Who's tried an Atomic Amplifire?

matt1973

Atomic look like they've filled a nice little gap in the moddelling market. The Amplifire looks like a great solution for those looking for AxeFX quality tones who can live with the stripped down interface & versitilty. From the YouTube Ive seen it seems like a really nice sounding unit. And the price is very attractive.

As good as they appear to be, the distribution isnt great. Only Andertons stock them in the UK. So, unfortunately, Id have buy one to try one. 

So has anyone played through one of these? If so, please share your thoughts.

John_P

There's a discussion here   http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/51084/

I like what I've heard but as I've said before only 3 footswitches means It's not as practical as I'd like. 

matt1973

Ahh yes. Thanks for the pointer.

Kebabkid

Mmm..looks interesting and demo sounds are good. However, is there a potential problem here for people with single channel clean amps that don't have fx loops as the vids suggests that you plumb this is in via the fx return if you want the amps/preamps/cabs? @dindude - what do you think Dan or anyone else?

As you would expect, it appears you can put just the fx, pedals through the front end

Cabicular

you can switch the cab emulations off and it sounds fine going into a pre amp but better into a loop

I'm about to run a couple of expression pedals into mine but that has involved Rob abd I scratching our heads and coming up with a custom Kabl

John_A

Just wondering how anyone's getting on with the Amplifire?  The more I look at it and listen to the demos the more I think it's the right choice for me, I need a handful of good sounds and probably no-where near the flexibility/complexity of the Helix, seriously thinking about juming on one.

In particular I'm interested in any delay when switching presets via midi?

matt1973

@john_a There's a guy selling one for £300 near me. Not tried one personally but have heard some good reports.

John_A

@ matt1973 Hi Matt - where's 'near you'? 

Cabicular

no major delay

obviously a bit of a jar when the presets don't match but thats unavoidable

My only issue with the amplifire is 3 foot-switches don't really do it and if you add on a decent midi board then you might as well get a Helix

Although not @ 300. It's definitely worth a shot at that

John_A

Already have a midi controller so at £300 it makes it a fair lump cheaper than a Helix

Cabicular

depends on the midi controller...

As long is it isn't an unchipped Behringer...

John_A

No just on old Roland FC-50, no CC or anything just program change, was thinking if you can assign the 3 buttons on the Amplifire to do anything, which apparently you can,  I could use the Roland to change patches and then have the 3 buttons for three FX on/off per patch, or something like that

Cabicular

Yup that would work

simonbeckwith

Just picked one up and love it

John_A

@simonbeckwith What are you using it for, home or live? Would love to hear one side by side with a few alternative, they look ideal for what I need, the Helix looks great though, decisions decisions

simonbeckwith

Ive tried the Pod HD and thought they werent up to much, the Atomic is way better. Not tried an AFX or Kemper though. Using it for home use at the mo, (baby number two is imminent!), and next year all being well back in to live work with it. The other guitarist picked one up a week earlier than me

simonbeckwith

Defo takes bit of time to dial in but thats half the fun of it really. Best to create patches at the volume youll be using them at as well

mrkb

Gets reviewed in Guitarist this month - they had similar thoughts to mine - a bit processed sounding. It's not anywhere near the axefx, but better than the line 6 pods. Hope they improve the reverbs to give a good in the room ambience type effect.

monquixote

Well mine has finally arrived thanks to @thorpyfx ;

Initial impressions were quite poor as the stock patches are SHITE with a capital S. 

I wanted to work out what the thing could do without wasting loads of time so I bought the M Britt pack which has a load of custom presets and IRs and it made a vast difference.

So far I'm very impressed, but I need to work out how I'm going to use it. 

From what I remember the modelling is about on par with the AxeFX Ultra I borrowed a while back. 

Only real downside I've found so far is that programming via the front screen is a horrible experience though it does have quite a few knobs so on the fly EQ tweaks should be OK. 

Cabicular

Get the patch downloads
Some of them are better

simonbeckwith

Get the editor mate, makes life so much easier. Ive just got the MBritt patches but not had chance to try them out yet, looking forward to it though as ive heard good things. Ive been making up my own using the Redwirez Marshall Cab IR