AXE FX 2 mkII OR XL!!!

gelati

gelati

Member
ok in my last post i explained why i left the fractal family! but now I'm returning! i have the opportunity to get either a axe fx 2 mk II, or an axe fx 2 XL, the only thing is there is a $900 difference between these two (used price)
so basically which one should i go? is there a big benefit to the XL,... is there a tonal difference??

thanks :)
 
gelati said:
ok in my last post i explained why i left the fractal family! but now I'm returning! i have the opportunity to get either a axe fx 2 mk II, or an axe fx 2 XL, the only thing is there is a $900 difference between these two (used price)
so basically which one should i go? is there a big benefit to the XL,... is there a tonal difference??

thanks :)
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If you are going to keep it for a long time, which you most likely will (especially once you try the Quantum firmware - OH MY ITS GOOD), then go for the XL because it has a LOT MORE STORAGE for cabs ETC ETC.
Yeah, if your going to keep it a long time, then the extra money is justified. Go ""XL"" !!! --- Im sure most people will agree with this idea . . rock on!

P.S. the tone is "exactly the same" for mark 2 and XL. Yet, as above, Go --XL--
 
no tone difference.

the XL has a recovery feature on-board if you make a mistake when updating firmware. (mark ii would need a physical chip connected to restore it, you'd need to buy that). XL has more room for presets, user cabs, and more effects have XY switching than the Mark II.

if you can swing it, the XL is a good idea, even just for that on-board recovery. that said, i'm still rocking a Mark I and i fortunately have never needed that chip to restore, and i definitely upgrade and downgrade all the time when helping different people.
 
Am I the only one who is bother by a difference of $900 between the mk2 and the XL? Definitely the XL is "better" due to storage presets but not $900 better! Specially in the used market...

IMHO

Also, I was able to upgrade from a mk1 to a XL+ for $200..
 
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Yeah, the big separating factor is memory. My memory needs are fairly minimal so I went for the mark 1 and it's served me very well thus far
 
If there is a $900 dollar difference sounds like deal if the century on a II. On a bad day XLs can be easily had for 2K flat. As Chris said sound is identical but gets down to if 768 presets/1024 user IRs are worth it to you vs. what the II has (512/?)... The recovery prom is cheap, the other huge difference if you plan to use a MFC-101 is the FASLink port.

Edit: saw your latest post... Cannot comment on US vs Aussie market, love my XLs here :)

Good luck!
Jason
 
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gelati said:
yeah prices are fucked here in australia! :/
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Oh, didn't know there was such a BIG difference in price over there.

If it is normal and fair that price difference and you can swing the extra money, get the XL.

The mk2 is great as well, just less memory for user cabs (100 user iirc) and for presets.

Remember that user presets and cabs can be manage easily with axe-edit and you can store the ones you can't fit in your axe-fx in your desktop.

Omar
 
gelati said:
yeah prices are fucked here in australia! :/
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yeah mate agreed, yet here in New Zealand ever since that USA banker dude known as John Key came here and purchased the elections / hijacked them, our dollar has dropped 30% and now to buy an Axe FX 2 XL+, its over $4400 dollars. A single CLR Wedge, around $2400, so yeah, its a bad situation. Allow corporations to buy the elections and we are stuffed. I got my XL+ for $3799 just before the USA bankers hijacked our banks, now my unit has increased in price buy about $600, lol. So i guess thats good, but, bad for new buyers indeed.
 
I thought I remembered something about the XL's noise floor was lower. I searched on "XL noise floor". Hope this helps.

This was the original post by Cliff.


Let me clear up a few things:

The primary impetus for the XL was the FASLINK port. Since I had to develop a new mainboard to support this I figured why not put in some of the other requests we get from the power users.

The additional memory is FLASH which is EPROM not RAM. This will not increase the looper time as the amount of RAM has not changed.

The type of FLASH memory is "Super-FLASH" which is an expensive, high-reliability memory. It can be erased hundreds of thousands of times without wearout or slowdown. This prevents the need to wear-level the memory and the dreaded "Tuning Memory" stuff.

There is no longer any SRAM for preset storage. All presets are stored in FLASH.

There is still a small SRAM for storage of system information that requires a battery. You can still back your system up to FLASH. If the battery dies you won't lose your presets and hopefully you've backed up your system.

There is enough FLASH memory to store 1024 presets and 1024 user cabs but I'm reserving half the memory for future upgrades.

The "Special Sauce III" uses a combination of things to get a lower noise floor. One of these things is new, premium Burr-Brown op-amps in the signal path which have extremely low noise and distortion (and are very expensive). As always I don't design stuff to be cheap, I design it to be good.

The optical encoder requires power and therefore can not be retrofitted into a Mark I/II. Also the shaft and bushing size are different so it doesn't fit anyways.

UltraRes is not specific to the XL and, in fact, the beta testers have Version 13.00 beta now and are testing the UltraRes capability.

All algorithms will be identical between the Mark I/II and XL. They all share the same code base. Any enhancements/improvements will benefit all models except when aforementioned features are not available.

The Mark II will continue to be produced and sold. The XL is a higher-priced option for those who need the features and does not in any way obsolete the Mark II.
 
nznat said:
yeah mate agreed, yet here in New Zealand ever since that USA banker dude known as John Key came here and purchased the elections / hijacked them, our dollar has dropped 30% and now to buy an Axe FX 2 XL+, its over $4400 dollars. A single CLR Wedge, around $2400, so yeah, its a bad situation. Allow corporations to buy the elections and we are stuffed. I got my XL+ for $3799 just before the USA bankers hijacked our banks, now my unit has increased in price buy about $600, lol. So i guess thats good, but, bad for new buyers indeed.
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yeah its hurts ay! our dollars are the same now though!!! :/
 
wcfieldskx said:
For $900 difference, I would get the MKII. If it was a couple hundred difference, I would get the XL..
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im leaning the mk2 more so now! as one of the guys said, it could be spent on other thing like a pedal, or upgrade some other equipment!
 
The naming of the different versions imply there are bigger differences than it really is.
The general concensus among the public seem to be that Mark II is superior to Mark I, and the XL models is regarded as a flagship superior to the others. Even though the tone is exactly the same. You sometimes see ads where people want to buy an Axe, but it has to be a Mark II for some reason. I've even seen people want to sell their MkI and buy a MKII!
They should all have been named Axe Fx II. The Mark II could have been a Rev 2 and the XL models Axe Fx II+ maybe, just to imply the bigger storage capacities?
 
I just wrestled with this decision...I own a Mark I, do I want to upgrade to an XL+?
Before the Mark I, I had an Ultra, and before that, a Standard.
All of them sounded so good that I felt each and every one was limited far more by my ear than by its features.
Since I paired the Mark I with an Atomic CLR Wedge, it sounds crazy good. Could I play a gig tomorrow with my Standard and Kill it?
Heck yeah.
Yet I decided to upgrade anyway for the simplest of reasons: To stay current. The problem is that the minute Fractal announces the next big thing your unit is now two or more versions old and its value drops. Nothing has changed (sorry, but for the way I use it it's pretty accurate), but now people want it less. Far less.
Had I never sold my Standard, it would be painful to upgrade it now.
It wasn't free to upgrade, but now I don't have to worry for a few years that my investment is dying.
I would say make sure that you won't need to unload it quickly if you opt for older equipment as you may take a bigger hit in that scenario. I like the product so much that I want to stay current to the extent possible and just factor in some pain every once in awhile to do so.
Truth be told, I wish they would produce the XL+ for another five years and simply upgrade the firmware, but we all know that won't happen.
Bottom line...the more "versions" you are behind, the less your gear is worth. This is by design. Gone are the days of my Mesa Mark IIC gaining value over time. I suggest asking yourself what the long term strategy is...keep it for forever or trade up?
 
There's a big difference. Upgrading from Ultra or Standard to Axe Fx II makes sense since all Axe Fx II are still under development.
Pay lots of dollars to upgrade from MkI to MKII doesn't.
Upgrade from Mk I or II to XL is worth it IF you need the extra space, otherwise it's not. Well, IMHO....
 
I recently bought my first Axe. I ended up going with a used MKII I found here on the forum. I got a great deal on it, and did it this way because I wasn't sure if I would like the Axe so I didn't want to invest the 2250.00 that the XL+ sells for new.
Needless to say, after about a week of owning it I was hooked, but after about 2 weeks of owning it I wanted more IR storage. (yes, I am an IR junkie)
I turned around and was able to sell the MKII I purchased to get my feet wet at the same exact price I purchased it for, and turned that money right around, investing it back into a brand new XL+. Once I knew the product was what I wanted, I wanted to have the newest version, and again the increased storage.
The reality is, if I wasn't so IR obsessed the MKII was excellent, as I know there will be zero tonal benefits to the upgrade. As of right now the resale value on the MKII is at a great point of being affordable, yet still able to recoup your money if you decide to sell. How long that will last? who knows....
 
ztevie said:
You sometimes see ads where people want to buy an Axe, but it has to be a Mark II for some reason.
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This is often due to people already owning that particular model and wanting a backup or second unit that is exactly the same as their current one.
 
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