Stenson looks unbeatable...
Stenson looks unbeatable...
it's the modeling version name, like Quantum was, as far as i understand it.Is Ares an actual thing beyond marketing?
Pardon my ignorance if I missed it, I saw the word mentioned a few times but no specifics.
While I agree with embracing the spirit of improvement and advancement. Toanz != software. I don't find this to be a very good analogy in that sense. That said, the II is in a very good spot in terms of the toanz. Good enough to stand the test of time on its own, I would say.Best news I've heard in a while!
This means the new Firmware is advancing....and that is all I ever want to see.
Everyone here needs to think about this like a computer purchase.
If you want to hang on to your Windows XP machine with a a Pentium 4 Processor, you are more than welcome to, and enjoy all the software of yesteryear. This is exactly the same.
But most of us don't do that, we buy new computers every once in while to be able to run the latest and greatest OS, Software, etc.
Thank you FAS for focusing on the future.
Stenson looks unbeatable...
I'm going to work on porting what I can of Ares to the II this weekend. Maybe. Or maybe I'll sit around in my underwear and watch golf and eat nachos.
Ares for Axe FX 3 is like Quantum for Axe FX 2Is Ares an actual thing beyond marketing?
Pardon my ignorance if I missed it, I saw the word mentioned a few times but no specifics.
And I think it’s just easy to assume that the guys that bought the Axe Fx 2 three months ago want to have years and years worth of free firmware upgrades.
Obviously no one knows exactly what’s going to happen, all we can do is to guess with the facts at hand. The Ax8 is based on the Axe Fx 2, using the same type of CPU, and every single Ax8 firmware has been predated by a Axe Fx 2 firmware, where the updates from the Axe Fx 2 has been ported to the Ax8. There’s been many, many posts where us Ax8 users has been asking for usability improvements and we’ve seen exactly one Ax8 firmware that’s provided substantial usability improvements. Also, read between the lines in Cliffs post. Does that sound like a long term commitment to Axe Fx 2 and therefore the Ax8, or more like the last hurrah before it’s done?
Now, if you guess that the Ax8 is not near it’s end of life and we’re not going to see a new Ax8 soon, you are effectively guessing that the Axe Fx 2 is also going to see continuous improvements for years to come.
Or, you read that Cliffs post is more like the last hurrah. You read into the fact that we’ve seen very limited usability improvements that they are already working on a replacement. You imagine the development cost of keeping two platforms current for years vs the cost of developing an updated Ax8 based on Axe Fx 3 technology using the same type of CPU, the same type of screen, the same type of firmware (likely with similar limitations of Axe Fx 2 vs Ax8), the same type a foot controls as in the new FC12/FC6. Well - I guess that the Axe Fx2 and therefore the Ax8 is pretty much done and that we’ll see an updated Ax8 before the end of the year.
Also, for clarification. Not only do I guess that the Axe Fx 2 and therefore the Ax8 is pretty much done. I hope so as well. I think it’ll be much better long term if all focus from here on would go into making the Axe Fx 3 as good as it can be as fast as possible. Get us an updated Ax8 that uses the same type of CPU and firmware and we’ll all get much better units with a simplified, awesome lineup. I’ll by the updated Ax8 as soon as I can.
Now, obviously I’ll take any Ax8 updates with great joy and will install in minutes of release. I’ll also expect from now on that whenever a new firmware comes that this will be the very last one.
The idea that Cliff's just going to abandon the old platform as soon as possible just doesn't reflect the way that he's acted in the past. I expect the opposite, that he's going to continue to go to extreme lengths to keep the older products viable for as long as possible.
The Ultra was EOL, which is why the Axe 2 was released. This is a different situation.By "acted in the past", I assume you mean updates to the Standard after the Ultra was released and updates to the Ultra after the II was released. If that's what you mean you may want to do some fact checking because those platforms didn't receive any or hardly any updates after the new product was released. Comparing the II to the II XL is not really the same as they share the same architecture so anything on the II XL can run on the II. So in that sense, I'm also expecting things to be how Cliff has acted in the past.
The thing that's different now compared to 2011 when the II was released is that we now have the Ax8 that is based on the II firmware where's back then there was only the rack units. Lets say that the updated Ax8 is 2 years away (my guess is that it's currently about 6 months away). I could see that they would keep the II firmware updates going until then as that would also make the Ax8 receive updates. But after there's been an updated Ax8 it would be very surprising to me if there would be any new firmwares to either of them. Also, the Ax8 has only received one real update in it's entire life cycle, i.e. there's only been one firmware update where there's been significant updates specifically for the Ax8 and not just updates to the II that's been added to the Ax8 so I'm thinking there's never been a plan to keep the Ax8 alive for long and an updated Ax8 is already in the works.
And obviously, all of this is just random speculations based on past behaviour and how things normally work. So I guess we'll see in a couple of years if the II is still receiving updates or if 2018 was the year the III replaced the II same as 2011 was the year the II replace the Ultra and we didn't see any further updates to the Ultra after that.
There are two reasons why I think we might not see firmware updates for years to come:Personally, given the amount of energy that Cliff has expended keeping the pre-XL firmware up to date with changes made for the XL in the past, I expect that we are going to continue to see firmware updates for at least the XL for years to come.
The Ultra was EOL, which is why the Axe 2 was released. This is a different situation.
I'd bet you're wrong since the Axe Fx III already had two additional models... I'd guess at the very least, those will get added.I'm sticking to my guess of one final update that will have that 50 watt JMP and maybe some other amps. Maybe some tweaks to the modeling, but IMO, I think we are done with the II and Quantum, and I'm completely satisfied.