Which rack modeler is the best?

[Iron1]

I’ve always dug my Line 6 stuff, but clearly a lot of folks here love their Axe FX units.

if I move to a rack modeler, what are the best options? The Helix Rack is years old, and so is the original Axe FX - is there something better - or is the Helix Rack and original Axe FX good enough for replacing a Helix Stomp?

Can’t see myself spending more than a grand for something, but ya know for note depending on what I sell to get there...

And, is there something else totally different out there to look at? Down the rabbit hole I go...

[JJ Rodriguez]

I have no experience with Kemper stuff, given they're profiles of real amps and from what I hear if you get a really good capture that's the ticket, can probably find a ridiculous amount of captures available for your dream amp, etc.

My experience with the Axe is like 4 gens behind the current shit, but if you're a tweaker (tone wise, not meth wise) that's probably the way to go. I don't really use the modeling now, but when I did, there's just so much ridiculous crap to tweak on the Ultra, can't imagine the newer ones. You can change like cap values in the power amp, etc. So take a basic 5150 model, tweak it to your liking, that's before you even get to the EQ of the amp.

Effects wise, I've heard the effects on the Kemper pale in comparison to the Axe, which has phenomenal effects.

[metalheadpunk]

I've either personally had or have had bandmates with Line 6, Eleven Rack, Kemper, Axe-FX....and the Fractal stuff has always been the best IMO.

I think you can snag an Axe-FX II for about $1k these days.

[Iron1]

Is the 11 Rack no linger a thing?

[Budda]

Does it have to be a rack?

[Iron1]

Does it have to be a rack?

Yeah, I have a Stomp, but considering going to a rack mount as it suits my space better.

[man jerk]

Is the 11 Rack no linger a thing?

The Music Go Round near me has like 4 of the 11 Rack's in stock for like $250. Always wondered about them.

[Leon]

The Music Go Round near me has like 4 of the 11 Rack's in stock for like $250. Always wondered about them.

I think that's telling a pretty big story right there

[Chris]

The Music Go Round near me has like 4 of the 11 Rack's in stock for like $250. Always wondered about them.

I bought one of those on a lark maybe a year ago because I was always curious about them and it was cheap. I had a hard time unloading it for $200. No bueno.

[Chris]

IMO:

1. Axe-Fx
2. Kemper
3. FM3
4. Everything else.

If you're only going to have one of the above, get the Fractal IMO. The Kemper really does sound fantastic but the effects are nowhere near as good as the Fractal. They're surprisingly lackluster, which is disappointing considering how good the amps are.

[bigdave]

I love my 11R but with a budget and all things considered your Helix stomp is a better option for the money. You can drop a grand on a used AXE FX II but why?

[Leon]

I love my 11R but with a budget and all things considered your Helix stomp is a better option for the money. You can drop a grand on a used AXE FX II but why?

I did, for a 2XL, and it's my main player and recording tool. And when gigs start going again, it'll be my gig rig for both my heavy metal originals band and my ZZ Top Tribute band, Cuatro Hombres (there are 4 of us in the band ).

[Greg McCoy]

The modeler dynamic is really going to change in the next few years.

It sort of got pushed out of the news due to obvious pandemic related reasons and the fact that it doesn't exactly seem like big news to people unfamiliar with the term, but Moore's Law has, for all intents and purposes, hit its theoretical limit.

For anyone in the microprocessor industry, that is like the Mayan 2012 doomsday apocalypse prophecy.

The only reason tech like the iphone went from like, iteration 1 to iteration 14 in the span of a decade is because Moore's law was still in effect.

Back in the good old days of Moore's Law fueled prosperity we'd all be laughing like, "well, in four years we will all have Axe-FX 7s or 8s". That's no longer the case.

At this point though, it's all implementation and interface. Anything with modern with processors has way more than enough power to do whatever you want guitar wise. There is no point comparing units on the basis of which have enough processing firepower to do what you want. They all have enough at this point.

Hopefully Fractal and Kemper have a better strategy to keep things advancing than, "pivot to cloud based and a bunch of other buzzwords and just act like we aren't worried about the the whole Moore's Law thing". It's a whole new unexplored thing. There aren't unlimited next generation models anymore.

That's actually good news if you want to buy and sell that kind of stuff a bunch. All that shit used to depreciate at quicksilver rates. The depreciation is already slowing to a crawl in areas like GPUs.

[JJ Rodriguez]

I think it would be amazing if Fractal decided to do something tube based Really just fuck with people.

[bigdave]

I did, for a 2XL, and it's my main player and recording tool. And when gigs start going again, it'll be my gig rig for both my heavy metal originals band and my ZZ Top Tribute band, Cuatro Hombres (there are 4 of us in the band ).

Axe 2 is killer, but Im being realistic to this member.... who I know already has a modeller and in the past has noted a dozen times he isnt rolling in stacks of cash who I think has gear-itis... who very well might drop a G on a AXE 2 used instead of a quality attenuater to play his sweet tube rigs.

This is Iron1 looking at gear ... help him lol

[Iron1]

Axe 2 is killer, but Im being realistic to this member.... who I know already has a modeller and in the past has noted a dozen times he isnt rolling in stacks of cash who I think has gear-itis... who very well might drop a G on a AXE 2 used instead of a quality attenuater to play his sweet tube rigs.

This is Iron1 looking at gear ... help him lol

[Leon]

AxeFx 2 modeled amps > Any amp run through an attenuator

IMHO, of course.

[Greg McCoy]

The spec based comparisons for modelers are a bit silly and have been for years now.

You don't actually want to know which portable modeling solution has the most raw cutting edge processing power for modeling.

Cause this is the answer.



Just go for whatever sounds good to you and whatever form factor/durability/implementation/interface/software suits you best.

On the hardware end, they all have enough processing power to sound equally good. VSTs running on an average modern performance computer is technically the most impressive modeling you can get. Past a certain point the returns are diminishing though. And we passed that point years ago.

No one can actually hear the difference between 8x and 16x oversampling. No one. You could say distorted guitar isn't rocket science. But the truth is rocket science isn't rocket science either. Any modeler is like, 500x+ the computing power used to land on the moon.

[Chris]

I did, for a 2XL, and it's my main player and recording tool. And when gigs start going again, it'll be my gig rig for both my heavy metal originals band and my ZZ Top Tribute band, Cuatro Hombres (there are 4 of us in the band ).

To be fair I gave you a really good deal on that 2XL.

I think I owed you for the like 3 times we mailed that Carvin amp back and forth.

[Iron1]

@BigDave: you need to change your user title to “Mike’s GAS accountability partner”.

And, BTW, I got a Black Box attenuator for the Jet City. It works well enough, but does that whole major volume jump between 2-3 like a lot of amps do. It lets me push the crap outta the Jet though.

[bigdave]

@BigDave: you need to change your user title to “Mike’s GAS accountability partner”.

And, BTW, I got a Black Box attenuator for the Jet City. It works well enough, but does that whole major volume jump between 2-3 like a lot of amps do. It lets me push the crap outta the Jet though.

See, recovery is baby steps Bro Have you run that HX Stomp with other IRs or through monitors yet?

[Leon]

To be fair I gave you a really good deal on that 2XL.

I think I owed you for the like 3 times we mailed that Carvin amp back and forth.

Oh for sure

I've seen 2XL's go for a G, but not with the foot controller

[Iron1]

See, recovery is baby steps Bro Have you run that HX Stomp with other IRs or through monitors yet?

The only IRs I’ve used are Thunderkiss’s oversized Mesa ones, which sound amazing. I used to run the Stomp into my Marshall MG15MSII head, then into my Marshall 110s and it sounded great. It didn’t gel so well with the Jet or the DSL1, though.

In the end, I use the Stomp to record songs and the Jet and DSL1 for just jamming. Each one scratches a different itch. But the Stomp would work better in the space as a rack mount. Maybe I’ll get a pull out tray and put the Stomp on it if I don’t go with a rack modeler.

[Budda]

Go download leon todd's IRs, because they are all free and all useable. Marshall and mesa to boot

[Iron1]

Go download leon todd's IRs, because they are all free and all useable. Marshall and mesa to boot

Link?