As others have pointed out, not knocking the AXE FX unit, but they are modelling after something that is already sounding good, but they are doing it starting with a digital signal ?
I like plugging into guitar rig and practising, and heck even recording with it, but listening to it long enough, drives me crazy. Yeah consistent, but the sounds are so direct, my ears start to cry for analog gear...lol
I have a friend who has a Line 6 HD 300 floor board, great sound he gets at practise, low volumes sounds pretty good, but it is always the consistent in your face sound. When he used to take his 50 watt Marshall amp, with only pre amp tube in it to smaller gigs, the same shit kept happening, we CANNOT hear you the crowd would always say, and no matter how loud he turned his amp up, it was either to freaken loud, or just not there.
I brought him to a friends place (who has many tube amps), said plug your pedal into the power stage of one of these amps. Every time we go to a gig now, he wants to know if he can borrow the tube amp...lol
Major difference, still gets the nice tone, but even nicer that the tubes make it warmer, and he can actually cut through and be heard.
Like I said, not knocking the AXE or any other modeller, heck I use a Zoom Z2.9 tube board with a tube amp, and sounds pretty good. The reason for the floor board was the midi to change the channels on the MP-2 and Sansamp (using 4 cable method), and use the effects on the floor board as stomp boxes. But since the tube pedal sounded good and downsized a bit, I only use the board with a tube amp.
I have plugged the MP-2 back into the signal chain to record, and prefer it much more over the guitar rig or VST plugins, for overdub, for sure, adds a little bit more depth.
I have found that I only need 1 good heavy distortion, semi crunch, and clean with some added effects, so not even using the pedal board to it's fullest either.
If the effects in the AX FX are what others have said, I would use it for that, but the cost cannot be justified unless I was running a studio or making tons of money, both of which I do not do...lol
The other thing I noticed, is so many people want to cover other bands tones, and do it via a cover band, but yet, the solo's they play are not even close to the original solos, so why bother with trying to replicate someone else's tone when the solo is not replicated...lol
Digital modellers are good tools, and it all depends what you want and looking for.
I just wanted to play rock covers, and found couple of decent distortions, good clean from a tube amp which I keep referring back to, and happy at that.
M