Fractal Axe Fx 3

  • It sure has plenty of led lights, but in 6 years time version IV will have more! Just kidding. It may be an excellent product, but the business side of Fractal..

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • I simply bought the Kemper because it impressed me soundwise.. and it looks like an amp, and I can tweak on the knobs as it was an amp.. I dont doubt the new FX III is good, but I like the way the Kemper works. And the fact that we get upgrades for free!!! The kemper team works with this unit and it become better and better!!

  • Fuck it, I'm buying one. And the fancy new 12 Button footswitch. I will gladly 4cm that with my Kemper. Probably even do some amp modeling as distortion pedals or some other kinda goofy thing. It's not like its gonna suck. C'mon, yall don't be haters, just look at this thing. It's a thing that thingy's stuff with things and it stuffs the hell out of those things with stuffs

    If I were a rich man - dawi didl didl didl dum da dei... ^^


    Can't say I don't care, but.... I can only play on one thing. :)
    And satisfying only the curiosity is probably too expensive.

  • I just went to the product page and the enhancements seems to be more of an audio interface than anything but what I'm not clear on is when they say "Featuring our latest amp modeling technology". Does that mean it's completely new algorithms from the ground up? Or does it just mean the latest found in the AXE II and AXE 8? Will presets of one amp path be interchangeable between these three processors?


    Edit: So I read this statement in their website "our latest modeling is the most expressive, musical, and accurate we’ve ever created" So clearly this latest modeling technology is being advertised as better than previous ones such as MIMIC or most recently Quantum.

    Edited once, last by Dean_R ().

  • I don’t feel Fractal has any desire to go exactly in the same path as Kemper. I have noticed with the 3U design it has reduced its depth to under 12”, which is definitely more shallow rack friendly. The color display is a huge plus, and of course the output section. To me Fractal design is improving and if the tones are resigned it could be a great item, but as stated, if the older stuff is left in the dust, it makes you apprehensive to buy when it could be totally obsolete in 5 years. Fractal should be like RME, they always have updated stuff even for their oldest boards.

  • If you look at ebay, since last night several listings for AXE II at almost half the price of a new one.


    It seems that presets crafted in II will not work in III and according to cliff three will sound better than II because the extra CPU will minimize the limit on running the algorithms also internal oversampling is higher with higher bit depth.

  • If you look at ebay, since last night several listings for AXE II at almost half the price of a new one.


    It seems that presets crafted in II will not work in III and according to cliff three will sound better than II because the extra CPU will minimize the limit on running the algorithms also internal oversampling is higher with higher bit depth.

    This is what I thought.
    Instant massive devaluation of the (recently) most expensive modeller.
    Also the non- backwards compatibility of presets is a PITA.
    Imagine all the time you wasted programming patches for the Axe II.
    Poof--- gone.
    Sad.

  • I simply bought the Kemper because it impressed me soundwise.. and it looks like an amp, and I can tweak on the knobs as it was an amp.. I dont doubt the new FX III is good, but I like the way the Kemper works. And the fact that we get upgrades for free!!! The kemper team works with this unit and it become better and better!!

    Axe users also get upgrades for free. More upgrades than Kemper users, actually. And Axe II will continue to get upgrades.

  • From my point of view the axe is nothing more than a cool multi fx unit with a very cool floorboard and a very nice editor. When I had to use one ( fortunately not because i have kpa) I would use it like the big players ( Vai, Petrucci and many many more superstars use it) only as an fx unit in a rack. Petrucci or Vai would never give up their real amp sound.

  • Thanks for the post regarding a new AXE FX.


    I am still more than satisfied with my Kemper but if this makes someone excited and fires up their gear jones?


    I can be happy for them.


    I follow the gear world and purchase things for my studio on a regular basis.


    Avidly follow guitar amps and profiles from commercial of shared sources.


    Rarely hit music stores but did stop by one that had a Friedman Runt and 2x12 Friedman cabinet.


    Easy to dial in as most of Dave's amps are.


    It'd be a good one for me to profile at some point. Much better vibe than most 18/20 waters.

  • Seems like Fractal themselves stated somewhere in their forum that the AF3 will sound "a tiny little bit better" ie amp-modelling than the 2XL+..


    https://forum.fractalaudio.com…n-the-axe-fx-2-xl.134811/


    ..so you will pay (here in europe) at least some 2500-2700 euros to get finally more horsepower for more FX and better/more I/O,connectivity & UI.One word on the latter (UI)..do I got this right;Does the AF3 (finally) have "better UI" (like the "revolutionary new LCD with seperate chip" and the five scroll buttons under the LCD) to achieve faster tweaking for live-/Jam-usage,so you dont need an extra laptop for "quick tweaking";;;


    This is funny;Is it not; :/


    I wonder what all the guys here screaming for an editor have to say about this "new feature" at fractals newest product; :D


    Anyway..



    The "fractal policies" are nor for me.I thought about to find me a used AX8 for rehearsals and jam-sessions ..I will forget about this now.To much fear that the AX8 will be obsolete in short time.


    I understand people with GAS but this here is...GASoline and a (sadly not enough tone..) match for your hard earned money...thanks,but no thanks..

  • This is what I thought.Instant massive devaluation of the (recently) most expensive modeller.
    Also the non- backwards compatibility of presets is a PITA.
    Imagine all the time you wasted programming patches for the Axe II.
    Poof--- gone.
    Sad.

    These were also my thoughts too but didn't want to sound like I'm being be overly critical.


    AX II users will now have to fight the urge of upgrading knowing that their current top of the line modeler is officially declared as inferior in sound quality and modeling .algorithms,


    Even when they upgrade, it's like starting new from scratch to craft new presets. That's actually more than a PITA, it's really the equivalent to moving to a completely different product from another company. Then again, if they truly were happy with the sound, it really wouldn't make sense to update and I suspect that many won't.


    That is in stark contrast to one of my favorite features in Kemper where you don't have to worry about the updates changing your tones, I don't know if users realize how huge that is.

  • It's a very powerful, studio FX processor. Sort of middle step between low end plugins and Eventide. Amp modelling algorithm is OK, but this isn't what the unit main purpose is. Comparing it to Kemper doesn't make sense.Tone Matching is not what the profiler does, not even in "Ultra Res".


    By the way, I'd not mind if Kemper released MK II today. I'd buy it day one.

  • Am I the only guy who noticed there are 8 analog inputs and 8 outputs?


    That begs the question, what exactly can you route through those inputs and outputs?


    Also, no FX loops? How are you going to 4CM it with the Kemper?


    It is possible though that the inputs and outputs are flexible.


    EDIT: Just read, Outputs 3 and 4 are designed for unity gain applications such as “the four cable method” or dual stereo inserts and can also be used as general-purpose outputs.