onebaldbloke
Inspired
The time has come for me to bid adieu to the Ultra FX.
There have been many aspects of the unit I've thoroughly enjoyed & it's been an occasionally wonderful, educational & exciting journey.
The FX are amongst the best I've heard in a rack mount device, the easy ordering & re-ordering of them is a delight, the A/D/A's sound fabulous, the output level is truly Professional, the list of amp, drive & speakers/IR's is exhasutive & exhasuting! I feel that the unit may (and I mean may) have a bright future.
Some of you are aware that I've been in this business for a very long time, for more years than many here have been on the planet, & I know for certain that some users have bought units solely on my recommendations, having not seen one "in the flesh"; by only trusting in my advise. I therefore feel a certain obligation to them & it is this obligation & sense of responsibility that mainly drives what I now write.
It may be suggested that I am alone in these feelings, but that would be wrong.
First & foremost is the unique (in my experience) attitude of Fractal Audio towards the people who actually pay their bills & CONTINUE TO ALLOW THEM to operate – that'd be us, folks. If RME, for example, engaged in similar behaviour, they would have gone out of business years ago. There are & will probably always be businesses that thrive irrespective of their condescending attitudes, but is this really necessary? To some Ultra owners this is not an issue. Ah then, I might rhetorically ask, what sort of world are we building?
The Religious-Zealot-like little acceptance of differences of opinion etc, unless which it's about which amp is "perfect" (and please tell us when will it be updated to be "better"?......), is of minor concern to me, but the derision that others are currently receiving from Fractal "support" is in-tolerable. Warning! Do not plug your car battery into the front of the Ultra! It sounds to us like you have done this!! We're certain you've done this! Our product is faultless! It can never be our fault! You are an idiot! I cannot abide by this. To assume that just because "they" have never heard of "us" mere mortals, being not famous, in no way justifies the assumption that these people are morons.
And having met &/or played with many "famous" players, it seems to me that the reality is quite the opposite, but that's a story for another time.
So much baseless abuse gets hurled around, almost always descending into barely double-digit IQ contempt, from users but most dis-appointingly also from Fractal, & the bottom line from the Great God Cliff is always the same: "It's my sandbox & if you don't like it, leave".
And so leave I will. No great loss to Fractal. And with me, I will take my support for the unit. Now, let's put that into perspective, because I have no illusions on this. This means, in reality, a direct loss of one or two dozen sales for Fractal over the next year or so, indirectly maybe a few times that. Not much by global standards. The direct financial loss to Fractal known only to them. Are Cliff & His staff just as rude to those who sell truckloads of albums & play stadiums? Probably not, methinks. I expect I will receive "who cares if you leave & move on?" &, if my past experience on this Forum is anything to go by, worse abusive emails, but my point is that the attitude is endemic, & unless Fractal address their end of it, no matter how good the product, this nastiness & contempt for their customers may well eventually be returned to them & be reflected in their Northern Hemisphere sales. And then maybethat will mean something to them – who knows? There are already Social Network posts with not-unfounded criticisms of Fractal management & support. A small thing, but one that has the potential to spread.
When guitar players contact me in the future, as they will, I will have to tell them the truth about my experiences & sadly those of the people I advised to purchase an Ultra – all aspects – the good and the bad.
On to greener, less troublesome & more pleasant pastures,
Bob.
There have been many aspects of the unit I've thoroughly enjoyed & it's been an occasionally wonderful, educational & exciting journey.
The FX are amongst the best I've heard in a rack mount device, the easy ordering & re-ordering of them is a delight, the A/D/A's sound fabulous, the output level is truly Professional, the list of amp, drive & speakers/IR's is exhasutive & exhasuting! I feel that the unit may (and I mean may) have a bright future.
Some of you are aware that I've been in this business for a very long time, for more years than many here have been on the planet, & I know for certain that some users have bought units solely on my recommendations, having not seen one "in the flesh"; by only trusting in my advise. I therefore feel a certain obligation to them & it is this obligation & sense of responsibility that mainly drives what I now write.
It may be suggested that I am alone in these feelings, but that would be wrong.
First & foremost is the unique (in my experience) attitude of Fractal Audio towards the people who actually pay their bills & CONTINUE TO ALLOW THEM to operate – that'd be us, folks. If RME, for example, engaged in similar behaviour, they would have gone out of business years ago. There are & will probably always be businesses that thrive irrespective of their condescending attitudes, but is this really necessary? To some Ultra owners this is not an issue. Ah then, I might rhetorically ask, what sort of world are we building?
The Religious-Zealot-like little acceptance of differences of opinion etc, unless which it's about which amp is "perfect" (and please tell us when will it be updated to be "better"?......), is of minor concern to me, but the derision that others are currently receiving from Fractal "support" is in-tolerable. Warning! Do not plug your car battery into the front of the Ultra! It sounds to us like you have done this!! We're certain you've done this! Our product is faultless! It can never be our fault! You are an idiot! I cannot abide by this. To assume that just because "they" have never heard of "us" mere mortals, being not famous, in no way justifies the assumption that these people are morons.
And having met &/or played with many "famous" players, it seems to me that the reality is quite the opposite, but that's a story for another time.
So much baseless abuse gets hurled around, almost always descending into barely double-digit IQ contempt, from users but most dis-appointingly also from Fractal, & the bottom line from the Great God Cliff is always the same: "It's my sandbox & if you don't like it, leave".
And so leave I will. No great loss to Fractal. And with me, I will take my support for the unit. Now, let's put that into perspective, because I have no illusions on this. This means, in reality, a direct loss of one or two dozen sales for Fractal over the next year or so, indirectly maybe a few times that. Not much by global standards. The direct financial loss to Fractal known only to them. Are Cliff & His staff just as rude to those who sell truckloads of albums & play stadiums? Probably not, methinks. I expect I will receive "who cares if you leave & move on?" &, if my past experience on this Forum is anything to go by, worse abusive emails, but my point is that the attitude is endemic, & unless Fractal address their end of it, no matter how good the product, this nastiness & contempt for their customers may well eventually be returned to them & be reflected in their Northern Hemisphere sales. And then maybethat will mean something to them – who knows? There are already Social Network posts with not-unfounded criticisms of Fractal management & support. A small thing, but one that has the potential to spread.
When guitar players contact me in the future, as they will, I will have to tell them the truth about my experiences & sadly those of the people I advised to purchase an Ultra – all aspects – the good and the bad.
On to greener, less troublesome & more pleasant pastures,
Bob.
