Atomic Amplifire - Can It Replace My Axe-FX?

Atomic Amplifire - Can It Replace My Axe-FX?

I'm thinking of maybe replacing my Axe-FX with something cheaper. The Atomic Amplifire was something I decided to try to see if it could do the job. The Amplifire has been around for a while, and it's considerably cheaper than the Fractal, but a lot of people have really seemed to like it. Is it any good? Watch, and find out.

The gear I most often use.
A Stratocaster of some kind, either an Yngwie Malmsteen Strat, or a custom Strat with a scalloped fretboard. For 7 string stuff I mostly use an Ibanez Universe.
A Marshall 1987x into a Marshall cab.
A Fender Yngwie Malmsteen overdrive, plus a Boss NS-2 noise gate, or a Strymon Sunset.
A Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah, and a delay.
An AKG C-414 mic for the guitar.
For acoustic stuff I use a Taylor 710 short scale thingy.

[shooweri]

I used to use Axe FX II that was replaced by Atomic Amplifire. I wasn't very impressed by the tones I got from Axe II even I used hundreds of hours tweaking and multiple 3rd party IR packs. I'm much, much happier with Amplifire as it sounds and feels much warmer and richer in general.

[RockNRoller]

Why in King Arthur's name would you bring those poor Marshall heads into the comparison and bloody never fire them up? Shame on you little Samson, we don't get it. -Memphis

[erikverhoef]

The Atomic Amplifire has an IR loader. Experimenting with this feature can really help you find the tones you want. The amp Sims sometimes sound very good and sometimes not really convincing. When listening to your conclusion, I believe that you've mostly checked the Friedman and plexi sounds. I think the fender and what they call "Rumble" amp sim's are a lot more convincing.

[guyfromnj]

Just to clarify, high gain sounds always sound fake to me with digital modeling. There are clean sounds that are fantastic sometimes with certain modelers. I always like the axefx when I hear it recorded though.

[JasonMcFly]

Wow, Amplifire Plexi is very nice and brown. I'm impressed

[ivicaglavocic]

I own Zoom G5n, immediately after I got it, deleted all factory presets and created my own. After 2 months of adjusting sound and total of 6 months of use, all my best patches are not nearly good as few factory presets I heard on Atomic Amplifire, amps on Zoom are much worse in terms of sound quality and emulation. Like you, I like it simple, few good presets that sound good and that's it. Looks like Zoom is soon going to be replaced with Amplifire 12 :)

[pitaorj]

I´ll call you my favorite elmo guy that does yjm tones and I love yjm, because everytime I hear your last name it sounds like ¨Elmo Carolina¨

[downforcedan]

Sounds good to me, but the tiny nuances of tone never quite come across on YouTube. For that kind of money have you thought about a Line6 HX, DaveSimpson uses one as an effect board and it sound amazing, especially the particle verb! Anyhow, cool vid Elmo

[leesguitar]

Try it with dome good IR"s. I switched from the Axe to the Amplifire 6 for live work and it nails it.

[tonykennedy]

The Atomic pedals are very good, I have an AmplifireBox and the AA6, make sure yours has the latest firmware as they did a big update last year which really improved the units

I use mine as a backup to my Fractal AX8. I tried the HX Stomp and I definable preferred the feel and amp tones of the Atomic, for my taste.

However, nothing compared to the AX8, that was until I got a Fractal AxFXIII a few weeks back, I defy anyone to tell the difference to a 'real' amp

[OldGeezer]

I thought it sounded really good. Really good. For 300 bucks especially.

I doubt your audiance would ever know, but feel is important. I need that squishy feel. Notes that bloom like a tube amp. I've heard, that of course the fractal does, and I've been told that the Helix does, the Headrush gigboard does, and etc.

I would like to try the small gigboard thing from Headrush /elevin rack as well as the small Helix which has the same processor as the large unit, but with only 3 switches..

I played the now discontinued 11 rack preamp, and it was great I thought. It was at a fairly large music store, and they had a nice frfr speaker, as well as going thru a small PA and it felt close to me..

The new digital stuff isn't the same as an amp, but does that matter? I'm not sure. Like one of my philosphy friends says when you ask him how he's doing. He replies, "compared to what" ? It's a great question.

Compared to your Marshall stack is it good? Yes, for 300 bucks. It's really good, and you probably can't buy a tube amp that would be that reliable, have that many features, etc, plus most small clubs in my area at least, prefer you go direct, or they make you turm down your tube amp combo or stack so much you don't get that squishy feel loved by folks like me that grew up on tube amps. However, again, compared to that, the red box wonder sounds great.
Btw. I think it's still made.

They also have a big brother with 12 switches for more presets, and a two button little brother that just came out.

I guess it boils down to what makes you want to play guitar, because it's supposed to be fun no matter. 👍💝👍😀😀

Love that Yngwie song you always play to check out stuff with. Just killer. He's a god. 😂

Have a great day my friend and I hope you and yours are well...
👍💝👍💝👍💝👍

[alfaalex]

Check out the latest comparison between the Atomic Amplifier (Studio Devil is the same software), a real Marshall, and the AXE-FX III over on Sonic Drive Studios. I think you'll be shocked!

[fastacesus]

Interesting stuff Elmo. Been there myself, do I need that gear when perhaps a cheaper version will happily meet my needs. A guess it like saying do I need a Ferrari for going to the shops once a month. Yep I need the Ferrari.

[Bowietrope]

Elmo, I thought you got some great tones out of that thing, but compared to the real thing, I guess it comes up short, as usual. I know there's so much gear to try, but have you ever tried a Zoom MS-50G Multi Stomp? It is very small but has so much going for it, and can be had for $100.00 or less in the USA. I would love to see you demo one of those, you can set up a chain of effects with great effects, excellent distortion/overdrive etc, thanks much, and also for your fantastic playing as usual, Bruce.

[OldGeezer]

Still looking for a good one of these. Modeler I mean. I'm now considering the axeFx8 pedal board I see for like 700 to 900 dollars. This would be better if it works as good, but I don't need a lot of effects, but want good amp models mainly. Delay. I use my Vai bad horsie wah. Etc.
Thanks man.

[paulkielt]

The Axe-FX is a great thing in case you like solid state guitar sounds and you have a lot of money to spend for nothing! That kind of effects tone is nothing but sterile and lifeless to me. If you ever hear a Rectifier sound that bad... please call me!

[Rohbemusic]

Hi Elmo. Have you had the chance to check out the Strymon Iridium? Sounds like thats something you're after here. They are somewhat hard to come by still, out of stock on most places but I do want to try one for myself.

[OldGeezer]

Well, I don't know what I thought originally, but it sounds ok to me. I want something to totally replace an amp with. If it's close I'll be happy. As long as I like playing it. Jt has to inspire for sure, or at least not take away from my motivation. 🤣🤟

[jimsimmons]

Elmo, did you tweak and edit the factory presets to sound better or did you just use the factory presets without any tweaks?

[guyfromnj]

I don't think anything is as good as axefx when it comes to digital modeling. Whenever I hear a axefx I'm blown away. I was going to buy one of these amplifire things when they came out but never did. Kinda happy. I would of sold it. Maybe I'm overly critical of digital modeling but it always sounds fake to me.