Axe-Fx III MKII Preamp/FX Processor

If you're here reading reviews, you're thinking about grabbing one. If you're like me you've probably been eyeing Fractal products for many years. The 3 was finally the one I couldn't pass up any longer. I'm glad I stopped procrastinating. The design is gorgeous. The screen, beautiful and bright. It makes editing from the unit a breeze. Axe Edit makes it even easier. The tonal possibilities are endless. The freedom to model Eric Johnson's particular setup, complete with identical settings. Or Bonamassa, Hendrix, Slash, Knopfler, Clapton, Beck, etc., etc. Best of all you can build your own dream rigs and play them in minutes or spend hours and weeks refining every minute detail down to speaker compression, supply sag, mic selections and alignments, and room-response for cabs. The effects are better than anything I've ever heard. The reverbs and delays beat Strymon and Eventide. And not just delay, but many flavors of delay from multidelays, to plex-delay and reverb, stereo enhancers, EQs and multiband compression, creating huge stereo sounds that haven't been achieved yet. The drive pedals are outstanding, compressors, phasers, pitch shifters, the list is massive.It could take over your free time for the foreseeable future if you're that passionate about it. If not, it's plug-and-play with a few simple I/O refinements and you're off running. Presets are incredible, as you've probably heard. More cabs than you'd ever need, with thousands of cab/mic/speaker combos that could become their own wonderful rabbit-hole. All adjustable to personal tastes, or not. The amps are incredible. I've never played through most of these amps, but I've heard many of them. Once you get used to the "finished" guitar sound coming off your fingers, and get over the fact you're NOT playing through a regular guitar amp, the sky is the limit. The improvement is noteworthy. I absolutely love it. How else could you play through one of Robben Ford's Dumbles? Or mix an Ecstasy with a Friedman BE100 through two 4x12s? It's all here. No looking back. I am out of the amp and pedal market for the foreseeable future, and you can be too.

Brand new Axe-FX III owner and member of the Fractal Audio family! Love the unit, love the community, love the customer support. FAS is the real deal. Couldn't be more satisfied. Thank you FAS!

Several years ago I purchased the AX8. I had many modelers prior to that and Fractal was my last ditch effort at seeing if ANYONE could actually make a good modeler. I was absolutely blown away. I'm not talking minor improvements to what was out there - the AX8 was light years beyond anything I had tried. So then, the Axe FX III comes out and my thinking was while I wanted it - I didn't really NEED it. I just play in cover bands generally and record at home but what was appealing to me was the improved I/O section. I thought the modeling, even though it was touted as improved from the AX8, couldn't really be that much better. I was wrong. From the second I plugged in and started playing through the factory presets, I could instantly tell the feel, tone, responsiveness - everything about it had been improved from the AX8 which was surprising to me. Up to that point, the AX8 had been hands down the single most inspiring piece of equipment I had ever purchased - it made me want to play more (like 24x7 pretty much). Now with the Axe Fx III, after owning it for 8 mos or so I would say it has surpassed my expectations, and also taken over the title of "Most Inspiring Piece of Gear" from the AX8. I now want to play 30/7, if only that were possible :) The amps and cabs that are available are astounding - even just setting up a chain with an amp and cab and nothing else - you can hear and feel it. Add in the amazing effects built in to the box and you can do anything you think of doing or create any sound you want to create. I had played tube amps for years - when I decided to switch to Fractal what I gained was better reliability, more consistency in sound, more control over my sound, easier set up and tear down, more consistency to the FoH (which literally every show, I've been told how much THAT was appreciated!), and the ability to hit a button and change my whole rig (no more tap dancing!). The initial reason I looked at it - for more flexible routing options provided exactly that. Being able to use it as a recording interface was a welcome feature for sure. I could probably go on and on - but what I will say is people use Fractal for a reason and in my opinion, it's because they want to use the best modeler available. Add in the fact that the customer service is probably the best I've ever experienced from any company - you will see the Fractal team from the designer and owner on down on the Forum helping people when they have questions. If you're on the fence about switching to modeling and considering the III - make the investment - you will be blown away.

I love the AxeFXIII so much, that I bought a spare! Seriously, the tone, flexibility, and continued upgrades blow any other product out of the water! I still own my original Mesa Boogie II-C, and I can easily obtain this tone and feel, and that just uses one of eight scenes, in one preset. It is truly the end-all for amp or amp+cab tones, and then there is the world-class effects! Add in the FC-6 or FC-12, and you'll also have powerful integrated control onstage or at your desk. This is truly the kind of purchase, where looking back at it in 10 years, you'll pat yourself on the back and smile!

I'm impressed. Yes, it's still a DSP, but one heck of a set of DSPs. Extremely low latency, good touch sensitivity, accurate tone modelling, and most importantly, a great workflow that helps me "push the red button" more often, while being happier with the results. Essential piece of gear for practice, and incredibly useful for a variety of commercial contexts. Thank you!!

Awesome!!!

Axe FX 3 is simply the best guitar related purchase I've ever made in over 45 years of playing. I've owned some great amps over the years, some great effects and several other modellers. There's really nothing quite like the Axe FX 3, the tone, feel and dynamics, it's like playing an actual amp. Except that you can do things that are impossible with just a guitar amp. Further, the Fractal teams endless pursuit for perfection means that the Axe FX 3 you buy today will just keep getting better as time goes on. They're continually improving what's already there and adding new features and functions. It's the ultimate tool for gigging and recording but more importantly, it's just so much fun!!!

I would recommend this to any and all guitarists that want a wide array of professional quality sounds, with the possibility of endless experimentation. I especially recommend to artists who can't play music too loud in their living environment. I haven't traveled with it yet, but I imagine it allows for an artist/band to travel lightly. It's a huge improvement over the Axe FX II, which I had owned for a short period of time. That's no knock on the II, but the III is that amazing. It does have some limitations that reveal it to be digital, but that does not detract from the sound, just makes it different. The sound is amazing, much more realistic than the II, and I imagine with future updates the sound will only be that much more lush. The navigation on the hardware unit itself is also improved over the II, however it's still much simpler to navigate via Axe Edit if your working with your computer. The unit is expensive, so be clear with your intentions if you decide to purchase. If you have the money, then it's a no brainer, however if your tight on cash then you can still achieve amazing sounds via a used tube amp and a SM57 running into an audio interface. As far as comparable digital modelers, nothing out there sounds close in quality. If you love playing guitar, then you will love the Axe FX III and where it can take your sound. Beyond the electric guitar this unit can be used for any instrument. It could be the only unit you need for music production, replacing plugins, audio interfaces, amps, etc. The sound is that amazing. Thank you Fractal Audio!

This tool is amazing. "Fractal Audio" sums up the potential sound this can achieve. So many possibilities, but even if you don't tweak, the presets are amazing out the gate. The sounds are richer than the Axe FX II and sound more so with each update. The new interface is a lot funner to navigate though the Axe Edit still works fine. Perfect for home recording and live performances, you can now record multiple instruments at once. The Axe FX III is worth every penny. It is the standard for modern guitarists. If you take your guitar playing seriously and would appreciate the amount of sounds in a compact form and a tool that allows you to shred in the quiet of your home without disturbing the neighbors, then this is perfect.