Digital Modelers

[PFDarkside]

I want to get away from carrying a lot of stuff, so I just use the FM3. I intended to use my Behringer FCB1010 with it, but found out I don't need it. Just the FM3 and an expression pedal. I just had to figure out the weird way they use the 3 buttons. It is a very smart, but unconventional design- you have to get away from the "1 switch for 1 function" idea.
The Axe3 was never on my radar. My patches aren't that complex (I can't imagine a scenario where I want 2 amps at once, since I never did that with conventional amps), and I never run out of processing power on the FM3.

You know, mine would be simple enough for the FM3 as well. This is opening options as it’s much more “affordable” than the full on Axe Fx 3. You usually use PA live right? What do you use to monitor and practice at home, and if you didn’t have PA as an option, how would you amplify for a gig?

(are you using a separate looper or button dancing to get looper controls on the FM3 as well?)

 

[Gtrjunior]

I'm glad this has arrived, but... if someone signed for it, why is it still sitting on the front porch?

Hopefully it is still there when you get home.

Nice yellow door.

Ha!
That’s just a stock picture of the door on the FedEx page.
I had it delivered to work and one of the women in the office signed for me.

 

[ErikH]

I just had to figure out the weird way they use the 3 buttons.

Is it anything like the 3 seashells?

 

[Gtrjunior]

Now that I know you live in Fort Wayne, I think it's a shame you would ever consider digital with glassman living in your backyard. It's a shame he seems to have left the forum. Great, great guy, and a very knowledgeable tube amp guru. That being said, enjoy your gear.

If you are talking to me, I don’t live in Ft Wayne. I don’t see where you see that.
I live in New England.

 

[Mincer]

Is it anything like the 3 seashells?

In a way, since the first few months, you are guessing what each one does.

 

[allstarrme]

The Helix doesn't get a pass either. I spent about ten minutes with the Helix LT and its another level of UI complexity. I admit I am familiar with Boss GT, but the Helix has multiple unneccesary controls and weird context switching. Sometimes you are interacting with the chain, sometimes there is a drop down. When the drop down appears, its completely unintuitive how you interact with it. Its like getting in a car and seeing a flight stick instead of a steering wheel. Its just a car, don't pretend you're a fighter jet.

That said, if they are equal price, I don't see anyone picking the GT1000 over the Helix based on aesthetics alone. The Helix hardware gives the illusion that it is more tweakable, but the UI is just unnessarily complex. I spent a month with Helix Native and I wouldn't say the Helix is any more tweakable than the GT. Those devils raised the price $200 since the LT came out 3-4 years ago. I have no idea what they are smoking.

The helix stuff is a ton easier to edit from a computer, at least at first until you know what it all does. Changing the effect order and names from the device screen leaves something to be desired.

I picked up an hx fx to run with my amp. So far it’s great since it’s got a lot of good effects and a ton of new stuff.

If you have any helix/hx you can get the helix native software for $99, and they were running a sale on top of that so some people were getting it for $70.

I’m still thinking about getting a hx stomp xl since I know a place I could get one for $500 new. I think the new diezel amp models sound pretty great.

 

[Gtrjunior]

As I’m learning more and more about the Kemper I’ve discovered HW’s channel. He has an amazing command of how the Kemper works and as such has some of the best sounding profiles I’ve heard.
I came across this video where he talks about eq, and breaks it down into a really easy to understand concept.
Obviously he is applying it to Kemper profiles but this can be applied with any eq pedal, really.
I just thought this was valuable info that I’m sure many people could benefit from.

https://youtu.be/mZk-oHsdAP4

 

[misterwhizzy]

If you are talking to me, I don’t live in Ft Wayne. I don’t see where you see that.
I live in New England.

My mistake. I guess it shipped from Fort Wayne, not to it.

 

[quadquadquadquad]

The AA12 sounds great, I think the issue is that it has an old-fashioned user interface and doesn't have a ton of effects/variety.

The Amplifire (AA3/AA6/AA12/AFB) all sounds great ... and they play/feel great. That last point is key as many modelers sound ok, but don't feel nice to play. The Amplifire has great feel, touch sensitivity, and responds to volume controls/pedals nicely.

It's the high value modeler that hangs in there with the quality of AXFX3 and Kemper (and perhaps now the QC) with fewer models/features/flexibility in a small form factor at a reasonable price. YMMV

You get physical knobs on the box for the basic amp controls which is really nice; just treat it like an amp when you are playing live.

The desktop editor is a good UI. The LCD interface on the device is OK for a quick on the fly tweak of one or two items; functional, but dated.

The basic effects are there and good quality, but not a a huge variety. There are many parameters to available to tweak on most effects. A simplified interface or canned versions of common effects would be easier.

It nails the transition from one preset to another without dropouts. It's built-in and nothing you have to think about .... ever.

You buy it because you like what it has today. Not clear when/if there will be updates. Your tube amp never gets updates either.

 

[donaldr]

I want to get away from carrying a lot of stuff, so I just use the FM3. I intended to use my Behringer FCB1010 with it, but found out I don't need it. Just the FM3 and an expression pedal. I just had to figure out the weird way they use the 3 buttons. It is a very smart, but unconventional design- you have to get away from the "1 switch for 1 function" idea.
The Axe3 was never on my radar. My patches aren't that complex (I can't imagine a scenario where I want 2 amps at once, since I never did that with conventional amps), and I never run out of processing power on the FM3.

Check out the Tech21 Midi Mongoose. I have one and I like it a lot. It's really small, switches are contact-less and it can be 9v DC/phantom/9v battery powered.

 

[Top-L]

The Amplifire (AA3/AA6/AA12/AFB) all sounds great ... and they play/feel great. That last point is key as many modelers sound ok, but don't feel nice to play. The Amplifire has great feel, touch sensitivity, and responds to volume controls/pedals nicely.

It's the high value modeler that hangs in there with the quality of AXFX3 and Kemper (and perhaps now the QC) with fewer models/features/flexibility in a small form factor at a reasonable price. YMMV

You get physical knobs on the box for the basic amp controls which is really nice; just treat it like an amp when you are playing live.

The desktop editor is a good UI. The LCD interface on the device is OK for a quick on the fly tweak of one or two items; functional, but dated.

The basic effects are there and good quality, but not a a huge variety. There are many parameters to available to tweak on most effects. A simplified interface or canned versions of common effects would be easier.

It nails the transition from one preset to another without dropouts. It's built-in and nothing you have to think about .... ever.

You buy it because you like what it has today. Not clear when/if there will be updates. Your tube amp never gets updates either.

I'm not disagreeing, but if you listen to the AXFX3 people, there have been a number of "mind blowing" firmware updates that improved the tone/playability, and when the AA3 was released, Fractal was either on the Ultra or II. The AA3 competed with those older devices, not clear where it stands today, I don't really care honestly. Its not on my radar because of the lack of features.

People still swear by and use the Digitech 2101 modded to load IRs and that is 10+ years old. I view the AA stuff as end of life. They aren't building new ones, just selling NOS at this point. Doesn't mean its not a good tool.

 

[Mincer]

Check out the Tech21 Midi Mongoose. I have one and I like it a lot. It's really small, switches are contact-less and it can be 9v DC/phantom/9v battery powered.

Just using the FM3 by itself. Once I learned how the switching works, it is easy.

 

[PFDarkside]

Is an AA6 the same as an Amplifire?

 

[Hank-]

The original idea of the Kemper was to use it to capture a profile of your own rig, then people started sharing them so it got more popular. The design was better suited for studio use than live. Then they came out with a floor unit which seemed to be quite buggy in the beginning run, not sure if it's gotten stable yet.

The Atomic Amplifire units are very good sounding but the onboard interface makes it very unfriendly to quickly edit parameters live. Still, not a bad unit at all.

My home practice rig is primarily joyos tech21 character pedal clone going into a Zoom G1on. Live rig is the joyo clone surrounded by a wah, drive & delay into a class d Poweramp into a cab, sometimes the pedals are replaced with the boss gt10 but the joyo gets used as the core amp sound. It's simple to adjust the main sound since I don't have ton of options available. Having a shit ton of options to adjust live has made my life difficult before so the simplest approach is still what I like, a real amp with a drive, mod & delay pedal is still doable for small gigs. For those in cover bands, I'd definitely pick a single unit processor to make life simpler but you can't show up at a gig with pre made presets related to amp sounds, have to test those at every venue if going straight to FoH, so a easier to use interface would be the first thing I'd prefer.

 

[Hank-]

Is an AA6 the same as an Amplifire?

AA6, AA3, AA12(?)& Amplifire Box are the four units that they make with the same algorithms. If ya wanna check out their sounds then I think the box would be the cheapest, I'm not sure but I think they discontinued the AA3.