Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

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laurie
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Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:36 pm

As you may be aware I've been hot-and-cold about the modelling equipment made by Fractal. About 5 years ago I bought an AxeFX II with foot-controller. It had excellent tone-and-feel, but ultimately I sold it for two main reasons:
1) It cost nearly CAD$5000 and it was WAY too much money to have tied up, plus the depreciation was going to be eye-watering when the AxeFX III came out.
2) I found I was spending time tweaking, not playing.

I went back to a (mainly Boss and DingoTone) pedalboard through my old Dr Z amp. Very happy with the tone-and-feel, but started to really miss having stereo effects.

I bought a GT-100 and ran it through the Dr Z on one side and my Fender Twin on the other, but it just didn't cut it.

Eventually I decided to buy another Fractal unit. This is the story about why I did it, and why I think it is a good and viable alternative to a pedalboard.

Fractal released a unit called the AX8 around the same time as the AxeFX II. The AX8 is essentially a floor-board format, cut-down version of the Axe FX II (that's not an exactly correct description, but close enough).

The AxeFX II has now been superseded by the AxeFX III, and the AX8 is now marked as "legacy" and will be replaced by the FM3 and perhaps another larger floor-board.

So. AX8 units can be picked up used for a reasonable price. Prices will only go down once the replacement floor-boards are actually available.

I really, really, like the Fractal stereo effects. I bought an AX8 for CAD$1100 (about USD$830).

For a while I simply ran the AX8 through the guitar amps and that was good. But the Fractal stuff is really meant to be run through FRFR speakers (Full Range Flat Response) with amp and speaker modelling turned on.

I picked up a pair of Yorkville NX55P mid-high speakers used for CAD$700 (about USD$530) and repurposed a couple of old expression pedals. My modelling rig is now fully setup for a total cost of USD$1350.

This is much less than the cost of a pedalboard with a single good tube amp. The clean Fender-ish tones on the Fractal are so good I'm selling my Fender Twin, and I've already sold my GT-100 ... between the sale of the Twin and GT-100 the modelling rig is paid for.

The AX8 is permanently USB connected to my laptop and I can change almost any parameter you can think of in real time using the Fractal editing program.

Why I think it's a viable alternative to pedals:
- It is a virtual pedalboard with MUCH easier editing than tweaking knobs. I really like the Fractal editing software. Plus it has presets.
- Because the AX8 is simpler than the AxeFX II that I used to own I'm finding I'm spending much less time tweaking and more time playing. I've really only spent a few hours dialing in some clean and heavy tones that I like.
- Because the price of the AX8 is so reasonable I'm not worried about it depreciating and losing thousands of dollars. If I use it for 10 years and then it's only worth $200... oh well.
- The Yorkville NX55P were purchased used and are standard PA speakers so they won't depreciate much, plus I can use them with my friend's band if we need more speakers for a bigger gig.

This is the rig:
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This is the editing software. Things are laid out on a graphical grid and you simply drop effects into the grid.
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Last edited by laurie on Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:43 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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laurie
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Re: A (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:37 pm

And then you can select blocks and edit almost anything...
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laurie
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Re: A (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:38 pm

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chromandre
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by chromandre » Fri Oct 18, 2019 1:27 pm

right on! I really think the 2x powered monitors is the way to go. also the only way I see to get enough clarity to phrase successfully loop at band volumes.

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laurie
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Sat Nov 02, 2019 5:12 pm

Update:
- Fender Twin is sold. I am now approximately "even" from a cost perspective.
- After a month I'm still very happy with the rig.

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laurie
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Fri Oct 16, 2020 5:23 pm

Exactly one year later...

I still have the AX8 and am still happy with it. Now mounted on a custom-built board with 4 expression pedals...
- Volume
- Wah
- Parameter (patch specific)
- Parameter (patch specific)

Also still have my Dr Z Maz 18 and pedal-board. There are just some days (not many, but some) where you just have to have tubes.
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by Gasgano » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:23 pm

Sweet setup. I wish my Boss MS-3 setup was that "lean"... But I need the RC-3, the DA-2, the BB-1X and the PS-6 at hand + the extra footswitches for both MS-3 and RC-3 lol.
"People who are late are usually in a better mood than the people waiting for them to show up."

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laurie
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:00 pm

Still liking the AX8. Particularly for clean. I've built a killer Super Reverb patch.

Changed out the crappy plastic expression pedals. I've bought a couple of old Ernie Ball VP JR volume pedals and gutted them. The housing and mechanical action are excellent, and they are now 50k linear expression pedals with TRS connectors.

I've also tidied up the wiring behind the pedals, plus replaced the wood screws holding everything down with 10-32 bolts through to Tee-nuts.
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laurie
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Sat Nov 06, 2021 1:47 am

I've been looking for a better FRFR speaker for the Fractal. I picked up a pair of these (with stands) for USD$150 today.
https://jblpro.com/zh/products/eon-305

I'm a huge fan of JBLs and I have high hopes that these will will not have the slight-but-annoying upper-mid harshness of the Yorkvilles.

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laurie
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Re: Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals

Post by laurie » Sat Nov 06, 2021 6:47 pm

YES

The EON-305 speakers are much better than the Yorkville NX55P speakers I've been using. I'm driving them with a Crown XTI-2000 amp I had laying around.

Sound awesome... makes me want to play. And that's what it is all about...

Two years on and still happy (happier with the JBLs).

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