Okay...I'm not going to pile in on the name-calling and finger-pointing here, but I would like to make a point, that I think is deserved by the Fractal group:
When Fender was selling the Tele model, then later came out with the Strat, they didn't contact their buyers, and offer a free upgrade, if you'd just purchased a Tele a week before.....
When Mesa made the Mk II, and then came out with the Mk IIc, Randal Smith didn't contact the Mark II owners, and offer to swap them out.....
When Marshall was making amps with the KT-66's, and tubes became scarce, and they switched to EL-34's, they didn't offer to upgrade everyone who'd bought one in the past few weeks, as a good-will gesture....
When Fractal comes out with upgrades and updates they constantly offer them to their user base; most of the time this is free of charge. They work tirelessly, to keep their products on the cutting edge, and to provide a tone source for their fellow artists.
Fractal deserves to be reimbursed for some of their efforts - period. Why else, and HOW else, would they be able to continue to stay in business, if they just gave everything away?!?! Hey, I'm a cheapskate as much as the next guy - but at a point, you've got to give in and chip in a little, or the golden goose will not be able to continue to lay those golden eggs. Lighten up a little, and turn loose of a few of those pinched pennies, and enjoy this gear for what it is. I can't think of any other product out there that offers the quality of user base support that Fractal does. I'm not trying to defend them, jump on the band wagon, or any thing else. I usually stay out of these petty discussions, but I think this needs to be said. This is a concept that needs to be understood. No matter WHAT you buy - car, house, groceries, music, air conditioner, lawn mower, or carpet, at some point there will be an upgrade, and it may come shortly after you just purchased last year's model.... the seller does not owe you to upgrade you at no cost - that's business. It's disappointing, and I've been there, so I can dig it, but that's just how it is. We've got to support those who are supporting us. It's the ONLY way to make this work. Fractal is not a government supported program that takes from the rich and gives to the poor - it's a private enterprise of folks working hard to provide the best they can, and hope to be able to make a living in return - just a little bit from each of us, and it adds up to allowing them, with their own special skills set, to share with us.
Off my soapbox, and back to the original programming; I apologize that I've broken into this thread in this way - I'm not a fan-boi, but I am a satisfied user supporting someone who's worked hard, and shouldn't even need to be be reading/listening to this sort of blather.
Love the firmware upgrade. I originally had not intended to purchase the Cab-Lab, or the IR's. I've been down the rabbit hole so many times chasing IR tones, that I had sworn off continually chasing that futility. BUT.... the Ownhammer IR's, compiled and converted by Fractal changed my mind. OH and Fractal really deserve an atta-boy for all their hard work on these. I plunked down my change for the Cab Pack 3, and will pick up the next version of Cab-Lab when it is able to convert some of my old IR's to the Hi/Ultra Rez mode. Maybe I can still make good use of some of my old Redwire IR's. These really floated my boat a year or two ago, but the OH's sound SO good, that now I need to upgrade the Redwires. One of those First World Problems we just have to suffer through...:nightmare: