Atomic Amplifire

**Robertkoa** · 01-16-2016, 09:04 PM

I think Princetons are $899. to about $1200.

But the OP is talking about a really versatile, powerful Pro Rig for $1200.
which is very reasonable...not previously attainable at this price point.

They are saying this on other Forums but I did not know about the Friedman Powered Speaker..wish it weighed 30 (instead of 50 pounds) ...but that's really dreaming.

I have Guitar Tube Preamps for very clean and light overdrive that might sound really good into that Friedman..like
they do into Monitors...

**jads57** · 01-16-2016, 09:47 PM

I was just kidding! I'm old enough to remember when a used Princeton Reverb could be had for $50-100. It also reminded me of the cartoon when kid shows his dad a rack of digital gear and says look it sounds like an acoustic guitar!
It's funny we end up sometimes chasing the simple tones of the past.

**steves3972** · 01-17-2016, 03:47 AM

yes, most simple small amps like the princeton can do the job but when I have something that does many different styles including Fender cleans really well the princeton becomes obsolete. If I want something portable like the princeton I can just take my yamaha dxr10 and the amplifire.
I also didn't mention that the princeton that I have is a headstrong lil king which retails for around $2,000 and would be the best modern reproduction of that circuit that there is.

**jads57** · 01-17-2016, 05:51 PM

While I love these boutique repro amps, it's a shame they are so darned expensive for just a limited tone and real world use on stage. I realize you can reinforce them w/ monitors but seems to defeat the purpose, and you might as well use a Axe Fx or Tech 21 pedal. So I guess I can see what's appealing about these digital rigs after all!

**lauwing** · 01-19-2016, 08:00 PM

Sound very good on the second clip. Can you share your preset? Thanks

**Robertkoa** · 01-21-2016, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

Axe Fx II here. Love it. Play it everyday. Record with it. Gig with it.

I just heard" Zebra Crossing"

And "Giant Steps Less Distortion" and you have beautiful Tones on both...beautiful,World Class Tones and Playing .

Well mixed ,great band..wow !really impressive . Rhythmic, great melodies and a cool effortless Blowing style when you want it.
I love your Tones...very modern..lots of sustain all Tone no pick noise.
Warm and clear with a glow.

On "Zebra Crossing" did you mic a speaker in the Studio and go direct simultaneously
or one or the other?

Great stuff .

**henryrobinett** · 02-02-2016, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by Robertkoa

I just heard" Zebra Crossing"

And "Giant Steps Less Distortion" and you have beautiful Tones on both...beautiful,World Class Tones and Playing .

Well mixed ,great band..wow !really impressive . Rhythmic, great melodies and a cool effortless Blowing style when you want it.
I love your Tones...very modern..lots of sustain all Tone no pick noise.
Warm and clear with a glow.

On "Zebra Crossing" did you mic a speaker in the Studio and go direct simultaneously
or one or the other?

Great stuff .

I'm sorry. I never saw this. Thank you very much. Zebra Crossing used no mic. I printed three tracks, two stereo and another clean DI that wasn't used.

**Robertkoa** · 02-03-2016, 02:53 PM

Thanks Henry.

Great example of "Direct" recording with
Cab IRs.

Good to know no mic needed.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-13-2016, 01:43 PM

People who have the Amplifire, how are the delays and reverbs? Thanks!

**davidBb** · 02-13-2016, 05:09 PM

I've tried the Atomic Amplifire and used to own an Axe-FX II - and I'd say the modelling quality is very similar. I bought the latter on a whim used as it was going for a good price together with a Matrix power amp.

The Axe's real strength is doing gainy sounds much more convincingly than lesser modellers (with the tone matching you really could sound like 'any amp sound').

The Axe-FX is a magical piece of kit BUT I realise I'm a 5 knobs, couple of pedals kinda guy and so when I'd created three good patches I'd covered all my bases. It felt like massive overkill and so I moved it on. Perhaps if I'd had it when I was 20 I'd have seen things differently.

Now the Atomic Amplifire has the same DSP power as the Axe FX but in a much more accessible package for users that don't need zillions of options but do need convincing sounds.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-13-2016, 05:12 PM

Thanks - but the modelling of the Amplifire is not relevant to me, really just the delays and reverbs!

**jzucker** · 02-13-2016, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by davidBb

Now the Atomic Amplifire has the same DSP power as the Axe FX

Didn't realize that!

**Eric Rowland** · 02-13-2016, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Thanks - but the modelling of the Amplifire is not relevant to me, really just the delays and reverbs!

They are ok but seem to be at an early stage of their development cycle. I am using an Eventide H9 with the Amplifire and it has some amazing reverbs and delays. A reasonable setup for my modest requirements.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-13-2016, 06:13 PM

Yeah i hear you... too bad, the Amplifire would be perfect for me with some nice reverbs and delays.

**steves3972** · 02-13-2016, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Yeah i hear you... too bad, the Amplifire would be perfect for me with some nice reverbs and delays.

Did you hear the 2nd sound clip? I'm not an expert on reverbs and delays but they sound great to me. For $599 why wouldn't you buy one?

**jorgemg1984** · 02-14-2016, 06:33 AM

I heard the 2nd clip and did not convince me at all, sorry.

Here it's 600€ and well... for me it's a lot money, not exactly like buying a 100€ pedal and see what it comes - I need it to sound good and have no way to try it first hand.

On TGP several people told me the fx are not even in the Zoom line (MS100BT and MS70CDR), which is a deal breaker for me. As I said I don't care about the modelling part of the Amplifire, from all I heard it's far from what I need. But it would allow me to have 3 pedals in one - fx, IR loader and DI - if the fx were at least "nice". Apparently not...

**Robertkoa** · 02-14-2016, 09:30 AM

I would not recommend the Amplifire for just Reverbs and Delays because the best parts of Amplifire are the Modeling and the Cab IRs ( speaker Cabinet Impulse Responses- which are only found on a few Hardware Devices including Amplifire).

For about $80 to $100 you can get a used Pod XT and use the EFX in that- NOT the Modeling but there are very good tweakable Delays , Reverbs and other FX in there which are quiet and quite good .. if they are properly adjusted etc. you can use them on Pro Recording etc.
Are they Axe Fx /Lexicon/ Eventide quality...no ...but many Pros are using Pedals for some of these EFX and the weak part of Pod XT is the modeling..not the EFX.

It's easy to store chains of tweaked multi FX [ using Modeling off "NO AMP" Setting so delay - reverb- phaser- post EQ etc. name it and save it.

If your input source is clean there will be less noise than most Pedals by far.

You have to get your input and output levels especially INTO the device optimum to keep things clean like any device but if you do...a nice Tube Preamp into a Pod will still sound like a Tube at the output- it won't lose it's Tube Sound .

There are probably other Guitar MultiFX by Zoom, Roland , and really good rack MultiFx from TC Electronics , Lexicon which will be higher quality and still cheaper than $600.

Amplifire -IF you would not be using the Modeling and or the Cab IRs is not a good purchase because those are the two most cost effective features of it.

The IR loader in the Amplifire - I have not played Amplifire however does make it more cost effective if you would make use of that feature.

An inexpensive way to get Cab IRs in a Pedal is the Logidy:
LOGIDY EPSi "Stereo Mix" Cabinet Impulse "Test":

I don't know if there's any clean sounds in the Demo (lol) but this Company has
a Pedal with Cab IRs and also a Pedal with excellent Convolution Reverbs and EFX - not sure if they have combined both but the Reverbs and Rooms are impressive you can Youtube other Demos for the Convolution Reverb Pedal- these are far above the Pod XT but more $ . But far less than $600.

Here's the Logidy Convolution Reverb Pedal:Logidy EPSi Convolution Reverb Pedal Review:

You can probably find better demos.

IF they combined the ReverbFX Pedal and the Cab IR Pedal into a bigger programmable unit - at $500- I 'd be interested.

But I will eventually get the Fractal AX8 mostly for IRs and EFX -though I may be able to use the Modeling.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-14-2016, 09:52 AM

Robert - from this thread I got the impression you don't have (and never had) an Amplifire. I am looking for input from people who do have one.

I've had a bean pod hd, a zoom g3, a nova system and still have three zoom pedals (ms100bt, ms50g and ms70cdr). The pod was by far the noisiest, much noisier than the others and then, say, an 8 pedal chain. And it had some problems with achieving enough volume with line level inputs. I also like the Zoom effects much more.

The amplifire interests me because it's small and sort of cheap and it has some unique features - low cut filter, parametric eq, stereo delay, stereo reverb, 3rd party IRs and stereo DI out (xlr and jack). Only the AX8 and the Kemper have these specs at a much higher price (also much bigger and much heavier).

The modelling is not relevant for me because I still haven't heard a clip that really impressed me. I know a "amp in a box" pedal with good fx and 3rd party IRs can give me the sound I want.

Of course if the reverb and delays are not good (say at Zoom level) it's irrelevant for me.

**jzucker** · 02-14-2016, 10:25 AM

i had an amplifire and the effects were not so good. They were not as good as the kemper which has less than thrilling time based effects. Because of its processing power, the amplifire has the potential to have great digital effects so hopefully in time it will catch up.

**Robertkoa** · 02-14-2016, 10:35 AM

I use ADA and Hughes and Kettner Tube Preamps and digital only for FX.

The Amplifire email responses I got even before it came out were that they were emphasizing the Modeling Quality and the ability to have IRs and good basic EFX but not a powerful Multi FX box( Multi FX not a priority)- which they achieved.

You can't run a preamp into another preamp without a lot of noise- hence bypassing the Models in a Multi FX box...not sure about Bean HD ..
XT is not noisy with modeling off and proper gain staging.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-14-2016, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

i had an amplifire and the effects were not so good. They were not as good as the kemper which has less than thrilling time based effects. Because of its processing power, the amplifire has the potential to have great digital effects so hopefully in time it will catch up.

Thanks Jack, it's out of the equation for now then.

**jorgemg1984** · 02-14-2016, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by Robertkoa

I use ADA and Hughes and Kettner Tube Preamps and digital only for FX.

The Amplifire email responses I got even before it came out were that they were emphasizing the Modeling Quality and the ability to have IRs and good basic EFX but not a powerful Multi FX box( Multi FX not a priority)- which they achieved.

You can't run a preamp into another preamp without a lot of noise- hence bypassing the Models in a Multi FX box...not sure about Bean HD ..
XT is not noisy with modeling off and proper gain staging.

I use modelling, CAB IRs, hence the Amplifire interest.

My current rig has no noise - and lots of other rigs I had had no noise. The POD was noisy mainly because it couldn't generate line level signals without hiss.