What are the best modelers available today?

[KingsXJJ]

And why are they all from Fractal Audio?

. Gotcha!

 

[Mongillo19]

But in all seriousness, while this is never going to be a fruitful topic

I do think fractal is at the top and continue to improve sometimes at a weekly basis. However, I don't think there is that big of a gap any more between fractal, helix, and QC in terms of pure amp tone.

Anymore, you will want to base your unit on your use scenario as they all can get great tones. That wasnt the case even as recent as 5 years ago.

 

[Piing]

 

[la szum]

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Sansamp. Analog is always king.

 

[KingsXJJ]

However, I don't think there is that big of a gap any more between fractal, helix, and QC in terms of pure amp tone.

The gap remains.

 

[TSJMajesty]

The gap remains.

View attachment 20558

The fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs
Dances on the edge of his dream

 

[TSJMajesty]

I didn't know it at the time, but I'm glad I picked Fractal. I'm happy that a guy took a passion of his, and in a generation created a device that has made making music so enjoyable for so many people. It's one of those true American success stories, not unlike Paul Reed Smith that I dig hearing about.

I also like that he's relentless on the accuracy, striving to even model the interactions that change in real time. The coding that goes into that just blows my mind. You hit a low E, and it pulls down the voltage over here, that affects the impedance of these harmonics over there, etc. Just, wow!

 

[KingsXJJ]

The fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs
Dances on the edge of his dream

Rush?

 

[norminal]

Fender Tone Master Pro.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Rush?

Oh yeah!

 

[KingsXJJ]

It’s a wonder I continued to play guitar for decades after, Talk about a believer!

 

[pipelineaudio]

The one with a Vst plugin with total parity. There’s zero excuse not to have this in 2010

 

[Foxmeister]

And why are they all from Fractal Audio?

. Gotcha!

They weren't for me...

 

[sleewell]

Oh yea now this is a beneficial discussion lol

 

[laxu]

For me the ultimate modeler would still be some sort of weird hybrid:

• Fractal amp/cab modeling and fx.
• Helix drives and capacitive footswitches.
• Quad Cortex form factor, touchscreen and encoders.
• Tonex/NAM capture functionality.

There's just something every box does a bit better than other ones.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I’m a big fan of my Axe FX III but the OP (and posts like this) are just odd. I don’t know why people feel the need to validate their decisions on forums.

Do I like my Axe FX more than real amps? No
Do I like my Axe FX more than plugins? No

But I love it for what it’s great at, and it has a hell of a lot going for it. The best for anyone is always subjective because everyone has different needs.

 

[BenIfin]

In 2024 I think its down to 3 equally great units:-

=> Halix Fleur Medellor
=> Froctal Aidio FN 4
=> Kimper Prafiler

All great units but never seem to be in stock.

Ben

 

[the-trooper]

Do I like my Axe FX more than real amps? No
Do I like my Axe FX more than plugins? No

I like them the same. At times I also hate them both the same.
They both do great things that the other one can't do, and together they do even greater things.

However, if you forced me to keep just one, I'd keep the Helix.

 

[Stone]

All top tier Modellers can sound great depends on the designer really
as for what you choose for any X number of reasons, then thats whats best for you