Fractal AX8 Multi Effects Pedal Review

Tom Quayle Reviews the Fractal AX8 Multi Effects Pedal. This demo is from issue 43 of Guitar Interactive magazine.

[TheBluesHawk]

I bought one of these and its friggin' badass. My buddy actually has an Axe Fx II, and I've had the privilege to play on both on countless occasions. The amp modeling is absolutely spot on with the Axe FX II. Really the only drawback is that you don't have all of the effects that the Axe II has. That being said, it did include all of the major ones. I'll be honest, I couldn't be happier. I'm not lugging around a heavy amp anymore and I can get any tone that I want. This is def worth every penny

[pingshanluan]

2:01 AX8 still has two DSPs but less powerful than the ones in Axe Fx.

[GertvanderDoes]

To correct statements from Tom: the AX8 does have two DSP's, one for the amp simulation, the other for effects and an additional thing that Cliff called a hardware accelerator that was said to handle the cabinet simulation. They are way lower powered DSP's than in the AxeFx, off course. Those wouldn't fit in a floorprocessor without it getting too hot to handle.

[stephenbartlett]

I own this as well as 17 very expensive tube amps. The reason I bought it is I found it actually responded like a tube amp. I was shocked as the others I tried weren't even close. The sounds are really quite good. Maybe 1 day I'll get an AxeFx3.
People, this unit is Shockingly good

[zone]

Excellent review! You covered a lot of key features, I just got mine today and feel like I can dig right in. Thanks a bunch!

[ian__wilson]

Thanks Tom - gear that costs this much and without any UK dealers to provide hands-on experience, good reviews are really important. I suspect there may be people who now want the design and interface of the Helix (& forthcoming Headrush), combined with the sounds of Fractal Audio. Line 6 needs to up its game re. quality of sound and Fractal need to understand that we are all used to large retina displays which help with navigating relatively complex tech. Line 6 have got the design of the Helix absolutely right - large bright display for the stage combined with individual IDs for each pedal. These types of display are not expensive now and I suspect that many guitarists looking for this type of product, particularly those over the age of 40, would happily pay another £30-50 for a display which is large and hi res. The days of Minecraft style pixels for guitar Fx units in this price bracket, targeting gigging musicians, are (thankfully) coming to an end. If Fractal can address this issue, they will have a killer product on their hands. Although sound quality is the overriding priority for most guitarists, functionality in a gig situation often dictates the final purchase. While it's a nice line that Fractal have 'saved money on the display in order to deliver quality of sound', many of us don't believe that it is an 'either/or' situation - we want both.

[federz]

Funky looking guitar.

But heck this is easily one of the best reviews/demos of this unit on YouTube. Fantastic video and great playing!!

[JotaMcCready]

Do the FX8 and the AX8 have same quality sound for FX, right?

[thesphericalguy]

I don't see this type of product as a replacement for regular setups, but as an extremely nice compliment. I could do many gigs with this easily, both me and the crowd would be just as happy. Also if you're a hobbyist but still want access to a plethora of pro-level amps and effects, this (ax-8, helix etc) is very nice.

I'm very happy with my pedalboard and amp, but If I could afford it, I'd buy this in a heartbeat.

[Stratamania]

This is a good review but In scenes everything is instantiated into memory for that preset it's whether or not the effect is on or off or in an X or Y state, that changes. Instantiation happens when changing presets and different things are loaded into memory. This is why in scenes within a preset the change is seamless whereas when loading a new preset and instantiation into memory for that preset there may be a gap or not as the case may be.

[patricks]

Seems like a decent unit. But can it handle a pint of beer?

[joemarcinov]

Thanks Tom you have helped me a lot with my playing and my sound

[Blech]

Is there a setting to compensate for the insane spank on that pinkie?

[FrankSteffenMueller]

Tom, thanks for the great review. Hey guys, I use the Axe-Fx in my studio and the AX8 for live.I couldn´t be happier. The AX8 is absolutely killer. Sometimes I use it with the 4c able method in the stereo loop of my Diezel VH4s. It sounds amazing. You can instantly switch between the modelling amp and the real amp with all the fantastic effects. It´s unbelievable versatile. The price compared to the Axe-Fx is a bargain. It´s € 1699.- in Europe and 1.4k in the USA). I love it!!!. Cheers ;)

[ravinaidu]

How do you save the modifications in the preset if you use the AX8 and make changes rather than AX8 Edit. You hit exit after you finished tweaking the parameters.

[sonofhendrix]

Sounds incredible. Wish they would make an affordable rack mountable version though with a modern OLED screen and interface... I work in a food packing factory i cannot afford these flagship devices... Stuck with my old pod xt pro.

[Soilwar]

That guitar makes me question my sexuality.

[JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Tom can you share your AX8 presets? Thanks

[TheBoondoggler]

Do the delays trail between preset changes?

[johnhart]

Just purchased this Monday. Sounds amazing, !! Just very frustrating assigning and saving the layout like I like. Most YouTube videos are about running this pedal through computer, but i'm not wanting to do that, YET. Im used to the zoom and bossme80 processer... where you can easily create and find tones and save it where I want it to go. Thanks for your video. Its 1 out of 3 where someone isnt just showboating and explain what F1, F2, F3 actually does. Maybe you can do another soon man.