IV anywhere on the horizon?

The answer will always be YES
If a company is successful they will always be working on ideas and next gen products
That still might be a long way off Fractal has really changed the life cycle of many modelling products
With the AXE FX 2 lasting 9 years ?
Which has obviously inspired others like Helix that I think is 7 or 8 now
Before the average EOL was about 5 years
 
Fractal initially responded to this thread with No. Most likely because they know potential new users might not want to invest in a product that is near EOL. I appreciate their posting and being honest, allowing buyers to make an informed decision. If the answer is now yes I’m sure they will remain silent and understandably so.
 
I really can't understand how anyone could want more than what the AxeFx III has to offer. It's head and shoulders above the rest and I should know because I own the three major ones minus the Kemper, as I never liked that one.
 
Wheez said:
Most likely because they know potential new users might not want to invest in a product that is near EOL.
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I wouldn't make that assumption. They know they'll sell the current units whether something is on the horizon or not.

I suspect they're working hard to find sources for chips, like the rest of the electronic industry continues to do. Working on a next-generation unit becomes secondary when they have a hard time getting chips for the current generation. The government's incentives to try to pull manufacturing of high-tech back inside the borders will help but that's going to take time.
 
bebaldwin said:
I really can't understand how anyone could want more than what the AxeFx III has to offer.
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Came here to write literally this. I mean having 0.0002ms latency would be nice if ever possible, but improved algorithms are much more important. From how often we get updates seems like current hardware has a lot to offer, so why bother with improved converters and 50% more CPU if pretty much nobody needs it?
Now can we discuss some serious stuff like do we need a 234th model of Marshall amps?!
 
I don’t think I’ll ever want another modeller now I have the FM9, it fixes all the problems from the XL+ and then some.
Now if there was a software….that would be spectacular But ultimately I have the best.
 
That is actually very frightening. It looks real until you look closer, and then it’s just random nonsense.



… which makes me wonder…. 😂
 
Greg Ferguson said:
I wouldn't make that assumption. They know they'll sell the current units whether something is on the horizon or not.

I suspect they're working hard to find sources for chips, like the rest of the electronic industry continues to do. Working on a next-generation unit becomes secondary when they have a hard time getting chips for the current generation. The government's incentives to try to pull manufacturing of high-tech back inside the borders will help but that's going to take time.
Click to expand...
I was saying maybe they responded not in their interest, but in the buyers interest. Maybe they actually care about their potential customers enough to let them know it’s safe to buy if they have concerns over EOL.

Not a good time for chips or tubes either one.
 
Wheez said:
I was saying maybe they responded not in their interest, but in the buyers interest. Maybe they actually care about their potential customers enough to let them know it’s safe to buy if they have concerns over EOL.

Not a good time for chips or tubes either one.
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Considering they just fairly recently released the Turbo version for the FM9 and AX3, I don't see them doing something like that. It would just enrage their current users.
 
The original post asked if the Axe4 was on the horizon. They were concerned about investing in a product at the end of it‘s life cycle. Fractal was nice enough to give them the info they needed. I don’t see how that would enrage a current user. I’m in the same boat. I’m interested in seeing if the Axe can replace my tube amps but I’m not making that investment in a product near its EOL. That doesn’t make sense.
 
Wheez said:
The original post asked if the Axe4 was on the horizon. They were concerned about investing in a product at the end of it‘s life cycle. Fractal was nice enough to give them the info they needed. I don’t see how that would enrage a current user. I’m in the same boat. I’m interested in seeing if the Axe can replace my tube amps but I’m not making that investment in a product near its EOL. That doesn’t make sense.
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No what I said was if fractal were to release a 4 now, considering they literally just 6 months ago upgraded the AX3 to the turbo version and the fm9 to the turbo version would enrage the current users who just bought a brand new release that was eol within 6 months. I quoted you because you mentioned the whole eol. and chips. That is why the FM9 was upgraded even before they got the first set of waiting list units out. The fm9 is just over a year old but people have only had them in hand for much shorter time than that.

As far as buying a fractal, you should do so. They take care of their customers and have so many great updates after purchase.

The time line for products are like 5-8 years before eol happens. The 3 is at about 5 years now and the Turbo is about 6 months or so into its life. You have at least 3 years if not longer. I have had my AX3 mkII for just about 2 years and if I never got another update and was stuck at 21.02 I would be fine and could still use my AX3 for a very long time. Not like it stops working or sounds worse when the next iteration is released.
 
Wheez said:
The original post asked if the Axe4 was on the horizon. They were concerned about investing in a product at the end of it‘s life cycle. Fractal was nice enough to give them the info they needed. I don’t see how that would enrage a current user. I’m in the same boat. I’m interested in seeing if the Axe can replace my tube amps but I’m not making that investment in a product near its EOL. That doesn’t make sense.
Click to expand...

Well, it looks rather unlikely it’ll happen any time soon. I’m sure it’s been said a bunch throughout this thread already, but FAS hasn’t dropped support for products immediately after they stopped producing them, so even if we saw a IV come out tomorrow, we’d still be getting updates for the III for a while to come. And there are still guys touring with older units without issue (Metallica, namely)

After seeing the amount of work still being done on the III and knowing they’re developing a big update to the cab block, I think it’s fair to say there isn’t even time on hand to be developing another unit. The amount of updates we’ve gotten for the III is astounding on it’s own, to think of Cliff doing both, updating the III while designing an upcoming unit, I just don’t think it’s even close to being humanly possible just from the amount of time involved alone.
 
I guess I don’t have that insight because I haven’t experienced an AxeFx since the original one. I’ve tried Helix, Kemper and Quad Cortex. Not that they couldn’t get good tones but none of them really did it for me. If the Axe3 could replace my tube amps, that would be awesome, I’m all in. If not maybe an FM3 or FM9 would be cool for an additional portable rig, but not a replacement.

A question I had in mind was, how long are discontinued products supported? You gotta admit it would suck to buy a 3 now and it be EOL in 6 months.

Thanks for the info.
 
LET'S LOOK AT ALL THE REAL THINGS THAT PEOPLE WOULD WANT FROM AN AXE IV.

I'm not talking about new amps/fx/ etc....mainly hardware.


TOUCH SCREEN

To please everyone it would have to be huge....like the mockup some one posted.

Then all the knob people would complain.

It might fit on a rack unit....but what about the floor units?


WE HAVE A TOUCH SCREEN


It's called FracPad......I run it on an android tablet or use Axe edit on a laptop.

But OMG it uses wires to connect!.....who the hell wants bluetooth/wireless to fail in the middle of a gig. It's so easy to bring a few spare cables of all kinds in a duffel.

Most people don't put their rack unit on the ground. So all you have to do is raise the unit high enough to see a screen and your done!

Floor units.....you gonna keep bending over in the middle of a gig?.....squinting at your screen when you should be selling your performance to the audience or reading dots like I sometimes do.

I also use an Atomic AA12 (straight to PA, no amp) occasionally and never once have I NEEDED to edit at a gig. And it's set up with knobs to allow you to do that very easily......


and so is PERFORMANCE MODE on the AXE.


WIRELESS/BLUETOOTH

It requires hardware to do this, which will date, could be prone to interference of intermittent performance.

Not something you want to happen at showcase gig, or freelance dep gig....you sometimes only get one chance, and a spare cable is a much easier fix than reboots and frantic menu diving.

POLYPHONIC GUITAR SYNTH

Without a hex pickup system (or other system) and appropriate hardware in the Axe we are stuck with Mono synthesis. Samples would be another ballgame altogether.

Roland have taken the AFFORDABLE hardware solution about as far as it can go....and it's less than perfect.

I know there are some software solutions on the market that claim usable polyphony...don't know if they would work well in a fractal sized box even if FRACTAL wanted to go down that path.

PROFILING

More hardware needed, a whole interface system designed to support it. Limited by the quality and recording environment.

Personally....let KEMPER/QC have this market....I'm sure they do it well.


CONCLUSION
For me the AXE 3 ticked all the right boxes.....Personally I couldn't see myself needing anything more. YMMV

I bought my 2 ULTRAS (still have them) used and held off buying any more Fractal stuff until the Axe 3 MK2

The benefits (for me) of the III over previous units:

* 2 expression pedal ports BUILT IN (No FC-12 required)

* Midi as per previous models...this allowed me to use cheap midi controllers for preset switching,

* More than enough CPU power for just about anything.

* Built in crash/Eprom recovery

* USB
Backing up and firmware updates are so easy and reliable compared to the ULTRA

* MEMORY SPACE
for more presets and IRs than I could ever use.


* FOOTSWITCHES
For me not necessary, but if I was ever forced to play in a tribute/cover band again I can see the benefit of scenes, setlists and the like.


* EFFECTS
I sold all my amps and pedals, so the AXE 3 cost me nothing. The new firmware 21.02 has given us some great compressor upgrades and I think when Cliff turns his mind to it I think we'll see even more improvements to the delays and reverbs.....plenty of life left in the III for some time to come....me thinks.


MY USEAGE

Is mainly Blues, Fusion, Jazz, and a few generic sounds for the odd freelance classic rock gig.

I use my AXE contrary to conventional wisdom....I run it into a Matrix 1000 and into 2 EV12L guitar boxes

I leave the cabinets ON in all my presets.....works for me.

I have a bank of 10 pesets for each guitar I use (LP, Strat, 335, ES 175)

AXE FX 4?

I don't see it incorporating any of these features cheaply...

The current Turbo MK 2 is AUS$5000 plus shipping,

and the FC-12 is about AUS$1600 + shipping

I'm kind of thinking that some of the hardware upgrades would put the price out of our reach.


Be careful what you wish for :)
 
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