Axe-FX Chronicles 2 : Pulling the trigger

So having spent what feels like a vaguely unreasonable amount of time over the past few days researching the Axe-FX (e.g., reading dozens of reviews on Harmony Central, watching hours of video clips on YouTube, reading the manual + the Wiki, and browsing hundreds of posts on various forums), I've decided to make a go of the Axe-FX rig like so...



First, I decided to go with the Fractal Audio Axe-FX Ultra vs. the Standard model, mostly as a future-proofing exercise... While some players are perfectly happy with the Standard, others use the Standard for a few months then start yearning for the Ultra. So to save myself the hassle of buying a Standard, getting it configured + dialed in, then deciding to trade it for an Ultra later and have to start over with setup & configuration, I decided to bite the bullet and get the Ultra from the start.

From a "live rig" standpoint, I am working with many components I've already got, including a Sennheiser EW172 wireless, Rocktron MIDIMate footcontroller, and Randall R212C cabinets (one is loaded with CL80's, the other with V30's). From a power amp standpoint, I chose the Carvin TS100 over the Randall RT2/50 for two reasons... 1) cost and 2) the TS100 is a pretty "flat" sounding tube amp--I had one many years ago when I assembled my first Randall MTS rig, and the TS100 didn't have as much "character" as the RT2/50 did. As it turns out, however, lack of power amp "character" can actually be a good thing with the Axe-FX!

For recording purposes, I'll be connecting the Axe-FX (with power amp + speaker sims enabled) directly into the Presonus DigiMax FS preamp/converter... no more futzing around with mic placement! The cool thing is that I will be able to run both setups at the same time... run the "live rig" with the TS100 + 2x12" cabs from one pair of Axe-FX outputs to get the right "feel" in the room when recording while capturing the audio direct to disk from the second pair of Axe-FX outputs. For after hours recording sessions, I can still record direct without using the live rig for in-studio monitoring.

So, that's that... after several days of research + several online transactions, I'm well on my way to having an Axe-FX rig together. I expect to have all the gear in-hand and wired up by next weekend, at which point I'll be ready to start an in-depth review of the Axe-FX's capabilities. Stay tuned...

--B