A two year Ultra user gets his Axe II with v 5....

[KINGSFAN]

Just pulled the trigger!!!!!!!!!!!! GAS was killing me, I could not resist!!!!!!!!

[creek_devil]

I have been an Ultra user since '07. I have been going back and forth b/w an Engl SE and AFX2. The Ultra has been everything that I needed it be, but the gas I had was pulling me toward real tubes. I have been torn since the II was announced, but I can now say MY AFX2 WILL BE HERE ON MONDAY! I just couldn't see going back when the Fractal is so versatile. I'm sure it was the right decision, I guess I need to start really reading about all of the new parameters I will be encountering. Congrats!

[creek_devil]

Did the new unit come with V5 or did you upgrade it?

[dkijc]

Did the new unit come with V5 or did you upgrade it?

I ordered mine this week and it arrived with 5.01

[creek_devil]

Nice! Thanks.

[nater]

I ordered mine this week and it arrived with 5.01

How did you know this? I ordered mine last Friday (it will arrive on Monday), but wasn't sure which FW it will be loaded with.

Nevermind, I just re-read your post... "it arrived" already so obviously, that's how you know...

[whatdehuff]

Do the most recent banks come loaded with new units along with 5.1?
Thanks,
Tim

[Deaj]

I had planned on sitting tight with my Ultra for the AxeII's first year, watch its evolution through firmware updates and follow user discussions, and then decide whether or not to upgrade. I placed myself on the waiting list about 3 months in anyway (doesn't cost anything and no commitment is made so why not). I received a purchase code a bit more than 6 months in. From the start I hearing nothing in audio clips from v1 through v4 that caught my interest. The Ultra at v11 was holding its own by comparison from my perspective. Then, roughly 8 months in Cliff posted two preview clips of firmware v5. Within days of hearing them I purchased an AxeFX II with my purchase code. Before it arrived firmware v5.01, updated preset banks, and updated Axe Edit were ready for download. I didn't even bother with the firmware it shipped with (v4) aside from function testing. I installed all things v5 almost immediately.

Firmware v5 is everything I expected based on what I'd heard in Cliff's preview clips. IMO this update puts the AxeFX II ahead of tube amps. It provides the tactile response I love from a great amp, it offers the same expressive potential and responds to even the most subtle dynamics in the same gratifying manner as a great tube amp, it will provide note bloom and controlled harmonic feedback, and the tones and textures from the models are amazing! For my part tube guitar amplifiers have been rendered obsolete.

This was the right time to upgrade and I could not be more satisfied.

[Rick]

I have been gigging with my Ultra for a bit over a year, and have been happy with the performance. Honestly, I don't use a tenth of its potential, but the twenty-odd presets I have built cover 60 years of music history we'll play on any given night.

I was a bit miffed when the II came out, having just purchased my Ultra in January of 2011, after long anxious days of fighting the "been playing tubes since the 70s" and vacillating between one or the other... Actually, it was playing on an Eleven Rack for a few weeks that convinced me I could get reasonable sounds out of a digi-box, and so made the plunge into Fractal waters. Finding out the Ultra really couldn't play in the IIs yard, software-wise, and seeing the USB support and other simple options I missed from the Eleven now on the II, I was bummed. But putting the "I didn't get what they got" whining aside I forged ahead on the Ultra and found I wasn't lacking anything. I actually decided not to buy the II at all.

As I have continued to watch the evolution of the II through firmware upgrades, I have become a firmer fan of Fractal. The only other company I know of that talks with customers as much, and invents/implements the constant firmware and function upgrades is Presonus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their 24.4.2 mixing console is pretty freaking awesome and every time I am on the forum for Presonus it reminds me a lot of the Fractal boards (both the great support, and the user whining!). I made a half-curious pass at the II by getting on the waiting list, knowing I could turn it down when I came to the top. For months, I heard nothing.

Well, guess what? As though you haven't already figured it out, I ordered my II yesterday. With the new firmware, I expect to see and hear the difference right away! So, I haven't lost anything by my year with the Ultra. It's sounded great, functioned flawlessly, and I will probably still get back 60-70% of my money on it as it has been racked the whole time. $600-750 for a year's rental of professional quality guitar processing equipment is pretty cheap! Not to mention my back has gasped a sigh of relief NOT lugging around a Road King head and 2x12 or 4x12 cabinets in road cases. That stuff is heavy. But with one case for the Axe Fx, one Atomic cab (or sometimes I just run it through my Eon floor monitor in small places) does it. The new Atomics look even smaller, which is great! So, lighter is better. Oh, and no mic either. Output 1 to the mains, output 2 to the Atomic. Simple. Simple is good.

I'll let you know what I think when it gets here. I am expecting good things!

[immortal_soloist]

I have been gigging with my Ultra for a bit over a year, and have been happy with the performance. Honestly, I don't use a tenth of its potential, but the twenty-odd presets I have built cover 60 years of music history we'll play on any given night.

I was a bit miffed when the II came out, having just purchased my Ultra in January of 2011, after long anxious days of fighting the "been playing tubes since the 70s" and vacillating between one or the other... Actually, it was playing on an Eleven Rack for a few weeks that convinced me I could get reasonable sounds out of a digi-box, and so made the plunge into Fractal waters. Finding out the Ultra really couldn't play in the IIs yard, software-wise, and seeing the USB support and other simple options I missed from the Eleven now on the II, I was bummed. But putting the "I didn't get what they got" whining aside I forged ahead on the Ultra and found I wasn't lacking anything. I actually decided not to buy the II at all.

As I have continued to watch the evolution of the II through firmware upgrades, I have become a firmer fan of Fractal. The only other company I know of that talks with customers as much, and invents/implements the constant firmware and function upgrades is Presonus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their 24.4.2 mixing console is pretty freaking awesome and every time I am on the forum for Presonus it reminds me a lot of the Fractal boards (both the great support, and the user whining!). I made a half-curious pass at the II by getting on the waiting list, knowing I could turn it down when I came to the top. For months, I heard nothing.

Well, guess what? As though you haven't already figured it out, I ordered my II yesterday. With the new firmware, I expect to see and hear the difference right away! So, I haven't lost anything by my year with the Ultra. It's sounded great, functioned flawlessly, and I will probably still get back 60-70% of my money on it as it has been racked the whole time. $600-750 for a year's rental of professional quality guitar processing equipment is pretty cheap! Not to mention my back has gasped a sigh of relief NOT lugging around a Road King head and 2x12 or 4x12 cabinets in road cases. That stuff is heavy. But with one case for the Axe Fx, one Atomic cab (or sometimes I just run it through my Eon floor monitor in small places) does it. The new Atomics look even smaller, which is great! So, lighter is better. Oh, and no mic either. Output 1 to the mains, output 2 to the Atomic. Simple. Simple is good.

I'll let you know what I think when it gets here. I am expecting good things!

Nice I am also about to recieve my II in a couple of days,excited myself. Sold my Ultra some days ago.