AxeFx vs tube amp / can you hear the difference?

[paisleywookiee]

My favorite rig. FM9+ two FR-12s.

Yeah not only is it easy to deal with, but you can do shit on the fly that’d be a PITA with regular gear, like stereo with two amps, parallel reverb+delay, etc.

 

[MTB1973]

I am curious about any cuts (Hi and Lo) you are, or are not, employing in the Fractal's Cab Block.

I use resistive load for my speaker impedence curve.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

It always surprises me how sound difference between powertubes is perceived, especially when it comes to EL84.
While I myself am at a point where powertubes aren’t even in the consideration when choosing a (power)amp…all the same to me.

ATM I go back and forth between el34, 84, 6l6 and 6v6 with digital units into them…and I don’t experience any relevant differences.
Note, I don’t chug, always use within headroom, and last actual A/B test was a couple years back. I still own a combo that can switch between el84 and 6v6..same conclusion there.

I periodically use my Axe FX as a preamp with a Mesa 20/20 power amp, but I don’t try to make it sound ‘exactly’ like anything specifically. I just turn knobs and push buttons until it sounds cool.

I love that poweramp..recently sold mine cause use of rack is not practical for me…but it’s a sexy poweramp.
It does have a low cut build in, which you can get rid of by the “deep mod”, which is cutting 2 caps..a diy with the help of google. (After draining caps so you don’t get electrocuted ) You get more low end, at the expensive of headroom.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I’ve compared the III/FM3/9 to several amps in the unit run through reactive load and same IR. Dirty Shirley, Smallbox, AC20, Quick Rod. I no longer own the amps.

 

[djd100]

It always surprises me how sound difference between powertubes is perceived, especially when it comes to EL84.
While I myself am at a point where powertubes aren’t even in the consideration when choosing a (power)amp…all the same to me.

ATM I go back and forth between el34, 84, 6l6 and 6v6 with digital units into them…and I don’t experience any relevant differences.
Note, I don’t chug, always use within headroom, and last actual A/B test was a couple years back. I still own a combo that can switch between el84 and 6v6..same conclusion there.


I love that poweramp..recently sold mine cause use of rack is not practical for me…but it’s a sexy poweramp.
It does have a low cut build in, which you can get rid of by the “deep mod”, which is cutting 2 caps..a diy with the help of google. (After draining caps so you don’t get electrocuted ) You get more low end, at the expensive of headroom.

It's the circuit and iron that make the differences, not the tubes themselves which only govern ultimate power, and with it headroom at specific SPL's.

 

[EOengineer]

To be on topic; I went back and forth over the weekend with the Multiwatt and V30 212 and the III and LX into the same cab. Both experiences were godlike in their own ways but equally satisfying

I’d be curious to hear more about this experiment. When I was power amp hunting for the Studio Preamp there was a definite secondary goal to find something that would support a hybrid modeling frontend/tube backend thing.

The LXII was a serious contender. I’ve always wondered how something with no negative feedback like the recto modern channel would get reproduced through the LX. Did you feel like it was pretty accurate?

I’ve not tried the Helix recto preamp through the 290 yet but I’m hoping I can use the modern mode on the 290 to get me an orange channel/red channel toggle of sorts. The Helix Mark IV preamp models slays through the 290.

 

[Tito83]

Had quite a few good amps and pedals, but out of necessity I had to go digital years ago. Axe Standard, Eleven Rack, Digitech GSP 1101, Helix, Fm3 and a few others... The first time I went "even if this isn't 1:1, it's close enough I don't really care anymore" was with the UA stuff.

... But it still is just the amp portion, I need a lot more flexibly for gigging, so it doesn't really solve my problem.