• Registered: 2018-08-02
  • Posts: 12

Topic: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Hey guys, so although I'm a long term BIAS FX Elite-user, I was wondering about getting Amplitube 4. It seems you can get a pretty sweet deal if you get the AXE I/O solo interface (https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/axeiosolo/ which includes Amplitube 4 Deluxe edition.

So apparantly a no-brainer.

I already have an RME Babyface pro however that I currently use as my audio interface for recording guitars, but will I be any better off switching from the Babyface to the AXE I/O? I basically only use it to record guitar and mix projects.

Any thoughts on this?

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2020-09-03 20:23:41)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,175

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Years ago I did a mistake to get some VST from ikmultimedia. The management software was a "royal PITA(tm)".
Try it out, side by side ...

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2018-08-02
  • Posts: 12

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Thanks for chipping in. I'm still curious of what I could do with Amplitube though, so I might just ending up getting it. Not being a very technical person myself, this info from them sort of puzzled me:

A major difference you would notice with AXE I/O is the Z-TONE tone-shaping circuit made specifically to get the best direct guitar signal into your computer to use with whatever software you choose.

Not quite sure about what's so special with this "Z-TONE tone-shaping circuit" (try saying that quickly) and how that would compete with my Babyface. Maybe I'll just have to get it and try them out side by side.

4 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2020-09-04 06:12:07)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,175

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

When input capacity of Instrument inputs is too low, then the sound can become muddy, less of treble.
Therefore the input capacity should be over 450 kOhm.
A good value which you find nowadays in more modern interfaces is 1 MOhm and this should fit for most if not all pickup types. I personally do not see a benefit in having a poti to change the input impedance of this instr input.
A good fix value should be enough.

Another thing .. there are so much more important aspects for a recording interface ... driver quality and long term support, low latency, no 3rd party communication chips whrere bugs can't be fixed (RME's FPGA based design), ...

Also from operational perspective TM FX is much advanced compared to what the competition sells. See Antelope reviews, even companies like them selling expensive gear are regarded to have bad software and support.

TotalMix FX is there  .. ONE version for ALL RME recording interfaces ... in around 20y it reached a big MATURITY that other devices from competition are simply missing (because often there is a dedicated software bing developed only for the (short) lifecycle of such a device). I often read about laggy operation software and stuff like that. This does not happen with RME ...

So .. to make a long story short ... for me this AXE I/O is nothing that can compete with RME in any way. But this is simply an assumption based on experience and gut feeling and putting some facts together ....

As I said .. run it side by side and then compare.

BTW .. I wrote a blog article which addresses many of these points: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … B-MADIfac/
Could be of interest for you to get a good overview.

BTW2, another blog article could also be interesting to you .. I also play guitar and I am very successfully using the instrument input of my UFX+ for different use cases which I described here and with sound samples: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … -DURec-DE/

No issues with any guitar that I own: be it jazz guitar, Les Paul or Tele (Single Coil).
BBF Pro and BBF Pro FS also have 1 MOhm Instrument inputs (same as UFX+).

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2011-08-24
  • Posts: 50

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

One of the benefits of using Amplitube is the endless variations of modelling available.

One of the downsides of using Amplitube is the endless variations of modelling available.

I have owned Amplitube since V2 and have benefitted/suffered from the statements above.

Do yourself a favour and audition Scuffham S-Gear https://www.scuffhamamps.com/product/s-gear

It will not only save you money, but will likely save you time as well since you wont be trying hundreds of presets to find "your tone".

I have no stake in promoting S-Gear. I do find it the easiest and most intuitive VST to use, and it sound excellent via my BF Pro.

6 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2020-09-04 12:14:23)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,175

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Sorry, but the concrete question from lebjart is
"will I be any better off switching from the Babyface to the AXE I/O? "

In this context he is unsure, where i.e. Z-Tone tone-shaping feature (variable impedance) will bring him any benefits over using BBF Pro.

I looked at it from different angles. In short, I personally think that the BBF Pro is the better interface with better, features, drivers and software and that all the "cool" features like Z-Tone and JFET are simply "hyped" by their marketing.

Whether Amplitude4 is worth the money is a different discussion completely isolated from hardware topics in terms of what recording interface to choose.

As lebjart already owns the BBF Pro I see no advantage in getting a bundle of AXE I/O Solo and Amplitube SW.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2011-08-24
  • Posts: 50

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Sorry, I took "I was wondering" as a question.

Back to the interface... I agree with all points made by ramses.

  • Registered: 2020-09-06
  • Posts: 2

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

No!! No no no no don't do this! I just bought the Babyface Pro FS two days ago. My previous interface was an AXE I/O. Now don't get me wrong, I love the software. I use Miroslav Philharmonik 2, Amplitube 4 Max, Syntronik deluxe, and Sampletank 4 Max and get amazing results, but as for the Interface...nothing has singlehandedly improved my sound more than that Babyface Pro FS.

  • Registered: 2018-08-02
  • Posts: 12

Re: Trade Babyface pro for an AXE I/O?

Thanks for good answers everyone. I think you are all correct in assuming that Babyface is the better option over the AXE I/O. I've been using RME sound interfaces for the last 15 or so years, so naturally I sometimes get curious about trying something else. But I seem to always come back to sticking with RME smile

Will certainly check out the S-Gear though, never really tried that before.