11 Rack Axe Fx Shootout
Todd Simpson
Apr 30 2015, 08:52 AM
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Mr. David Wallimann (You guys probly know him, he used to teach here!) Bought an 11 rack way back and both an AXE FX Ultra and AXE FX II!!! So he made a video with ALL THREE to show a very quick, from the hip, comparison of just some basic amp models. It's a very good vid. Start watching from...

2:43 (two min/fortythree seconds)


To hear all three rigs doing their MESA BOOGIE Impression. I'd heard this comparison before via soundcloud and youtube from other vids/sounds and it was part of the reason I went for the 11 rack along with the fact it was waaaay cheaper. smile.gif It does break down many of the pros and cons in the vid as well. If you have the money BUY AN AXE FX 2 (not the ultra) !!!!!!!! is the bottom line.

But if you are working with a budget, get the 11 Rack. The amp models built in are just darn good. It's nowhere near as flexible as the axe fx in terms of having wads of fx and options, but you can get really satisfying tone without going broke and it's easy to use wink.gif



ANd a random youtube guy doing a more DJENTY shootout smile.gif

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Apr 30 2015, 09:42 AM
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ztevie
Apr 30 2015, 01:37 PM
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Agree totally!
Had an Eleven Rack and it's a very capable piece of gear, and got much better results with that than the various Pods I used to own before.
But then I decided to go for an Axe Fx II. It's in it's own league IMO. Amp modeling, routing possibilities, effects quality is just top notch! It's so easy to get nice tones also... I know there are an opinion on the net that the Axe is too complicated which leads you to tweak instead of play. I don't agree at all!
Just because you have the option to for example change cathode type in the preamp tubes doesn't mean you have to? The possibility is there but you can just aswell turn Gain, threble, mids, bass knobs and off you go...

So yeah, Eleven Rack for budget, Axe for when economy isn't a big factor.

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Chris S.
Apr 30 2015, 02:34 PM
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What about an Axe FX vs a Kemper profiling amp?

I have the 11 rack and love it (who couldn't?) but when I decide to make the jump up I'm torn between the two.

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ztevie
May 1 2015, 12:25 AM
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QUOTE (Chris S. @ Apr 30 2015, 03:34 PM) *
What about an Axe FX vs a Kemper profiling amp?

I have the 11 rack and love it (who couldn't?) but when I decide to make the jump up I'm torn between the two.


Well, i have no experience with the kemper so i can't say anything about quality of tones but i can tell you why i chose the Axe.
Main reason was all the possibilities in my home studio. I can hook it up for recording in many ways; spdif, usb, analog, aes. Reamping is a great feature where i can record both the wet and dry signal in my DAW at the same time. Right now i have it set up so I record the wet thru analog and dry thru spdif. This means i can later go in and reamp the dry signal thru the axe and record with another modified tone if i want. Without playing again. Great when you nail a take but want to change amp or eq or add effects or whatever. I'm sure you can ramp with the kemper too, but i doubt it's as easy.
Another thing is Axe Edit, the software editor for the Axe. Much easier to dial tones on a guitar on the pc than messing with the front panel. I think Kemper still have no editor even though they talked about it for years.
Continous upgrades are another big plus. The Axe II is on FW 18.10 now. Fractal never stops to try and make this machine better. New amps/effects every major firmware,and... it's always free.
Loads of preset sharing going on over there too, and there are a couple of guys that really know there stuff, check out a guy with the username Fremen, awesome stuff! With Kemper there are a lot of profiles to download, butmany of the best are however commercial so i imagine you'll end up spending plenty of dollars chasing your ideal tone, cause let's face it, guitarists are always looking for that holy grail of tone.
I feel the Kempers best treat is it profile amps and results are extremely accurate if you know what you're doing. However, I don't have access to nice tube amps so that feature is not for me.
These are a few of my thoughts in the matter but I think you'd be happy with whatever you choose, just think of how you're gonna use it, Make a list of what features you must have, would like and which you don't need, then read up on what they can do. Register in both forums and read threads there and listen to clips.
You will have GREAT tone with both I'm sure, it's probably more a matter of what you want to use it for.

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Chris S.
May 1 2015, 12:29 AM
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Thanks Ztevie!!

Very informative - I definitely have some research ahead of me smile.gif

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Todd Simpson
May 1 2015, 03:03 AM
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The AXE FX has a amp matching feature that is somewhat similar to what kemper does but the kemper is in a class by itself for "Amp Cloning". You can literally have a spot on clone of any rig you can imagine at your fingertips in your kemper. So many hardcore "Cork Sniffing Tube Guys" are getting kempers and profiling their tube amps and then using the kemper for gigging/touring.

The kemper is all about tone. Having any amp tone on earth at hand. The AXE FX is more about flexibility and creating great tones rather than perfectly matching the tone of an existing amp. THere is a bit of kemper in the axe and vice versa, but it seems to be that folks more interested in exact tone match of certain amps go kemper, where as folks growing their own tones and using lots of fx, lean toward . ) You mileage may vary of course, and everyone has their own thoughts which are often the exact opposite of mine, but that's my two cents smile.gif


Todd

QUOTE (Chris S. @ Apr 30 2015, 07:29 PM) *
Thanks Ztevie!!

Very informative - I definitely have some research ahead of me smile.gif

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ztevie
May 1 2015, 12:58 PM
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Axe version is called Tone Matching. Basically you can take any tone, not only duplicate an amps tone, but for example a recording with your favorite artist and clone a favorite albums tone. I've heard some amazing tone matches for a lot of artists. The important thing is the tone you're trying to match is as clean as possible, preferably a Stem version of the guitar all alone.
Kemper will take like a snapshot of an amp with the tone the amp has when it's profiled. I'm not sure how accurate it will be when you're starting to tweak settings within that profile?
These modelers are really great, nice times to be a guitar player!
Even cork sniffers can't complain! smile.gif
I'm not sure which artists officially use kemper, but on the fractal side you've got Vai, Petrucci, Edge for example, and it's amazing when people like Marco Sfogli and the guys from Periphery make threads in the forum, going: "Hey guys, made this awesome tone on the Axe that I'm using in the studio making our new album. Thought I'd share it here if there's any interest?"

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This post has been edited by ztevie: May 1 2015, 01:00 PM


--------------------
Gear:
* Vigier Shawn Lane Master, Bridge Bareknuckle Nailbomb, Middle DiMarzio FS-1, Neck Bareknuckle Cold Sweat
* Padalka Custom Space-6, Bareknuckle Juggernaut set
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* Yamaha LLX6 Acoustic
* Fractal Audio Axe FX II XL+


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ztevie
May 1 2015, 03:58 PM
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They have a "no question asked" return policy, you know (Both Kemper and Fractal I believe). So you can always try either and if you're not happy just return it?

Fractal's also dumped the price on the origiinal II some... They're now $1995, I think Kemper is around that range also.

The II will be sold until they're out of stock and then only XL+ will be available.
The II and the XL has no differences regarding processing power and tone, they sound excactly the same. Difference is you will have room for 768 preset instead of 384, 500 user cab slots instead of 100, some differences in contacts to connect Ethercon and FASLink, 2 Expression pedal contacts.
So if you can live without that many preset and cab slots, the II is a far better deal right now.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net


Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

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--------------------
Gear:
* Vigier Shawn Lane Master, Bridge Bareknuckle Nailbomb, Middle DiMarzio FS-1, Neck Bareknuckle Cold Sweat
* Padalka Custom Space-6, Bareknuckle Juggernaut set
* Ztevie's Blue, Custom Handbuilt by Rek Guitars, Seymour Duncan Full Shred humbucker set
* Yamaha LLX6 Acoustic
* Fractal Audio Axe FX II XL+


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