Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
People who know me or have talked to me know that I'm not at all a huge fan of the old Axe FX and put it in the same category as the old POD XT Pro.
I've compared those devices many times and never thought the AFX sounded substantially better.
Well, I'll have to backpaddle a bit and redeem the Fractal device!
I still think that in a direct recording situation the Axe Standard sounds dull, boring, digital and not at all like a real amp...and not much better than that old POD.
It's all about the Kemper for me.
BUT (!!!) That's only due to those terrible sounding cab IRs the Axe FX Standard comes with, once you take the cab portion out of the equation and run the AFX through a real cab and mike that up it just blows the POD out of the water when it comes to pure amp simulation.
So if you're planning on using it as a preamp, amplify and run it through a guitar 4x12 it's actually more than just usable...
This is the Rectifier emulation from the AFX fed through an ART SLA-2 through the Bogner cab, mic'd with a single sm57.
it still doesn't quite touch the real rectifier, but it sure gets damn close.
(compare to the real amp here: youtube.com/watch?v=-Lp0Qex-27s&index=13&list=PLgMVJZQaJHBdXEjVtzQXbyH7X1x5HhWWL )
Now I just wish I could load my own IRs into the Axe...
but instead I'll jut use my lovely Torpedo Live for that to have a nice backup rig for live and pre-production
People who know me or have talked to me know that I'm not at all a huge fan of the old Axe FX and put it in the same category as the old POD XT Pro.
I've compared those devices many times and never thought the AFX sounded substantially better.
Well, I'll have to backpaddle a bit and redeem the Fractal device!
I still think that in a direct recording situation the Axe Standard sounds dull, boring, digital and not at all like a real amp...and not much better than that old POD.
It's all about the Kemper for me.
BUT (!!!) That's only due to those terrible sounding cab IRs the Axe FX Standard comes with, once you take the cab portion out of the equation and run the AFX through a real cab and mike that up it just blows the POD out of the water when it comes to pure amp simulation.
So if you're planning on using it as a preamp, amplify and run it through a guitar 4x12 it's actually more than just usable...
This is the Rectifier emulation from the AFX fed through an ART SLA-2 through the Bogner cab, mic'd with a single sm57.
it still doesn't quite touch the real rectifier, but it sure gets damn close.
(compare to the real amp here: youtube.com/watch?v=-Lp0Qex-27s&index=13&list=PLgMVJZQaJHBdXEjVtzQXbyH7X1x5HhWWL )
Now I just wish I could load my own IRs into the Axe...
but instead I'll jut use my lovely Torpedo Live for that to have a nice backup rig for live and pre-production
