass player and drummer. I've used it on all sorts of PA's (including a JBL line array system) with engineers of various skill levels. It never sounded as good as a tube amp. Nor was it ever as clear in a live mix. Worse, it didn't have the responsiveness to pick attack that I'm used to. Granted, the amp that I used for a long time before it was a Budda Superdrive 45 half stack. That amp slays. I miss it. I sold the Axe FX II and got another head and cab. A. I spent too much time twisting knobs to find an inspiring tone. And 2. I wasn't satisfied with its live performance. I'm now very happy with my Fortin designed Randall.
Matt Shaffer at first I missed the backline, but now the way I run my rig is DI out to FOH and then second output to a cab onstage. Both guitarists and bassist have a rack on the side of the stage that holds all our gear and we still have a pretty good sized backline with two mesa cabs, an svt 8x10 and a dummy svt. It's a lot to haul around, but it allows us to have the best studio tone and still have an amp to our back. To Fully clean up the rig, we are switching to in ear monitor systems and will leave little to the sound guy's responsibility. Makes it easy on everyone!
There are plennnnnnty of gigging guitarists getting great tone at shitty bars all over the place just by plugging the Axe-Fx in. And you're *dead wrong* about the "deer in the headlights" look with sound guys. If you'd ever gigged with the Axe-Fx, you'd know that almost 100% of the time, the sound guy is thankful he doesn't have to mic, and if he hasn't seen a Fractal before, is impressed with the tones and ends up asking a dozen questions about the unit after the show. But actually being accurate about sound guys' reactions to the unit would require you to have used it at gigs around any sound guys.
I'm speaking from experience. Obviously we're going to different shows, or more than likely, you're a a live sound engineer. Perhaps you can handle an AxeFX. Congratulations. Could you please show some of the guys around my town how to do it?
Just make sure your sound guy isn't a noob. I can't speak for everyone though. I just saw Erimha play in Detroit, the lead guitarist used an Axe Fx 2. Needless to say it was the the worst tone I have ever heard, and for a signed band, that is embarrassing. I will take the convenience and familiarity of my 6505+ and 6534+.
***** Mate I've been to a Northlane show where the vocals were coming through fucking studio monitors at the back of the stage. Bad sound guys are bad at EVERYTHING. Eventually the regulars took over the soundboard and Northlane let us all use their Mackies as the main speakers. The show was noticeably better after that. A digital rig is as good as you program it to be. Don't trust the sound guys? EDUCATE THEM! For fucks sake learn a bit of audio and sound stage abilities yourself. It's not rocket science.
SpectreSoundStudios I don't remember which band it was, but at the Red Dog in Peterborough, the sound guy did exactly that. He was just looking around blankly for a good 10 minutes before the guitarist decided to borrow the next band's 6505. What is it about sound guys in this area?!
not trying to argue you, just looking to clear my own confusion (im new to modern gear and am testing the waters to buy an axe fx)... but what i gathered is that that comment applies to when you go direct from the axe fx into a pa/mixer using house pa speakers instead of a cab....whereas if you have your own power amp and cab in your rig than you can dial it in yourself and mic your cab for the sound guy to then go through the pa speakers like any other amp/cab setup....is this right?
@@aalavado Not sure what do I need to clarify, I was just citing the author. You should address him about what he meant to say. However, it seems obvious that most young amateur bands don't play it top clubs, respectively the live sound is shit.
@@aalavado most clubs can be well handled with a half or (if you got the cash) full stack, at least in my experience in the early crap hole days. When a place holds at best 50 people, a hundred watt Marshall can handle the job. As a drummer, I weep when I think about how “the sound guy” nightly butchered my Ludwigs. Festivals were another matter entirely because they were hired companies who knew what they were doing.
There are talented, individuals anywhere man sometimes they are at the club. You’re gigging at just like they’re great guitar players that are not playing in the world stage.
GUITAR TROLLSCIENCE: STEP 1) purchase a Line 6 POD HD STEP 2) get some Axe Fx amp samples STEP 3) simulate with your POD the Axe Fx tones STEP 4) enjoy simulating the simulator! PROBLEM SOLVED! 2000$ SAVED!
btw the Axe has some very cool features and the deeeeep editing that Pod doesnt offer...all in all they are both DIGITAL simulators but Axe is a ''bit'' overvalued
I like my idea better, get cheap practice amps over years of being a broke closet musician, find out which overdrives you like the best and play with hooking things up that weren't intended.. reverse engineer the circuits and make your own amp head and repurpose a speaker you like the tone of for guitar... I never got this far though because I'm too lazy but the projects are waiting.
amp modelling like this device and all other amp modelling is only beneficial (in my opinion) if you are planning on recording, If you just want play and get a good tone your better off with a real amp (preferably tube amp). I'm aware they are expensive but they are expensive for a reason I've never used any amp modeling anything that i though sounded better than a live cabinet. Besides there a many good cheap tube amps or buy second hand one that isn't in bad shape.
Yep I'd rather the 'subpar' (not really) metal tone + all the other amazing tones you can get out of it than blow all my money on a tube amp that I have to keep maintained and does so so much less.
Not only that but how many of us would be buying something like this as a first or only amp? I already have a cabinet, and two amps I could use as power amp, and imagine most people thinking about dropping a few grand on a box like this are in the same position I am.
ezaea zeaeazz Why not, the manufactureres of sims, modelling amps etc. are actively competing with "real" amps. So they better don't show up with only a pocket knife in a firefight.
thanks man, this is the best video I've seen on multieffects pedals and processors, and I've watched many of them... the drummer is great and gave the necessary context to hear the comparison.
For you're final argument, you're correct if all you need for a show is a rhythm tone. A 5150 will do that with flying colors. But what if you need Fender cleans for a part? Or Marshall crunch? Or Vox crunch? Or Soldano lead? Not to mention effects. If you need many sounds, the Axe FX will pay for itself in no time, plus it's much easier to move. Also, the MFC foot controller isn't required for switching sounds; it has MIDI so you can use a cheaper footswitch like a Voodoo Labs or Tech 21, if you want to. I agree, the MFC is insanely pricey.
ZX6R#366 maybe if you're writing verse->chorus->verse->chorus->bridge->chorus->chorus with a specified lead and rhythm guitarist. unmusical metal musicians tend to be far less creative than the pop singers they constantly lament.
ZX6R#366 A good clean, crunch, rhythm, and lead tone isn't that much to ask for. I probably wouldn't use them all in one SONG, but I could certainly use all of those in a full set.
Most typical guitarist need to tune their instrument first, before using various amps in one setup ....hahaha ;-)) Sure, the AxeFx is a bargain if you have the knowledge and purpose of using it in it's full glory. Most musicians don't need 183 amps, +100 cabinets and a truckload of FX-units. Be amazed what you can do with a single amp and some pedals.... PS: I also use an AxeFx in my setup, it works for me - and was a good investment. Should I offended by Glenn's video? Nah....I had a good laugh, he demoing great metal tones, and I agree with him on most parts. Live goes on! Cheers Paco
I guess the actual writing is more important in my eyes than the tones. I find a tone i like and stick with it. that's just me tho. If you're venturing into something more proggy then i totally understand. I only speak from a death/techdeath perspective, where many tones MAY not be vital to your process. i feel like if one's writing could stand on its own, then you don't need a multitude of tones, though they may add a great touch if thats your style. I wouldn't knock a guy for knowing what he likes though :]
I don't know who you are, I don't know how I got here, but I'm looking you up and watching ALL of your videos. THANK YOU FOR THIS. Sincerely. Keep up the honest and sincere opinions!
not to mention, that 5150 needs a tube replacement from time to time, which costs at least 200 USD; mic positioning is also very important- so easy to get it wrong; transporting your own head and a cab is already a headache or should I say a spineache :)
SpectreSoundStudios The worst thing is when you bring your priceless amp to some small venue (you have to admit, that bring in the cab is not always possible- f.e., you've got a gig in a smallpub in 100km from your hometown and only your guitar and amp fits into the car) and there you see (or hear when you plug in) that they've got a really sh**ty cab. It's a common nightmare, I guess.
I remember when the Axe-FX forum posted this video and I checked it out. So glad that witch hunt happened because I found your awesome channel there! Anyway, I bought and Axe-FX II XL well over a year ago, and after tone matching and finally recording a real amp, I can understand why you hate amp-simulators. I tone matched a few guitars recorded on real amps and it just lacked something every time. Even in a full mix, there is just that missing element. I figure it is the cabinet pushing out the guitar tone from that amp that makes the difference. It may sound close, but amps sims just lack that punch of recording a cab directly. Your channel helped me understand that. Thank you Glenn! I am not selling my Axe-FX, but I have definitely stopped using it for recording -- except for recording quick riff ideas. Now I just use the Revv Generator 120!
Great video. I think where the Ace FX truly shines is portability. If you're a signed act travelling the world, it will cost you less money to ship a fractal unit from venue to venue than an entire guitar rig and back up. Still. Nothing beats a stack.
thank you for this shoot out man, it was amazing! I was listening through my studio monitors and realized Axe Efx is really good on emulating high and mid tones, but i see they still cannot replicate the LOW end which is critical in a any metal mix out there! I know i know, most of you are going to say, you do not really use the low end for the guitar, but trust me, its sounds WAY better to remove from a very nice and fat tone, than a thin sound tone in a mix. I would definitely purchase a mesa or a 5150 amp, they are just incredible! Cheers!
I had the Axe Fx 2. Used it mostly for home recording, but I found some VST plugins that gave me better sound and made the recording easier for me. So I sold it. And for band rehersal / live I use Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. Easy setup and gives a good sound.
metalhead9838772 pvdhp7.wordpress.com/ scroll a bit down and find the "Fourteen" VST Plugin (this guy makes a lot of good plugins. Try the rectifier too. I just found the Fourteen amp to sound better with my mixing and mastering). I used the TS808 on top and kefir impulse loader (don't remember impulse response I used, but try with different ones until you get the sound you need). I manage to get this sound out of it (it is EQ'ed though and mastered): instaud.io/7ay
Hey Glenn, I just wanted to say well done. I was shocked at the end. I had missed every amp. You get a very great tone, and touched on some very important points. This video was also in my opinion you best so far. Thanks for what you do
lol i fucking hate when someone puts thought into their video and writes out what to say ahead of time. i was really hoping for a guy rambling and stuttering through an incoherent collection of thoughts.
Love your tones, especially the Framus (real amp). I think where sims fall short is not so much the amps but the cabinets. I try so hard to love sims but there seems to be that cardboard box sound to all of them.
I got all correct with the first try and I know why. Real amp has got more bass respond that unpredictable and less compressed. On the other hand, Axe FX got a tighter more compressed sound and definitely better with extended range instrument such as 9 (or more) strings guitars. Ps. Mesa demo is definitely an easy one to pick because that John Petrucci's sick tone :D
I own an Axe-FX and really must protest. First of all, when I bought the head unit I also bought twin Atomic Reactor powered cabinets, which are perfectly suited for it (Dweezil Zappa's layout). I've gigged with this setup many times and it sounds SO fantastic that guitarists in the audience always come up after the show to ask about it. It's a huge hit. It also does an excellent job of recording direct and I can practice late at night through a mixer and pair of headphones and get EXACTLY the same sound as on stage. What's not to love ?
You seriously rule dude. Exactly how I feel about the Axe FX, while it sounds pretty damn good it also is expensive, needs the controller if you wanna use it live. And that sound guy thingy too.
Wow that was great! I know that the Axe fx costs a pretty penny, and might not sound EXACTLY like the real thing, but you're getting a pretty sweet deal with the Axe fx. It sounds awesome.
Not a big fan of 7 strings. I feel like most people who use 7+ strings use it to mask their inability to write good music. If you want to sound heavy you don't need lower strings you just need good musical dynamics. Pantera wrote tons of heavy riffs in E and D tunings, going all the way down to B or even lower just to achieve "heaviness" feels like a cop-out if you become over-reliant on it. Plus it's kind of a nice cheat for singers too, dropping the key of songs down significantly allows singers to sing in a range that's almost too easy to pull off, whereas if you're singing up in a higher register to match higher tunings you're being pushed to the limit which allows the truly great singers to shine through by proving that they don't need the guitars to be tuned to their comfort zone. But besides that I don't care for the tone of 7+ strings and it gets too muddled to really work. At the very least incorporate some lead work in videos like these, or some more 6th, 5th, even 4th string based riffs, for the people who aren't 7+ string players and would get a clearer idea with something like that.
SpectreSoundStudios didn't even notice lol. Although some lead work would still be appreciated. My point is I just don't like 7 strings. They turn guitarists into bass players.
All a 7-string is is an extra 4th below the E, which not only gives an extra 5 notes, but also allows for the fretting of chord and arpeggio combinations that would either have to be played open, with a capo, or not at all. I use my high e and my low B equally. Take either one and I feel confined. Also, only bad vocalists "push the limits." I'm a tenor singer, and my highest comfortable note is D5. You can try to have me "push the limits" if you want, but my D#5 is gonna' be a bit strained, my E5 is gonna' be pitchy, and my F5 is unlikely to ever sound. I absolutely take advantage of the 7-string allowing me to write songs in lower keys. I hate it when you get to your low E and have to go back up to hit a D when you really want to go down.
Exactly. I feel like Glenn is an old head sometimes. What's harder, plugging an XLR straight into the AxeFx or picking a mic and mic placement that sounds good with whatever cab you bring?
+flagmuffin1221 I don't think he's a professional TV presenter so it's OK. "Fucking cringeworthy" is not constructive criticism - it's just crtiticism. Not constructive at all.
+flagmuffin1221 Only way of him avoiding this is if he did a million jump cuts a minute like most TH-camrs do (which film makers and editors find much more annoying than someone reading a script). Real constructive criticism: he could angle the script above/next to/closer to the camera to make it less obvious that he is reading cue cards.
Loyal Blood So the constructive part was a little sarcastic, shoot me. My point still stands that him looking relatively way down below the camera is extremely distracting from the video. tranquilescapism Your suggestion is what I would have said if I wasn't in whatever mood I was in when I made the comment :P
When the samples were revealed, 6/6 times I preferred the real amp (including this video and Kemper video). Between the Kemper and axe fx 2, I preferred the axe fx 2. thanks for the informative video
Honestly, the way it's mixed makes it very difficult to tell the difference. I got all but the framus, which I wasn't familiar with anyway. There was a loss of depth, but again, the mix makes it very hard to hear.
For this mix, I wouldn't give a flying fat fuck if the Axe FX was used or the real amp. The difference in modeling amps and their real counterparts that I usually notice is in depth and sometimes a slightly uncomfortable fizz in the high end. However, I would be interested to see how well modeling amps hold up when the guitar being used is loaded with passive pickups that have a unique character, like the Dimarzio Crunch Lab, instead of actives. Actives have always seemed rather flat to me, and I'd like to see how well the Axe FX can mimic subtle techniques that change attack of the mids in particular.
Well apparently, amp sims have gotten pretty damn good. Too bad I don't have ~$2700 for the AxeFX II and footboard plus the cost of a great power amp. Would you use the AxeFX II out of the studio as opposed to a normal amplifier?
@@blackfelline2386 Gojira is gojira, and what makes them crush is Joe's playing style. Just listen to him play any amp, it always sounds like Gojira... yeah the 5150 sounds amazing with them but so did Rectifiers when they used them pre-2008.
Excellent point you make in the video, i am a live audio engineer myself and recording engineer, the best piece of advice i can give to bands is that you travel with your own sound guy as part of the band, i wouldn't spend precious time, effort and money on my music to leave the final delivery on the hands of a stranger, talented or not he does not know your music, playing dynamics, monitoring needs, etc. With units as the fractal, kemper or even line 6 and in ear monitor systems, it is waaaay easier to give the audience a better experience of the show and more evenly in the whole venue, working with monitor wedges you can get away with it if you keep the stage in a moderate level, las opposed to people in the front row hearing the amps a lot louder than the people in the back and stuff like that. With amps and cabs it is very easy to overpower PA systems and the venue special with rookie musicians who want to feel the rush of playing with a loud amp... in 5 minutes the rush is gone and have to crank it up a notch and 5 minutes later again and so on... In a big stage you can go either way to get a good sound but you have to have a guy that knows your band. My 2 cents
Cool video! I'd agree current amp sims are pretty good, although I'm yet to afford my own Axe FX or Kemper. I can tell the difference there, especially the Mesa, but they're so close that it comes down to personal preference as to which one is actually better. I think for the studio I'd definitely want one, simply because the versatility of tones available means that instead of buying a 5150 alone, you're getting a shitload of other amps into the bargain (like ones that don't do a totally shitty clean tone for example). Yeah you can get a 510 for like £600 over here, but a mesa dual rectifier, an Orange Thunderverb, a Vox AC30 and a fender twin on top of that and you're suddenly needing to remortgage your house. Also I should point out both the Kemper and Axe FX work with MIDI pedals, so a behringer FCB1010 sets you back a more comfortable £100 (and is surprisingly robust for a Behringer product). Live it's not as required, although I've been using Amplitube with a laptop on tour for a couple of years and through a power amp and speakers it sounds great with a bit of tweaking. You're right, as a live sound guy I've had no problem with DI'ing amps but would I fuck trust most house sound guys with my tone and stage sound - but using a power amp and cab creates a great sound because your speaker cab makes up such a large part of a tone's character that putting the real thing at the end of a signal chain works wonders.
I guessed each one correctly. The identifier is how well they both sit in a mix. The Axe stands out because it doesn't quite sit or blend into the mix as well, as if it's almost superimposed on top of it. It doesn't sound bad at all, per se, but the real amp just sort of melts into the mix and takes on a cohesive whole. The Kemper is one of the only modelers I've used that captures that quality.
I recommend giving the Get Good Drums sample pack a listen. They sound better than most professionally recorded drums do in my opinion. I think dismissing samples and programmed drums is a bit of a waste if you don't take the time and effort to find out what works and what doesn't. That's basically the process of making music.
First off, great video. I'm loving the "no B.S." kind of approach you have with all your videos. I think it's hilarious too because it's entertaining and sobering for a LOT of people to be hearing this kind of stuff like "how to hold a microphone". I think the AxeFX justifies the price with everything that comes along with it. You have hundreds of effects (distortions, delays, modulations, dynamics...) at your finger tips and tons of different amps and cabs to use along with it, and if you're using many patches, it's great having pretty much every thing at your disposal. I think it's super practical if your patches are all tuned to very specific amplifiers, like if you want your clean patch to be using a Fender Supersonic, your rhythm patch to be using an AC30, and your lead patch to be a Friedman Browneye. It's much more practical than lugging out three amps for the same purpose in a real world context, and closer to what you want instead of having to compromise with just one amp that is expected to nail all three tones. Yes, being at the disposal of your sound guy at gigs where at lower levels don't know what they're doing sucks BIG TIME. I had a NIGHTMARE working with a sound guy a while back when going straight DI with my POD HD, and I don't think I'm going to be doing it again. Even Misha Mansoor (from Periphery) said that this is why having a super good sound guy travel with you is important, someone who knows their shiz and your shiz inside out. Their sound guy has a few "playthroughs" of a live show to show how much work goes into making them sound good live. Another downside that is often forgotten because the AxeFX is known to be a "godsend among gear" is that you gotta know your shiz. You can't buy an AxeFX and think that it'll give you workable and amazing tones right outside of the box. There's a REALLY high learning curve with the AxeFX (BIAS by Positive Grid is a much easier amp sim VST to work with an is comparable to the AxeFX if you're looking for a really good amp sim). You're gonna get crap tones if you have no idea what you're doing. It's really pick your poison. I use a combination of both, really. Amps are left for live situations, because of sound guy woes. Amp sims are left for studio sessions, because of the limitless tools I'm given.
I think it depends on what you want to do with it, if you want to play a gig using the sound of a tubescreamer going into a 5150, buy the tubescreamer and the 5150. The axe-fx is the better option when you have a lot of different effects and tones to switch between during the set.
He makes an excellent point about being at the mercy of the SOUND MAN who most likely doesnt' give a SH*T about you. Yes this works for Steve Vai but, Joe Average might be hittting a wall. I was guessing by what I liked the sound of most. My choices were 1)A 2)B 3)A. They sounded more exaggerated then the real deal. All were the AXE. The real deals were more subtle.
but were at the mercy of the sound guy anyway, I bring my halfstack I am told to turn it down and still get a bad monitor mix on top of not being able to get my tubes in the sweet spot, axefx just bring a monitor with you, halfstack bring am 25 watt head, either way a shitty sound man and shitty pa is going to make either rig sound bad
Lol, I chose 1)A 2)B 3)A as well and I was very surprised that they were all the axe-fx! The 5150 in the first clip sounded absolutely HORRIBLE compared to the axe-fx.
I’m a Kemper guy live. I’ve never had better sound through the PA, and the monitor sound for all members in the band are damn good - made about 50gigs like that. Never failed.
SpectreSoundStudios Maybe I’ve been lucky. But on the other hand I’ve made many many gigs with Stacks on stage so load not even me could here what I was playing :-) Key is to be able control you monitor or in-ear as you like on stage.
I don't like the entire viewpoint of "fake vs "real". Instead we should just view it as another kind of amp rather than a "fake" amp. Dif kind of tone plain and simple. I had the Kemper, Axe FX II and a few Pricey real amps. And by "Had", I owned them for 7 months each atlease. Sold them for various reasons. if Im going to be too busy I sell something off because I know a new one will come out. Real amps: Great for everything BUT the bedroom and song writing Guitarist who doesnt have a big studio. Too much work setting up Mics,Cabs, Sound proofing room and so on. If you do have the set up and touring you will have a great time. Kemper: Great for recording. You get the Best tones, the basic effects and everything you want to set up a tone quickly. This is GREAT for people who know the feel of various amps, likes to switch and tweak various setups quickly and lay down tracks and record at home, in the studio and so on. Even better if you have an amp and studio because you can save the tones from your real amp thus saving you more time. Axe FX: The good all around one. The tones are close but not as good as the others. But this piece of gear allows you a TON of choices when it comes to gigging, recording and so on. Ton of effects, Ton of options if you take the time to know how to use it. My overall choice goes to the Kemper. I like the tone the best, usability. I dont need as many options of the Axe FX. And I didnt need the hassle and power of a Real amp. The Kemper gave me the tone I wanted to just sit back, record some tracks and Mix.
***** no sometimes fake tits are attached to a real gf. They are fund for a while ... fun bags, but really i would prefer them natural even if they were smaller!
Got the first two right over a iPhone speaker, probably chance. As for relaying on a soundguy, as a bar/club soundguy I've had bands come in with their own digital mixer and in ears, they controlled their own monitor mix via iPad and I just mixed FOH which was a breeze due to no stage volume.
i can still tell a diffrence even with cpu speakers. i would say that actual monitors would be more apparent . AXE FX holds up well and the technology is improving in time it will be more favorable to alot of people IF they would drop the price a bit
I've gigged in places where the sound person told me 'you can't get any more of vocals/guitar etc in your monitors because they're maxed out, sorry'. Then you play the whole gig as if you had noise cancelling headphones on. These venues were established places too. I couldn't tell the difference between the samples though, very impressive.
I build tube amps and i've had a fair amount of famous amps to test and benchmark and let me tell you. PCM modulation isn't perfect and does a lot of filtering during the conversion process meaning that the signal is "reconstructed" based on the fact PCM system do contain errors during the transmision of the data. Not that alone the slew rate response from analog transistor based devices are way faster and won't have this "round" response from a tube no matter how precise convolution tecniques are applied. A greater resolution PCM based processing demands heavy processing in order to take the bigger amount of snapshots of the analog signal and reducing filtering. Consider another fact that your signal inside a DSP or processing unit is just a few volts and probably has a line level output. A real tube amp will handle signals with 10 times greater levels and unless they can model the non linearity of tubes and speaker coil saturation a DSP based emulator won't beat the real deal. A real tube amp just sounds way more dynamic, uncompressed, less flat and ALIVE than anything i've tried so far. I've also benchmarked famous "stompboxes" modeled and they don't even come close to the original unit. Also. remember every DSP based system has latency, even if its 50ms or less
Haha, love the comparison. Also loved that little rant about hooking into venues sound board. I've seen a few people completely cancel their show due to the venues inability to run the axe fx all together.
I've never been to this channel before. I'm not biased on the Fractal. I began to watch this video and immediately noticed this guy is wearing the shirt that he is, and immediately my will to consider his opinions dropped, but, I was taught to never judge a book by it's cover, so I watched the whole video. In this video, it appears as if the reviewer is only seeing the metal/high gain side of the axe fx, as well as the direct in side of the axe fx. If you're going to simply dig out high gain tones from the AxeFx, play only rhythm tones, and be stupid enough to think the sound guy can do what you want every night with your Fractal, then don't buy an AxeFx. The AxeFx is not just a high gain amp simulator. It's a low, mid, high gain, multi-effect, tone matching, lightweight, well supported, powerhouse of a machine. The reviewer is claiming it would be better for you to simply purchase a used 5150 and a cab and call it day, when in reality, you're going to be purchasing a road case for your gear, a power conditioner, various pedals, a pedal board/case, etc. (if you're smart and serious) which runs it up to almost the same cost. The only difference, is your going to be breaking your back on tour that much more from the weight, you have to worry about more gear failing, more gear potentially being stolen, more gear having to be replaced, and most importantly, you're limited to that ONE AMP giving you that ONE TONE which makes you very one dimensional (admit it, even strictly metal guys love having more than one tone). If you have the cash, tour or play shows regularly, love having more options and tonal possibilities, and hate lugging around a heavy ass head and cab, then the AxeFx is something to consider. I sold an Orange 4x12, a Blackstar Series One 200, 6-10 pedals, laptops, etc. for mine, and I don't regret it at all.
Uriah Graves agreed. not to mention the fact that all 3 of the amps in this video have shitty clean channels. with an axe-fx you could dial in a nice fender or something for clean parts (metal songs have clean passages too!)
+Uriah Graves Axefx, foot controller, power amp, cab. The only thing that you have the power to fix on the road is the cab. Anything else needs to be sent back to manufacturer to service. With my "analog" gear, I can go to literally any major city and I am guaranteed to find a dozen good people who know how to work on my gear OR a plethora of stores that have the parts ready in stock for me to do it myself for much cheaper. For a touring musician THAT makes too much sense. And if you do get robbed, which is waaay to common nowadays, what happens? You've limited yourself to a digital product that isn't as common as traditional amps and that cant be as easily replaced and you've spent all this time figuring out how your certain product works with limited crossover application to what your replacing it with. Also, most people don't care about "tone". The end listener, the end point of a song, is whether or not it was a good song. Having the unlimited tones in that respect doesn't hold any water over traditional amps either. Are you really going to have several different amp tones for each 4-10 songs you're going to playing on tour as a no-name or even mid-level touring band? How pointless when the listener doesn't care. They care about songs and your stage prescence. You will hear ZERO people who aren't gear nerds say, "Oh my god, that AxeFx clean tone you dialed in was so much better than a Fender amp! I'm going to buy your CD, purchase your shirt, tell all my friends about you AND suck your dick because of the AxeFx!" Too many people thinking gear makes a band or that fiddling for hours on some device to get a certain guitar tone you want is going to make you a better player or be better somehow in the eyes of the people you're playing to, and it doesn't. And you need a road case for the axe fx, the power conditioner, the cab, and the foot contoller anyway, why would that be an issue? AxeFx unit and power amp are heavy too dude. Cab's are heavy. Can't really make efficient speakers that aren't heavy, at least not yet.
+metalskim I'm playing music for me. Not because I want to make a ton of money. Therefore, I do want a ton of different amp tones, and a plethora of choices, and don't consider the listener when making tonal decisions. I don't care if the listener appreciated my tone after the set, but if they do I'm stoked! Everyone loves a nice tone compliment. If they do, that's icing on the cake. As far as theft goes, finding your Fractal would be way easier than finding your 5150. 5150's, 6505's are everywhere. Fractals are going to stick out. People remember who's got one. I agree about gear malfunctioning on the road. that's a good point. but most of the time, you can borrow a head from the band before you in the tour set.
Have you ever toured man? Have you ever been in a real band? Nobody puts a fucking gps tracker in their amp because nobody in a real band has money for that. Unless it's a head valued at over 4k, you're not going to go to lengths like that, and if you're touring with gear like that, you probably have enough staff roaming the venue and bus/van to deter thieves and you also probably aren't playing in the shady, run-down part of town... (In other words you can pay your bills with your music and losing some gear isn't a make or break scenario.) Also, you don't always play venues with flat surfaces. Sometimes you're lugging you're Blackstar Series One 200, Orange 4x12, pedal board, and other various pieces of gear up 3 flights of stairs. And if you're not a dick, you're helping your bandmates get their gear up the stairs as well.
Uriah Graves See okay, that's a fair reason to use it. Having that choice is great for a lot of people and in the end, music should be about what you to do with it. I personally wouldn't do it because it still feels like a luxury item for me. I've found that too many choices either stifles creativity or I pay money for something I'm only using half the features for. But that's just me.
Loved the entire video. I just recently acquired the jvm 410 HJS satrianis edition, and 1960 a/b for the stack, along with some high end boutique pedals that are insanely good for what I want, and a jp bfr 6 with the koa top. As I was putting my rig together, I had one guy on forums tell me to get the pod hd 500x ( which I have actually spent months on, hours a day, multiple setups and cable setup methods ) variax guitar, with a stage source. A guy in the store stated I should go axefx II, which I have also tested thoroughly. I was baffled as to how they could suggest these things when they knew what I was actually going for. Great video.
Wow, all the comments on this video are either haters or trolls. How come so much hate towards a man who (rightfully) prefers the old school way of doing things?
Late to the party, but the monitoring is not an issue. What I did with my band was have a soundcard with premade mixes for every band member. One line to the venue, one line to the soundcard. Everyone in ear with their own mix (bass / guitar / synth / vocals) and you can adjust that on your laptop if needed. All you rely on is the venue cranking the drums over the house monitors but they do that anyways so no biggy ;)
Agressive shitty attitude from years of metal + Plays a Jackson and not a silly PRS with emo bird inlays. Count me in, keep it metal Glenn *Subscribed*
Thanks for the comparison. I am a studio musician and use Amplitube/Guitar Rig VST's in my DAW running through Yamaha HS80's. Fucking sounds amazing!!!Not only is it cheaper but I like that it records your track dry allowing you to go back and redo or even change your VST later without having to rerecord your session. I can do everything the AxeFx can do and if I was going to spend big money I would buy a Diezel or Slo100 to play live and run analog pedals. As much as I love the tech of the new gen there really is no substitute for a real tube amp in a live setting. Everything has its place and there is no right or wrong, just personal preferences. DAW and VST's have made it possible for anyone to make a quality product at home without the need to spend a fortune at the studio.
SpectreSoundStudios that framus riff?? You can dial up a good tube tone, I've listened to enough of your tone examples to know that. What is irritating to me is when someone spends 15 grand on tubes and then pisses on the smart guys rocking the same epic tone from an axefx.
wesley johnson That's about 230-187 quality sets of quad matched tubes like TAD/RUBY/EH....If you go through that much in a 5 year gigging span...then you've got a shit amp with a shit problem.
Finally I have a pair of monitors decent enough to hear the difference!)) I remember a couple of years ago I had to guess every time in my headphones, now the difference is noticeable with every mentioned amp. But Axe still sounds pretty good, providing you also with possibilities to play at home with your headphones, a recording interface, etc. So, being a guitarist, you can buy only an Axe, a pedalboard, a guitar and a cord and consider you have basically everything you need to play and have a good sound. So I guess it would be a good choice for many musicians out there. Thank you for the useful video!
Well, i believe it's pretty fair concept "Shut the fuck up and listen". Actually all band's high-end gear is a attempt to fight against the shitty gear of clubs you're playing at. It will always be a compromise in live gigs - of your fantasy of super unique sound and grounded shitty reality you're got in - old crap as a gear, awful acoustics of a room and half-drunk incompetent sound engineers in club. Great video!
I think it's proof that you have a great mic setup because I watched this and the kemper shootout and I honestly nailed the real vs fake on both videos, and I'm not a particularly good guitarist or trained ear. You just did that great of a job....... but there is just some depth missing you can just tell in the chunky parts of the fake ones it sounds sterile versus the depth of the real deal.... Good job man!
As a dude not into the technicality of music or recording and is just a humble purchaser of said tunes........ I heard absolutely no difference on anything. If it wasn't for the cut scenes telling me equipment was changed I wouldn't have known. I think musicians and engineers tend to be a little too over-analytical and obsessive compulsive over insanely minor details. While you probably can hear a difference because it is your job/passion...... the consumer..... the people you are playing and recording for can't tell the fucking difference. While everyone in any craft should always shoot for the best at what they do, sometimes it may be just a bit of overkill. It's like comparing a bic brand pen to a zebra brand pen. Sure the Zebra might have a better flowing and smoother ink when you write with it than the Bic....... but is it justifiable spending 5x the amount to enjoy the slight benefit? You can still write just fine with a cheap ass Bic pen. Just like everything, masters at their craft can make even the shittiest piece of equipment work for them. Do you think Les Claypool would completely sound like shit if he played on a $150 starter bass? No. No he wouldn't. He and other musicians might say the bass sounds like shit, but to the average consumer/listener....... it still sounds badass. My main point is, the overwhelming majority of people listening to the music you play or record can't tell the difference on what equipment you use. Only time it is noticeable is if you go from, say, a starter amp to, say, a $4000 rig. I think audiophiles get a little melodramatic when it comes to their sound quality. In this test it sounds like you're splitting hairs if you can actually tell the difference between any of them. That said it sounds like Glenn agrees with me... somewhat.
I agree, I'm one of those over analyzers and it has taken me the better part of a year to learn to "let go" and just enjoy the equipment. Whether it be computer parts or audio equipment, sometimes chasing gear and tone become its own hobby and playing becomes secondary. Ultimately, very few people ever care about the details that go into any given craft, and that's kind of a shame. Those that do, are probably artists themselves.
Isan Simpson "Tone" is a highly subjective thing, my friend. Let's look at the "90's": Do you mean to tell me that Kurt Cobain had a tone that was anywhere even similar to Dimebag Darrell? Give your head a shake.
Isan Simpson The 90s when real music played on real instruments by real musicians was common place, and the recordings made by hard up musicians at cheap yet no less professional studios sounded infinitely better than the artificial nonsense Glenn rails against today.
You nailed the “deer in the headlights” look from the local club FOH/Monitor sound tech Glenn. The few that know enough don’t stay very long as the better venues and studios will offer the ones who do know what they’re doing enough incentive (read $$$, benefits, better working conditions, better equipment, etc) to move on and up. I send a miked signal from my cab and hope to whatever higher power that may be that the mix is tolerable and the monitor mix does not go to Hell in a hand basket during the first set. As to the AxeFx vs. the real deal...the AxeFx fooled me completely. Here’s why. The one thing that every modeler/simulator/emulator has always failed on in my estimation is the note separation. A good quality tube head and quality cab, when properly miked and mixed by a competent engineer always seems to have better note separation and definition. This is honestly the first time I’ve heard a faux-amp beat the real deal in this respect. Mind you, the difference is very nuanced. The real amps were only just so slight lesser in terms of definition and separation. I’ll admit that my personal tastes, as reflected in the style of music that I play when I pick up a guitar, are not that close to the modern metal tones of the 21st century. I’m more of the classic hard rock and classic metal era player. Still, even with high gain tones, a good rig, properly recorded will manifest the note to note clarity and separation. That’s what separates the high quality gear by Engel, Bogner, Mesa, etc. from most of the hybrid and solid state shit generators that I refer to as smear-tone and sludge-in-a-stack.
Something to consider about the cost factor... keep in mind that you’re getting a shit ton of quality effects and many other edit options with the axe fx that you won’t get with just a traditional head. If you went out and bought each effect separately to hook up to your traditional head, you would without question be spending way more than what it would cost for an axe fx and midi controller. Sorry, the axe fx is a better investment overall. Just my opinion.
You compared it to a Mesa dual rec which comes in around the same price as the axe fx. Plus you get all the other amps as well. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire all the gear that you get for just 2k in the box. Probably more stable than a tube amp as well. I can't wait to pick up an axe fx. I will be bringing my cab and power amp to shows for stage volume and sending the direct out whenever possible. Still going to hang on to a couple tube amps though. Nice video Glenn! Keep up the awesome work.
Uh, it's actually 2500.00 up to 3200.00 and worth every penny. cloning the crap peavey is just the tip of mount everest but pounding chords is your thing so I wouldn't expect you to understand. Rock on!
SpectreSoundStudios Please, elaborate on the peavey. Make me a believer!! Show me that it's not a mass produced, cheap component piece of shit. This should be good!
Paul Bateman Lol!! then I suggest more tweaking!! patience is the name of the game with the axe fx. I just spent half a day with Dave Friedman and we went over a number of issues one was the tone matching. He says and I quote, "The axe fx is 98% capable of matching any rig any set up anytime" He himself has cloned many of his hand built racks ,amps and says there hasn't been a client yet that can tell the difference. Please know what you're saying before you open your mouth. Mr. Friedman knows what he's talking about and you clearly do not! As far as the 5150 goes and EVH I can tell you with great accuracy that Eddie has never once plucked a single note through a stock amp! Especially a Peavey! That would be like saying Steve Vai plays Ibanez when everyone on the planet knows who actually builds his guitars and that Ibanez has never built a guitar in their whole history! Next please!
Both samples sounded fantastic. Great playing. The AxeFx fooled me every time. I moved into a tiny apartment a few years ago and have been using modeling and direct in stuff since. So maybe my ears have been blinded to what a real amp sounds like.
AutoTune allows dancers and models believe they can sing and the audience, high on XTC, pot and alcohol (all at the same time) doesn't care. Sound engineers go nuts when they get to hear a professionally trained singer.
The easiest way to tell between a high end modeller and a real tube head is chords played on the higher unwound strings. There tends to be an unnatural, spoke, fizzy high end that is a dead giveaway
Wow I'm shocked I actually thought the AxeFX sounded clearer and fuller. definitely not what i was expecting. Now I am listening through my headphones and will definitely listen again when I get home to my monitors. Great vid good info
Actually I had super hard time guessing was liking the axe-fx versions a bit better when I started to really concentrate on the lower parts of the sound. Thanks for the test!
I absolutely love these videos. It's like you're voicing everything I've ever felt about recording and live sound. There's nothing like setting up a full stack in the a studio with the right room sound, amping one of the cabs and setting up a room mic to get a more natural live sound on the recording. Also, I've had a ton of great amps from a 100watt '73 Marshall Plexi ($800), a 100watt Ampeg VT-22 ($200), a 100watt Fender Bassman ($500), and a 100watt Sovtek Mig 100($400) that I had an amazing tube powered FX loop added ($150) to and about $200 worth of mods to give it a sound that blows away any JCM 800. Plus, I've never paid more than $550 for a cab even when it's loaded with Celestian's. Basically, like you said, if you can spend some time looking in the right places you can get a rad setup for $1500 or less...why would you spend over $2k on something that is meant to immulate what you could already buy for less and you can't easily use it in a live setting? Fuck that noise.
The problem with this digital stuff is not that its bad, its that the pros don't necessarily use them exclusively for their sound, they use many amps an processors and pedals, usually modified, this unit sounds decent I would like to try one, I only use tube amps and boss pedals now
The tones of the AxeFx match pretty similarly to the actual amp it's emulating, but I'm a tweaker and see your point about the price. Awesome video as always Glen!
Dude your a legend! I guessed right too, there's something a little stiff/sterile about the AxeFx and too cutty/digital, not quite natural, i've gigged with guys on axefx 1 & 2 and they were forever mid gig trying to hear themselves, frustrated, forgetting that we're there to play to an audience and have fun!
I'm glad you openly addressed the footswitch cost and the need for a power amp! I thought I was the only skeptic not wanting to pay an extra $1,000+ just to hear/control the damn thing! That's why I'd go Kemper if I had the money(and lots of free time!). At least a built-in power amp is optional, and you can use a cheap Behringer footswitch...AND I have yet to hear a Kemper comparison that I don't like. I guessed all but the Recto sample correctly, keep 'em coming! Cheers
my favorite..."i know there are some great sound guys out there....they are not gonna be working at the club your gigging at." Golden advice right there.
The thing is, it has nothing to do with the Fractal...... If the sound guy is shit, then he's not going to do your boutique amp and cab, mic'd with a 57 any more justice than he will the direct signal he's getting from an Axe FX. It was a pretty pointless thing to bring up. And if it comes to on stage monitoring, you can always pipe the extra output of the Fractal to a cab on stage. And yes, good sound men come and go in bars as well. Everyone has to start somewhere. :)
@@brianjones8432 this is so true. You can have a super nice tube amp and still not hear yourself on stage and sound like crap through FOH if the sound guy is bad. This guy in the video has a HARD bias and it shows.
Good video. I recently bought an Axe FX 2, a good power amp and I already had my Orange 4x12 cab. I have my Orange Rockerverb 50 head still, but honestly the sim for this amp in the Axe Fx literally sounds the same. You're also right, the axe fx is expensive. I bought the Axe Fx 2, the foot controller, 2 fractal expressions pedals, a Matrix Power amp, Power conditioner, Rack Tuner, and Clydesdale cases for my rack gear and a live in case for my cab. YES!!! It's expensive... but now i have hundreds of tones instead of one head. That's what I like about it.
CrazyBadCuber Do you want a cookie?
Cheo Samad Look everybody, another internet person who hates it when people are proud of what they have worked for!
CrazyBadCuber Do you want me to quote you with links? LOL.
CrazyBadCuber Point proven. Asshat.
this thread rules
I just learned today that Metallica has been using Axe Effects for their live shows, with solid state rack-mounted power amps, since 2013. I was quite astounded.
I bought a Fractal and a Matrix amp after seeing that video.
Awesome rig. So much to learn and dial in, but so versatile.
Less freight cost hauling big rigs. Still less saturation imo
Yeah less awesome lively tone too. Look at their old potato-recordings vs now and the old ones sound so much better. That is a shame.
Dave Murray from Iron Maiden has started using AxFX this year. But still uses the Marshall power amp for his on-stage cab.
Their patches have obviously been created with a studio engineer but they are certainly not nearly as organic as they used to be. Especially the shrill "kill em all patch" with nothing below 200hz.. the mids are also way too harsh.. while their patches are better than stock axefx iii files they don't hold up to that old boogie tone James used to have.
I was digging this till the running direct speech. My band has been using my fractal and an hd500 live direct forever and 99% of the sound guys love it. If they cant dial in a direct produced signal they surely can't dial in a cab.
Just speaking from my own experience.
I had the same thoughts that you mentioned when we decided to drop the cabs. Ultimately I found that even when I was playing with a killer live rig most sound guys wouldn't dial it in for shit anyway. If there is one thing that I do miss however it's the live ambiance of having your gear onstage. You never quite get over having an amp screaming up your ass. On the flip side, my rig weighs about 40lbs now! BTW you dialed in the Axe well!!
Matt Shaffer From my own experience of gigging on an Axe FX II for over a year, even with a FRFR monitor, I couldn't hear myself well on stage next to the bass player and drummer. I've used it on all sorts of PA's (including a JBL line array system) with engineers of various skill levels. It never sounded as good as a tube amp. Nor was it ever as clear in a live mix. Worse, it didn't have the responsiveness to pick attack that I'm used to. Granted, the amp that I used for a long time before it was a Budda Superdrive 45 half stack. That amp slays. I miss it. I sold the Axe FX II and got another head and cab. A. I spent too much time twisting knobs to find an inspiring tone. And 2. I wasn't satisfied with its live performance. I'm now very happy with my Fortin designed Randall.
Matt Shaffer HD500 is a beast.
Matt Shaffer at first I missed the backline, but now the way I run my rig is DI out to FOH and then second output to a cab onstage. Both guitarists and bassist have a rack on the side of the stage that holds all our gear and we still have a pretty good sized backline with two mesa cabs, an svt 8x10 and a dummy svt.
It's a lot to haul around, but it allows us to have the best studio tone and still have an amp to our back.
To Fully clean up the rig, we are switching to in ear monitor systems and will leave little to the sound guy's responsibility. Makes it easy on everyone!
There are plennnnnnty of gigging guitarists getting great tone at shitty bars all over the place just by plugging the Axe-Fx in. And you're *dead wrong* about the "deer in the headlights" look with sound guys. If you'd ever gigged with the Axe-Fx, you'd know that almost 100% of the time, the sound guy is thankful he doesn't have to mic, and if he hasn't seen a Fractal before, is impressed with the tones and ends up asking a dozen questions about the unit after the show. But actually being accurate about sound guys' reactions to the unit would require you to have used it at gigs around any sound guys.
I'm speaking from experience. Obviously we're going to different shows, or more than likely, you're a a live sound engineer. Perhaps you can handle an AxeFX. Congratulations. Could you please show some of the guys around my town how to do it?
Just make sure your sound guy isn't a noob. I can't speak for everyone though. I just saw Erimha play in Detroit, the lead guitarist used an Axe Fx 2. Needless to say it was the the worst tone I have ever heard, and for a signed band, that is embarrassing. I will take the convenience and familiarity of my 6505+ and 6534+.
Keegan Jones Funny, I live in Windsor, right across the river. We have the same problem. So do some of the larger Toronto clubs.
*****
Mate I've been to a Northlane show where the vocals were coming through fucking studio monitors at the back of the stage. Bad sound guys are bad at EVERYTHING. Eventually the regulars took over the soundboard and Northlane let us all use their Mackies as the main speakers. The show was noticeably better after that. A digital rig is as good as you program it to be. Don't trust the sound guys? EDUCATE THEM! For fucks sake learn a bit of audio and sound stage abilities yourself. It's not rocket science.
SpectreSoundStudios I don't remember which band it was, but at the Red Dog in Peterborough, the sound guy did exactly that. He was just looking around blankly for a good 10 minutes before the guitarist decided to borrow the next band's 6505. What is it about sound guys in this area?!
"There are great sound guys. But they are not gonna be working at the club your are gigging at". That's enough said )
not trying to argue you, just looking to clear my own confusion (im new to modern gear and am testing the waters to buy an axe fx)... but what i gathered is that that comment applies to when you go direct from the axe fx into a pa/mixer using house pa speakers instead of a cab....whereas if you have your own power amp and cab in your rig than you can dial it in yourself and mic your cab for the sound guy to then go through the pa speakers like any other amp/cab setup....is this right?
im gonna pput this comment in the general thread too in case i dont get a solid answer thanks my russian friend
@@aalavado Not sure what do I need to clarify, I was just citing the author. You should address him about what he meant to say. However, it seems obvious that most young amateur bands don't play it top clubs, respectively the live sound is shit.
@@aalavado most clubs can be well handled with a half or (if you got the cash) full
stack, at least in my experience in the early crap hole days. When a place holds at best 50 people, a hundred watt Marshall can handle the job. As a drummer, I weep when I think about how “the sound guy” nightly butchered my Ludwigs. Festivals were another matter entirely because they were hired companies who knew what they were doing.
There are talented, individuals anywhere man sometimes they are at the club. You’re gigging at just like they’re great guitar players that are not playing in the world stage.
GUITAR TROLLSCIENCE:
STEP 1) purchase a Line 6 POD HD
STEP 2) get some Axe Fx amp samples
STEP 3) simulate with your POD the Axe Fx tones
STEP 4) enjoy simulating the simulator!
PROBLEM SOLVED! 2000$ SAVED!
lol
SpectreSoundStudios yeah i know...i already did that! XD
btw the Axe has some very cool features and the deeeeep editing that Pod doesnt offer...all in all they are both DIGITAL simulators but Axe is a ''bit'' overvalued
Line 6 is for tone deaf wannabes
I like my idea better, get cheap practice amps over years of being a broke closet musician, find out which overdrives you like the best and play with hooking things up that weren't intended.. reverse engineer the circuits and make your own amp head and repurpose a speaker you like the tone of for guitar... I never got this far though because I'm too lazy but the projects are waiting.
Great demo Glenn.... My ears told me B, A and the last one was a toss up. I guess its a tie... was not expecting that...
amp modelling like this device and all other amp modelling is only beneficial (in my opinion) if you are planning on recording, If you just want play and get a good tone your better off with a real amp (preferably tube amp). I'm aware they are expensive but they are expensive for a reason I've never used any amp modeling anything that i though sounded better than a live cabinet.
Besides there a many good cheap tube amps or buy second hand one that isn't in bad shape.
you can get a Mesa mini rectifier and small cab for less than what the Axe FX costs and rock out at home.
Yea but the Ax fx will give you about 1000000 other sound options and the 6505 will give you just 1 very good metal sound and nothing els.
Quoted for truth.
You just answered yourself :)
Yep I'd rather the 'subpar' (not really) metal tone + all the other amazing tones you can get out of it than blow all my money on a tube amp that I have to keep maintained and does so so much less.
Not only that but how many of us would be buying something like this as a first or only amp? I already have a cabinet, and two amps I could use as power amp, and imagine most people thinking about dropping a few grand on a box like this are in the same position I am.
On the other hand I'm not impressed by the sounds. I'd buy an Eleven Rack over this and save for a Kemper.
you can tell the slight difference in impulse responses. But they are virtually identical and every guitar tone in this video sounds fucking awesome.
To my novice ears, the only real amp that noticeably outclassed the AxeFX II was the Mesa Dual Rectifier
AbsoluteZ3R0 and what about Bogner? The ubershall is one of the best Hi-gain amp boutique out there...
ezaea zeaeazz I just meant out of the amps tested against each other in this video
ok. Other than that i think the bogner would have outclassed the axe fx too. But it is not really fair to compare digital vs tube..
ezaea zeaeazz Why not, the manufactureres of sims, modelling amps etc. are actively competing with "real" amps. So they better don't show up with only a pocket knife in a firefight.
AbsoluteZ3R0 I totally agree with you. Hard to put a finger on what PRECISELY it adds, but that being said, AxeFX is still pretty impressive.
Your videos have come a long way, Glenn! Cheers, man!
Pretty sick rhythm playing Glenn! Kind of a mix of painkiller era priest and modern metalcore riffing. Great job!
thanks man, this is the best video I've seen on multieffects pedals and processors, and I've watched many of them... the drummer is great and gave the necessary context to hear the comparison.
This is seriously the best informative and entertaining channel about Music, I seriously cna't get enough of these videos!
Thanks so much! I'll keep making more.
Yes thank you! The quality of all videos are outstanding! Keep up the amazing job!
SpectreSoundStudios Yes definitely make more. Cheers from way the fuck up north in Timmins, ON
Cheers from way the fuck down south in Flatland ON (Windsor) !
after all, this is all about taste. Loved the video dude, and I respect that you took the time to answer the comments haha lml
For you're final argument, you're correct if all you need for a show is a rhythm tone. A 5150 will do that with flying colors. But what if you need Fender cleans for a part? Or Marshall crunch? Or Vox crunch? Or Soldano lead? Not to mention effects. If you need many sounds, the Axe FX will pay for itself in no time, plus it's much easier to move.
Also, the MFC foot controller isn't required for switching sounds; it has MIDI so you can use a cheaper footswitch like a Voodoo Labs or Tech 21, if you want to. I agree, the MFC is insanely pricey.
sounds like your writing process could use some focus haha. ;)
ZX6R#366 maybe if you're writing verse->chorus->verse->chorus->bridge->chorus->chorus with a specified lead and rhythm guitarist. unmusical metal musicians tend to be far less creative than the pop singers they constantly lament.
ZX6R#366
A good clean, crunch, rhythm, and lead tone isn't that much to ask for. I probably wouldn't use them all in one SONG, but I could certainly use all of those in a full set.
Most typical guitarist need to tune their instrument first, before using various amps in one setup ....hahaha ;-)) Sure, the AxeFx is a bargain if you have the knowledge and purpose of using it in it's full glory. Most musicians don't need 183 amps, +100 cabinets and a truckload of FX-units. Be amazed what you can do with a single amp and some pedals....
PS: I also use an AxeFx in my setup, it works for me - and was a good investment. Should I offended by Glenn's video? Nah....I had a good laugh, he demoing great metal tones, and I agree with him on most parts. Live goes on!
Cheers
Paco
I guess the actual writing is more important in my eyes than the tones. I find a tone i like and stick with it. that's just me tho. If you're venturing into something more proggy then i totally understand. I only speak from a death/techdeath perspective, where many tones MAY not be vital to your process. i feel like if one's writing could stand on its own, then you don't need a multitude of tones, though they may add a great touch if thats your style. I wouldn't knock a guy for knowing what he likes though :]
I don't know who you are, I don't know how I got here, but I'm looking you up and watching ALL of your videos. THANK YOU FOR THIS. Sincerely. Keep up the honest and sincere opinions!
Thanks for your support! I'll keep making more!
not to mention, that 5150 needs a tube replacement from time to time, which costs at least 200 USD; mic positioning is also very important- so easy to get it wrong; transporting your own head and a cab is already a headache or should I say a spineache :)
Tell me about it. Took years to learn how to record an amp correctly. However, like playing a guitar, it's a skill worth learning.
SpectreSoundStudios The worst thing is when you bring your priceless amp to some small venue (you have to admit, that bring in the cab is not always possible- f.e., you've got a gig in a smallpub in 100km from your hometown and only your guitar and amp fits into the car) and there you see (or hear when you plug in) that they've got a really sh**ty cab. It's a common nightmare, I guess.
I remember when the Axe-FX forum posted this video and I checked it out. So glad that witch hunt happened because I found your awesome channel there!
Anyway, I bought and Axe-FX II XL well over a year ago, and after tone matching and finally recording a real amp, I can understand why you hate amp-simulators. I tone matched a few guitars recorded on real amps and it just lacked something every time. Even in a full mix, there is just that missing element. I figure it is the cabinet pushing out the guitar tone from that amp that makes the difference. It may sound close, but amps sims just lack that punch of recording a cab directly.
Your channel helped me understand that. Thank you Glenn! I am not selling my Axe-FX, but I have definitely stopped using it for recording -- except for recording quick riff ideas. Now I just use the Revv Generator 120!
Great video. I think where the Ace FX truly shines is portability. If you're a signed act travelling the world, it will cost you less money to ship a fractal unit from venue to venue than an entire guitar rig and back up.
Still. Nothing beats a stack.
agreed.
thank you for this shoot out man, it was amazing!
I was listening through my studio monitors and realized Axe Efx is really good on emulating high and mid tones, but i see they still cannot replicate the LOW end which is critical in a any metal mix out there!
I know i know, most of you are going to say, you do not really use the low end for the guitar, but trust me, its sounds WAY better to remove from a very nice and fat tone, than a thin sound tone in a mix.
I would definitely purchase a mesa or a 5150 amp, they are just incredible!
Cheers!
I had the Axe Fx 2. Used it mostly for home recording, but I found some VST plugins that gave me better sound and made the recording easier for me. So I sold it. And for band rehersal / live I use Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. Easy setup and gives a good sound.
elguitarTom Would you mind sharing what VSTs you found? I'd be interested to look at them!
metalhead9838772 pvdhp7.wordpress.com/ scroll a bit down and find the "Fourteen" VST Plugin (this guy makes a lot of good plugins. Try the rectifier too. I just found the Fourteen amp to sound better with my mixing and mastering).
I used the TS808 on top and kefir impulse loader (don't remember impulse response I used, but try with different ones until you get the sound you need). I manage to get this sound out of it (it is EQ'ed though and mastered): instaud.io/7ay
elguitarTom PC versions only, unfortunately.
Tom, I know I'm late but thank you for sharing these. Right now I'm just using some pedals in front of my interface and some Lepou amps sims.
I use Guitar Rig NI software plugins for recording guitar into Ableton that works well at less cost than an Axe FX or Kemper.
Hey Glenn, I just wanted to say well done. I was shocked at the end. I had missed every amp. You get a very great tone, and touched on some very important points. This video was also in my opinion you best so far. Thanks for what you do
lol Glenn's obviously looking at the script, and it looks like he's slightly cross eyed.
+Ivan Lunev enjoy your axe-fx!
DDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN DAT BURN THO
lol i fucking hate when someone puts thought into their video and writes out what to say ahead of time.
i was really hoping for a guy rambling and stuttering through an incoherent collection of thoughts.
Andresmoomoo don't think it was a hate comment just an observation
SpectreSoundStudios enjoy your little studio and huge ego!
Love your tones, especially the Framus (real amp). I think where sims fall short is not so much the amps but the cabinets. I try so hard to love sims but there seems to be that cardboard box sound to all of them.
I got all correct with the first try and I know why.
Real amp has got more bass respond that unpredictable and less compressed.
On the other hand, Axe FX got a tighter more compressed sound and definitely better with extended range instrument such as 9 (or more) strings guitars.
Ps. Mesa demo is definitely an easy one to pick because that John Petrucci's sick tone :D
I own an Axe-FX and really must protest. First of all, when I bought the head unit I also bought twin Atomic Reactor powered cabinets, which are perfectly suited for it (Dweezil Zappa's layout). I've gigged with this setup many times and it sounds SO fantastic that guitarists in the audience always come up after the show to ask about it. It's a huge hit. It also does an excellent job of recording direct and I can practice late at night through a mixer and pair of headphones and get EXACTLY the same sound as on stage. What's not to love ?
You seriously rule dude. Exactly how I feel about the Axe FX, while it sounds pretty damn good it also is expensive, needs the controller if you wanna use it live. And that sound guy thingy too.
Wow that was great! I know that the Axe fx costs a pretty penny, and might not sound EXACTLY like the real thing, but you're getting a pretty sweet deal with the Axe fx. It sounds awesome.
Not a big fan of 7 strings. I feel like most people who use 7+ strings use it to mask their inability to write good music. If you want to sound heavy you don't need lower strings you just need good musical dynamics. Pantera wrote tons of heavy riffs in E and D tunings, going all the way down to B or even lower just to achieve "heaviness" feels like a cop-out if you become over-reliant on it. Plus it's kind of a nice cheat for singers too, dropping the key of songs down significantly allows singers to sing in a range that's almost too easy to pull off, whereas if you're singing up in a higher register to match higher tunings you're being pushed to the limit which allows the truly great singers to shine through by proving that they don't need the guitars to be tuned to their comfort zone. But besides that I don't care for the tone of 7+ strings and it gets too muddled to really work. At the very least incorporate some lead work in videos like these, or some more 6th, 5th, even 4th string based riffs, for the people who aren't 7+ string players and would get a clearer idea with something like that.
...and the first riff was on a 6. What's your point?
SpectreSoundStudios
didn't even notice lol. Although some lead work would still be appreciated. My point is I just don't like 7 strings. They turn guitarists into bass players.
Not much of a lead player. :)
SpectreSoundStudios
ah alright, fair enough.
All a 7-string is is an extra 4th below the E, which not only gives an extra 5 notes, but also allows for the fretting of chord and arpeggio combinations that would either have to be played open, with a capo, or not at all. I use my high e and my low B equally. Take either one and I feel confined.
Also, only bad vocalists "push the limits." I'm a tenor singer, and my highest comfortable note is D5. You can try to have me "push the limits" if you want, but my D#5 is gonna' be a bit strained, my E5 is gonna' be pitchy, and my F5 is unlikely to ever sound.
I absolutely take advantage of the 7-string allowing me to write songs in lower keys. I hate it when you get to your low E and have to go back up to hit a D when you really want to go down.
Whoa, an honest review and especially about the price and foot controller??!!
You just got a new subscriber man!
Thanks for the honesty.
Well actually i think the opposite. The Axe or Kemper are more simple for a sound guy to get a good sound than with a tube amp miced up badly...
Exactly. I feel like Glenn is an old head sometimes. What's harder, plugging an XLR straight into the AxeFx or picking a mic and mic placement that sounds good with whatever cab you bring?
Thank you for putting this together. Did anyone else prefer the AxeFX 5150 sound more than the real one?
Keep up the good work!
Bit of, ahh, constructive criticism...
The constant glancing down at your script is just fucking cringe-worthy.
Not natural at all.
+flagmuffin1221 would never have noticed until you said, really agree with you
+flagmuffin1221 I don't think he's a professional TV presenter so it's OK. "Fucking cringeworthy" is not constructive criticism - it's just crtiticism.
Not constructive at all.
+flagmuffin1221 Only way of him avoiding this is if he did a million jump cuts a minute like most TH-camrs do (which film makers and editors find much more annoying than someone reading a script). Real constructive criticism: he could angle the script above/next to/closer to the camera to make it less obvious that he is reading cue cards.
Loyal Blood So the constructive part was a little sarcastic, shoot me.
My point still stands that him looking relatively way down below the camera is extremely distracting from the video. tranquilescapism Your suggestion is what I would have said if I wasn't in whatever mood I was in when I made the comment :P
+flagmuffin1221 man, this guy is doing a hell of a good job here on TH-cam. Get over it.
When the samples were revealed, 6/6 times I preferred the real amp (including this video and Kemper video). Between the Kemper and axe fx 2, I preferred the axe fx 2. thanks for the informative video
Honestly, the way it's mixed makes it very difficult to tell the difference. I got all but the framus, which I wasn't familiar with anyway. There was a loss of depth, but again, the mix makes it very hard to hear.
That's the whole point: how does this thing hold up in a mix?
For this mix, I wouldn't give a flying fat fuck if the Axe FX was used or the real amp. The difference in modeling amps and their real counterparts that I usually notice is in depth and sometimes a slightly uncomfortable fizz in the high end. However, I would be interested to see how well modeling amps hold up when the guitar being used is loaded with passive pickups that have a unique character, like the Dimarzio Crunch Lab, instead of actives. Actives have always seemed rather flat to me, and I'd like to see how well the Axe FX can mimic subtle techniques that change attack of the mids in particular.
And I forgot to mention that this was a very nice comparison video. Sorry.
Daggerpaw1
The 7 string had passives.
Well apparently, amp sims have gotten pretty damn good. Too bad I don't have ~$2700 for the AxeFX II and footboard plus the cost of a great power amp. Would you use the AxeFX II out of the studio as opposed to a normal amplifier?
The 5150 tone sounds heavy as fuck.
Gojira represent 5150 very well
@@blackfelline2386 Gojira is gojira, and what makes them crush is Joe's playing style. Just listen to him play any amp, it always sounds like Gojira... yeah the 5150 sounds amazing with them but so did Rectifiers when they used them pre-2008.
Excellent point you make in the video, i am a live audio engineer myself and recording engineer, the best piece of advice i can give to bands is that you travel with your own sound guy as part of the band, i wouldn't spend precious time, effort and money on my music to leave the final delivery on the hands of a stranger, talented or not he does not know your music, playing dynamics, monitoring needs, etc.
With units as the fractal, kemper or even line 6 and in ear monitor systems, it is waaaay easier to give the audience a better experience of the show and more evenly in the whole venue, working with monitor wedges you can get away with it if you keep the stage in a moderate level, las opposed to people in the front row hearing the amps a lot louder than the people in the back and stuff like that.
With amps and cabs it is very easy to overpower PA systems and the venue special with rookie musicians who want to feel the rush of playing with a loud amp... in 5 minutes the rush is gone and have to crank it up a notch and 5 minutes later again and so on...
In a big stage you can go either way to get a good sound but you have to have a guy that knows your band.
My 2 cents
Cool video! I'd agree current amp sims are pretty good, although I'm yet to afford my own Axe FX or Kemper. I can tell the difference there, especially the Mesa, but they're so close that it comes down to personal preference as to which one is actually better.
I think for the studio I'd definitely want one, simply because the versatility of tones available means that instead of buying a 5150 alone, you're getting a shitload of other amps into the bargain (like ones that don't do a totally shitty clean tone for example). Yeah you can get a 510 for like £600 over here, but a mesa dual rectifier, an Orange Thunderverb, a Vox AC30 and a fender twin on top of that and you're suddenly needing to remortgage your house. Also I should point out both the Kemper and Axe FX work with MIDI pedals, so a behringer FCB1010 sets you back a more comfortable £100 (and is surprisingly robust for a Behringer product).
Live it's not as required, although I've been using Amplitube with a laptop on tour for a couple of years and through a power amp and speakers it sounds great with a bit of tweaking. You're right, as a live sound guy I've had no problem with DI'ing amps but would I fuck trust most house sound guys with my tone and stage sound - but using a power amp and cab creates a great sound because your speaker cab makes up such a large part of a tone's character that putting the real thing at the end of a signal chain works wonders.
You've got one digital unit pretending to be a bunch of amps. Some with more success than others.
I guessed each one correctly. The identifier is how well they both sit in a mix. The Axe stands out because it doesn't quite sit or blend into the mix as well, as if it's almost superimposed on top of it. It doesn't sound bad at all, per se, but the real amp just sort of melts into the mix and takes on a cohesive whole. The Kemper is one of the only modelers I've used that captures that quality.
Every amp you'll ever need for a fraction of the price you'd pay to own all of them. Good idea.
I recommend giving the Get Good Drums sample pack a listen. They sound better than most professionally recorded drums do in my opinion. I think dismissing samples and programmed drums is a bit of a waste if you don't take the time and effort to find out what works and what doesn't. That's basically the process of making music.
Dammit man that 5150 sounds like Heaven. Your videos are rekindling my lost interest in music.
First off, great video. I'm loving the "no B.S." kind of approach you have with all your videos. I think it's hilarious too because it's entertaining and sobering for a LOT of people to be hearing this kind of stuff like "how to hold a microphone".
I think the AxeFX justifies the price with everything that comes along with it.
You have hundreds of effects (distortions, delays, modulations, dynamics...) at your finger tips and tons of different amps and cabs to use along with it, and if you're using many patches, it's great having pretty much every thing at your disposal. I think it's super practical if your patches are all tuned to very specific amplifiers, like if you want your clean patch to be using a Fender Supersonic, your rhythm patch to be using an AC30, and your lead patch to be a Friedman Browneye. It's much more practical than lugging out three amps for the same purpose in a real world context, and closer to what you want instead of having to compromise with just one amp that is expected to nail all three tones.
Yes, being at the disposal of your sound guy at gigs where at lower levels don't know what they're doing sucks BIG TIME. I had a NIGHTMARE working with a sound guy a while back when going straight DI with my POD HD, and I don't think I'm going to be doing it again. Even Misha Mansoor (from Periphery) said that this is why having a super good sound guy travel with you is important, someone who knows their shiz and your shiz inside out. Their sound guy has a few "playthroughs" of a live show to show how much work goes into making them sound good live.
Another downside that is often forgotten because the AxeFX is known to be a "godsend among gear" is that you gotta know your shiz. You can't buy an AxeFX and think that it'll give you workable and amazing tones right outside of the box. There's a REALLY high learning curve with the AxeFX (BIAS by Positive Grid is a much easier amp sim VST to work with an is comparable to the AxeFX if you're looking for a really good amp sim). You're gonna get crap tones if you have no idea what you're doing.
It's really pick your poison. I use a combination of both, really.
Amps are left for live situations, because of sound guy woes.
Amp sims are left for studio sessions, because of the limitless tools I'm given.
academic FYI: "double blind" would mean that the audience AND you would be blinded from knowing which amps were being played
I think it depends on what you want to do with it, if you want to play a gig using the sound of a tubescreamer going into a 5150, buy the tubescreamer and the 5150. The axe-fx is the better option when you have a lot of different effects and tones to switch between during the set.
He makes an excellent point about being at the mercy of the SOUND MAN who most likely doesnt' give a SH*T about you. Yes this works for Steve Vai but, Joe Average might be hittting a wall.
I was guessing by what I liked the sound of most. My choices were 1)A 2)B 3)A. They sounded more exaggerated then the real deal. All were the AXE. The real deals were more subtle.
but were at the mercy of the sound guy anyway, I bring my halfstack I am told to turn it down and still get a bad monitor mix on top of not being able to get my tubes in the sweet spot, axefx just bring a monitor with you, halfstack bring am 25 watt head, either way a shitty sound man and shitty pa is going to make either rig sound bad
Lol, I chose 1)A 2)B 3)A as well and I was very surprised that they were all the axe-fx! The 5150 in the first clip sounded absolutely HORRIBLE compared to the axe-fx.
I’m a Kemper guy live. I’ve never had better sound through the PA, and the monitor sound for all members in the band are damn good - made about 50gigs like that. Never failed.
Glad to hear it. Your experience is very different than what I've seen happen far too many times.
SpectreSoundStudios
Maybe I’ve been lucky. But on the other hand I’ve made many many gigs with Stacks on stage so load not even me could here what I was playing :-)
Key is to be able control you monitor or in-ear as you like on stage.
I don't like the entire viewpoint of "fake vs "real".
Instead we should just view it as another kind of amp
rather than a "fake" amp. Dif kind of tone plain and simple.
I had the Kemper, Axe FX II and a few Pricey real amps.
And by "Had", I owned them for 7 months each atlease.
Sold them for various reasons. if Im going to be too busy
I sell something off because I know a new one will come out.
Real amps: Great for everything BUT the bedroom and song writing
Guitarist who doesnt have a big studio. Too much work setting up
Mics,Cabs, Sound proofing room and so on. If you do have the set up
and touring you will have a great time.
Kemper: Great for recording. You get the Best tones, the basic effects
and everything you want to set up a tone quickly. This is GREAT for people
who know the feel of various amps, likes to switch and tweak various setups
quickly and lay down tracks and record at home, in the studio and so on.
Even better if you have an amp and studio because you can save the tones from your real amp thus saving you more time.
Axe FX: The good all around one. The tones are close but not as good as the others.
But this piece of gear allows you a TON of choices when it comes to gigging, recording and so on. Ton of effects, Ton of options if you take the time to know how to use it.
My overall choice goes to the Kemper. I like the tone the best, usability. I dont need as many options of the Axe FX. And I didnt need the hassle and power of a Real amp. The Kemper gave me the tone I wanted to just sit back, record some tracks
and Mix.
Massive Tits I wouldn't call them fake but still its nit really an amp is basically a computer making the sound of another amp
Massive Tits is nearly always fake!
Massive Tits bedroom = shit music. too quiet to be exciting
***** no sometimes fake tits are attached to a real gf. They are fund for a while ... fun bags, but really i would prefer them natural even if they were smaller!
Got the first two right over a iPhone speaker, probably chance. As for relaying on a soundguy, as a bar/club soundguy I've had bands come in with their own digital mixer and in ears, they controlled their own monitor mix via iPad and I just mixed FOH which was a breeze due to no stage volume.
i can still tell a diffrence even with cpu speakers. i would say that actual monitors would be more apparent . AXE FX holds up well and the technology is improving in time it will be more favorable to alot of people IF they would drop the price a bit
agreed. :)
I've gigged in places where the sound person told me 'you can't get any more of vocals/guitar etc in your monitors because they're maxed out, sorry'. Then you play the whole gig as if you had noise cancelling headphones on. These venues were established places too. I couldn't tell the difference between the samples though, very impressive.
I build tube amps and i've had a fair amount of famous amps to test and benchmark and let me tell you. PCM modulation isn't perfect and does a lot of filtering during the conversion process meaning that the signal is "reconstructed" based on the fact PCM system do contain errors during the transmision of the data. Not that alone the slew rate response from analog transistor based devices are way faster and won't have this "round" response from a tube no matter how precise convolution tecniques are applied. A greater resolution PCM based processing demands heavy processing in order to take the bigger amount of snapshots of the analog signal and reducing filtering. Consider another fact that your signal inside a DSP or processing unit is just a few volts and probably has a line level output. A real tube amp will handle signals with 10 times greater levels and unless they can model the non linearity of tubes and speaker coil saturation a DSP based emulator won't beat the real deal. A real tube amp just sounds way more dynamic, uncompressed, less flat and ALIVE than anything i've tried so far. I've also benchmarked famous "stompboxes" modeled and they don't even come close to the original unit. Also. remember every DSP based system has latency, even if its 50ms or less
Haha, love the comparison. Also loved that little rant about hooking into venues sound board. I've seen a few people completely cancel their show due to the venues inability to run the axe fx all together.
I'm surprised by the denial going on regarding this. So many people telling me I'm wrong. What, like I'm fucking hallucinating?
I've never been to this channel before.
I'm not biased on the Fractal.
I began to watch this video and immediately noticed this guy is wearing the shirt that he is, and immediately my will to consider his opinions dropped, but, I was taught to never judge a book by it's cover, so I watched the whole video.
In this video, it appears as if the reviewer is only seeing the metal/high gain side of the axe fx, as well as the direct in side of the axe fx. If you're going to simply dig out high gain tones from the AxeFx, play only rhythm tones, and be stupid enough to think the sound guy can do what you want every night with your Fractal, then don't buy an AxeFx. The AxeFx is not just a high gain amp simulator. It's a low, mid, high gain, multi-effect, tone matching, lightweight, well supported, powerhouse of a machine. The reviewer is claiming it would be better for you to simply purchase a used 5150 and a cab and call it day, when in reality, you're going to be purchasing a road case for your gear, a power conditioner, various pedals, a pedal board/case, etc. (if you're smart and serious) which runs it up to almost the same cost. The only difference, is your going to be breaking your back on tour that much more from the weight, you have to worry about more gear failing, more gear potentially being stolen, more gear having to be replaced, and most importantly, you're limited to that ONE AMP giving you that ONE TONE which makes you very one dimensional (admit it, even strictly metal guys love having more than one tone).
If you have the cash, tour or play shows regularly, love having more options and tonal possibilities, and hate lugging around a heavy ass head and cab, then the AxeFx is something to consider. I sold an Orange 4x12, a Blackstar Series One 200, 6-10 pedals, laptops, etc. for mine, and I don't regret it at all.
Uriah Graves agreed. not to mention the fact that all 3 of the amps in this video have shitty clean channels. with an axe-fx you could dial in a nice fender or something for clean parts (metal songs have clean passages too!)
+Uriah Graves Axefx, foot controller, power amp, cab. The only thing that you have the power to fix on the road is the cab. Anything else needs to be sent back to manufacturer to service.
With my "analog" gear, I can go to literally any major city and I am guaranteed to find a dozen good people who know how to work on my gear OR a plethora of stores that have the parts ready in stock for me to do it myself for much cheaper. For a touring musician THAT makes too much sense.
And if you do get robbed, which is waaay to common nowadays, what happens? You've limited yourself to a digital product that isn't as common as traditional amps and that cant be as easily replaced and you've spent all this time figuring out how your certain product works with limited crossover application to what your replacing it with.
Also, most people don't care about "tone". The end listener, the end point of a song, is whether or not it was a good song. Having the unlimited tones in that respect doesn't hold any water over traditional amps either. Are you really going to have several different amp tones for each 4-10 songs you're going to playing on tour as a no-name or even mid-level touring band? How pointless when the listener doesn't care. They care about songs and your stage prescence. You will hear ZERO people who aren't gear nerds say, "Oh my god, that AxeFx clean tone you dialed in was so much better than a Fender amp! I'm going to buy your CD, purchase your shirt, tell all my friends about you AND suck your dick because of the AxeFx!"
Too many people thinking gear makes a band or that fiddling for hours on some device to get a certain guitar tone you want is going to make you a better player or be better somehow in the eyes of the people you're playing to, and it doesn't.
And you need a road case for the axe fx, the power conditioner, the cab, and the foot contoller anyway, why would that be an issue? AxeFx unit and power amp are heavy too dude. Cab's are heavy. Can't really make efficient speakers that aren't heavy, at least not yet.
+metalskim I'm playing music for me. Not because I want to make a ton of money. Therefore, I do want a ton of different amp tones, and a plethora of choices, and don't consider the listener when making tonal decisions. I don't care if the listener appreciated my tone after the set, but if they do I'm stoked! Everyone loves a nice tone compliment. If they do, that's icing on the cake.
As far as theft goes, finding your Fractal would be way easier than finding your 5150. 5150's, 6505's are everywhere. Fractals are going to stick out. People remember who's got one.
I agree about gear malfunctioning on the road. that's a good point. but most of the time, you can borrow a head from the band before you in the tour set.
Have you ever toured man? Have you ever been in a real band? Nobody puts a fucking gps tracker in their amp because nobody in a real band has money for that. Unless it's a head valued at over 4k, you're not going to go to lengths like that, and if you're touring with gear like that, you probably have enough staff roaming the venue and bus/van to deter thieves and you also probably aren't playing in the shady, run-down part of town... (In other words you can pay your bills with your music and losing some gear isn't a make or break scenario.)
Also, you don't always play venues with flat surfaces. Sometimes you're lugging you're Blackstar Series One 200, Orange 4x12, pedal board, and other various pieces of gear up 3 flights of stairs. And if you're not a dick, you're helping your bandmates get their gear up the stairs as well.
Uriah Graves See okay, that's a fair reason to use it. Having that choice is great for a lot of people and in the end, music should be about what you to do with it.
I personally wouldn't do it because it still feels like a luxury item for me. I've found that too many choices either stifles creativity or I pay money for something I'm only using half the features for. But that's just me.
Loved the entire video. I just recently acquired the jvm 410 HJS satrianis edition, and 1960 a/b for the stack, along with some high end boutique pedals that are insanely good for what I want, and a jp bfr 6 with the koa top. As I was putting my rig together, I had one guy on forums tell me to get the pod hd 500x ( which I have actually spent months on, hours a day, multiple setups and cable setup methods ) variax guitar, with a stage source. A guy in the store stated I should go axefx II, which I have also tested thoroughly. I was baffled as to how they could suggest these things when they knew what I was actually going for. Great video.
Wow, all the comments on this video are either haters or trolls. How come so much hate towards a man who (rightfully) prefers the old school way of doing things?
Because the axe cost so much! How dare I criticize something that they paid for?
Late to the party, but the monitoring is not an issue. What I did with my band was have a soundcard with premade mixes for every band member. One line to the venue, one line to the soundcard. Everyone in ear with their own mix (bass / guitar / synth / vocals) and you can adjust that on your laptop if needed. All you rely on is the venue cranking the drums over the house monitors but they do that anyways so no biggy ;)
Agressive shitty attitude from years of metal + Plays a Jackson and not a silly PRS with emo bird inlays. Count me in, keep it metal Glenn *Subscribed*
Lol. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the comparison. I am a studio musician and use Amplitube/Guitar Rig VST's in my DAW running through Yamaha HS80's. Fucking sounds amazing!!!Not only is it cheaper but I like that it records your track dry allowing you to go back and redo or even change your VST later without having to rerecord your session. I can do everything the AxeFx can do and if I was going to spend big money I would buy a Diezel or Slo100 to play live and run analog pedals. As much as I love the tech of the new gen there really is no substitute for a real tube amp in a live setting. Everything has its place and there is no right or wrong, just personal preferences. DAW and VST's have made it possible for anyone to make a quality product at home without the need to spend a fortune at the studio.
wow. who the hell is this guy anyway? Hard to teach an old dog new tricks I guess.
A bay area thrash producer telling us about guitar tone...
I'd love to know how you deduced that one.
SpectreSoundStudios that framus riff?? You can dial up a good tube tone, I've listened to enough of your tone examples to know that. What is irritating to me is when someone spends 15 grand on tubes and then pisses on the smart guys rocking the same epic tone from an axefx.
15 Grand on tubes? Are you on crack?
wesley johnson
That's about 230-187 quality sets of quad matched tubes like TAD/RUBY/EH....If you go through that much in a 5 year gigging span...then you've got a shit amp with a shit problem.
I guessed right 2/3 and the one that confused me was the rectifier... which is surprising since one of my guitarists plays through a mesa.
Every day I discover that I don't like Mesa/Boogies! only one that Axe FX sounded better to me!
Finally I have a pair of monitors decent enough to hear the difference!)) I remember a couple of years ago I had to guess every time in my headphones, now the difference is noticeable with every mentioned amp. But Axe still sounds pretty good, providing you also with possibilities to play at home with your headphones, a recording interface, etc. So, being a guitarist, you can buy only an Axe, a pedalboard, a guitar and a cord and consider you have basically everything you need to play and have a good sound. So I guess it would be a good choice for many musicians out there.
Thank you for the useful video!
Well, i believe it's pretty fair concept "Shut the fuck up and listen".
Actually all band's high-end gear is a attempt to fight against the shitty gear of clubs you're playing at. It will always be a compromise in live gigs - of your fantasy of super unique sound and grounded shitty reality you're got in - old crap as a gear, awful acoustics of a room and half-drunk incompetent sound engineers in club.
Great video!
That's one of the best replies ever.
SpectreSoundStudios
Thanks man! Awesome channel! It's as hilarious as truthful.
I think it's proof that you have a great mic setup because I watched this and the kemper shootout and I honestly nailed the real vs fake on both videos, and I'm not a particularly good guitarist or trained ear. You just did that great of a job....... but there is just some depth missing you can just tell in the chunky parts of the fake ones it sounds sterile versus the depth of the real deal....
Good job man!
As a dude not into the technicality of music or recording and is just a humble purchaser of said tunes........ I heard absolutely no difference on anything. If it wasn't for the cut scenes telling me equipment was changed I wouldn't have known. I think musicians and engineers tend to be a little too over-analytical and obsessive compulsive over insanely minor details. While you probably can hear a difference because it is your job/passion...... the consumer..... the people you are playing and recording for can't tell the fucking difference. While everyone in any craft should always shoot for the best at what they do, sometimes it may be just a bit of overkill. It's like comparing a bic brand pen to a zebra brand pen. Sure the Zebra might have a better flowing and smoother ink when you write with it than the Bic....... but is it justifiable spending 5x the amount to enjoy the slight benefit? You can still write just fine with a cheap ass Bic pen. Just like everything, masters at their craft can make even the shittiest piece of equipment work for them. Do you think Les Claypool would completely sound like shit if he played on a $150 starter bass? No. No he wouldn't. He and other musicians might say the bass sounds like shit, but to the average consumer/listener....... it still sounds badass.
My main point is, the overwhelming majority of people listening to the music you play or record can't tell the difference on what equipment you use. Only time it is noticeable is if you go from, say, a starter amp to, say, a $4000 rig. I think audiophiles get a little melodramatic when it comes to their sound quality. In this test it sounds like you're splitting hairs if you can actually tell the difference between any of them. That said it sounds like Glenn agrees with me... somewhat.
I agree, I'm one of those over analyzers and it has taken me the better part of a year to learn to "let go" and just enjoy the equipment. Whether it be computer parts or audio equipment, sometimes chasing gear and tone become its own hobby and playing becomes secondary. Ultimately, very few people ever care about the details that go into any given craft, and that's kind of a shame. Those that do, are probably artists themselves.
Brought out my monitoring headphones for this, and I thought the axe was the real deal every time. I'm impressed.
your tones are pretty dated it seems a little ridiculous for you to knock a contemporary product so much when your tone is stuck in the 90s
Isan Simpson "Tone" is a highly subjective thing, my friend. Let's look at the "90's": Do you mean to tell me that Kurt Cobain had a tone that was anywhere even similar to Dimebag Darrell? Give your head a shake.
If the axe fx was only good for modern metal tones, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having all the options it offers? Food for thought..
Isan Simpson do you even metal haha ?
Good comment lmao
Isan Simpson The 90s when real music played on real instruments by real musicians was common place, and the recordings made by hard up musicians at cheap yet no less professional studios sounded infinitely better than the artificial nonsense Glenn rails against today.
You nailed the “deer in the headlights” look from the local club FOH/Monitor sound tech Glenn. The few that know enough don’t stay very long as the better venues and studios will offer the ones who do know what they’re doing enough incentive (read $$$, benefits, better working conditions, better equipment, etc) to move on and up. I send a miked signal from my cab and hope to whatever higher power that may be that the mix is tolerable and the monitor mix does not go to Hell in a hand basket during the first set.
As to the AxeFx vs. the real deal...the AxeFx fooled me completely. Here’s why. The one thing that every modeler/simulator/emulator has always failed on in my estimation is the note separation. A good quality tube head and quality cab, when properly miked and mixed by a competent engineer always seems to have better note separation and definition. This is honestly the first time I’ve heard a faux-amp beat the real deal in this respect. Mind you, the difference is very nuanced. The real amps were only just so slight lesser in terms of definition and separation. I’ll admit that my personal tastes, as reflected in the style of music that I play when I pick up a guitar, are not that close to the modern metal tones of the 21st century. I’m more of the classic hard rock and classic metal era player. Still, even with high gain tones, a good rig, properly recorded will manifest the note to note clarity and separation. That’s what separates the high quality gear by Engel, Bogner, Mesa, etc. from most of the hybrid and solid state shit generators that I refer to as smear-tone and sludge-in-a-stack.
wow this guys is fucking awesome! Literally an old school bad ass!
Thanks! That made my day!
SpectreSoundStudios No Problem dude, please upload more videos! i really do enjoy them all.
Something to consider about the cost factor... keep in mind that you’re getting a shit ton of quality effects and many other edit options with the axe fx that you won’t get with just a traditional head. If you went out and bought each effect separately to hook up to your traditional head, you would without question be spending way more than what it would cost for an axe fx and midi controller. Sorry, the axe fx is a better investment overall. Just my opinion.
i could see the level meters on the axe fx lol
they play in both samples dumbass
You compared it to a Mesa dual rec which comes in around the same price as the axe fx. Plus you get all the other amps as well. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire all the gear that you get for just 2k in the box. Probably more stable than a tube amp as well. I can't wait to pick up an axe fx. I will be bringing my cab and power amp to shows for stage volume and sending the direct out whenever possible. Still going to hang on to a couple tube amps though. Nice video Glenn! Keep up the awesome work.
Uh, it's actually 2500.00 up to 3200.00 and worth every penny. cloning the crap peavey is just the tip of mount everest but pounding chords is your thing so I wouldn't expect you to understand. Rock on!
"Crap Peavey" you jusr invalidated your own argument.
SpectreSoundStudios Please, elaborate on the peavey. Make me a believer!! Show me that it's not a mass produced, cheap component piece of shit. This should be good!
I have a feeling arguing my point would be a waste of time, as you already have your mind made up. Work with what you like.
SpectreSoundStudios Cool! Glad you see my point! I wouldn't back it up either.. Rock on!!
Paul Bateman Lol!! then I suggest more tweaking!! patience is the name of the game with the axe fx. I just spent half a day with Dave Friedman and we went over a number of issues one was the tone matching. He says and I quote, "The axe fx is 98% capable of matching any rig any set up anytime" He himself has cloned many of his hand built racks ,amps and says there hasn't been a client yet that can tell the difference. Please know what you're saying before you open your mouth. Mr. Friedman knows what he's talking about and you clearly do not! As far as the 5150 goes and EVH I can tell you with great accuracy that Eddie has never once plucked a single note through a stock amp! Especially a Peavey! That would be like saying Steve Vai plays Ibanez when everyone on the planet knows who actually builds his guitars and that Ibanez has never built a guitar in their whole history! Next please!
Both samples sounded fantastic. Great playing. The AxeFx fooled me every time. I moved into a tiny apartment a few years ago and have been using modeling and direct in stuff since. So maybe my ears have been blinded to what a real amp sounds like.
autotune is poison.
And Beat Detective is cancer.
SpectreSoundStudios ...and MP3's are the corpse.
LOL, that's brilliant!
AutoTune allows dancers and models believe they can sing and the audience, high on XTC, pot and alcohol (all at the same time) doesn't care. Sound engineers go nuts when they get to hear a professionally trained singer.
SpectreSoundStudios And pre-teen girls are the coffin.
The easiest way to tell between a high end modeller and a real tube head is chords played on the higher unwound strings. There tends to be an unnatural, spoke, fizzy high end that is a dead giveaway
Subscribed!
Not only informative, but I really like your attitude! In words and in riffs.
Cheers!
Wow I'm shocked I actually thought the AxeFX sounded clearer and fuller. definitely not what i was expecting. Now I am listening through my headphones and will definitely listen again when I get home to my monitors.
Great vid good info
Kick ass channel recently viewed the Steel Panther (Metal Skool) vid and I've been addicted ever since.A lot of good advice and love the humor.
You need to release an album. Your playing / riff-writing is top-notch!
You can hear clearly that the Axe Effects II has a slightly less open sound than the tube amps. Still matched better than I imagined.
Same here.
I used to hate Glen's videos, until I understood him better.
Now I find his videos inspiring : )
I like how blunt he is. Always straight to the point.
Why should anyone hate a straight foward person?
I love that you bring the truth out
That is not double blind. It is just a normal blind test.
Actually I had super hard time guessing was liking the axe-fx versions a bit better when I started to really concentrate on the lower parts of the sound. Thanks for the test!
woah.. I like how honest this guy is.
Someone has to be. :)
I absolutely love these videos. It's like you're voicing everything I've ever felt about recording and live sound. There's nothing like setting up a full stack in the a studio with the right room sound, amping one of the cabs and setting up a room mic to get a more natural live sound on the recording. Also, I've had a ton of great amps from a 100watt '73 Marshall Plexi ($800), a 100watt Ampeg VT-22 ($200), a 100watt Fender Bassman ($500), and a 100watt Sovtek Mig 100($400) that I had an amazing tube powered FX loop added ($150) to and about $200 worth of mods to give it a sound that blows away any JCM 800. Plus, I've never paid more than $550 for a cab even when it's loaded with Celestian's. Basically, like you said, if you can spend some time looking in the right places you can get a rad setup for $1500 or less...why would you spend over $2k on something that is meant to immulate what you could already buy for less and you can't easily use it in a live setting? Fuck that noise.
First time I have watched your videos and I have to say...wait for it...wait
I LOVE IT!!!
True to the bone in every way...keep em comin!!!
Thanks so much! More on the way. hoping to release the next one on Tuesday.
The problem with this digital stuff is not that its bad, its that the pros don't necessarily use them exclusively for their sound, they use many amps an processors and pedals, usually modified, this unit sounds decent I would like to try one, I only use tube amps and boss pedals now
The tones of the AxeFx match pretty similarly to the actual amp it's emulating, but I'm a tweaker and see your point about the price. Awesome video as always Glen!
I'm impressed, I'm a drummer, and I was able to identify the real amps. And I'm impressed of the tones as well
Thank you!
I personally prefered the axe fx tones, the thing sounds damn good.
I got two right. I notice the Axe always has some kind of fizziness in it. I was totally lost with the kemper one tho.
this video shows a great use case for the positive grid bias amp head. it never really made sense to me until now.
Dude your a legend! I guessed right too, there's something a little stiff/sterile about the AxeFx and too cutty/digital, not quite natural, i've gigged with guys on axefx 1 & 2 and they were forever mid gig trying to hear themselves, frustrated, forgetting that we're there to play to an audience and have fun!
I'm glad you openly addressed the footswitch cost and the need for a power amp! I thought I was the only skeptic not wanting to pay an extra $1,000+ just to hear/control the damn thing! That's why I'd go Kemper if I had the money(and lots of free time!). At least a built-in power amp is optional, and you can use a cheap Behringer footswitch...AND I have yet to hear a Kemper comparison that I don't like. I guessed all but the Recto sample correctly, keep 'em coming! Cheers