Atomic FR... initial review

[mwc2112]

Originally Posted by mtmartin71

Reviving this thread...so I noticed on the Fractal board that Gasp100 sold his Atomic FR to someone and he started this thread gushing about the setup. I don't have all the details, but in reading more about it, it seems like such a mixed bag on folks who like it vs. those who don't. Inherently, don't you have an issue too when the guy who designed the preamp is trying to replace tubes and the guy making the amp is using the tubes? Anyhow, I'm on the wait list for one but not sure if I'll bite.

Gasp, why did you sell yours?

Check out his For Sale thread on the Fractal forum. Appears to be a monetary decision as opposed to a 'don't like it' decision.

[Gasp100]

Originally Posted by OutterLimits

Hard for me to believe the Atomic is that much better than the Verve 12ma ... I get such great sounds out of that, and the coverage of any stage or room is huge. Going back to an amp-cabinet type setup seems counterproductive to me ... back to the treble beaming issues, not hearing your sound if you are 3 feet to one side, etc.. The Verve is consistent for almost 180 degrees in front. The wedge on the Verve is a good thing, that is why Fender amps have tilt legs ... to blast away and send your sound high ...

I keep waiting for legit comparison between the Verve 12ma and the Fratomic. I agree with one poster, the thrill of new equipment might be shadowing the truth a bit, as more people sell these after further use.

I was on the list but declined when Tom called ... I am more than happy with the Verve setup ... but I would try the Fratomic if it was a real improvement.

One thing is for sure, there are great choices now ...

I did not do a side by side comparison or the Verve 12ma and Atomic FR, but I owned them both one right after the other. I much preferred the Atomic FR for it's silky high end, full and rich low end and "true" mids. It sounded warmer and "felt" better than the Verve 12ma. I also thought that the Atomic FR had a fairly wide dispersion(?) and filled a lot of space. It did not sound "beamy" to me, you can hear a clip that I did close mic'd (~2.5 feet away from the center of the cab to get the speaker AND horn in the mix) and it sounds full and balanced to my ears. YMMV.

Atomic FR 'close mic'd' (NOTE: if I had a really good mic for room micing I would have done something much farther away, but about 2.5' seemed like enough to capture part of the speaker/part of the tweeter/horn in the mix).
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8234883

I sold both the AxeFX and the Atomic FR to pay down debt. I cannot justify the amount of gear I had for the amount of playing/practicing that I get to do on a weekly basis, especially with 3 kids, mortgage, etc... and especially because I'm not gigging. That coupled with the fact that the AxeFX and Atomic FR basically sell themselves lol...

I have ordered the 11 rack because I want to try and hear it for myself. If it's as good as people say it is it should be great for what I need. BUT - This go round I do NOT expect it to be my one and only setup -- I will dedicate this to recording, low volume use and as my DAW. I ordered it on the Musician's Friend 20% sale for $720 shipped and if it replaces my audio interface I should be able to recoup another $350 or so from a sale of that setup. So about $350-400 for a DAW + mic pre + guitar modeling setup / low volume playing solution works for me at this point in time.

Truth be told, I have yet to hear any clips of the 11R that come close to the AxeFX imho. I plan on using this rig until the AxePC is released, maybe even Rev2 or something unless my non-gigging ass gets out there and brings in some play money

[mtmartin71]

Originally Posted by Gasp100

I did not do a side by side comparison or the Verve 12ma and Atomic FR, but I owned them both one right after the other. I much preferred the Atomic FR for it's silky high end, full and rich low end and "true" mids. It sounded warmer and "felt" better than the Verve 12ma. I also thought that the Atomic FR had a fairly wide dispersion(?) and filled a lot of space. It did not sound "beamy" to me, you can hear a clip that I did close mic'd (~2.5 feet away from the center of the cab to get the speaker AND horn in the mix) and it sounds full and balanced to my ears. YMMV.

Atomic FR 'close mic'd' (NOTE: if I had a really good mic for room micing I would have done something much farther away, but about 2.5' seemed like enough to capture part of the speaker/part of the tweeter/horn in the mix).
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8234883

I sold both the AxeFX and the Atomic FR to pay down debt. I cannot justify the amount of gear I had for the amount of playing/practicing that I get to do on a weekly basis, especially with 3 kids, mortgage, etc... and especially because I'm not gigging. That coupled with the fact that the AxeFX and Atomic FR basically sell themselves lol...

I have ordered the 11 rack because I want to try and hear it for myself. If it's as good as people say it is it should be great for what I need. BUT - This go round I do NOT expect it to be my one and only setup -- I will dedicate this to recording, low volume use and as my DAW. I ordered it on the Musician's Friend 20% sale for $720 shipped and if it replaces my audio interface I should be able to recoup another $350 or so from a sale of that setup. So about $350-400 for a DAW + mic pre + guitar modeling setup / low volume playing solution works for me at this point in time.

Truth be told, I have yet to hear any clips of the 11R that come close to the AxeFX imho. I plan on using this rig until the AxePC is released, maybe even Rev2 or something unless my non-gigging ass gets out there and brings in some play money

I'm on the wait list so still TBD for me when I get the call. I'm using the FBT Verve 8ma for a monitoring/direct set up. I just got back a 2061x to pair with my 2061cx cab again and I may just use that with an RP1000 as my traditional pedal/amp setup when needed. I'm actually gigging about 14-15 times a year right now with a band so I do need some different setups. Frankly, some sound guys have flat out not wanted to deal with direct guitar boxes so I like having both options available to me.

[Gasp100]

Originally Posted by mtmartin71

I'm on the wait list so still TBD for me when I get the call. I'm using the FBT Verve 8ma for a monitoring/direct set up. I just got back a 2061x to pair with my 2061cx cab again and I may just use that with an RP1000 as my traditional pedal/amp setup when needed. I'm actually gigging about 14-15 times a year right now with a band so I do need some different setups. Frankly, some sound guys have flat out not wanted to deal with direct guitar boxes so I like having both options available to me.

Have you tried the AxeFX in front of the 2061x? I had a Ceriatone 2061x which was very sweet, great pedal platform, but not very versatile on it's own. I did some testing a while back using the AxeFX as a virtual pedal board in front of that rig, an Allen Accomplice Jr and even a Valvetech Hayseed and I was able to get some killer "scenes" using the OD pedals, chorus, delays, etc...
I also owned the RP1000 as well, nice unit too. I would think the AxeFX in front of the 2061x (I assume it doesn't have a loop) would be extremely cool, but you would need a floor board (midimate maybe) for control. I guess the RP1000 definitely has the upperhand in that situation, but the actual pedal tones are lacking compared to the AxeFX (especially now that you can dial in more EQ parameters for pedals like the RAT, MetalZone, etc... that desperately need those controls).
I'm a big fan of the 2061x and matching cab though, looks and sounds great.

[Matticus]

Originally Posted by Gasp100

Have you tried the AxeFX in front of the 2061x? I had a Ceriatone 2061x which was very sweet, great pedal platform, but not very versatile on it's own. I did some testing a while back using the AxeFX as a virtual pedal board in front of that rig, an Allen Accomplice Jr and even a Valvetech Hayseed and I was able to get some killer "scenes" using the OD pedals, chorus, delays, etc...
I also owned the RP1000 as well, nice unit too. I would think the AxeFX in front of the 2061x (I assume it doesn't have a loop) would be extremely cool, but you would need a floor board (midimate maybe) for control. I guess the RP1000 definitely has the upperhand in that situation, but the actual pedal tones are lacking compared to the AxeFX (especially now that you can dial in more EQ parameters for pedals like the RAT, MetalZone, etc... that desperately need those controls).
I'm a big fan of the 2061x and matching cab though, looks and sounds great.

I'm a big sucker for this amp. DROUL.


Great discussion thus far (and great input from Jay!). In my experience with guitar amps (not talking about mics -- yet), the biggest difference-makers are the output transformer, the driver(s), and the cabinet(s). It's been awhile since I've looked at this but I think the threshold for audibility of our so-prized 2nd-order harmonic distortion is around 2% (and for higher orders it's smaller). So, any amplifier worth its mustard (no matter how bad the distortion characteristics) that has less than 0.1% THD will have no audible non-linear distortion. (Yay, SE triode amps!)

If the AxeFX does as well as seems to be indicated in the OT part of the equation, then it leaves us with the driver and the cabinet. Makes me think of those Mesa Thiele cabinets.

My question is this: how are you supposed to mic these Atomic FRs? With a DPA, Earthworks, et al?

[Yek]

Originally Posted by Matticus

My question is this: how are you supposed to mic these Atomic FRs? With a DPA, Earthworks, et al?

I guess you don't mic them. Just run a balanced XLR out of the Axe into a line input on the mixer.

[mtmartin71]

Originally Posted by Gasp100

Have you tried the AxeFX in front of the 2061x? I had a Ceriatone 2061x which was very sweet, great pedal platform, but not very versatile on it's own. I did some testing a while back using the AxeFX as a virtual pedal board in front of that rig, an Allen Accomplice Jr and even a Valvetech Hayseed and I was able to get some killer "scenes" using the OD pedals, chorus, delays, etc...
I also owned the RP1000 as well, nice unit too. I would think the AxeFX in front of the 2061x (I assume it doesn't have a loop) would be extremely cool, but you would need a floor board (midimate maybe) for control. I guess the RP1000 definitely has the upperhand in that situation, but the actual pedal tones are lacking compared to the AxeFX (especially now that you can dial in more EQ parameters for pedals like the RAT, MetalZone, etc... that desperately need those controls).
I'm a big fan of the 2061x and matching cab though, looks and sounds great.

I've got a Rocktron All Access to do this. Maybe I'll give it a run with AxeFX pedals. So you liked the AxeFX as a virtual pedal board better than the RP1000? It would stand to reason that it should be better. It's obviously not as convenient as the RP1000 but this may be a better setup for me to keep the effects consistent. I'll have to try this out and report back.

[OutterLimits]

Originally Posted by Gasp100

I did not do a side by side comparison or the Verve 12ma and Atomic FR, but I owned them both one right after the other. I much preferred the Atomic FR for it's silky high end, full and rich low end and "true" mids. It sounded warmer and "felt" better than the Verve 12ma. I also thought that the Atomic FR had a fairly wide dispersion(?) and filled a lot of space. It did not sound "beamy" to me, you can hear a clip that I did close mic'd (~2.5 feet away from the center of the cab to get the speaker AND horn in the mix) and it sounds full and balanced to my ears. YMMV.

Atomic FR 'close mic'd' (NOTE: if I had a really good mic for room micing I would have done something much farther away, but about 2.5' seemed like enough to capture part of the speaker/part of the tweeter/horn in the mix).
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8234883

I sold both the AxeFX and the Atomic FR to pay down debt. I cannot justify the amount of gear I had for the amount of playing/practicing that I get to do on a weekly basis, especially with 3 kids, mortgage, etc... and especially because I'm not gigging. That coupled with the fact that the AxeFX and Atomic FR basically sell themselves lol...

I have ordered the 11 rack because I want to try and hear it for myself. If it's as good as people say it is it should be great for what I need. BUT - This go round I do NOT expect it to be my one and only setup -- I will dedicate this to recording, low volume use and as my DAW. I ordered it on the Musician's Friend 20% sale for $720 shipped and if it replaces my audio interface I should be able to recoup another $350 or so from a sale of that setup. So about $350-400 for a DAW + mic pre + guitar modeling setup / low volume playing solution works for me at this point in time.

Truth be told, I have yet to hear any clips of the 11R that come close to the AxeFX imho. I plan on using this rig until the AxePC is released, maybe even Rev2 or something unless my non-gigging ass gets out there and brings in some play money

Thanks very much for the info ....

If you use the Fratomic you do get directional beaminess ... people directly in front get more highs. Not so with the coaxial Verve, it disperses the highs and lows evenly over the 180 degree range very well. I hate traditional amp cabs for this reason, the mix of frequencies is all over the place depending where you stand. But you definitely have me interested in the Fratomic ...