I am not an insider here, and I do not have a horse in this race. (While I WILL buy a Fractal unit one day, practical considerations dictate that I will probably have to wait for the III before purchasing.) I follow this forum only because I will own one someday, and because as a guitar player and an engineer, I am inspired by the ground-breaking technology. So while I am perhaps not the most influential person to say it, I do have something to say (okay, a few things) regarding the complaints about the release of the Axe-Fx II.
First, some think it unfair that they have purchased an Axe-Fx recently, only to have a new version released soon after. Let's play through the scenario in which the release of this unit was announced or hinted at further in advance. First, anyone who had purchased a unit shortly before the announcement would be making the same complaints, so nothing would have been gained. Further, complaints about the wait to get the Axe-Fx due to backlogs would have gotten worse, with people considering the lead time between the announcement and the release of the Axe-Fx II to be an additional wait. It seems to me that there would have been little benefit in announcing the release significantly ahead of time.
As to the idea that Fractal handled the release as they did for profit motivations, consider the following:
Finally, a few words regarding the devaluation of existing units. There is a reason that rapid devaluation has not typically affected high-end guitar gear: stagnation. Unlike products in the high-tech sector, improvements to electric guitars and amps have come at a glacial pace. So, a high-end guitar from 1980 is in most respects no worse than a brand new one. Like your guitar, your Standard or Ultra is no less the tool today that it was yesterday. The reason that depreciation is a greater factor with high-tech devices is that they are improving so much more quickly that a device that is 10 years old is usually far inferior to an equivalent new device. As long as Fractal continues to raise the bar of what we can expect from digital guitar processors, you can expect your Axe-Fx or Axe-Fx II to gradually decline in value.
That being said, I would not be in too much of a hurry to sell of your existing unit if you don't really need the new features in the II. While the II certainly has more features and more future upgrade potential than the Ultra (not that the Ultra won't necessarily continue to receive relatively minor updates with new amp models and such), they are not that far apart in terms of capability. I expect that there will be an initial plunge of resale value on the Ultra as current owners sell theirs off to buy a II. After that, I would expect values to stabilize at something at least as high as the $1500 of the old Standard for some time. After all, the Standards had little enough competition at that price that they sold easily, and the Ultra is significantly more powerful.
If you have a Standard, the case is even stronger. At $2200, the II is not really a direct competitor to the Standard, and the Standard still has no direct competitor in the market. After the initial glut of sold Ultras is depleted and the smoke clears, I would not expect the resale value of the Standards to have settled to much less than what they are going for now.
Even given the fact that resale value will remain almost unprecedentedly strong for a hi-tech device (seriously, just try getting anything like these percentages of the retail price for a used, several-years-old version of just about anything else digital), the responsibility of a company is that its products operate as advertised. They are not obligated to compensate you for any depreciation that occurs when a new unit is released. Try making this argument at an Apple store, Best Buy, Sam Ash, or anywhere else, for that matter, and see how far you get.
My guess is that at least some of the people posting repeated complaints about the release here are doing so because they think that if they complain enough, that Fractal Audio will be pressured into offering some kind of trade-in program towards getting a II. I would suggest to those people that they are probably wasting their time and energy. For those markets in which companies do offer trade-in programs, the trade-in value that they give is only a fraction of the original price, much less than the resale value of the Axe-Fx would be. For any who think that they should be able to trade in their unit for 100% credit towards a II, consider that in taking in a used Ultra, selling a II to that user for an additional $200, refurbishing the Ultra, and selling the Ultra to someone else at a lower price would likely be at a loss. They are in absolutely no way obligated to do so, probably could not afford to do so on any kind of scale, and I cannot fathom any reason why would want to.
For my part, I would like to thank Fractal Audio on continuing to push the envelope on guitar technology, and I wish them a successful release in 1-2 weeks.
First, some think it unfair that they have purchased an Axe-Fx recently, only to have a new version released soon after. Let's play through the scenario in which the release of this unit was announced or hinted at further in advance. First, anyone who had purchased a unit shortly before the announcement would be making the same complaints, so nothing would have been gained. Further, complaints about the wait to get the Axe-Fx due to backlogs would have gotten worse, with people considering the lead time between the announcement and the release of the Axe-Fx II to be an additional wait. It seems to me that there would have been little benefit in announcing the release significantly ahead of time.
As to the idea that Fractal handled the release as they did for profit motivations, consider the following:
- The Axe-Fx was already selling as fast as they were being made. Most companies would have held off on the R&D and retooling costs for a new unit until there was a direct competitor (there isn't) or demand flagged (it hasn't).
- Ignoring one-time costs for the moment, given the components used in the II, I think it safe to say that the margin is lower at $2200 than it was for the Ultra at $2000. Again, little business reason to release a new high-end unit.
- $2000 was clearly not the most that the market would bear for the Axe-Fx Ultra. As such, given the amp and cabinet simulation improvements, effects improvements, and numerous new peripheral features, I would guess that they could have charged at least $2300-$2400 for the new unit and it still would have sold.
- The best way to improve profits probably would have been to have a weaker floorboard "Axe-Fx Lite" unit manufactured in China and sold at a lower price point. Margins could have been just as high as with the existing models, but the volume of sales would have eclipsed the sales of the Standard and Ultra by an order of magnitude.
Finally, a few words regarding the devaluation of existing units. There is a reason that rapid devaluation has not typically affected high-end guitar gear: stagnation. Unlike products in the high-tech sector, improvements to electric guitars and amps have come at a glacial pace. So, a high-end guitar from 1980 is in most respects no worse than a brand new one. Like your guitar, your Standard or Ultra is no less the tool today that it was yesterday. The reason that depreciation is a greater factor with high-tech devices is that they are improving so much more quickly that a device that is 10 years old is usually far inferior to an equivalent new device. As long as Fractal continues to raise the bar of what we can expect from digital guitar processors, you can expect your Axe-Fx or Axe-Fx II to gradually decline in value.
That being said, I would not be in too much of a hurry to sell of your existing unit if you don't really need the new features in the II. While the II certainly has more features and more future upgrade potential than the Ultra (not that the Ultra won't necessarily continue to receive relatively minor updates with new amp models and such), they are not that far apart in terms of capability. I expect that there will be an initial plunge of resale value on the Ultra as current owners sell theirs off to buy a II. After that, I would expect values to stabilize at something at least as high as the $1500 of the old Standard for some time. After all, the Standards had little enough competition at that price that they sold easily, and the Ultra is significantly more powerful.
If you have a Standard, the case is even stronger. At $2200, the II is not really a direct competitor to the Standard, and the Standard still has no direct competitor in the market. After the initial glut of sold Ultras is depleted and the smoke clears, I would not expect the resale value of the Standards to have settled to much less than what they are going for now.
Even given the fact that resale value will remain almost unprecedentedly strong for a hi-tech device (seriously, just try getting anything like these percentages of the retail price for a used, several-years-old version of just about anything else digital), the responsibility of a company is that its products operate as advertised. They are not obligated to compensate you for any depreciation that occurs when a new unit is released. Try making this argument at an Apple store, Best Buy, Sam Ash, or anywhere else, for that matter, and see how far you get.
My guess is that at least some of the people posting repeated complaints about the release here are doing so because they think that if they complain enough, that Fractal Audio will be pressured into offering some kind of trade-in program towards getting a II. I would suggest to those people that they are probably wasting their time and energy. For those markets in which companies do offer trade-in programs, the trade-in value that they give is only a fraction of the original price, much less than the resale value of the Axe-Fx would be. For any who think that they should be able to trade in their unit for 100% credit towards a II, consider that in taking in a used Ultra, selling a II to that user for an additional $200, refurbishing the Ultra, and selling the Ultra to someone else at a lower price would likely be at a loss. They are in absolutely no way obligated to do so, probably could not afford to do so on any kind of scale, and I cannot fathom any reason why would want to.
For my part, I would like to thank Fractal Audio on continuing to push the envelope on guitar technology, and I wish them a successful release in 1-2 weeks.
