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Fractal AX8
- Thread starter DaveObs
- Start date
PaulCISSA
Unsweetened, highly-caffeinated
Adamixoye
A PT Pro is cool for worship, right?
- Apr 9, 2012
- 18,158
- 69,338
- Disclosures
- Occasional Beta Tester for Confusion Studios, Singular Sound, and Source Audio
Yes people use the AX8 for bass.
Not really on this forum though- you are in boutique tube preamp, tech 21, shift line, two notes, tronographic, helix and zoom country here buddy.
I would head Over to the fractal forum for more discussion- or conversely - contribute to this thread:
Fractal Audio AX8.
Not really on this forum though- you are in boutique tube preamp, tech 21, shift line, two notes, tronographic, helix and zoom country here buddy.
I would head Over to the fractal forum for more discussion- or conversely - contribute to this thread:
Fractal Audio AX8.
I still use my AX8 for live & recording. Very steep learning curve which I still haven't mastered, but it sounds great. I play worship where I run direct to FOH, I record direct & play live with a fEARful cab with 3 way x-over. So FRFR. I took 8 hours the 1st day I got it to set up a good sound. Didn't touch it for over a year. (was working 60hr weeks) Just starting to get some extra time to get back into the unit. Can't complain. it still sounds great, although I know with a little more time it will sound better.
There's a couple of guys on here that are Fractal users. I believe @Selta and, maybe, @jimfist , are both Fractal users. Having said that, I was thinking about an Axe FX-III or an AX-8, but it was fairly obvious, from spending some time on the Fractal forums, that Fractal couldn't give less of a crap about bass.
I know their effects are amazing, I had an FX-8 for a bit, and their amp modeling is state of the art, but Line 6 has done so much more for bass with their Helix stuff, and it sounds pretty damn legit. Plus Line 6 has been adding bass amp models on the regular, Fractal just recently let their users know which SVT they were modeling, up until then, it was just some random SVT model. Grab a Fractal, they sound great, but if you want real support for bass guitar, you're not gonna get it...
Honestly, I'd hold out for this, if I were you--->Invalid Link Removed
Their Ampli-Firebox is VERY highly regarded in the guitar world, and there no reason to believe that the bass version won't be as well. There's gonna be a whole suite of bass amp and cab models, a very comprehensive editor, and it costs WAY less than any Fractal unit. It's supposed to be available mid-year, but I haven't heard any demos as of yet. I'm on the waiting list, but I just got a TrickFish Trilobite preamp, and it ROCKS! Good luck, my man!
I know their effects are amazing, I had an FX-8 for a bit, and their amp modeling is state of the art, but Line 6 has done so much more for bass with their Helix stuff, and it sounds pretty damn legit. Plus Line 6 has been adding bass amp models on the regular, Fractal just recently let their users know which SVT they were modeling, up until then, it was just some random SVT model. Grab a Fractal, they sound great, but if you want real support for bass guitar, you're not gonna get it...
Honestly, I'd hold out for this, if I were you--->Invalid Link Removed
Their Ampli-Firebox is VERY highly regarded in the guitar world, and there no reason to believe that the bass version won't be as well. There's gonna be a whole suite of bass amp and cab models, a very comprehensive editor, and it costs WAY less than any Fractal unit. It's supposed to be available mid-year, but I haven't heard any demos as of yet. I'm on the waiting list, but I just got a TrickFish Trilobite preamp, and it ROCKS! Good luck, my man!
Yeah, I got into the Fractal stuff around 10 years ago, the AxeFx Ultra, and then moved up to the AxeFxII in 2011. Make no mistake about the quality of their products and commitment to excellence. Top notch on both counts. However, I and a number of other bassists got tired of feeling like we were begging and pleading for them to add more bass amps/cabs/effects. Beyond getting generally ignored, there are many on the Fractal forum who will give you a hard time for wanting more variety of bass amps. Guitarists are the primary focus, and have an incredible number of amp models to choose from - somewhere around 250 IIRC. Bassists not so much.
Zoom can't compete on tech specs and quality, but does a legit job of indulging bassists, as does Line 6 with the Helix family of products. With all that in mind, you can get some great sounds and really interesting routing/control schemes going with Fractal products. The new AxeFxIII is a MONSTER of a processing machine. I wish I had the need for one, but my wallet is thankful I don't! LOL. The bone of contention is the lack of dedicated bass items and variety of bass amps/cabs. Otherwise, it is A++ caliber modeling gear.
Zoom can't compete on tech specs and quality, but does a legit job of indulging bassists, as does Line 6 with the Helix family of products. With all that in mind, you can get some great sounds and really interesting routing/control schemes going with Fractal products. The new AxeFxIII is a MONSTER of a processing machine. I wish I had the need for one, but my wallet is thankful I don't! LOL. The bone of contention is the lack of dedicated bass items and variety of bass amps/cabs. Otherwise, it is A++ caliber modeling gear.
What if you don't need any of the simulations but you only need effects, distortion, filters, compressors....? Is it the way to go?
The band that I'm in, was doing some recording at a studio and the owner had a Fractal. Told the BL/guitar player not to bring an amp since the owner wanted to run the tracks through the Fractal. I was impressed with the sounds that came out of the unit. I asked the owner if there were any bass simulations, which he checked...nothing. Checked on their website and as others have said, not much response for the bass side.
