Introducing The Axe-Fx™ II.....

[Rogue]

2200 for the modeller that is better at modelling than the previous one, the one that was nailing the real tones?

Interesting, isn't it?

If the old was inferior (which I assume it was with new superior algorithms), does that then say the people that just couldn't get it to replace their go to tube amp were right that something was missing?

 

[polaris20]

Kinda lame move on {INSERT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY HERE} part IMHO ....people who have supported them from nearly the beginning who can barely afford the {INSERT PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY HERE} by itself get a immediate drop in value of the gear they bought which allowed {INSERT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY HERE} to be what they are today without any heads up something new was coming.

boo

Fixed. Welcome to the world of technology, and its inevitable improvement. I think Fractal was pretty damn fair to their customers, offering TEN different versions of firmware over the last 4 or 5 years, without charging for it.

Are people actually sore over a box that's been out for 5 years and updated several times for free becoming "obsolete" because the company wanted to update it with newer technology?

Holy shit, I hope people don't buy computers. Or phones.

 

[gibson5413]

I will wait to hear what Mark says, he will give us the undiluted full scoop.
It was bound to happen, its the very nature of computer technology

And for $2200 and more realer, more new ballgame, more next level, Mark will still sound like Mark.

I laughed at this one.

 

[polaris20]

Kinda lame move on {INSERT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY HERE} part IMHO ....people who have supported them from nearly the beginning who can barely afford the {INSERT PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY HERE} by itself get a immediate drop in value of the gear they bought which allowed {INSERT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY HERE} to be what they are today without any heads up something new was coming.

boo

Fixed. Welcome to the world of technology, and its inevitable improvement. I think Fractal was pretty damn fair to their customers, offering TEN different versions of firmware over the last 4 or 5 years, without charging for it.

Yes, all those free updates, models, etc., they were more than generous to their customers by far, more so than any other company I can think of. They just need to work on their short answered reply customer service responses and pompous poor attitudes. Not everyone is a technical engineer who plays with the unit. Not everyone is dumb like they think, they're smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... they're smart and they want respect!

Well I can't really comment on that, since I don't own one, nor do I plan to, and thus have no experience with their customer service. I would say that from what I've seen from Cliff's online persona he seems a bit off-putting, but that's just me. And their forum is largely populated by arrogant, elitist douchebags, similar to what one would see on an Apple discussion board.

 

[Ventura]

FWIW, I sold my brand new Ultra at rack rate plus shipping to Australia last night before the news hit them. I have ZERO issues with paying an additional $200 to avoid immediate obsolescence. I lucked out, my Ultra was the only one on ebay.ca and ebay.com for about 1 hour last night, and within that time it was snagged - boom, done. Will ship today.

I'm a guy who's been 100% blown away with the Ultra - it's the best thing I bought. I was teetering on buying a $600 duet to get the MIDI/USB interface going with my newly ordered macbook pro. This new Axe-II solves that $600 expense, and hey, it oughta be good for 4 years give or take. I really wanted headphones and a USB interface, further to this, dual CPUs makes sense.

I just hope it's still manufactured in the US.

But ya, mine's gone - within 1 hour, and I'm not looking back. I'll have to wait a couple months I am sure before I get my new Axe-II, but c'est la vie, that saves me losing maybe $500+ on the sale price of my Ultra.

Peace,
V.

 

[Meathead]

I may try an AxeFX standard now that they will be around $300 used.

 

[polaris20]

FWIW, I sold my brand new Ultra at rack rate plus shipping to Australia last night before the news hit them. I have ZERO issues with paying an additional $200 to avoid immediate obsolescence. I lucked out, my Ultra was the only one on ebay.ca and ebay.com for about 1 hour last night, and within that time it was snagged - boom, done. Will ship today.

I'm a guy who's been 100% blown away with the Ultra - it's the best thing I bought. I was teetering on buying a $600 duet to get the MIDI/USB interface going with my newly ordered macbook pro. This new Axe-II solves that $600 expense, and hey, it oughta be good for 4 years give or take. I really wanted headphones and a USB interface, further to this, dual CPUs makes sense.

I just hope it's still manufactured in the US.

But ya, mine's gone - within 1 hour, and I'm not looking back. I'll have to wait a couple months I am sure before I get my new Axe-II, but c'est la vie, that saves me losing maybe $500+ on the sale price of my Ultra.

Peace,
V.

You're safe with the Mac; it shouldn't get refreshed until October. The new quads are screamers!

 

[Ultron]

2200 for the modeller that is better at modelling than the previous one, the one that was nailing the real tones? So now what, it's more accurate than the real amp?

I paid less than 2200 for a 1968 plexi, a 1973 JMP Bass and the matching 4x12, combined. #winning#

spot on.

 

[Ventura]

FWIW, I sold my brand new Ultra at rack rate plus shipping to Australia last night before the news hit them. I have ZERO issues with paying an additional $200 to avoid immediate obsolescence. I lucked out, my Ultra was the only one on ebay.ca and ebay.com for about 1 hour last night, and within that time it was snagged - boom, done. Will ship today.

I'm a guy who's been 100% blown away with the Ultra - it's the best thing I bought. I was teetering on buying a $600 duet to get the MIDI/USB interface going with my newly ordered macbook pro. This new Axe-II solves that $600 expense, and hey, it oughta be good for 4 years give or take. I really wanted headphones and a USB interface, further to this, dual CPUs makes sense.

I just hope it's still manufactured in the US.

But ya, mine's gone - within 1 hour, and I'm not looking back. I'll have to wait a couple months I am sure before I get my new Axe-II, but c'est la vie, that saves me losing maybe $500+ on the sale price of my Ultra.

Peace,
V.

You're safe with the Mac; it shouldn't get refreshed until October. The new quads are screamers!

I bought a refurb as it'll ONLY be used for my DAW and Axe-FX business... Recording, DI, tracking, editing, all that shit - it's just for making music. So I bought the best one I could find on line - refurb, 2.66 CPU, 320GB storage, that wasn't over $1K, no problemo!!

It's only for music, which is fine by me.

Peace,
V.

 

[Shark Diver]

I'm just hoping the thing will sound better FRFR. At the point I have to use a power amp and cab it is useless to me live. I have a ton of gear that works better for me, and slaving I get fantastic tone at bedroom levels. But it could be a nice grab and go rig for small gigs.

 

[Deleted member 3860]

...

 

[Ventura]

Yes, all those free updates... <snipped>

I laugh when I see the users boasting about their "free updates".
Do they honestly think it cost $2000 to build an Ultra and Cliff writes firmware upgrades because he likes them?
There is maybe $700 worth of hardware in that box.
Subtract a bit more for assembly/markup and the remainder is roughly 9 or 10 $100 firmware updates built into the price of an Ultra.

It would be like buying a new Mustang with a "free gas for life" inclusion, but your up front cost to buy it is $250,000.
Kind of makes those "nah, nah, nah, boo, boo you've got to pay for firmware upgrades" posts aimed at the Eleven Rack users seem even more silly.

Genius strategy really. When the sales start to taper off, create a new box with more pre-paids built into it.
I do respect Cliff. He's not stupid in the least bit.

R~

I agree with what you are saying and I'm not an Axe-Fx nor a Cliff fanboi but he did give men what they wanted for free over the years which I do feel were major updates that some companies would charge you for. We have to pay for a new OS on the Mac every time there is a new major release. He's not just giving men software bug fixes but new amps, effects, and realer firmware for free. It probably costs $1,000.00 or less to manufacture the Ultra so I get where you are coming from but he is a fully grown man and he has expenses without a beard and he doesn't steal amps and money from men and he doesn't need to get rescued like a damsel in distress.

And again, the subtle use of the term "men".

Don, you're a mastermind...

V.

 

[Chris6870]

I think the new version should have a cooler name .

 

[tweed]

I think the new version should have a cooler name .

I think the new version should version should come with tin foil hat to help prevent ground loops.

 

[GITTarzann]

You guys are right...

My post was a knee jerk response to what I had convinced myself wasn't going to happen. I just saw a wad of cash float out of my hand...

Fractal is an outstanding company...they make the best modelers hands down and they just raised the bar again. I don't know if I will buy a II or not. I really like the changes and almost everything I didn't like about the Ultra has been addressed. I am interested to see how much closer they have come to nailing a real amp, but in the end if I sell my Ultra right now I will lose about 400-500 bucks from what I originally paid and I have had it for over 3 years. I lost $1000.00 on my Splawn modded plexi and didn't get on the Splawn forum and bitch about it then.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm perfectly happy with my Ultra. It does exactly what I need it to do as a modeler and effects unit. The new one may be even "realer" and better in every way, but I don't care. I use the models when I want to record quick or late at night and sometimes the results are good enough that I don't bother reamping a real amp. The effects sound fantastic with my real amps. I couldn't ask for anything more for what I use it for. I payed full price for it early on and don't give a shit that the re-sale just dropped through the floor because I always knew there would be an "improved" unit coming some day, I'm not selling it anyway and I got years of enjoyment out of it while others may have waited for this day to come so they could get it cheap.

Steve

 

[gtr31]

It should be interesting at they very least, someone one the Fractal forum asked if the ultra was 90% there what was the axe 2 ..Cliff said 100% no joke .
So we will see .There is a heck of a lot of horsepower there for just modelling the amps alone ..almost double assigned to just that task .

guess we will know in the next months when clips surface .
Hopefully there will be a video demo of the unit done by fractal going through the models, I have to admit the one at the Amp show with the guy playing the tele and Marsha was a great tone

 

[Digital Jams]

I'm perfectly happy with my Ultra. It does exactly what I need it to do as a modeler and effects unit. The new one may be even "realer" and better in every way, but I don't care. I use the models when I want to record quick or late at night and sometimes the results are good enough that I don't bother reamping a real amp. The effects sound fantastic with my real amps. I couldn't ask for anything more for what I use it for. I payed full price for it early on and don't give a shit that the re-sale just dropped through the floor because I always knew there would be an "improved" unit coming some day, I'm not selling it anyway and I got years of enjoyment out of it while others may have waited for this day to come so they could get it cheap.

Steve

Men really need to listen to you Steve, a man of wisedom that feels complete as a man without the new tiger thingie.

 

[steve_k]

How does a "model" sound better than the "real thing"? Logically, this is not possible and is rather silly.

 

[jkdsteve]

Axe FX II - Better than life :-D

Rian has it stated perfectly...hopefully a Std comes in the $500 price range used now...but I think I'm dreaming :-/