DADA
Member
After owning an Ultra for more then 1,5 year I thought sharing some experience. Because this post would be deleted immediately from the Fractal Forum I am forced to post it here and other not FAS controlled sites.
This is my personal opinion and is no statement in any kind.
The Good
- Breakthrough product no doubt, but every new customer should be warned. The learning curve to get a decent sound out this apparatus is steep and long for the average guitar dude. It is like doing a study computer programming but then without a teacher. Is that a problem NO but be sure, despite the AFX Wiki, that you are willing to spend a huge amount of time trying to learn the thing. Time you will not play your guitar. And believe me in the end you will only use a handful of its possibilities.
- It works great with the MFC-101.
- With the right equipment it sounds really good and it is very flexible.
- The company continuously improves the software till a new version comes out.
- Some helpful users on the forum.
The Bad
- The price is completely over the top. OK back in 2008 it was ground breaking technology and it was a small company with a low turnover. But with the AFX II the price had to come down.
- To get your complete rig with active wedges or amp and cabs plus the MFC-101 you can buy a very nice new car. It is very very expensive so be warned.
- Seeing it as a computer (which it basically is) the AFX II is an upgrade from one processor to two processors and some hardware upgrades and new software. The Ultra would also be possible to host the new software when some unused possibilities were dumped from the eprom. Will not happen because it is now absolete and therefore has died.
- Lifetime updates was by me and others interpreted as long as I lived. That was dumb thinking because updates for the Standard and Ultra stopped on the moment the new AFX came out. So the 11R solution is not that bad.
- No instructional DVD or official Youtube help to get you going faster. Or a country based helpline (dreaming).
The Ugly
- The launch of the II is a bit of an disaster and an use of the huge demand by increasing the price even further.
- If you live outside the US then there is no priority for you having one. You will have to wait for at least 6 to 9 months. US customers can have them immediatly if they are willing to pay an extra 400.
- Because of this "high demand" the company now calls themselve "boutigue" to gett away with their policy and price tag.
- The forum in itself is a good direct marketing tool. BUT having moderators, administrators and the owner himself that like to piss, preach and laugh at people is the best way to ruin your own business. Never never ask a critical question or you will be threatend with pm's and banned.
- To get the full advantages via FRFR you will need the best and therefore the most expensive solutions available. This means at least $4000 -5000 per wedge.
The Cure
- Act like a professional company and not like a bunch of techies.
- Exchange some moderators with some with better attitude towards your customers.
- Steep up production. The longer people have to wait the larger the chance is they turn away.
- Lower the price of the next product line. Better would be to lower the AFXII price and stand for the consequences doing so.
- Stop with tube based amplification as a side product. This makes the “no tube” solution a questionmark.
The new Reality
- It looks like a product has arrived wich will force the Fracal Company to become mature fast. It is the Kemper profiling amplifier. A serious competitor with stellar sounds and even the possibility to profile all the amp sims and cabinets from your axe-fx. The future is very very interesting. At last a solution where YOU decide which amps and cabinets you want instead of the company.
- Again the thinking is to have a technical move towards the Kemper thread by making a new "modeling feature" in the AFXII. It looks like they got scared.
This is my personal opinion and is no statement in any kind.
The Good
- Breakthrough product no doubt, but every new customer should be warned. The learning curve to get a decent sound out this apparatus is steep and long for the average guitar dude. It is like doing a study computer programming but then without a teacher. Is that a problem NO but be sure, despite the AFX Wiki, that you are willing to spend a huge amount of time trying to learn the thing. Time you will not play your guitar. And believe me in the end you will only use a handful of its possibilities.
- It works great with the MFC-101.
- With the right equipment it sounds really good and it is very flexible.
- The company continuously improves the software till a new version comes out.
- Some helpful users on the forum.
The Bad
- The price is completely over the top. OK back in 2008 it was ground breaking technology and it was a small company with a low turnover. But with the AFX II the price had to come down.
- To get your complete rig with active wedges or amp and cabs plus the MFC-101 you can buy a very nice new car. It is very very expensive so be warned.
- Seeing it as a computer (which it basically is) the AFX II is an upgrade from one processor to two processors and some hardware upgrades and new software. The Ultra would also be possible to host the new software when some unused possibilities were dumped from the eprom. Will not happen because it is now absolete and therefore has died.
- Lifetime updates was by me and others interpreted as long as I lived. That was dumb thinking because updates for the Standard and Ultra stopped on the moment the new AFX came out. So the 11R solution is not that bad.
- No instructional DVD or official Youtube help to get you going faster. Or a country based helpline (dreaming).
The Ugly
- The launch of the II is a bit of an disaster and an use of the huge demand by increasing the price even further.
- If you live outside the US then there is no priority for you having one. You will have to wait for at least 6 to 9 months. US customers can have them immediatly if they are willing to pay an extra 400.
- Because of this "high demand" the company now calls themselve "boutigue" to gett away with their policy and price tag.
- The forum in itself is a good direct marketing tool. BUT having moderators, administrators and the owner himself that like to piss, preach and laugh at people is the best way to ruin your own business. Never never ask a critical question or you will be threatend with pm's and banned.
- To get the full advantages via FRFR you will need the best and therefore the most expensive solutions available. This means at least $4000 -5000 per wedge.
The Cure
- Act like a professional company and not like a bunch of techies.
- Exchange some moderators with some with better attitude towards your customers.
- Steep up production. The longer people have to wait the larger the chance is they turn away.
- Lower the price of the next product line. Better would be to lower the AFXII price and stand for the consequences doing so.
- Stop with tube based amplification as a side product. This makes the “no tube” solution a questionmark.
The new Reality
- It looks like a product has arrived wich will force the Fracal Company to become mature fast. It is the Kemper profiling amplifier. A serious competitor with stellar sounds and even the possibility to profile all the amp sims and cabinets from your axe-fx. The future is very very interesting. At last a solution where YOU decide which amps and cabinets you want instead of the company.
- Again the thinking is to have a technical move towards the Kemper thread by making a new "modeling feature" in the AFXII. It looks like they got scared.
- 
