I worked with a longtime friend and client yesterday. He's an Axe-FX owner and user. He has been using presets and firmware from last September and is not a forum guy. He just plays, records and enjoys life. Great guy, brutally honest. He had been on firmware v.16.x
He had a bank of presets but especially 5 presets I had done for him that he loved; he wanted me to just update those and didn't want to lose anything from them with a full update to current, etc. on my recommendation. Fair enough.
Suffice to say he's on v.18.06 and has the new v.18.xx preset banks. His comments to me were that he now has a full bank of killer presets (the full factory banks) and wanted to know how the hell the same box could have been developed so notably - his words. He could not believe it. I didn't charge him a penny - the factory preset banks are that good.
All I can say is that this is Fractal Audio. Cliff is determined, driven and dedicated to taking whatever Fractal Audio hardware (or software, witness CabLab) platform and maximize the capabilities, versatility and return on investment for the guitarist of most any company I've ever seen.
He's set an example that even the biggest companies that make digital-based guitar processors now grudgingly try to follow - one of continued development, bug fixes and enhancements. It's changed the MI world. Find where this was considered 'normal' before Fractal Audio came on the scene. As a longtime beta team member, I've had a front-row seat to this.
Cliff and Fractal never rest on their laurels. That may or may not test your patience and comfort zone with a product. But after gigging this box (and it's predecessors) for 8 years this thing keeps surprising me with how it just keeps growing. A credo I follow is to only 'speak of what you know' from firsthand experience. I have a lot of gear that I know, trust and love to allow me - just a guy with a guitar that loves to play - to bring some joy into my life. I admire what is being done. Just an uplifting experience to plug in on the gig and make music. Gig after gig. Firsthand down in the trenches, real world, down-and-dirty nuts-and-bolts stuff. I'm not a rock star. I'm a nobody has-been never-was wanna-be. But my gear makes me feel like a rockstar. It's as if someone is constantly upgrading my rig and optimizing how and what it can do constantly for me. Because someone is. This average nobody is loving his rig because of what it is doing for me when I play music And that's good.
My sincerely felt opinion. V18.06 adds even more fun to the fun box.
