AXE-FX III - Did Rhett Shull REALLY Say That???

The interface isn't bad at all. In fact, it's pretty intuitive.

Thank you for confirming what I've been saying all along. The user interface is unusable. It's a device designed by audio engineers for other audio engineers who happen to play guitar. It is not designed for guitarists. This issue infects the entire Fractal line. Their products have not received a single second of usability testing.

I always love your playing bro. I was a metal head for most of my life. Still am. But as a guitarist I love it all.

Kemper and QC aren’t really “modelers”.

They are “Profilers”.

A rather big distinction.

So let me get the straight:

You'll carry several guitars and the AXE FXIII to a gig, which has to be 70+lbs and and ungodly amount of money based upon your taste in guitars...

... but you won't carry the 2lb laptop to make life easy.

Millennial. 🤣

But you'll carry the 20lb rack of vintage pedal and wonder where the power is coming from.

Try carrying your bass players 8x10 Ampeg cab upstairs that weighs a million pounds, OK about 170.

Really nice review thanks

Your frustration made me laugh/cry. I own an AxeFXIII and a Headrush Pedalboard. The Headrush does not have the depth of sound, but it is damn good for a live gig and it can be tweaked with your foot if necessary. Meanwhile, the AxeFX never leaves the studio.

I don’t gig at all. I am a songwriter with a one room studio. In a few months I will only have space for an apartment size desk with a rack for recording. As a result, I am re-evaluating all of my gear

I’ve owned a Kemper non-powered rack since 2015. I love its profile’s sound quality. The current studio effects and stomp pedals are also great. The fact that Kemper has done many, many free firmware upgrades over my time of ownership makes me love the platform too. But I have some issues with the Kemper. I won’t sell it, but I am looking at an FM9 MK2 Turbo to augment my setup.

The FM9 has half of the DSP of the Axe FX3 Turbo, which is more than adequate for what I need it for. While I plan on using its amp and cab models to augment the profiles I own, much of what I want the FM9 for is as a multi-effects box. The analog and digital routing on the FM9 will allow me to set up a combination of a 4 cable + wet/dry/wet rig. I will also be able to easily integrate my UAD2 Apollo powered plugins with the FM9 by routing my Apollo X6 interface into a stereo loop I can create on the Fractal.

I loved your review. You nailed my need for a pro multi-effect and modeling platform in a small space with unreal flexibility. The fact is that I prefer to use an editor for sound design regardless of how the on-unit user interface is designed. And I’ve been pouring over the user manuals for all of the Fractal units for a long time, so I have a pretty good understanding of how the block structure works and how to create scenes and presets. Frankly, even with a thorough pre-reading of the manual, I expect that I will still have a learning curve to overcome using the editor to create my own settings.

I have used the Helix, Kemper, Ampero Stomp 2, and the Quad Cortex. The Quad Cortex is the best in UI. I think it sounds better than the fractal fm9 too. I’ve been tweaking too much on the fractal fm9 which leaves me frustrated with the option paralysis. I’m thinking about selling mine soon.

"In a tube amplifier, biasing is the process of setting the voltage that determines the tube's operating conditions. Bias excursion occurs when this voltage deviates from its intended value, often due to changes in temperature or component aging. This can result in distortion, decreased efficiency, or even damage to the tubes if it's not properly managed.

"Musicians and technicians often monitor and adjust bias settings to ensure the tubes operate within their optimal range, balancing factors like tube lifespan, tone, and reliability. Proper biasing is crucial for achieving the desired sound and performance from a tube amplifier." Chat GPT 🤖

Does it matter if you use a Mac or a PC with the Axe?

One? It has several problems. No granulars. No good fuzz. Terrible user interface. Only useable via computer edit program. Freezes, crashes, software problems (currently my filter block is broken). TONS of problems, but worshipped religiously by zealots.

I bring a laptop when I play out with it. Never used the front interface. You're not supposed to I'd wager. ;-) Digital modelers have software interfaces.

I'm always surprised when you say you love the line 6 Helix. I'm a similar player to yourself ( edge of breakup, and clean tones predominantly) and I own the Axe FX 2, the Kemper and tge Quad Cortex. The only one I really dislike is the Helix. It's very unconvincing to me for authentic guitar tones in my opinion. Love your show and aside ftom the Helix I generally agree with everything you say. Keep up the great work and thanks...

Solid review. I think the most useful thing that the others don't have that the Fractal has that has a huge impact on dialing in tone is the graphic eq on every amp. I use Quad Cortex because it accurately models my existing amps and is easy to use. I don't care that much about reverbs. A little goes a long way. A Timmy would be cool and I'm looking forward to the doubler, other than that, I'm not missing anything.

How thick is the book that comes with the AXE-FX III?

The UI is as easy as it could be to do everything from the front panel but if you have difficulty with anymore knobs than a phase 90 you'r going to struggle.

I really wanted one but it’s just the price that put me off. I tried a friends and tried another friends helix line 6, and for all the extra money the FX III, as good as it is, just isn’t worth all the extra cash for me personally.

I love the honest review-

Rushed review and he is clueless. THUMBS DOWN

Pod go is all I’ll ever need

After you tweaked the stock Mal-38 pre-set you save it to a different name corrects you still have have the original stock amp?

Have an old Axe Fx Ultra and there you can only sync over midi on a computer, and since midi-protocols are pretty bad I cant use it propperly most of the time.. that makes the system hard to use and enjoy I agree.

I went from a big pedal board with boutique pedals including strymon, klon, ehx, tc on my board which was probably $5000 so the Axe Fx III I switched to was far cheaper. I used a Soundcraft 12mtk mixer micing up a wet dry wet amp set up before. Now the Axe is great for studio work and yes I only use the software which is excellent I have never used the UI on the unit except for system settings. Rhett I dont thing you are dumb but why use the unit when you have great sw. I dont do live with the Axe Fx III. I do use captures from it with the ToneX. The sw is not limiting I have tracked Leon Todd. And I think it is a studio unit. You need presets for performance set up and I have there six pedal unit and have no problems. All it in all it wipes the floor with my pedal board amp set up. I am a studio guy. So live I dont have the need for it. So I probably agree an FM9 is probably better for live unit. That is why Fractal have products to suit use.😄😀😀😁😁

For non tweakers - Kemper is far more practical for live purposes.

FM3 guy here. I also own a Helix Floor. Both are great units and you’d be fine with either one. I do find myself using the FM3 the most. As a tube amp guy, it gives me the most authentic “feel” with their amp models. And with each update the reverbs and delays just keep getting better.

Nothing against Rett but I really have an ik for people that complain about too much option.
What you need to just do is just ignore what you don't need or know, and just mess with what you need to and know about.
That simple. lol
Quit crying you option phobics.

great playing first, and sounds you choose, sounds great together. hi gain guy says that :)

+1 on the Dr. Z amp. I have the Axe Fx III and the Dr. Z Z-Wreck Jr. and it's a tough call some days as to which one I want to use. Great, great video. Thanks for posting.

Best unit Ive ever heard for "Edge of breakup" presets is the Avid Eleven Rack! So bummed they're no longer supporting it.

This can be solved by connecting the AXE FX3 to a tube Amp that has an FX loop.

YES - it's worth it! 🔥🔥🔥

Among the Kemper,Quad Cortex,Helix and the Axe fx 3 which one according to you was the most user friendly and intuitive.And which one would be the best for metal?

sounds processed and overproduced.

Fractal is the best - I’ve owned every modeler and profiler on the market at some point and fractal’s sound is bar none the best and I don’t think it’s particularly close.

For more budget options I’d recommend helix or hx stomp though. I personally prefer modeling over profiling but that’s just me I like to tweak. QC might make sense for someone who loves their current amp.

Hey! Thanks for the review! Great video! :) As a guitar player for me the quality of the sound and the feel (the response of the amp) is the most important, at the end of the day we play music and relay on the sound, so it has to be as perfect as possible. For me I really don't mind how I get it to work, but it has to be as good sounding as possible :) I really don't think that any of the other modelers come close to the Axe-FX in terms of sound quality and also the feel when you play, the response of the amp and so on... In my opinion all the additional options are very big plus and helps you craft your sound to the smallest detail :)

I like my Axe-fx II mk2 better than my Eleven Rack, but the Eleven at least had cool GUIs for the pedals and amps. The AxeFx is more a DOS operating system then Amplitude or other software based systems, but it clearly sounds better than those.

My favorite amp sim is any of the Unison plugins for the Apollo.

But my favorite amp sim of all time - is any Amp going into an OX. Can’t touch that!!

I started out with an Axe-FX II back in 2010. I have NEVER built patches from the front panel. Your site is HONEST and awesome. THANKS!!!

No one uses the stock presets

Once you learn how to use the unit you can do anything super easy it’s actually very intuitive but you have to know. Helpful hint don’t forget the page button one everything

Wait a minute, you've had that unit on "TWO AND A HALF YEARS" - and they didn't DEMAND a review waaaay before now? ffs, SERIOUSLY???

Man, those Fractal reverbs make my orbs fizz in a way that previously only Strymon could manage. I've yet to hear a modeller capture the "crying tubes" sound of a clean cranked Hiwatt though. If Fractal pull that off I'll be showering them with money!

I love my Fender Tone Master Pro. It sounds great. It gets bigger and better with every update. Likewise, it's super simple to use. 😁

🤮🤡🤡🤡

Frustration with a studio/rack device for being a studio device/rack device was fun to watch :)

I see the point though and understand the frustration, we all are so used to convenience with touch screens etc but sometimes buttons and tactile is more useful or durable, for example: Car multimedia screens.

Maybe they will modernise it (possibly) more maybe not, not a deal breaker for me. I am after the tone,power and options.

Can’t complain about a few more clicks and solid build, much better than getting muddy tones or having fragile unresponsive laggy touch screen.

Edit:typo

to save you almost 20 minutes the one major issue is the U.i. starting at 7 minutes.

Love your stuff Rhett but feel you are missing on this particular concern. While I agree using the unit w/o Axe-Edit is painful it isn't that hard to adjust your workflow or adapt if you really wanted to. The ability to send different outputs to FOH vs. your ears along is worth bringing a laptop with you. Guessing you travel with it anyway.

Great feedback and you are not wrong about most pain points, but I feel if you dedicated yourself to it as a "rig" you would adapt and these wouldn't be major issues for you. The only holdback for most "normal" folks is needing redundancy on stage. You need two units in case Murphy decides to show up.

Tons of bands touring with AF3 are doing just fine, just a different way to approach it.

Big fan brother, keep up the great content please!

Lol. Who is trying to build presets and rigs before a show at the venue? If that's the case then sure, leave this thing in your studio, but maybe you should stay there too because you don't belong near a live gig if you don't even have your presets already built.

This review is so nitpicky it's hard to listen to; This is a guitar amp modeler effects system, it's not an app on your phone where the UI is the emphasis of the product, the emphasis is the sound and this thing destroys all competition by far. "Kemper is like a normal amp" - That's cool bro, Kemper also sounds fake and like trash compared to the fx 3.

There is NOTHING better than Axe Fx III. FM 28.0 is spectacular and requires little adjustment to presets and blows the Helix out of the water. If you’re poor, I understand why your pocketbook can’t afford the Axe Fx III. This review is way dated.

Thanks for the video. The user interface looked painful on this. Helix looks surprisingly easy. As a weekend warrior, I ease of use really matters.