Announcing Axe-Fx II XL

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So how many of you are you gonna sell your Axe fx II and buy the XL?
The coming of the XL will also mean he normal Axe fx II will resell for less then before.
 
Bodde said:
So how many of you are you gonna sell your Axe fx II and buy the XL?
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I will in August, once I save for the difference.

My thought on this is that I want Fractal to be around for a long time. so somebody gets mine and I get the latest, this beats buying a new maytag washer every three years, that's not fun.
 
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I have a Ax II and a MKII I just bought, I'll order an XL when it's available and sell the original AXII !
 
Bodde said:
The coming of the XL will also mean he normal Axe fx II will resell for less then before.
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Not sure I agree with that actually...

The XL will likely cost a bit more and the AxeII may well stay where it is. Given that the AxeII is still very current, albeit with a few less bells & whistles, it will retain its value

It's actually a nicely balanced, sympathetic progression by FAS
 
Looking forward to up upgrading my ultra to an XL.. I was wondering like a lot of others if a III would be released soon, but this would suggest it's at least another year or two away..

This should give owners of the II a little piece of mind that more firmware will be coming there way!

I personally think the way Fractal are upgrading the hardware a little bit at a time over the generation of this product is fantastic!

This way if you buy a product at the start of a production cycle, you get the longevity of the hardware and the firmware updates - maybe lacking some of the advanced functionality by the end of the life cycle. But the the cost vs years of use is so worth it.. My Ultra still sounds as good as ever..

And those who buy at a later stage in the cycle get great firmware and possibly some features (advanced looper perhaps, more flexibility with blocks etc..) that will end up in the next generation product..

Much better than marketing a "brand new" product every two years and calling it a game changer....

Well done Fractal!!
 
Well that's a bummer, the CPU ceiling is really my only limitation. It's to the point I can't even use axe edit to make adjustments on many presets because just hooking up the USB causes CPU overload. Yes I do know and understand how to save CPU and have applied that however, I'm still pushing the limit.
 
Admin M@ said:
But I thought this is what we just gave by announcing in January a product that won't ship until March?
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This. How do you... softly... let consumers know something bigger/better is coming their way?

...you give them new FW, UltraRes cabs, AxeEdit updates, and maybe a new amp/FX or two for their existing product ;)

That kind of marketing mentality easily makes this the most fun thing I've ever bought! Neck and neck with electronic cigarette... do I want to live 20-30 years longer or have tons of amps and studio quality FX in a 2U rack space? Both, or neither!

HughJasol said:
Or trade them for user cabinet slots. It would be nice to have an option of using a smaller number of presets in exchange for having more user cabinet slots and/or preset memory; perhaps on a per-bank basis - e.g. give us the choice of using 1, 2 or 3 banks for our presets (128, 256 or 384 presets); and each bank we choose not to use for preset storage can be used to either add more user cabinet slots, or increase the storage of the presets in the banks we are using.

Me personally, with 8 scenes per preset I could easily live with 128 presets . . .
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I agree entirely. I think I'd be happy with 128 presets with just ONE scene each!

Bodde said:
So how many of you are you gonna sell your Axe fx II and buy the XL?
The coming of the XL will also mean he normal Axe fx II will resell for less then before.
Click to expand...

Not this guy, not without drastically increased CPU. Also, I'd have to disagree with your assessment. The AFX2 has been out, what, 3 years? and degraded in resale value by around 20%? compare that to a 6505+ bought three years ago...
I think the recent evidence of this coupled with the unit's known capabilities secures its value - it will never be a BAD sounding piece of gear with FEW options. Add to this the fact that the XL comes at a higher pricetag with zero used market. Eventually, I'm sure the resale of AFX2mk2's will slide a little, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for one at closeout prices.
 
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Well, it is the end of January, so not much of a lead time compared to how long Fractal has known this is coming out. Not a complaint, just an observation.
 
Bodde said:
So how many of you are you gonna sell your Axe fx II and buy the XL?
The coming of the XL will also mean he normal Axe fx II will resell for less then before.
Click to expand...

The XL sounds like a good match for recording studios, with the extra storage for IRs and even lower noise floor. I'm mildly curious what it might add, but I'm really happy with the II. I have a hard time imagining what could be missing.
 
We all knew a day like this would come. The Axe FX 2 is no longer the newest model. AHHHHHHH

nah but seriously, these are some cool upgrades but they dont feel like a slap in the face to a AF2 user.
 
Vhalen50 said:
We all knew a day like this would come. The Axe FX 2 is no longer the newest model. AHHHHHHH

nah but seriously, these are some cool upgrades but they dont feel like a slap in the face to a AF2 user.
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Exactly! The new model seems to be more geared towards the "power user" who uses the looper extensively, utilizes complex patches, lots of effects, etc., and is frustrated by the limitations of the current model. For me, using basic patches of guitar -> cab with a few effects every now and then, it'd be a case of overkill. I'm pretty confident that we'll continue to enjoy firmware updates and support for a good while with our "older" units.
 
check out my thread..i did some steps how to do this...btw im playing rocksmith pretty much a lot using axe fx II
 
Admin M@ said:
Answers to some question asked above:

Does this mean that only the Axe-Fx II XL will have UltraRes IR capabilities?
No. The difference is in how many you can store onboard.

Does this mean that the PEQ, GEQ and PAN/TREM blocks on the non XL Axe II will eat up more preset memory than today?.
No.

Can an older Axe II be upgraded with one of these & maybe the new "Secret Sauce III” instrument input?
No, upgrading would require a whole new chassis and motherboard and be cost prohibitive.
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Thanks for the above invaluable responses.

The only question I have now:

Will the Axe II still get the same firmware update life cycle as the XL or will firmware support be discontinued for regular II earlier than the XL?
 
So, as far as I can tell, the difference between the II and the XL is actually smaller than the difference between the STD and the Ultra. Is there any difference in the actual power or is this just more storage space?
 
Cover'd said:
Not sure I agree with that actually...

The XL will likely cost a bit more and the AxeII may well stay where it is. Given that the AxeII is still very current, albeit with a few less bells & whistles, it will retain its value
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I think your 'normal' Axe II will be a lot harder to sell now the XL is there because almost everyone who doesn't have an Axe II yet will go for the XL version instead of the 'old' one. Wonder what the resell value for a normal Axe II would be right now?
 
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