AXE FX II upgrade to AXE FX II XL question..

Al Booher

Al Booher

New Member
Hey folks! I have a quick question for you seasoned users of the AXE FX's..... I've been using the Mark II unit for a year now, and just upgraded to the XL unit. It arrived today, but before I go swap everything out, I was wondering if anyone can tell me whether or not I will have to do all sorts of updates to AXE Edit and to the MFC footboard, or if everything will simply run as normal.. Anyone have that experience? Thanks in advance for any advice!!
 
veritechc said:
Why did you go to the Axe FX 2 XL?
Click to expand...
That's a really good question.... LOL
I like the idea of having all of the extra memory and patch slots, and the hardware technology sounded interesting.. and I believe there are more amps and cab models inside... may not be, but I thought I read that... plus I got one of the closeout deals, so I saved a couple hundred bucks on it..
Any particular reason you asked? Something I should know??
 
I also have a Axe FX 2 Mark 2. The XL and XL+ i think only have more memory locations and locations for IR's. But the number of amps are the same. Let me know what you think of the difference.
 
Al Booher said:
Hey folks! I have a quick question for you seasoned users of the AXE FX's..... I've been using the Mark II unit for a year now, and just upgraded to the XL unit. It arrived today, but before I go swap everything out, I was wondering if anyone can tell me whether or not I will have to do all sorts of updates to AXE Edit and to the MFC footboard, or if everything will simply run as normal.. Anyone have that experience? Thanks in advance for any advice!!
Click to expand...


You will need to set the MFC to the XL.
I forget how to do it, but it is pretty straightforward.
Might need a firmware update of the MFC also.

Get the most recent version of Axe Edit.
 
Hardware technology is not different. Tone is not different. It's the same amps and cabs in both. The difference is the number of preset/cab slots, more fx blocks have x/y functionality and some other very minor differences e.g "secret sauce" input. I can't hear any difference.
What you do need to be prepared to deal with is that if you backup your old presets and have user cab slots attached to them they will be all messed up. So you will need to go in manually and reassign each and every preset to the correct cab slot number. Also all of the fx blocks that has x/y function in XL but not the old one, will be turned ON even if they were bypassed or not active in the original preset. Here you'll have to go in and adjust each scene in each preset and turn them off, then save preset again.
 
Al Booher said:
That's a really good question.... LOL
I like the idea of having all of the extra memory and patch slots, and the hardware technology sounded interesting.. and I believe there are more amps and cab models inside... may not be, but I thought I read that... plus I got one of the closeout deals, so I saved a couple hundred bucks on it..
Any particular reason you asked? Something I should know??
Click to expand...

I upgraded from a MKII as well and I did it solely for the additional memory. I am an IR junkie, and I wanted more space for more cabs.
But as has been stated, the hardware is the same, the amp models are the same. you are just getting more user slots for your own presets, and IR's as well you get a brighter sharper display, and an optical encoder which should have a longer life that the encoder on the MKII. and to my touch feels much smoother.
 
Thanks for all the great responses! I can't wait to dive into the unit this afternoon and see how she performs. My Mark II was used when I bought it, so now, I will actually get to break one in myself! LOL
And that Secret Sauce input was something I was really intrigued about too... Hate that you (ztevie) said you couldn't tell a difference.. but maybe its a slight detail that makes a difference in one of those sublte ways that is recongnized by the musical soul rather than just the ear.. just a thought! lol
I haven't done any extreme altering or saving special presets on my other unit yet, so I won't have that frustration to deal with at least... In fact, I held back the entire time I've owned it since I always had the notion that I would eventually buy a brand new one if I was pleased with how it sounded... and it is an amazing little box, for sure! Now that I've got this one, I will start tweaking and saving and might even get some Cab Packs for this one..
OK... guess I'd better get it out of the packaging and get started! Thanks again for everyone's input!
Al
 
The Secret sauce is about noise floor not tone. The ultra had a low noise floor, ii got lower and cliff just someone keep getting it lower lol
 
Well.. Just to Update....
I finally got the unit out of the box and all hooked up to try it out... right away I had problems with the unit communication with my MFC and with AXE EDIT... damn it! It played and sounded great, but I could not use my pedal board or AXE EDIT and had to click everything on the green screen... very frustrating!!
I created a help ticket, so maybe someone can tell me it's a minor something that can be quickly fixed.. hated having to unhook and hook up the old unit just to have some good jam time.. LOL
 
Al Booher said:
Well.. Just to Update....
I finally got the unit out of the box and all hooked up to try it out... right away I had problems with the unit communication with my MFC and with AXE EDIT... damn it! It played and sounded great, but I could not use my pedal board or AXE EDIT and had to click everything on the green screen... very frustrating!!
I created a help ticket, so maybe someone can tell me it's a minor something that can be quickly fixed.. hated having to unhook and hook up the old unit just to have some good jam time.. LOL
Click to expand...
Choosing right version in axe edit and mfc101? Switch to XL to get it to communicate.
 
Tremonti said:
Choosing right version in axe edit and mfc101? Switch to XL to get it to communicate.
Click to expand...
I did manage to get time to update the AXE EDIT, and now it works fine!! However, I could not update the MFC because I don't have a 5 pin midi cable to do so.. I'm going to grab one while I'm out of town working this week and hoping after I update the MFC then I can see the XL option as a choice on it's menu.. right now, it's not there, so that's probably the issue! Thanks!
 
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