We want Firmware 12

mortega76 said:
It has already been mentioned that the Standard/Ultra is already a "mature" product that has been "discontinued"... I don't expect any future major "updates" for any discontinued products.

I would expect all future R&D to be for current products...
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i suppose, but i do remember reading somewhere that said he was saving the room left on the ultra for more amps an effects. that would be great although i aint finished working through what i got just yet! :)
 
Hey if the ultra can be made better I'm all for it, but I don't see it happening. The flagship is the axe 2 that's where all the effort should be. It's just the way it goes. Trust me I don't even have an axe 2 and it kills me to say this out loud.
 
mortega76 said:
It has already been mentioned that the Standard/Ultra is already a "mature" product that has been "discontinued"... I don't expect any future major "updates" for any discontinued products.

I would expect all future R&D to be for current products...
Click to expand...

+1

I think it's enough that he already crammed what he could of the G2 modelling into the first gen Axe's. He didn't even have to do that. Could easily have just gone, "If you want any of that G2 business, you'll just have to buy the new one," and yet at the of the first gen he still gave us another free update to get more out of it.
 
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For those of us that Ultra years ago it is easier to accept the discontinued status. I feel for those that didn't get to experience the excitement of Cliff's new breakthrough firmware releases every few months. Good times.
 
well i dont need no updated FW......
coz.........

just bought an Ultra on ebay, upgrading from my standard of 2.5 years..........

PUMPED!! ah.. that old familiar feeling.. anticipation is sweet
 
I know this could be a little OT... just thinking loud...
maybe a new firmware (g2.2) with only two amp block and 1024 point cab is doable. I mean, it could run into standard/ultra. So one can grab discontinued hardware, and have a II-like sound (hardware is also a bit different). Obviously it cost Cliff time & money, but it could be useful to advertise new generation and push many people to switch to II.s
 
i am very happy with my ultra at this point, im getting to grips with it and getting the best out of my amps, i bought just before the new one came out and have only experienced one update, i would like to see a few more effects / drive pedals maybe.. a couple of cool amps would be amazing, but the thing is when i bought it,it did clearly say a life time of updates! if thats not the case then fine, but don't advertise it like that. non the less i will still be striving to make the most from the G1 unit, considering what i spent i will have to wait for the G3 before i take a step up. i feel pretty sure that cliff wont forget the old units while there is still room on them. from what ive seen of fractal thus far... i don't think thats the way they do things, any how all is good!
 
Find a real, verifiable bug and you'll likely get a new firmware. It has been stated already by Cliff that the Std/Ultra will likely only get new software to address maintenance issues (although I think he did say there's the possibility of new amp models, but I didn't interpret that as a given, rather a 'maybe').
 
If I were you guys, I'd look on the bright side.

You don't have to retweak everything with every new firmware to get things the way they were. Amps/presets you like will continue to sound like they do now.

What you have is it. Just enjoy it. It's a fine piece of work as is.

I'm already struggling with tweaking on every new firmware with the II.
 
I couldn't be happier with my Ultra. If it never gets another FW update it wouldn't bother me one bit. By the time I get around to learning how to use all it is capable of doing the Axe IV will be out and I'll just buy that. :)
 
the reality is that at a certain point, software based gear can just not be updated any further, at least not as far as the newer units with (in this case) twice the processing power. it's funny to see how people "demand" things like that, even if technically impossible, just because there have been lots of updates before. anyone ever tried to call Apple and ask for further updates of old machines which are clearly outpowered by the latest gear ?
FAS are a company and if a company wants to continue to exist, they have to move forward and that's exactly what they did. the II is not a marketing hype, it is way more powerful than the Ultra was and therefor will simply sound better. it really just comes down to this...if you're happy with the Ultra/Std, great, because it IS a great sounding unit. if you want even better, buy a II.
 
Agreed. Remember that the axe is just a computer.....a guitar computer LOL

Computers will get old and obsolete, and so will the ultras and standards. When the G3 G4 G5 etc units come out, so will the G2. Accept that. doesn't make them less awesome tho - I have an original proteus sound module from the 80's that STILL sounds awesome, and I don't even think the company is around anymore! :eek:

Fractal has been excellent at keeping their customers happy, and if a new firmware is needed, they will provide it, I've come to expect no less from them. There are still more ultra/standard users than ii users, and that will remain that way for maybe 6 months again, as the wait list gets filled.

But realize that the main focus for fractal is the II, and getting that massive wait-list filled, and working out all the bugs in the II. When all this is finished, we may get another bone, but it will be more bug fixes, interface improvements, and probably an amp sim or two. I'm not expecting much to be honest, but I doubt fractal will leave the ultra and standard users alone. Also know that the ultra is pretty much maxed out, and there's not that much place to go with it again from a firmware point of view, hence the II in the first place.

The ultra is pretty bloody good as it is tho. I personally preferred firmware 10, but you can't please everyone, and everyone seems happy with the 11. Can your bandmates tell the difference between firmware 10 and 11? Probably not, and despite what most people claim, neither can they. I doubt in a blind listening test you can tell the II from the ultra. They BOTH sound incredible.

So compile your wish list of improvements and bugs on firmware 11, and when fractal has their hands freed up a bit from the axe ii mania, they may address the ultra/standard users in another big firmware.
 
I personally would like to see a lonestar in a new firmware tho :p

and some improved versions of the wrecker, hiwatts, and dumble. A bass amp sim or two would also be greatly appreciated :p
 
steadystate said:
I'm still on Firmware 10 and have no intention of installing 11 anytime soon. Right now, I'm far more interested in the development/debugging of Axe-Edit.
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I'm more interested in getting additional stellar sound samples from Steadystate than getting new Ultra fw. :)

That's not to say I'm not interested in an Ultra update, I just like Steadystate's guitar playing.

I wouldn't hold my breath on any new features for the Ultra/Standard. Any dev work will go towards the II. The Ultra/Standard will just get bug fixes from here on out. That's just the way things work- we have to look forward to the future instead of polishing the past.
 
jon said:
Agreed. Remember that the axe is just a computer.....a guitar computer LOL

Computers will get old and obsolete, and so will the ultras and standards.
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No this is not true. Good tone is good tone, it is not like computer technology where the older units are no longer able to do the task at hand if they are not upgraded. If the unit gets good tone today it can get it tomorrow. It just will not have any new tones/features because it is a complete, mature product, which is different than being obsolete.

I'm a tube preamp/rack rig guy and the Ultra smokes a lot of tube preamps, in fact, I would say judged only as a tonal device without qualification it is better than any tube based preamp I have ever used. Yet no one says the TriAxis or MP-1 or X88R or Fish is obsolete any more than they say the Plexi is obsolete or any other device that can get them the tone they need. Only in modeling where people can't ignore the underlying technology and constantly hold it under the microscope do guitar players think of preamp/amps as being obsolete when they are no longer supported or discontinued.

Don't get me wrong jon, your post was good and made a lot of sense and great points. So, I'm sure you may not have meant "obsolete" exactly and this response may seem pedantic, but, IMHO, it's an important point that we as modeling user/fans should think about and try to overcome this way of thinking about our gear. I think the tone of the AxeFx and a few other select digital/SS units is so good that obsolete simply does not apply. They are future classics and are indefinitely viable in their final form.
 
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Well good point....obsolete is probably really a bit of a harsh term to use.....it doesn't mean that 10 years from now that the ultra won't sound as amazing....but the same can be said of computers too.....I have an ANCIENT XP machine that I still use....bloody thing must be about 10 years old now......and it's going strong....had to replace parts which are now pretty expensive, but it's going strong.

I realized many years ago that it was going to be 'obsolete', and I switched to mac since then, but I still go back to that old windows machine. Still gets the job done, just as well as any, but there are some things that it CAN'T do, and will never be able to do.....like run crysis on max settings for eg.....same is true of the ultra and standard.....they're great as is, but they can't go much further :(

But I suspect that there are ways to get there......I can find ways to get my old PC to run modern demanding games....so I suspect that cliff may one of these days find a clever way to squeeze in some more code in there.....but I'm not getting my hopes up at ALL right now - he has his hands more than full with an impatient forum of users who want to get an axe II :eek:
 
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