Fractal Audio Axe-Fx

This is not a toy, it is a serious piece of equipment. It is not for everybody. Neither is recording at home. Neither is swapping tubes in an amp for that matter. Some things require some smarts, and this unit definately is not for those who think everything should be plug and play. As far as the presets, they get better every release. I use a bunch of them stock. But you still need a basic understanding of sound equipment to use this unit, you must amplify its sound somehow, and for some reason this blows people's minds. But it was easy for me and hundreds of others, just go to the Fractal website and the forums there have multitudes of information and solutions.

Geez, no low end ... my house thumps when I play through my Verve 12ma. Sometimes it is user error, not the product. Becasue you can get as much low end or high end or midrange as any tube amp PLUS more. You can make a Fender Deluxe tone with extended low end, or a Marshall with those highs you always complain are not there. Complete control over the sound. My patches blow people away. For reference, I have owned all Bogners and about every other boutique amp that has gone around. My SLO patch just kills. My Plexi patch rips. And my effects sound phenominal. No question this sounds as good as a tube amp. IMHO there is little if any difference now, so make your choice and rip some tunes.

As good as any piece of high end equipment.

I have always been responded to within 24 hours. Cliff is on the forums all the time, he answers questions on there when he can. It is a community of users, not just tech support or a phone number. Nothing else out there like it.

The best unit money can buy. It sounds like a million bucks, I have patches setup for every amp I have ever wanted or owned, and my sound blows people away. What else is there? Tube amps kick butt, they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. And now the Axe-Fx is the greatest thing since tube amps. Some think that is a bad thing. I don't waste my time with such trivial BS, I make music, I suggest you worry about your sound and not whether there is a tube in the amplifier.

I just received the AXE-FX this week, and after a few days, I would say it is pretty easy to use. Running the amp thru my Mesa Boogie's effect loop didn't work well, but a simple hook-up thru a power amp and a couple of guitar cabs in stereo did the trick. Editing patches is fairly straight-foward, I've rarely had to use the manual so far, but I'm not doing deep editing yet. The manual could be better, but it does the basic job. On-line manuals are better I think. I have the latest firmware, for Aug 2009.

The sound is incredible. I've been playing 40yrs on guitar, and nothing in a rack has EVER sounded this good. Pods are toys, childs play, compared to this unit, not even close in quality.

The effects are world class, especially in stereo where they shine. The unit is so quiet, unlike my old-school rig, where some patches have high gain, and feedback easily. The noise gate is excellent. The S/N ratio is like 105dB I think, and this unit couldn't be much quieter.

Guitar-wise, I play an '88 PRS custom and I am using the AXE-FX thusfar with a QSC stereo power-amp thru a couple of Celestion loaded guitar cabs, 4x12 and 2x12 in stereo, using the power amp and cab simulations. Suprisingly, the cab simulations work well even going thru guitar cabs. I have yet to run it thru normal monitors or house PA, but suspect it will sound as good or better. I recommend using the poweramp and cab simulations, they are that good.

The Mesa Boogie amp models in the AXE-FX are fantastic, just as good as my real tube Mesa amp, and more responsive typically. Santana sounds can be "exactly" created, and did not require any patch tweaking, for example. All in all, sound quality would be very hard to beat unless you had a closet full of tube amps and effects, and they would still be noisy.

Thusfar, seems to be built like a tank. Time will tell.

Have not needed much customer support early on, other than during pre-sale questions. They were very responsive via email to my questions, when asking about stock and delivery.

This is an expensive unit. I thought long and hard before buying it, and even found a guy who had one locally to hear it first. It has exceeded my expectations so far. This unit is excellent for any style, our band plays progressive and classic rock. I will be able to replace every pedal I own, and my stereo bi-amp rig with this rig. I think it should be able to replace my very expensive boutique distortion pedal, "Mighty Red Dist" and it has awesome sound too.

After 40yrs of playing, I think I have the last gear I'll ever need, unless they modify this again!

If it was ever lost or stolen, I would definitely buy again to replace it.

Compared with a Line6 Pod unit, there is no comparison, period. Effects and tone aren't even in the same league or galaxy. End of story.

I wish it had a larger display, and had a nice midi controller pedal readily available. Currently, using a FCB1010 pedal and it is doing a decent job so far. Also wish it had knobs on the front for basic controls, like bass, treble, presence, etc, but menu is okay.

I'm mostly responding to Nemo who must is foolish. The Axe is easy to use if you want to use presets. It's got a good programming interface, but it's an incredibly deep device. If you're a tweaker, it's for you. If not, I'd say stay away.

If you strip all effects off and just use amp/cabinet, you can get a great basic sound in any genre you want more or less the same way you would with an amp. If you don't know how to get good sounds already, you might be very frustrated.

I'm really looking forward to them getting the computer editor done as it's a deep device and the editor will make unlocking the potential a lot easier and quicker than it is now. Still, it has a good and well thought out interface for a device of such complexity...very like
TC Electronic stuff in some ways.

This thing is absolutely the bomb and it just gets better and better. Cliff, the designer, just completely redid the drive models and they're just stunning. I'm typically a clean amp plus pedals person who doesn't play all that loud at gigs. This rig has allowed me to run "amp plus pedals" with a midi pedal and I'm getting the best drive sounds of my life.

How it sounds depends a lot on what you run it through, but with the right gear, you can get sounds that will rival anything I've ever run through. The amp simulations are as or more touch sensitive than my real amps (58 Fender Tweed Deluxe, 64 Deluxe Reverb, Music Man 50/65, Ampeg Super Echo Twin, Gemini II).

The effects are awesome, but I feel like I've only scratched the surface in 6 months of use. I think within another 6 months I'll be on a completely new plane in terms of ability to get a world of sounds I'd only dreamed about. The quality and depth of effects is just ridiculous.

Seems very reliable. I've used it with no backup and have had no functional issues at gigs.

Outstanding customer support. The unit has improved massively in sound quality in the six months I've owned it and it was excellent to start with.

I've played a long time and have tons of gear, probably 15 overdrive pedals among them and I'm not using any of them any more.

This is the best gear purchase I've ever made. I feel like it's Christmas every time I turn it on and there's so much to be explored in there that I feel like I've barely started.

Again, if you're not ready to dig in and tweak, I don't think you'll get what you're looking for.
The sound is light years beyond PODs, Tonelabs, Guitar Rig, etc. I've had most of the emulators out there and while there are certainly uses for them and good sounds can be had, I would never have gigged with any of them. I also don't think any of them sounds anywhere near as good as the Axe.

I've already sold gear worth more than the Axe cost me as a result of its' purchase and plan to sell a bunch more.

One thing to note is that you'll likely want to accessorize the Axe with a good midi controller and possibly the best powered monitor or 2 you can afford. You can run it into a cabinet/power amp and some people do, but I like to use the Axe's power amp and cab sims.

its easy enough, but the parameters are very deep and the time and patience it takes to understand them is not worth it for the difference they actually make in the sound.

the manual is very basic and lacks thouough explanations of how to edit the parameters

i have the latest firmware. and i just sold this unit

ive used it with power amp and cab, into effects loop of tube amps , and direct to full range qsc 122i speakers in stereo. the effects sound good, but they dont blow you away like alot of people say, there no better than th eindividual effects pedals you will buy, like boss. as a matter of fact some of the effectsi actually prefer the analog pedals, the boss chorus pedal has a much warmer, sound and the axefx chorus lacks that sound of depth, you get from an actual pedal. the effects are extremely clean, but a bit sterile.

the amp sims are fun if your recording direct, but if your playing live, they dont compare to the real thing. no matter which way i used this thing, it lacked in one major area overall: bottom end. th esag of a tube amp was there, as a matter of fact, too much so. it didnt punch through th way my dual rectifier does. put this thing in the room with an actual amp(which ever setup you decide to run the axefx through) and the real amp will simply blow it away. particularly noticeable was the harsh icepick sound of the distortion sounds, when playing with pick ahnd muting style. no matter what i couldnt dial it out.

it is better than all other hardware amp sims out there though. for recording i preferred guitar rig over this unit

never had any problems

there are no phone numbers to call???

This unit is not for the novice tweeker. A decent or high level understanding of tone shaping would be of great benefit for the user. Having said that, I now know this thing like the back of my hand, so I see it as very easy.

I have an army of HIGH END boutique amps, and I have exceptionally good ears (I work in a studio every day fulltime) I have heading close to $10,000 worth of pedals alone, so I wanted the amp to be what the last reviewer said.. hype.. It would justify for me personally a lot of gear that has taken years to pick and choose and sculpt my sound.

The Axe-Fx has replaced ALL the gear, and I couldn't be happier. I never thought there would be an all in one solution world class tone, fx, tone shaping, routing value for money, appeal... this thing just kills it.

I honestly think the people that are not salivating have not spent the time you NEED to invest in it to 'get it' I say that because I have owned 2 of these, The first one I took home and tried it our during the trial period. Uh huh... hype, exactly, and I sent it back, almost proud that my ears were not deceiving me like many others. But I kept hearing stellar recordings, and thought, these are really really good recordings, especially running through my hi end studio monitors worth much more than the Axe-Fx.

I bit the bullet and bought it again. This time I ordered a pair of HTPR122I QSC monitors to partner with it, instead of my studio monitors and my botique D13, and Bluesbreaker amps etc. I followed the manual closely this time, and within 30 mins I 'got it' and I have not stopped loving it ever since. Sometimes I will do a shoot out between this and my tube amps, like a calibration for my ears, and each time it's the same result, a slightly different flavor, but it is a simply stunning aural experience.. every time.

I wish I could fault it, but this is hands down the greatest musical instrument technology I've discovered in 20 years. End of story.

Not an issue here.

I sent the Cliff 2 emails and never heard back... they have no number to call, so I would actually dock them points here because some of these smaller high end companies have legendary customer service. Having said that, they are always releasing new updates free of charge and Cliff listens to his customers, and seems like a very pleasant man. The Axe-Fx army of supporters are helpful on the forums, and fiercely loyal to the product and to Cliff, just my own personal experiences did not mirror what others have spoken.

This is about as close to perfection as I can get. I can honestly say this is the cure for GAS for me. I know a lot of people boast how they have owned this or that, yet this thing is the best (insert your fx unit/amp/guitar etc here) but I have to say I have been in a position to by 4 boutique amps at a time, and entire ranges of pedals for example like the enpress gear, Cusack, TC Nova, cmatmods, Divided by 13, Bad Cat etc etc, and this single 2 rack psace unit just kills. I never ever thought the day would come when I would swap all these treasured pieces of gear for a 'rack unit' yet that is the conclusion.

To answer previous reviewer,I also just got one out of the box,ran through presets, initially disappointed ? thin and tinny . Then saw how I had hooked up, did it properly and played with the now amazing sounds
a while and found why EVERYBODY who knows about sound is giving it the
thumbs up. I am a pro' and so every time I play I want the BEST sound
from my gear, not a bad-night/good-night tube reaction.Not acceptable
from any amp, so here is the answer.If your super-car tried to kill you
at random on odd day's you would off'it pronto.Get into 21st century
and stop whining about old tech'best.
Manual needs a bit of a tweak'as lacks some basic info for novices.
Easy to work-out if you sit and try.

When properly linked to out-board gear there is nothing to challenge
the Fx .The harmony/pitch sounds are incredible, cannot fault any of it.
Just into small desk and Truth p/mon's I love it to death.

From all the facts I have read they seem as reliable as day/night following .Always keep small fall-back unit

The very best there is

I play for pay , anything, anytime so must have the best, now I have got it. If any misguided cretin tried to relieve me of it,they would regret it for all time, I would have a thousand demons on their case in a flash.
Love everything about it, wish it had a floor-board inc. with pedals.
Do not read any of the put-down trash a few poor sods have entered on this forum, Majority rules,as does Axe-fx.

Tried one out recently, typical as all rack processors, you go through the presets, etc. Haven't tried editing too much, just surfing it out, etc.

I agree that this is hype. No, this will not replace your tube guitar rig. Effects are very good, why they don't make a seperate unit just for effects I have no idea, some companies always try to go too far (ya hear me Eventide?) and throw in the kitchen sink. The idea of an 'everything' processor was never good.

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Here is the deal: You cannot replicate tube amps with this stuff. Why? Because a "tube" is like a human, not perfect. A tube is fussy, it changes with temperature, it has good days and bad days, in other words, it has real "Character" and you can feel this everytime you play. That is why people keep going back to the tube, it is moody just like they are. Now enter these digital clones or emulators or whatver... To find out the TRUTH of its amp character, you absolutely must turn off all the effects, all the crap, and listen the the raw sound alone. This is what usualy kills these type of processors, because they are digital robots, and their character never changes, it is designed to act one way, and it will do that. You won't notice this right away, you have to own one of these things for a bit till your ear finally gets dialed in to the sound and character. That is when you keep going back in trying to "tweek" everything over and over, wondering what it is that you are missing. Well, that is the cog in the wheel for digital and emulators/etc, they are not flawed and imperfect or moody, they will perform EXACTLY as they have the 1000 times you've played it, you will get no new emotion out of it. Think of driving a Vette down a curvy road really fast, exciting and dangerous! -Until you've learned the road and drove down it 1000 times, you wonder where the thrill went. That is the best analogy I can give. This thing would be great if it were TWO seperate items, a dedictated effects processor in one, which would be most excellent, and then if you want these amp models or whatever, you can get that unit. That way you get WHAT YOU NEED, no overkill, no serious $$$$ to drop down if you only want the effects. So in the end, as it is said, nothing new under the sun. The mistakes companies made in the 80's was trying to cram too much )$&W)&$)W# into everything and it got really old, guitarists just want what they need! You don't need all this crap! If you do, then you are a tech nut or studio nerd, haha. I say that affectionately, haha.. But just like Eventide, many many parameters of stuff not really useful to a major degree. Make a stand alone effects unit of these effects in a one rack space with a USB out to connect to your computer for a nice prog that is as big as your 19" monitor to make on the fly changes like you use your digital camera? You will have perfection.

I couldn`t spent too much time with this unit, but what I`ve seen so far is enough to say that it stands worlds apart from any other software which reproduces guitar sounds. I`m looking forward to the PC editor as the display isn`t too big (well I wouldn`t expect a bigger display but a full screen is simply more comfortable).

Supperiour product !

must read the manual and spend sometime to understand the routing and effects placement.editing is fairly easy as long as you spend some time also. easier to tweak than the old multi effects processors.manual is quite extensive and covers the unit throughly.firmware isthe latest 7.04 released in march.

11 on this one.i sold my entire pedalboard with 3,000 worth of old analog pedals including, teese wah, 70's mistress, uber vibe, deep blue delay, analogman chorus, red reverberator, big muff,fulldrive, rat etc. no noise on any settings. pristine.effects are the best on par with eventide h-3000 and highend lexicon and tc units.using it with a custom marshall 1974x with mercury magnetics and matching cab with all nos tubes. all tones are possible, trower, hendrix, clapton, blues, metal, etc.this unit finally eliminates all analog pedals and custom tube amps forever. i ah an hk zentara i thought was good . garbaga compared to this.sell everyting you got and get this. i have bought and sold over 50.000 in the last 15 or 20 years searching for that tone in you head. this is the end of my search. you will be shocked once you plug into this unit. you will **** your pants, literally!

fractal responded to all my emails within hours and answered all my questions. built like a brick shithouse. inside unit is sweet. super clean wiring and soldering. i can gig without fear of let down.

see above.unit is constantly releasing new firmware and the tones are just getting better and better. all for free on midi.one year warr. cliff stands behind his product. company has benn around almosy 4 years now. unit sounds considerably better now due to upgrades.

i play blues, rock and metal. this can cover all the bases.been playing since 68.i own a 78 strat, 78 les paul cust and a 2005 telecaster.would most definately buy again.i love everything about the unit. no dislikes.tried all the amp sims. this thing is the real deal. what are you waiting for?sell all your **** and get your *** down to tone merchants in orange, ca and see noel and tell him art sent you. i promise you wont be sorry!!!!!!!!!!

Borrowed unit for evaluation as to wether to buy one.Easy as can be to
get any sound in the head, if you can work an amp you can work this.
Running latest version.

Bill? or whoever you are, surely when all the top studio players, road going guitar-pro's and the main industry gear guru's unanimously give the axe-fx top credit,it must get through to you that YOU ARE THE PROBLEM not the unit. I cannot find a bad sound in it and I have tried
all the latest,oldest,gear going in my time.A bad chef' will make crap out of the finest ingredients. AXE-FX rules.

This one has been fine.

All the reports say amazing service from an amazing company.Who can argue?

I am a gigging pro-gitar man of some 46yrs. Played just about all kinds
of music.This will do the same for me.No big amps and cabs to lug,just plug-in and play.Gotta have one a.s.a.p.

Remember readers of these revues,if a majority say it is good then
trust that it is ,ignore the BOZO' who tries to be the lone voice of
insanity and neg's all over the gear,bad kit and the ones who make it
soon get found out and dumped. Fractal are not in this box.