For those griping about missing cables. I don't think a vendor should be required to supply cables for every output and input on the unit. In the case of the AX8 that would be a guitar cable, USB, SPDIF, 2 XLRs, 4 TS cables, 6 TRS cables, 2 MIDI cables and a power cable. If they did include them, people would start complaining about the length of the cables supplied. I love my AXE FX. Buying cables is part of being a musician. No need to whine about it. You need extras anyway.
To be fair a USB cable should be included, at least in my opinion. You're right about the other stuff though. How on earth are they supposed to know peoples preferences for cable length and if they're angled or not for example??
I got my AX8 a year ago and its the best single piece of non-string gear I 've owned in 27 years of playing. Fracpad is worth looking at to use with a tablet or smartphone Also, AustinBuddy's Naked Amp preset pack is exceptional
Great video. I am an Axe Fx 2 XL user, and I agree with everything you said. The industry is going to have to come to realize, at some point, these units are serious solutions. I see interviewers and artists struggle when they do a "Rig Rundown" video. It looks like a great opportunity to change their methods, maybe show screens etc.
After chatting wit Brett Kingman and now watching this video, I'm officially moving to the other side. I will keep one tube amp and move forward with the AX8 as all FX (with amp) and modelling direct. Matt, Thank you for a sincerely honest review, this was what i needed. Cheers mate. Lennie
Hey thanks for the kind words.... you won't be disappointed. I've kept one tube amp too - the AX8 has saved me a load of time making content on this channel:) Thanks for watching!
No don't sell any of your amps, well any collectible ones anyway. They will keep or increase in value. It is fine if your not wearing out tubes in them using an AxeFX. One big plus point is the Axe makes up in Amps what you loose in tweaking it, so you will usually find what you need from the get go.But gone is the immediacy of good tone via a tactile knob.
Regarding selling off pedalsMatt, exactly what I decided to do yesterday and my AX8 is already ordered. Even though I have many great pedals, many boutique and high end, I just cannot justify hanging on to practically any of them. I am sure that the AX8 can emulate any of them, and then some, plus love its convenience regarding chords, power supplies, etcetera. Have not seen one YT video that doesn't reinforce my thoughts either.
Excellent demo of the clean sounds. Great information for someone looking into investing in one of these units. I have the Kemper Powerhead and recently received the Amplifirebox as a Christmas gift. It can be pretty decent if you can drive the studio monitors but the Kemper sounds great at a very low volume. It sound awesome cranked. Assuming you have great profiles. I dumped most of the stock profiles and bought two Michael Britt profile packs. You can’t go wrong with that. That being said, I want an Axe Fx 2 XL plus or an axe8 also. Compare side by side on my own. I’m fairly sure I will like the fractal stuff just as much as the Kemper. But it is hard to beat. Cheers!
Sounds like a practical way to go. I've played through one of the rackmount Fractal gizmos and was very impressed. For my own purposes I enjoy my old amps & my pedal collection, but then I have no need to be practical. ;)
This may sound somewhat odd, but of all the videos I've seen on the AX8, yours has completely convinced me to buy one after watching only the first minute of it. First, you come across as a very sincere and honest person, but more importantly, your playing is thoughtful, sincere, and melodic and it matches your spoken and physical demeanor so perfectly that that I know youa re an honest and truthful person. I've rarely been as impressed by a person so completely just by watching a video. Again, I hope this doesn't sound strange and certainly not sarcaster, but I admire you as a musician and person. I'm going to try and find more examples of your playing. It inspires me to want to write music from the heart. Thanks very much, and have a great day, and please keep making videos. I'm officially a fan! Cheers.
Thanks you for the very kind words it's much appreciated! Glad to hear your going to buy an AX8 they are a lot of fun and a very powerful tool for guitarist. Not perfect but I'm getting hours of fun out of it and it's saving me a load of time making content for the channel. Have great day too:) Cheers Matt.
Thanks Brett I'm really enjoying the AX8 - I'm playing it through an HK Audio Elements pa and I'm very impressed. Not to mention the ease of recording... thanks for dropping past too - I'm a big fan of your channel! cheers Matt.
Guilherme Freitas Marshall and all simulations are extremely good ! This is the best simulation preamp fx device of all ! Belive me ! I tested all and the ax8 is the champ ! Cheers man !
I plan to use the AX8 where I have very limited time for setup. I plan to use amps as often as I can. I run with reactive load send out dry to stereo fx chain. Few pedals infront. 4 cable noise gate set up. I simply just use the AX8 as a substitute for the amp. Run non cab to a small board with 2 external reverbs and finally to stereo pair of Two Notes Torpedo Cab M plus IR boxes xlr to pa/non cab split to stereo power amp and speakers. I can run quiet, silent, or whatever volume I want behind me in reason.
Nice demo Matt. It would be cool to hear a comparison between your favorite amps recorded live (mic'd up) and the presets from the AX8. I'm one of them snobby tube amp nuts lol. Rich
Haha I have plenty of mates who are tube amp snobs (and I guess I am too)... and good idea doing some comparisons I'll definitely do some of those:) Thanks for watching cheers Matt.
Very pleasant demo. I'm awaiting my AX-8 on May 22 2017 and also, I'm coming from a tube background and not having much experience in these sorts of things, but have a "techie" background too... I'm anxiously awaiting! I had also ordered the Line6 Helix the very same day that I had ordered the Fractal unit. I couldn't decide between them. I had to make a promise NOT to buy and more (expensive) modeling gear for at least five years, giving me time to absorb the technology and give manufacturers time to expand and hopefully perfect the technology... it certainly has come a long way. Again, very nice video. Thanks and best regards!
Great video. I love my AX8 and cant see me ever parting with it despite recently buying an AXE-FX 3 MK 11. AX8 will be used live (when gigs return!) and AXE-FX111 for studio.
why do you need a cable for the expression pedal if ts built in i have a fractal ultra which has great sounds but I have not been able to procure a floor board controller for it as apparently the recent fractal midi controllers are not compatible with it and I dont want to spend $1600 on one anyway so it looks like the ax 8 may be the way to go but Would like to hear some of the more spaced out sounds like Galaxy Formation and Gamalon nights
Your recording of the AX8 here sounds great - many don't even though they are using the AX8. Could you elaborate on your signal flow and what software and devices you used to record it?
Hi Landon yes of course. For the video my balanced outs from the AX-8 are plugged directly into my canon C300 MK11 camera. I'm a professional filmmaker so the quality of the input into the camera are high. But that's it... for monitoring I just plug the other outputs to a PA.
Good afternoon. What is the best way to get the AX8 sound reference? I've seen that we can link it straight online or loop and turn on the Amp return. But how do you know what his sound really is? It has no headphone output. The best way would be to connect it to an audio interface and listen for the headset interface? Would this be the pure sound of the AX8?
I have a Boss GT-100 that I output through a EVH 5150 tube amp. It makes for a great combination because you can get great tone at low volume. And you get the character of the real tube amp at the end of signal chain. I just purchased an AX8 that I'll also output to my EVH 5150. It'll will be interesting to see how it compares to the Boss GT-100
thank you for the review, I'm considering seriously get an AX8. BTW if you reduce the speed of your padding filming fx it'll looks better. At the end of the video I felt dizzy. Nice guitar tone and nice video. Keep playing!
Are you still using it and happy? I've noticed that there are a lot of them for sale on eBay and Reverb. Sometimes seeing a lot of something for sale is a red flag.
Yeah I am still using it - I have Friedman FRFR speaker and the combo works for me. I believe the number for sale could be about them being superseded... cheers, Matt.
Maybe not an AX8 but they will be playing amp simulators in 50 years for sure. I have both a vintage 60's AC30 and an AX8 I use them differently... I love old vintage tube amps too:) Best Matt.
Great review! A couple of things to ask: since the usb feature can't record it, you run it through an audio interface with a jack to record on pc? And for the ax8 edit you need the usb connection, right?
Hey! Really good & informative video man. Appreciate it =). I'm starting up some guitar lessons, and I was wondering if you know whether it'll be possible/practical having 2 people using the AX8 for lesson/recording purposes? Any help with this would be much appreciated =)
Ah ok, that's a shame... I think I may still buy it anyway though tbh lol. It sounds great and I've got an amp at home, so I could always let the student have a play with the AX8 whilst I use that =)
Nice one, Matt. As always. I was thinking about buying AX8\Axe\Helix\Kemper for last 3-4 months and your video tell me that I'm on the right way! I'm sure you "examined" all guitar processors models at market :) So why you stopped at AX8, not Kemper\Helix? I also prefer this model, but it's very interesting to know your thoughts. For example, you can't write track from AX8 to DAW using only USB (like you can do in Helix), and there are some more reasons which could make your life easier, but you choose AX8 :) Thanks for you answer and BR from Russia :)
Very nice video! I'm on the other side of the fence, being the owner of a helix LT, but I really like loving this unit from afar. Maybe one day I'll get one. It has better sounding cabs right out of the box.
Hey Josh, I love the AX8 - I haven't played through a Helix but I'd certainly like to try one. I still have a tube too:) Thanks for watching cheers Matt.
Great production, but to be honest the video panning was legitimately making me feel dizzy after a while. Seems silly, but I kinda am most off-put by the lack of headphone out, have you found any work-arounds to that?
Don't sell your pedals. You will want the real deal after using it for a while. Could be years though! When it comes to tone your ears get used to the digital wash and the pedals will be a breath of fresh air! You will absorb the cost in what you save in not buying any new pedals for while. LOL
Sounds great! Refreshing to see a fractal demo like this one that isn’t all out metal even though I like metal too.
Thanks for highlighting the clean tones.. Very nice.
For those griping about missing cables. I don't think a vendor should be required to supply cables for every output and input on the unit. In the case of the AX8 that would be a guitar cable, USB, SPDIF, 2 XLRs, 4 TS cables, 6 TRS cables, 2 MIDI cables and a power cable. If they did include them, people would start complaining about the length of the cables supplied.
I love my AXE FX. Buying cables is part of being a musician. No need to whine about it. You need extras anyway.
To be fair a USB cable should be included, at least in my opinion. You're right about the other stuff though. How on earth are they supposed to know peoples preferences for cable length and if they're angled or not for example??
Great video production, fantastic perspective on the unit. Love your work man!
Thanks for the kind words Leon cheers Matt.
Probably the best case I've heard for taking these devices seriously. Nice one Matt.
Thanks mate I appreciate the kind words. Cheers Matt.
I got my AX8 a year ago and its the best single piece of non-string gear I 've owned in 27 years of playing.
Fracpad is worth looking at to use with a tablet or smartphone
Also, AustinBuddy's Naked Amp preset pack is exceptional
Hi Tony - I'll check out Fracpad I'm not familiar with it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for watching:) Cheers Matt.
Great video. I am an Axe Fx 2 XL user, and I agree with everything you said. The industry is going to have to come to realize, at some point, these units are serious solutions. I see interviewers and artists struggle when they do a "Rig Rundown" video. It looks like a great opportunity to change their methods, maybe show screens etc.
Glad you agree - I'm looking forward to trying the it out live. Recording has been awesome so far... Thanks for watching cheers Matt.
After chatting wit Brett Kingman and now watching this video, I'm officially moving to the other side. I will keep one tube amp and move forward with the AX8 as all FX (with amp) and modelling direct.
Matt, Thank you for a sincerely honest review, this was what i needed.
Cheers mate.
Lennie
Hey thanks for the kind words.... you won't be disappointed. I've kept one tube amp too - the AX8 has saved me a load of time making content on this channel:) Thanks for watching!
No don't sell any of your amps, well any collectible ones anyway. They will keep or increase in value. It is fine if your not wearing out tubes in them using an AxeFX. One big plus point is the Axe makes up in Amps what you loose in tweaking it, so you will usually find what you need from the get go.But gone is the immediacy of good tone via a tactile knob.
Thanks Bart my tube amps aren't going anywhere - I'll always keep at least one:)
Just picked up one of these myself. Very honest review I have to say!
Thanks for the kind words Nick - enjoy it they're a lot of fun! Matt
Regarding selling off pedalsMatt, exactly what I decided to do yesterday and my AX8 is already ordered. Even though I have many great pedals, many boutique and high end, I just cannot justify hanging on to practically any of them. I am sure that the AX8 can emulate any of them, and then some, plus love its convenience regarding chords, power supplies, etcetera. Have not seen one YT video that doesn't reinforce my thoughts either.
Excellent demo of the clean sounds. Great information for someone looking into investing in one of these units. I have the Kemper Powerhead and recently received the Amplifirebox as a Christmas gift. It can be pretty decent if you can drive the studio monitors but the Kemper sounds great at a very low volume. It sound awesome cranked. Assuming you have great profiles. I dumped most of the stock profiles and bought two Michael Britt profile packs. You can’t go wrong with that. That being said, I want an Axe Fx 2 XL plus or an axe8 also. Compare side by side on my own. I’m fairly sure I will like the fractal stuff just as much as the Kemper. But it is hard to beat. Cheers!
Sounds like a practical way to go. I've played through one of the rackmount Fractal gizmos and was very impressed. For my own purposes I enjoy my old amps & my pedal collection, but then I have no need to be practical. ;)
If it ain't broken it doesn't need fixing:)
This may sound somewhat odd, but of all the videos I've seen on the AX8, yours has completely convinced me to buy one after watching only the first minute of it. First, you come across as a very sincere and honest person, but more importantly, your playing is thoughtful, sincere, and melodic and it matches your spoken and physical demeanor so perfectly that that I know youa re an honest and truthful person. I've rarely been as impressed by a person so completely just by watching a video. Again, I hope this doesn't sound strange and certainly not sarcaster, but I admire you as a musician and person. I'm going to try and find more examples of your playing. It inspires me to want to write music from the heart. Thanks very much, and have a great day, and please keep making videos. I'm officially a fan! Cheers.
Thanks you for the very kind words it's much appreciated! Glad to hear your going to buy an AX8 they are a lot of fun and a very powerful tool for guitarist. Not perfect but I'm getting hours of fun out of it and it's saving me a load of time making content for the channel. Have great day too:) Cheers Matt.
Great stuff, Matt. Welcome to the club, mate. :)
Thanks Brett I'm really enjoying the AX8 - I'm playing it through an HK Audio Elements pa and I'm very impressed. Not to mention the ease of recording... thanks for dropping past too - I'm a big fan of your channel! cheers Matt.
Was just about to suggest you two should get together... LOL
Great minds think alike:)
brett are the marshalls simulation really good?
Guilherme Freitas Marshall and all simulations are extremely good ! This is the best simulation preamp fx device of all ! Belive me ! I tested all and the ax8 is the champ ! Cheers man !
I plan to use the AX8 where I have very limited time for setup. I plan to use amps as often as I can. I run with reactive load send out dry to stereo fx chain. Few pedals infront. 4 cable noise gate set up. I simply just use the AX8 as a substitute for the amp. Run non cab to a small board with 2 external reverbs and finally to stereo pair of Two Notes Torpedo Cab M plus IR boxes xlr to pa/non cab split to stereo power amp and speakers. I can run quiet, silent, or whatever volume I want behind me in reason.
Nice demo Matt. It would be cool to hear a comparison between your favorite amps recorded live (mic'd up) and the presets from the AX8. I'm one of them snobby tube amp nuts lol.
Rich
Haha I have plenty of mates who are tube amp snobs (and I guess I am too)... and good idea doing some comparisons I'll definitely do some of those:) Thanks for watching cheers Matt.
I love my Ax8 and is fairly simple to tweak with the AX8 Edit. Enjoy !!!
Very pleasant demo.
I'm awaiting my AX-8 on May 22 2017 and also, I'm coming from a tube background and not having much experience in these sorts of things, but have a "techie" background too... I'm anxiously awaiting!
I had also ordered the Line6 Helix the very same day that I had ordered the Fractal unit. I couldn't decide between them.
I had to make a promise NOT to buy and more (expensive) modeling gear for at least five years, giving me time to absorb the technology and give manufacturers time to expand and hopefully perfect the technology... it certainly has come a long way.
Again, very nice video. Thanks and best regards!
Thank you for your review ..!!
Great video. I love my AX8 and cant see me ever parting with it despite recently buying an AXE-FX 3 MK 11. AX8 will be used live (when gigs return!) and AXE-FX111 for studio.
Great video, I purchase an Axe-FX II + and thinking of the AX8 because I don't feel very good about getting rid of my tube amps.
I still have a tube amp despite loving the AX8. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Matt.
Thanks! excelent job! greetings from Argentina.
facumetalandrock thanks for dropping in to my channel cheers Matt
why do you need a cable for the expression pedal if ts built in
i have a fractal ultra which has great sounds but I have not been able to procure a floor board controller for it as apparently the recent fractal midi controllers are not compatible with it and I dont want to spend $1600 on one anyway so it looks like the ax 8 may be the way to go but Would like to hear some of the more spaced out sounds
like Galaxy Formation and Gamalon nights
Nice! Keep it up!
Your recording of the AX8 here sounds great - many don't even though they are using the AX8. Could you elaborate on your signal flow and what software and devices you used to record it?
Hi Landon yes of course. For the video my balanced outs from the AX-8 are plugged directly into my canon C300 MK11 camera. I'm a professional filmmaker so the quality of the input into the camera are high. But that's it... for monitoring I just plug the other outputs to a PA.
First thing I thought when I opened the box... "$1300 unit and ya can't even include a USB cable??" Haha, but seriously, it's a pretty amazing device.
That epiphone is beautiful!
Hey Bob thanks for the kind words - I'm pretty fond of my Epi:) Cheers Matt.
Good afternoon. What is the best way to get the AX8 sound reference? I've seen that we can link it straight online or loop and turn on the Amp return. But how do you know what his sound really is? It has no headphone output. The best way would be to connect it to an audio interface and listen for the headset interface? Would this be the pure sound of the AX8?
I have a Boss GT-100 that I output through a EVH 5150 tube amp. It makes for a great combination because you can get great tone at low volume. And you get the character of the real tube amp at the end of signal chain. I just purchased an AX8 that I'll also output to my EVH 5150. It'll will be interesting to see how it compares to the Boss GT-100
Cool I'd be interested to know your thoughts when you do the comparison.
David Gover what are your thoughts now? I was never really happy with the Boss GT stuff
Hi I Just moved and never pulled mind out the box after having it years back brand New,
any up Dates on how you feel now about Ax8
Do you still use yours?
thank you for the review, I'm considering seriously get an AX8. BTW if you reduce the speed of your padding filming fx it'll looks better. At the end of the video I felt dizzy. Nice guitar tone and nice video. Keep playing!
Carlos Narez thanks for the feedback. I'll be posting another video the AX8 in the next few day. Thanks for watching!
Где все фантастические звуки о которых он говорит? То, что показал можно на любой педальке Зуум сделать.
Nice video. Are you still enjoying it? Would you go direct to PA for a gig or would you still take your amp?
Hey Aaron I have a Supro amp so I've been using it for my monitoring and sending the feed to front of house. Thanks for watching:) Matt.
Any specifics on that setup?
Is there a limit to use external pedals in the loop?
nice demo but all the sounds seem a bit thin and twangy but then you are using a tele and a strat
dude how do set up your PA system with ax8 . Do u only use left channel or plug both？ it is really different from my sound
I just use the left mono out and run it into my HK Elements line array PA. Matt.
Are you still using it and happy? I've noticed that there are a lot of them for sale on eBay and Reverb. Sometimes seeing a lot of something for sale is a red flag.
Yeah I am still using it - I have Friedman FRFR speaker and the combo works for me. I believe the number for sale could be about them being superseded... cheers, Matt.
Do you see people still using this unit in 50 years like the old tube amps?
Maybe not an AX8 but they will be playing amp simulators in 50 years for sure. I have both a vintage 60's AC30 and an AX8 I use them differently... I love old vintage tube amps too:) Best Matt.
We will all be dead in 50 years and it won't matter
are you running direct to the mixer or soundcard?
2,500 USD in Australia?
That is Australian dollars which is around $1800 US. We pay more for everything down under:(
TONE Now it is 2100 AUD, 1299 USD :)
Just got a reduction. Now it's $1099.
Great review! A couple of things to ask: since the usb feature can't record it, you run it through an audio interface with a jack to record on pc?
And for the ax8 edit you need the usb connection, right?
Great sound my broo. Dont take my wrong but you look like Robert John Downey Jr. a little !!
Does it have reverse reverb on it? How good are the delay modellers?
I don't think it does have reverse reverb on it - the delays are good but I will will keep my Strymon Timeline.
Hey! Really good & informative video man. Appreciate it =).
I'm starting up some guitar lessons, and I was wondering if you know whether it'll be possible/practical having 2 people using the AX8 for lesson/recording purposes?
Any help with this would be much appreciated =)
Hey I don't believe that is possible unfortunately... an amp with a couple of inputs may still be the best bet:) Cheers Matt.
Ah ok, that's a shame... I think I may still buy it anyway though tbh lol. It sounds great and I've got an amp at home, so I could always let the student have a play with the AX8 whilst I use that =)
Hi! I'm really interested by this AX8 but can I play with my headphone?
No you can´t. There is no headphone plugin in the AX8. Only the rack-units have one.
It doesn't come with a headphone output But you can use headphones with the right adapter.
The only thing Fractal forgot was to add a headphone jack :-)
Works great with a decent pair of cans or a portable amp
Hi. Why not a Kemper profiler, since you have nice amps? You could have profiled their exact sounds, even profiled your beloved pedals...
I've heard the Kemper is awesome but it's more expensive so I went for the AX8.
From a Kemper user, AX8 beats Kemper. Kemper lacks tightness in almost all of the sounds (crunch, Hi gain, mostly).
Have both a Kemper and an AX8. The AX8 is more complicated but sounds better.
The AX8 is complicated that's for sure...
Nice one, Matt. As always. I was thinking about buying AX8\Axe\Helix\Kemper for last 3-4 months and your video tell me that I'm on the right way! I'm sure you "examined" all guitar processors models at market :) So why you stopped at AX8, not Kemper\Helix? I also prefer this model, but it's very interesting to know your thoughts. For example, you can't write track from AX8 to DAW using only USB (like you can do in Helix), and there are some more reasons which could make your life easier, but you choose AX8 :)
Thanks for you answer and BR from Russia :)
Very nice video! I'm on the other side of the fence, being the owner of a helix LT, but I really like loving this unit from afar. Maybe one day I'll get one. It has better sounding cabs right out of the box.
Hey Josh, I love the AX8 - I haven't played through a Helix but I'd certainly like to try one. I still have a tube too:) Thanks for watching cheers Matt.
Great production, but to be honest the video panning was legitimately making me feel dizzy after a while.
Seems silly, but I kinda am most off-put by the lack of headphone out, have you found any work-arounds to that?
The lack of headphones sucks on the AX8!!!
Don't sell your pedals. You will want the real deal after using it for a while. Could be years though! When it comes to tone your ears get used to the digital wash and the pedals will be a breath of fresh air! You will absorb the cost in what you save in not buying any new pedals for while. LOL
Haha good advise thanks for sharing:)