The time has come to review the Atomic Amps Amplifire and I am not sure where to start! There is SO much to say, but firstly I should start with how we got here, the beginning of the story so to say.....

Why the Amplifire?

I have alluded to this in the video review, but basically at a number of gigs over the Christmas and New Year's period I realised that my stage volume with my beloved Fender '68 Deluxe Reverb was getting a little bit too loud! Particularly, in situations where the stage was quite small. I am a big advocate of keeping stage volumes low and letting the front of house do most of the grunt work, it makes it easier to mix but also is better for those on stage and most importantly helps with the problems of noise induced hearing loss.My setup that I have been using for most of last year was pretty rocking and I was so so happy with it, I just love the sound of the Fender Deluxe amp, I know it sounds a strange thing for a man to say but boy do I love it. Although, having said that, the amp really does work best at it's sweet spot (see this post for details) and whislt I love the amp at quiter levels , I have become addicted to the sweet spot and this is a little bit loud for some gigs and stages.And of course, like all of you out there I also do suffer from G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and particularly at this time of the year, seasonally induced G.A.S!But, on a serious note, I am also very open to working with new technology and trying to get the best set up I can and always tying to make set up and load out easier and simpler and when I get home making the trip up the stairs as easy as possible. This was the main reason I thought it was time to look at the modelling market again, plus I am just a curious guy!I have had modellers since the first Line 6 Pod, the Johnson J-Station, Digitech RP series and several of the Boss GT series and in their way they were quite good and I really did think that the Boss GT-100 was a pretty fantastic piece of kit (see my review), but with all these things, I found that something was lacking sometime. In the studio they worked well but I could not get them to sit too well on stage and given most of my work is performance based and I have the luxury of being able to record with great amps, then this was a big factor for me.Roll forward to the end of last year (2015) and I had heard and seen a few good things about the Atomic Amps Amplfire online and on various videos, so I thought I owed it to myself (and my G.A.S.) to give it a try!So I went and tried it out...and well long story short, it was love (yes I have fallen again!)Take the next step in your guitar playingNow I know that I use a lot of superlatives to describe the gear I buy, this is mostly because I put a lot of thought and effort into researching the bits of gear that I buy, and when I buy them and I am generally always happy with what I get (why would I buy something I didn't love!). So, yes I love the Amplifire and here are the reasons why :-

Amplifire sounds

Okay, this is where it all starts and at the end of the day this is probably the most important aspect when considering this unit, if it sounds like pants then there is no point in considering any other aspects of the device. So, and this is in my opinion (for what it is worth), this is probably the best sounding unit I have had the fortune to play through. I have had a go with the AXE-FX and it didn't quite work for me, I am just being honest here, if someone were to give me one, I would gladly take it and use it, but again it is probably some psychological aspect makes me think that the complexity and sound didn't justify the cost (for me).I will certainly say hand on heart that the Amplifire sounds supremely more playable than the other units I have and have owned.So, that to me is it in a nutshell, does this replace the feeling I get when I play through my Cornford or Fender Deluxe? No, it isn't the same, and herein lies a lot of the problem when considering amps verses modellers.A lot of people out there are considering one aspect of the very complex physical and psychoacoustic interation which occurs between a person and a piece of electrical equipment. Cranked amps move your body physically as well as mentally in a different way than something coming out of a completely different speaker and electrical process. There is also a strong psychological connection with your own value systems and how you percieve different pieces of gear. The difficultly with modelling is trying to remain objective about how the tool (never forget an amplifier, whatever kind, is a tool to make your guitar louder and therefore heard!) makes you feel and what it means to you.Remember, many of us grew up hearing that valves were best, or whatever, this then becomes learnt belief and behaviour and then that is a mental process that is hard to become objective about.For me, very simply, at the end of the day, the Atomic Amplifire makes me want to play guitar more, when I fire up some presets I enter the rabbit hole for hours. To me THAT is a the indication of a great piece of gear and that fact above all others (and believe me there are some others too)!One of the reasons (and this is true of the higher end modellers) that this unit sounds much more authentic is the use of and ability to load in Cabinet IR's (impulse responses). Impulse response is the way a dynamic system reacts to an impulse stimulus (ideal an infinite impulse containing all frequency components), an analogy is to consider if you have a burst of a sound and send it through a system what does the burst of sound look like at the output. The way that the system has changed the burst is the effect that the system has on the original signal. You can then model this behaviour in digital signal processing. Remember, this is the part of the acoustic system which shapes the sounds which we usually hear. Convolution and deconvolution algorithms and DSP are becoming more effecitive in terms of processing power and accuracy this days, which again all contrbutes to an authentic sounding product.I will do a follow up field test review about all the amp models I have been using, but at this early stage I am using a combination of the Fender Deluxe Model, The Fender 59 Bassman, Cornford (Kornford) and Rumble (Dumble) amps. In testing, the Fender Deluxe does sound very similar to the amp I have next to it, it doesn't have the same interaction and feedback (but this is part of the designed circuitry of the amp itself and a product of the whole system). The Amplifire give a great clean tone with the Fender amps and I just love the way this unit breaks up like my Deluxe Reverb amp, it sounds very similar to my Conford, the Plexi sounds great. It is just so much fun trying amps and different cabinet IRs.The amount of control you have over various parameters mean that it is very easy to dial in a sound which works for you (warning you can spend ALOT of time playing with this unit!), I find adjusting Cabinet parameters has the biggest impact on the overall sound and works really, really well in getting some amazing tones.When talking about the sounds it is impossible not to mention the effects. These sound absolutely fantastic, I love the delay and reverb in particular and I would consider this a replacement for my TC Electronic effects (which we all know I love so much!), I would say that clearer labelling of some of the parameters might make it a bit easier for those people out there not au fait with the way some of these effects work. I hope (and wonder) if Atomic will add a few more effects when they update the firmware, perhaps a Fuzz, Rat and a few more modulation effects would be great (but NO way a deal breaker). I think the Screamer boost is simple awesome! Check out the video review to hear how the unit sounds.

External Pedals

The biggest surprise to me is how well the Amplifire amp models respond to using external pedals, that was a big surprise for me. My Xotic Effects SL Drive sounds just as good through the Fender Deluxe Model as it does through my actual Fender Deluxe.I did a whole video on how I have the system set up, and might be a good point of call for those of you who like to know moe about that kind of thing.

Pedal Control

I control the Amplifire via my Tech 21 Midi Moose which gives me the greatest amount of flexibility. I can control banks of 5 presets at a time, and then for each preset have 3 different effects I can use. I currently have these set to Boost, Modulation and Delay. I know there is some talk on forums about wishing there were more footswitches, I do get this if you use it without a midi pedal, but even I wish I could have one more switch for Tap Tempo instead of potentially loosing a pedal and having only two effects per patch, but I do LOVE the fact that this is an option, I can do this and I could just assign a preset to be clean and then next to be boosted.In fact as I type this, I will probably do this!! It might be kind of nice to have an expression pedal attached as well, but something small like the Jim Dunlop Mini Wah style pedal. But I understand this would dramatic change the price point.

Outputs

Another area I love about this unit (Listen up boss!), the range of outputs!! With XLR's!! Yes XLR's for those of us who gig that is a god send, no need for DI boxes or handmade jack to XLR cables. Plus the various options to route the output signals and Cabinet responses through different outputs, so you can have your CAB sim going out to PA and use an actual amp on stage and have the CAB output defeated. That is really good!

Interface

I personally find the editing interface on the Amplifire very intuative to use and I can quickly adjust the parameters I want to. This is made so much easier with the amp style controls on the front panel, making the unit feel like an amp and being able to adjust tone for different venues simply and easily. I really like this!

Software Editor

A software editor is another element which is becoming part of the norm now for most products. The Atomic editor is simple but effective, I am sure there might be some more development with this in the future, but it is functional and makes the task of chaging sounds a little bit easier than on the front panel (plus you can do it sitting down!).I would like to be able to group copy or move banks of patches, rather than one by one, but hey we have an editor, I remember the days when no such thing existed. So I am happy!!Wow, Size is everythingIt's size! It is a lovely size, it fits perfectly on my pedal board and also would fit in any small gig bag with a guitar, this give you plenty of options and you could get away without even taking any thing else to a gig, that is COOL!!!

In use (early field test)

So, I have gigged with this a couple of time now. (see my pedalboard video) and this is the thing for me, the unit sounds great, it makes me actually enjoy my playing without thinking too much about the sound I am making as the unit is very consistant. It makes it so much easier to control the FOH sound and makes my monitoring so much easier as well. The sound on stage is also a lot quieter, which is also a really good thing for many reasons, let alone people's hearing.I feel I have a lot more control over my sound in terms of how it actually sounds and how loud it is. It also sounds AWESOME. A few people have commented on that as well, and that is of course always a good thing. I like the fact I can be in my little guitar zone now with my own monitoring, not worrying that I am spilling guitar across the stage. Everything becomes a little bt more managable. The Amplifire has also simplifed my set up and that is always a good thing, I am not tap dancing pedal changing any more, I can control things through simple single pedal presses and then add effects easily.I do have a few problems with the levels of some patches, but that is always the way, I need a few more gigs to get these dialled in correctly, and actually I think a volume pedal is possily an additon I might wish to consider at the back end of the unit. Although, I am using a boost in the loop, I might have to work on this option a bit more. Obviously, this is partly due to trying to set levels at home (even through a monitor cranked) it is still difficult to judge perceived loudness when not in a band context.

Conclusion

For those of you who read my blog and reviews, you will know I am quite picky about my gear and my sounds. I am affected by sounds, and if a sound isn't working for me it can sometimes cause problems with performance. As you may have gathered I really love this unit, It makes me want to play and play and I actually am sad at the end of the gig that I can't play any more. I know I am going to have a lot more fun with this unit and I can't wait to see how Atomic progress the unit (hopefully with a few firmware upgrades!) plus I am looking forward to expolring a whole host of downloadable presets and Cabinet IR's.Looking for a new amp or modeller? This unit is something to consider pretty seriously!

Pros

The way it sounds!
The effects.
The easy of use.
It makes you never want to put down the guitar!
The options when used with a Midi foot switch (this could be a con for some of you)

Con

None!

Little niggles (if I was pushed)

The tuner - but this is just me and because I just like the old school Polytune or Boss Tuner style of working.
Tap Tempo - I know you can use a pedal to set this but then this would only give you two effects per patch instead of three and I need three effects over two. It would be good it you could set the pedal configureation per patch rather than globally ...maybe something for a firmware update?

EnjoyPeaceNeil