Fractal AX8 ..... US $1,399 ..... thats just CRAZY !!! :) :) :)

    Quote from Nikos

    @Phil


    ...for me personally doing "dual amping" during recording is not as easy as I would like it to be.Most of the times I used two very different sounds and playing these in the same time brings as many problems as one could imagine...


    My guess would be you and almost 99.9% of guitar players working on any serious or non serious recordings, a one take dual amp is very rare and practically an unnecessary feature for recording purpose. Dual takes are far too superior ...The AXE FXII additional features are also overkill if compared with the AX8 for most if not all working guitarists and I wouldn't be surprised if AXE II, MFC, FX8 are discontinued.


    The delima with Kemper is it can't be stripped down for the product to even be successful. Kemper can't release a foot controller that only plays profiles and if they did they might not sell profilers, so where will the profiles come from in order to be able to sell the foot controller that only plays profiles but can't do actual profiling? I think it's inseparable from a marketing prospective.

    Edited 2 times, last by Dean_R ().

    Like 1

    In any case the AX8 is tempting.Using it with the Kemper as main sound-system while the AX8 is used as main FX-generator in the fx-loop of the KPA and as Midi-controller..and then you have it also as back up if anything goes wrong with the KPA.Plus the ability to do dual-amp/cabinet.


    It is simple maths.How much does a better FX cost;How much a good,rugged Midi-footcontroller;How much do you have to spend to get you a "serious" back up for your main system;How big will get your Rack with all this;


    The combination KPA and AX8 is definitly worth a serious thought.

    Quote from Nikos

    then you have it also as back up if anything goes wrong with the KPA.Plus the ability to do dual-amp/cabinet.


    AX8 can't do dual amps even though it has two DSPs one dedicated for amps and one for FX, but they're not as powerful as those in the AXE II. There will be block compatibility between the Axe-Fx II and the AX-8 meaning you can copy blocks from your Axe-Fx presets into the AX-8., still that means you're getting the same modeling quality at almost half the price and all you loose would be some synth effects and the ability to run dual amps but you gain a controller. Much better product than AXE II for all intended purposes as I see it.

    @Tube18
    I am one of those dudes which just recognized today that there are two Fractal pedalboards out there (better said..soon) and that the one (the "FX8") costs as much as the AX8 but has no amp-sim.Well I wont say anything about this.


    I just hope that the AX8 does indeed sound as its bigger brother(just with "one amp/cabinet less"..) and that I will have enough money by the end of the year to get me one.Every single euro,HU and pound I can save will be worth it.


    A small,good sounding 3HU-rig with a FC and a FRFR I can throw into the back of my small car is more than just very practical and does not leave anything to desire for the next years to come.

    Quote from Nikos

    @Tube18


    I just hope that the AX8 does indeed sound as its bigger brother(just with "one amp/cabinet less"..) and that I will have enough money by the end of the year to get me one.Every single euro,HU and pound I can save will be worth it.


    I think you have one year at least to save money before it will be available in EU :D
    Maybe in the meanwhile we will have a Kemper Profile Pedal :D

    Quote from Jimmyno

    So it will be a very good piece of gear, probably far superior than its direct competitor in its price tag (Helix) :)


    Personally i don't understand why people behave like this when it comes to "rival" products :/ (well being on a Kemper forum i guess i should understand why it happens so often...other brand fans act the same if not worst).


    I have real experience with an Axe Fx 2 from a friend of mine and it's a wonderful piece of guitar gear.For me price wise simply doesn't work because i live in Europe (where an used Axe Fx ultra costs as much as new Kemper non powered...crazy really!).


    But putting the price aside i really like the Axe Fx.



    ps : And the helix sure does look and sound cool too.

    So has the FX8 been abandoned already then?!


    At at least with Kemper you KNOW you've made the right decision ;) :)

    CURRENT:
    (FLOOR) Kemper Remote w/ Mission exp + EB VP
    (RACK) Kemper PowerRack


    People need to compare and get the best value for the money they spend. If someone says Product A is better than Product B, there's no harm done. Even if he/she doesn't explain why they think that is, they're just sharing an opinion. It's nice when they explain why they prefer a product over another and it helps someone else make a choice.


    As long as there are no personal attacks and discrediting others just because they don't like a product every discussion about equipment is fair game. It's also helpful for the whole industry who happen to read most boards. I'm pretty sure they want to know why their product A is liked and product B is trashed. Even trashing products (not people) is useful to a certain extent.


    Who knows maybe if Fractal is reading this forum (and I suspect they do), they might do something about the pricing and availability issues for their products in Europe. Line 6 might release another iteration of Helix with less inputs and outputs that's aggressively priced to compete and Vice Versa. Kemper might also find a way to cram the ability to profile Drive Pedals to justify the slight premium over the other products if AXE II is discontinued and Kemper becomes the priciest modeler (at least in the united states which is a huge market)

    Quote from Dean_R


    People need to compare and get the best value for the money they spend. If someone says Product A is better than Product B, there's no harm done. Even if he/she doesn't explain why they think that is, they're just sharing an opinion. It's nice when they explain why they prefer a product over another and it helps someone else make a choice.


    As long as there are no personal attacks and discrediting others just because they don't like a product every discussion about equipment is fair game. It's also helpful for the whole industry who happen to read most boards. I'm pretty sure they want to know why their product A is liked and product B is trashed. Even trashing products (not people) is useful to a certain extent.


    Who knows maybe if Fractal is reading this forum (and I suspect they do), they might do something about the pricing and availability issues for their products in Europe. Line 6 might release another iteration of Helix with less inputs and outputs that's aggressively priced to compete and Vice Versa. Kemper might also find a way to cram the ability to profile Drive Pedals to justify the slight premium over the other products if AXE II is discontinued and Kemper becomes the priciest modeler (at least in the united states which is a huge market)



    YES PLEASE!
    [Blocked Image: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/dpaisley/biga.gif]

    Quote from Dean_R

    Who knows maybe if Fractal is reading this forum (and I suspect they do), they might do something about the pricing and availability issues for their products in Europe. Line 6 might release another iteration of Helix with less inputs and outputs that's aggressively priced to compete and Vice Versa. Kemper might also find a way to cram the ability to profile Drive Pedals to justify the slight premium over the other products if AXE II is discontinued and Kemper becomes the priciest modeler (at least in the united states which is a huge market)


    Of course Axe-FX II will not be discontinued (before III is released).

    Don't get me wrong, guys.
    I'm not bashing FAS or Line6.
    My sincere opinion is that the two pedals are serious rivals one of each other, and that, in my opinion after having owned any Pod out there and Axe Fx standard and Ultra, is that probably the AX8 will be far superior to the Helix.
    And that's what i strongly believe (more than ever) after having heard the Helix demos.
    It just sounds as Line6 amp sims, IMHO.


    OT: Bias has started the Bias distortion project. I think that they will be modeling pedals and let users tweak the circuit, in a similar manner as you can find in the FAS od/distortions.
    Great times for us musicians :)

    Quote

    AX8 can't do dual amps even though it has two DSPs one dedicated for amps and one for FX, but they're not as powerful as those in the AXE II.


    I meant the ABY-kind of dual amping when combining the KPA with the AX8..this should be absolutely possible for recording and also live,no;Till yet I did not see anything that makes me believe the opposite.

    Quote from nEVH5150

    So has the FX8 been abandoned already then?!


    At at least with Kemper you KNOW you've made the right decision ;) :)



    Why would it be abandoned???
    You have 2 cars.
    Car 1 is buildt to pull a trailer. With that one purpose only.
    Car 2r can pull a trailer but is not buildt for it so it will not do as good a job at it as car 1. But it can do some other things that car 1 just cant.
    it drives alot better with no trailer attached or whatever.


    This doesnt make one of the cars useless.
    If you are sure you need to pull a trailer all the time, you buy car 1
    If not you buy car 2
    Or who knows, maybe there might even be a car 3 that fits you better. But that still dosnt mean that car 1 and 2 are useless.

    AX8 and FX8 are not built for the same purpose. One is an all in one product, the other one has been optimised to be used in front of an amp (or Kemper) with the 4 cables method. Therefore the inside components are not exactly the same mostly to reduce noise on the FX8 and to implement a true by-pass and uses therefore more expensive components, the AX8 is not optimised to work in the 4 cables configuration. This is well explained on Fractal's forum. So no, absolutely no regrets for me, I would not have bought an AX8 I have the very good Kemper already.