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IK Multimedia Axe I/O - Anyone Familiar?


cynic

Question

Looking at the IK Multimedia anniversary sale that's going on made me aware of their Axe I/O interfaces.  Does anyone have any practical experience or otherwise reasonably informed opinions?  When bought as a bundle with Amplitube 5, the Axe I/O Solo is essentially free.

I use a Scarlett 2i2 but think I'd like the separate headphone and amp outs on the Axe I/O where the amp out can be run into a powered FRFR speaker, not to mention the expression pedal/switch jacks.

AXE_IO_SOLO_front@2x.jpg

AXE_IO_SOLO_rear@2x.jpg

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11 answers to this question

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I love IK stuff…I bet it is a great interface. If I was recording with Amplitube instead of micing nice amps, I’d already have one.

I have an IK midi keyboard that works great and is well-built…and of course their software is ace.

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I have a Focusrite 6i6 and I bought the Axe I/O last year.  I have a iMac so I made an aggregate device so I can use both of them simultaneously.  Gives me plenty of inputs and outputs if needed.

 

The Axe is great for guitar.  The dedicated Z-tone input has  settings for pickup types and such that lets you make adjustments to the sound that are quite useful. It has has a re-amp out so you can send the signal to a real amp and them mic it back in for a variety of sounds.

Very good product and comes with lots of good software.

 

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2 hours ago, mathman said:

I made an aggregate device so I can use both of them simultaneously

You're absolutely the guy I needed to hear from then!  Do you use them both simply because you own them both (which I totally get) or do you find you need both to make up for shortcomings.  I'm looking at the Axe I/O to replace my 2i2 in addition to offering the amp out, the pedal/switch jacks, and the midi control.  For inputs I don't imagine I'd ever need input beyond single midi controller/keyboard, guitar, and mic which it looks like I could do simultaneously even on the smaller Solo model, but I think I'd go for the larger model for my iMac and then maybe try to find a used Solo on the cheap for traveling with my Macbook when I may not have easy access to a power outlet.

Do you notice any latency issues when blending the direct and DAW or when re-amping?

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I wanted to setup everything at once.  I have a mixing board that I use when I mic amps, record from tape or other source, or sometimes with vocals so I can use an effects rack, so those outputs are input to the Focusrite and are inputs 3-7 in the aggregate device in Logic.  The Axe I/O is inputs 1 and 2 which is the main inputs I use.

I mostly wanted to do it this way because it was easier to setup a midi pedal board for Amplitube and connect a digital keyboard.

I only played a little bit with the re-amp but I plan to try more things at some point.  It is nice to have the midi preset knob on the front and the built in tuner.

Guitar through this into Amplitube sounds great.

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I ordered Amplitube 5 Max bundle with the Axe I/O. Looks like a nice setup for what I need. I have a Mac w/Logic Pro X and a Allen Heath ZEDi10 mixer for other external instruments, and was planning to buy a small interface anyway at some point w/better specs than the digital mixer.

Just be aware- I don't think the Amplitube/Axe bundles qualify you for the 25th promo deal. After registering Amplitube 5, the product manager app confirms as much.  The Axe I/O alone is 349, and so I suspect that bundle is a promo within itself.

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54 minutes ago, chromium said:

Just be aware- I don't think the Amplitube/Axe bundles qualify you for the 25th promo deal. After registering Amplitube 5, the product manager app confirms as much.

Have you received/registered the Axe I/O yet?  I have an email from IK Multimedia saying that bundle does qualify and that the promos will show after you've registered the interface.

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1 hour ago, cynic said:

Have you received/registered the Axe I/O yet?  I have an email from IK Multimedia saying that bundle does qualify and that the promos will show after you've registered the interface.

Ah- no.  The interface is in route.

I had shot them an email with the same question, but didn't expect to hear back for a few days.

Glad to hear I can still take advantage of the promo- thank you so much!

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On 10/3/2021 at 7:14 PM, chromium said:

I had shot them an email with the same question, but didn't expect to hear back for a few days.

Glad to hear I can still take advantage of the promo- thank you so much!

Did you ever hear back from them?  I went round and round with them today when they tried to say my purchase of the bundle didn't qualify for the promotion.  When I pointed out that I'd specifically asked and got a positive response they were able to look back through the email exchange and see where I'd been told the bundle did qualify.

Their initial attempt at resolution was an apology and adding 20 jam points to my account.  When I voiced my displeasure they eventually added a separate copy of Ampltube 5 to my account which qualified me for the promos up to the $299 level.

On another note, I'd initially contacted them to ask when the interfaces were expected and it sounds like they're still a long way off.  My plan for this always included also buying an Axe I/O solo and I found a new unit on Reverb for a decent deal that I'll use in the meantime.

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18 minutes ago, cynic said:

Did you ever hear back from them?  I went round and round with them...

Yes, and I had a similar back and forth experience with their support team.

I had bought the Amplitube 5 Max bundle w/Axe I/O... Got the "hard NO" as to that purchase qualifying for their promo, and being that the Axe I/O turned out to be on perma backorder due to supply chain issues (chip shortages or whatever) I just asked for a refund.

I ended up buying MODO Drum, and scooping Amplitube SE, T-Racks, etc. in my "freebie" selections.

Thought about finding a used Axe I/O, but decided to go back to my initial plan and snagged a used UA Apollo Twin X Duo from GC ~500.  Ran a UAD-2 card in my ancient Cubase DAW and always liked UA's eq, comp/limiter and reverb plugs.

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Ik is unofficially extending the offer till Nov 7th for purchases because of adding hardware to the group buy.

You can get most of the Max bundle as freebees with the Modo drum purchase.  you have like 30 days to choose.  

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