One thing that drives me crazy about criticism of digital gear is this;
- A person gets a line6, 11rack or axefx... they run it straight into the board or computer and listen to it through headphones or studio monitors.
Then, they don't compare the tone to a similar situation with tube gear. They don't compare it to the sound of listenning to your tube amp through headphones or studio monitors as it's mic'd up in an isolation room.
Instead, they compare the tone of digital gear they're hearing through studio monitors/headphones to the tone of a tube amp when they're stood next to it in the same room. Their conclusion is that the digital gear lacks the feeling of pushing air that one gets when stood next to a 4x12 (duh!) and people don't seem to figure out it's because they're not comparing similar things.
A lot of people say that digital gear sounds ok in the mix but doesn't sound real in person when you're just jamming, and my assertion is that this opinion comes from hearing the gear in the context of recorded sound (using it direct) rather than any problem with the sound itself.
A better comparison would be to compare the tones of playing through a tube head & 4x12 in the same room as yourself, with the tones of playing through a modeller w/ a FULL RANGE FLAT RESPONSE power amp and speaker combo of a similar power to the tube amp. But very very few people have actually done this! If you did, the modeller would also be driving large speakers and pushing a lot of air and i think this would make up for the lack of that sensation that is inherent in listenning through headphones or studio monitors.
Some people have played a modeller through a PA system, or they have played a modeller from a VHT/Mesa/Marshall power amp and guitar cabinet and think this is a suitable comparison... but it is not. If you sending your modelled guitar signal through the PA along with the keyboards & vocals, and then position those speakers in front of you and facing the audience... then of course you're not going to get a similar feeling to a 4x12 pushing air at your thighs from behind. Likewise, that Mesa power amp and cab you're using is colouring the sound in an adverse way, it's not a true reflection of the modelled sound, you need FRFR for that.
I've not had the opportunity myself to play an AxeFx at all, nevermind through a FRFR system. I have had the chance though to play a Line6 XT through an Atomic amp and that setup overcome a lot of the criticisms i hear digital gear about how it doesn't feel like being stood next to a real amp. I can only imagine that playing an Axefx2 through an even more superior FRFR system would be even better. Most people who criticise the AxeFx though haven't even heard one in person at all, nevermind through a suitable speaker system. If you're going to judge a unit by it's direct recorded sound in a youtube video, then it's foolish to compare that to the sound you experience playing your tube amp in a jam room.
Of course, you could argue that if an AxeFx can't match a tube amp by just going direct, then what's the point? Well, it still has many advantages in weight, versitility, recording, etc. I appreciate that buying a suitable FRFR speaker for it and a floorboard to operate it puts the price for a live-use AxeFx in the $3500 range easily, and so the price might make it not-worth-it for many people. But you still can't deny the advantages it has over conventional gear and for those with money it's worth it.
