[/quote]Not to mention the fact that I not ever heard digital equipment that didn't have that razz sound. I had an old school guitarist tell me the other day that his PodHD sounded so good he was going to quit hauling his vintage Fender amp. I can still hear the cold, harsh, digital crackle.
I will stick to warm sounding tube amps.[/quote]
^ I would 99% agree with you.
But.. I do have to say, I've heard the Axe II sound pretty damned good. I myself use a GSP1101, and like it. I have always hated digitech, line6, and the others. They all sounded like a beehive, but the 1101 into my MarkV combo sounds pretty amazing (for what it is). The tone snobs in my band don't know when I'm using the MarkV pre, or the 1101, but they prefer the 1101 tones even to my Mesa pre. (I know... right?). They other guitar player is borrowing my JCM2000, and my tone murders his right now. I'm shocked.
(but that twit insists on the red channel. The green is WAY better.)
But it's true. It took a good day to dial it in, and it won't do EVERYTHING I wish for... but it does quite a bit for the freaking $350 I paid for the thing. The Axe II is much better than this thing is... and in the end I still prefer tube amps AT VOLUME... but for low volume situations... the new technology has arrived and has a place.
I can't play my Mesa or Marshall loud enough in a small club to get it where I like it. They are great for a big venue or an outdoor show. For smaller gigs (most of em!) the snax or even an 1101 is perfect. I can cop the tones of any band I want, and do it pretty well.