The Axe-FX is still the ultimate modeller if you are into a truly full featured machine that has every tone and every bell and whistle you can possibly imagine and are willing to take a deep dive into crafting the most incredible patches you have not yet even imagined. If you just want something quick and easy that sounds good, there may be better choices for you. But if you're a geeker and tweaker and are chasing ultimate tones, that's what Fractals are all about and there's nothing else on their level.
The difference are negligible. The top modelers/profilers are starting to be pretty similar if you ask me. At some point it will boil down to reliability, the UI, convenience, look, feature sets…
All these things are very true. Dino Cazqres made a really good point too, he said he started using modelers because one of his tube heads was stolen, and he didn’t want to risk that happening again.
@@TaylorDanley yep that was his Metalhead modded Marshall famous for the sounds on Demanufacture. Rare as hen's teeth now, that shop wasn't in business long.
@@soundstorm9508he did mention recently that he eventually got that stolen gear back something like 20 years later. He had some guitars in there that meant something to him, and that has gotta hurt.
And the truth is they’re all using the same open APIs to develop a solution for their platform, so take your pick. It’s all good, you just have to get the one that’s good for you.
I once had a Kemper, Axe FX iI XL2+ and a Helix. Had to cut down for financial reasons. I kept the Axe platform for exactly the reason of the deep dive ability, not just on the Amp Block, but Drive pedal Block, ant FX block, Cab block etc. In essence, it allows you to create new amps, drive pedals, fx, with the tweaks down to insane levels, combining etc. Finances got a little better, and was able to upgrade to the Axe FX III Mk 2 eventually.
@@71N1S4 Biggest difference AT THE TIME the III came out was horsepower and how involved you could make a preset. III is just more horsepower. That said, as of today, the Firmware on the III has made some not so small leaps ahead. THe biggest being Dyna Cabs. Tonally, the amp models and fx are bbetter on current III firmware, but more noticeable is the response and feel. That said, the Dyna Cabs really make a difference.
the best thing about the Axe is that you can mess with absolutely anything in the amp. it made me realise how much of a "sound" was in the speaker compression and cab.
If I had that money, probably I would stick with one modeller (I don't like digital stuff with rack size) + a TUBE poweramp and a compressor + pre like the EHX Optical-Tube Black Finger to put in front of the modeller and get away even from full sizes tube amps.
In mix anyone of them is actually more than enough ,but if we say on minimum details, qc has polished and actually best top end,it doesn't has the aggressive harshness which amp n af has,cool!!
I searched high and low when getting a fractal unit or a quad cortex. I had a kemper profiler at the time. It was great, but I really wanted a more all in one unit and the kemper stage wasn't as desirable. I looked at probably over a 100 videos of fractal vs Neural. No dis to Neural, but I think Fractal out does every aspect. Vintage tones are better, modern tones are better, Church tones are better, Prog and metal tones are better, AND my fm9 is built like a tank. I've had it for over a year now and couldn't be happier with it. It's amazing for both live use and home recording. Just a phenomenal rig. I can't get enough of it!
Hell yea man! All of them sounded great. Anymore, I don’t really know if one modeler is going to better than another. When I saw megadeth live last month, Kiko’s tone kicked ass….which of course he’s using a quad cortex
Nice comparison. Axe FX is slightly better on amp models, and is in another universe in routing options, effects, I/O. etc etc. I'd be interested in a low/mid gain amps comparison. Fenders, Vox's and the like. Everyone seems to be able to do heavy sounds fairly well. But edge of breakup sorts the wheat from the chaff.
I own a lot of modelers for making these videos, and I could never use any of them to replace what my axefx does. It's too powerful, and processes my entire back line. Not going anywhere... until maybe the AXEFX 4
I think you should revisit this competition and include a couple other modelers, then do blind samples of each on a killer metal setting, and the at the end of the video, expose which is which. It could lower people’s expectations on which modelers needs to sound a certain way.
The riff in solo was very telling for me. Tbh, they all three sound the same. It literally sounds like you took the actual amp and put a high pass filter on it with the axe fx being the darkest sounding. I think folks should buy whatever makes them happy and inspires them to play more. Use whatever tool makes your job easier
I know this is really old and I doubt anyones gonna answer, but do yall think I should go AxeFx 2 or Quad Cortex? I'm trying to buy used and theres an extremely cheap AxeFx 2, but I would need to buy a foot controller and it isn't being updated anymore. QC is way more expensive, but its already a floor unit and way newer
The QC sound good, but there's just more girth to the AxeFX sound. I'm in the process of working out which of the 1 to 1.5k GBP modellers to get. I think I'm leaning an FM3 at this point. QC is a close second though.
1. PEAVEY of course. 2. Axe fx III because is more selective than QC in the mix. 3. QC. PS. I like both of them. They are very similar and Ill write more which is better amp or modeller below your another movie...
AXE FX is raw, and QC is more polished, So i'm sure in a live mix the AXE FX gonna be more present. And polishing a Raw sound is easier than vice versa. For me AXE FX alle the way
How are you monitoring the QC and Axe? Is it going direct to your interface or were you going through the fx return into your 4x12? If running it direct; I assume you were using IRs matched to the speakers in your cab?
I love Boogie cabs but if you ever get a chance to try out a Marshall 1960a or 1960b I highly recommend I played a 5150 thru one for years and it was amazing. I've also owned Boogies that were amazing as well not trying to say one is better or worse with top end gear better / worse is subjective its all so good.
I actually bought a 1960a recently because I felt like it was a good compliment for the mesa cab, so I could switch between the two. Still prefer the Mesa, but it's nice having a different cab that is a bit smoother.
If I had to choose the Axe FX over the Quad, It's Axe FX all day. The Quad has a high end fizz that is really annoying to listen to, It's a combination between the IRs that were loaded and their EQs, plus the sound of the digital signal being replicated. lol in a mix most people wouldn't hear it but on its own, its annoying. Fractal definitely nipped the bud in that sense, their IR EQ is much easier to listen to.
Good video man, I'm just worried about the quality of the quad cortex, I keep hearing about software issues, some of the quad cortex just die from nothing and others even have some lose screws inside... to be honest I never heard of that last one before on a product that almost cost 2k... but putting that aside may I ask you what kind of guitar is that? looks brutal lml
I loved how good the Axe-Fx in the mix, even better than the real amp for me, It is so dynamic more focused and well balanced. I feel very happy to have one in my rig, again. Thanks for the video man.
QC can be put in the back pack and UI interface is easier. Plus you can download plugins and capture other real amps. For a very subtle difference, if I were to buy I would possibly go with QC. FX 3 might be a bit better but does not justify the logistics cost.
Being a previous owner of the QC, i can tell you that there's a lot of shit captures out there as there is with the Kemper. I think that the modelling in the QC was much better than the captures available. Just sold the unit though, so i wont be able to speak for the future plugin feature.
I choose the Peavey 5150 all day´s in the week ;) It never gets old, Maybe the AXE Fx and qard cortex May be more versitile but the 5150 can do anything,....that it takes to make a song,..I also like the formfactor of the Quad Cortex is nice,...Thank´s Taylor ;)
@@travisboose9444 nah it’s an affordable price and does way more than I have any need for. I’m jealous of the interface and that’s it. Fractal features and sound are out of the park better even on the baby FM3.
Who cares really about comparing by a hairs here they all sound great. I'm an ambient player and I also do space black metal too. Axe fx 3 all day for too many reasons to list here because it can do millions of more things than the other units a-b'ed in this video. The delays and reverbs alone are worth the price of the axe fx 3.
Are you playing the QC through the cab? If so, what are you using to power the cab? I am in the market and would like the option to just play through a 2x12 cab but power amps seem like a controversial topic as to which gets you the cleanest tone.
I think if you could make a gig ready preset dailing on both the units then, in terms of ease of use quick accessibility etc then it would be more helpful to make the purchase. Because just the sound wise both sounds identical to each other. And also we can’t understand how both unit responds dynamically. So I would suggest that if you could give your thoughts on both unit and comparing how both unit functions onboard etc then it would make more sense for us to get an idea. Cheers❤️
I love my AxeFxIII; best buy in many years when it comes to gear. The Cortex is an interesting unit but one thing was something that I wondered about from the beginning: when playing live in/on a shitty venue with piss and puke everywhere; the footknops are the encoders to tweak the unit. Does Neural send a pair of rubber gloves with it when ordering a unit? I liked the sound of all the three forms. Nice vid, thank you.
🙏 yeah you can buy a cover for it to protect the screen, but to me if you are going to use it live, I’d leave it in a rack and automate the patch changes or use a midi controller
All three sound amazing! I sold my Axe III for the QC because of the UI alone. SO easy to navigate. AF has a tremendous amount of tweak ability, but I just didn’t use them.
Lol I sold my axe fx to get a qc. Now this week I just sold my qc to buy another axe fx. I was just underwhelmed with the effects and the tones were no better yo me. Also it’s bee out for over a year and has had like 1 update. I don’t know if neural is just staying quiet cuz something big is coming or what. But fractal is the proven company, the axefx is more powerful can literally do anything
@@Bsaunders17 QC has had 3 updates this year. Axe3 is almost $1200 more than QC when you get the footswitch. Tone is subjective, but the QC captures sound better to me than Fractal and you don’t have endless tweaking of parameters to make it sound good. QC doesn’t need a computer interface. I’m just glad digital amps have improved so much. So much better than the POD days!
So I've decided I am going to get either the QC or AF3 - I intend to pair with a Fryette LX II....I'd be interested to hear which unit you you think "feels" more like playing an actual amp? I had the original Axe Fx and the thing I couldn't get passed was the lack of "feel" .....hoping the modeler technology has bridged that gap enough that paired with the LXII will get me where I want to be.
the original axe was 10 years ago and things have prgressed so much that I could not even tell you. try the axe you will not regret it, you can try it if you do not like it send it back. I promise you will not send it back. qc is to new not much out there for updates and lots of things will limit you. they promised things 2 years ago that still are not out but they keep making vst for computers. what a bunch of crap... fractal on the other hand has new things all the time and well it speaks for its self try it out.
If you are only concerned with amp.modeling u suppose it's close enough not to matter. However the Axe3 goes way beyond amp modeling. There is no effect you can not reproduce with the Fractal
If axe fx moves into the amp capturing realm and gets it right....... There really won't be a real use for any other modeler except for price and an easy/simple user UI. Especially if you like using real cabs. Axe edit does simply a lot of things but there's just way too much availability in the axe fx 3 to make it simple like helix "which i had" or the quad cortex because it's not a simple unit. You can literally mod an amp in axe fx simply on axe edit from pre and power amp tubes, bias or go to the speaker page of the amp block and dial in the resonant frequency of that amp block to match you actual 112, 212 or 412 cab and if you don't know what the frequency of your can is, Leon Todd offers a free patch designed to help you find it. Lol. The possibilities with axe fx are far beyond the quad cortex and helix combined. Not to mention so the updates since this video was made. Man if axe fx just had amp capturing. So that being said the quad cortex is badass and a better choice to helix and Kemper. Imagine how much better the next quad cortex is going to be! It is their first unit and not a bad option of you're not wanting to shell out for the axe fx 3. I am curious though. The amp models in quad cortex, are those amp captures or a form of modeling similar to what axe fx or helix is doing!
When i tried all of the heavy amps lately on my new QC i wasn't satisfied with all of them but i guess im just spoiled/used to my Randall Satan too much :) it's not the modelers "fault"
I have both,, I'm 57... I never even break out the axe fx3 anymore. The quad is just so easy to use. It literally takes 2 seconds to make a change on anything. They both sound great, but ease of use. I hate using a laptop n mouse !!! Quad Cortex for me.
Favor: can you please do a detailed video about using your Axe Fx3 with your backing tracks setup, maybe starting at the DAW and ending at your connections to the House PA?
Came for the shootout, ended up obsessed with 1:28 - 1:56, is that an actual song or just a riff you came up with? Either way, I love it! As for which one it's hard to say, as much as I want a Quad Cortex I think the Axe FX has more "grit", if that makes sense
Do you think I should sell my 5150 head for a axe fx? I always wanted a axe fx to get all kind of sound in my room but don’t know if I want sell my amp and not have a relic. Thoughts?
I think this didn't give axe fx iii justice. If it was just trying to sound like a basic amp then sure it will sound the same. Axe fx can do tone matching which wins for so many reasons. You can download someone's tone match and get a very very accurate tone super quickly. The capture in quad cortex is crap compared to axe fx in my opinion It also can do more tweaking. That can win for many.
Putting things on exactly the same settings is a somewhat flawed methodology IMO. Even two real 5150s with consecutive serial numbers will sound a little different with exactly the same settings. The question really is can you tweak x thing versus y thing to sound close to each other. If you can achieve that than the exact numbers on the settings are irrelevant. This was a great comparison regardless I just find the "exact same settings" approach very odd considering that's just not how gear works in reality.
I will see people do it with pedals a lot. Say vintage vs repro. They'll set them up with exactly the same knob positions and say "ah ha the repro sucks!" when if they turned the dials just a little on the repro they would sound exactly the same. JHS pedals has demonstrated this nicely many times.
I have axe fx 2 and love it to death.. But seriously the capture is way closer to the real amp then axe fx 3. I would love to get a fm9 but due to stock constraints, I will now get quad cortex. Sorry fractal but I need something to replace my axe fx 2 now not 1 year coz ya I am not even in the waiting list as its not sold in Australia...
In the mix I don't really hear much difference, but I'm listning through bad speakers :/ Solo, the AxeFX is more raw and direct, I prefer it by far even to the amp. The Quad Cortex is the least in my taste, flat and weak, too courteous sounding !
I HAD A HX STOMP AND BOSS GT1000 AND THEY BOTH SOUND LIKE THE AXE FX - WHICH IS SHIT , THEY WAY THE DISTORTION BREAKS UP IS AWFUL - THE REASON ARTISTS WOULD CHOOSE AXE FX OVER KEMPER PER SAY IS FOR BULLSHIT REASONS LIKE TRYING TO FLOG VINYL
