I'm worried about the Ax8 future...

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Ralph K

Ralph K

Inspired
I believe it is a concern for many of us here... did the Ax8 reach the end of its lifecyle with the Axe FX II? shall we expect future updates for the AX8 (e.g.: New Amps, Cab Blocks, Algorithm enhacements...) will the AX8 have the same amp quality of the Axe Fx III? will the AX8 go beyond Quantum Modeling?
 
I wouldn't worry. I like you have a AX8
I WILL get a III and plan to pretty much use it for recording but still use the AX8 for live use.
Its still a great sounding unit (that wont change).

"will the AX8 go beyond Quantum Modeling?" Probably not, and that's a guess on my part. There again its still one of the best sounding units on the market..Doesn't mean there wont be updates for this unit.
 
I’d sure feel like a sucker too buying a $2499 III if the scaled down version of the II, the $1099 Ax8 had the same amp quality.....


Judging by folks reactions around here, they’ve never bought a computer, car, tv, etc. they’ve never had to experience improved models coming out, new features added etc
 
I am not worried at all. AX8 sounds better than anything out there and it sounds 'REAL'. So that won't change even after AFXIII has been announced.

I'm on the waiting list for AFXIII, but will still keep using AX8 for live and rehearsals after I got the AFXIII.
 
with all due respect, I do not believe in such declarations. If AFX III sounds better (and it will be) and gives more options (no questions about it), it will soon turn out, that the advantages of AX8 will cease to be meaningful and happy owners of both devices will use AFX III where possible.
 
I feel I reached a point in my setup where I was going to have to invest 1k in a board already worth 2k just to go midi and be able to make the transitions between song styles I needed to quickly ( for example from ambient to funk). The AX8 solved everything for a little over 1K, plus I sold off my entire board of pedals. On top of that AX8 gave me more modulation than I could have imagined, plus amp flavors and IR that I didn't have in my other rig. No more chasing pedals for amp sounds, the amp overdrive sounds achieve that way better than I could have.

I hope the AX8 updates keep coming, but I can see myself using this for a long time even if this was the end.
 
thegrizman said:
I feel I reached a point in my setup where I was going to have to invest 1k in a board already worth 2k just to go midi and be able to make the transitions between song styles I needed to quickly ( for example from ambient to funk). The AX8 solved everything for a little over 1K, plus I sold off my entire board of pedals. On top of that AX8 gave me more modulation than I could have imagined, plus amp flavors and IR that I didn't have in my other rig. No more chasing pedals for amp sounds, the amp overdrive sounds achieve that way better than I could have.

I hope the AX8 updates keep coming, but I can see myself using this for a long time even if this was the end.
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Definitely. Here’s a little perspective for all of us suffering Ax8 users: I was at a bar this past weekend watching a buddy of mine’s band. The guy plays a strat through a compressor, tube screamer and cheap delay unit plugged into a 10 year-old Mesa 5:25 1x12 and he was crushing it. His band played for 4 hours and he got every tone he needed for every tune. I think we’ll all be fine with our little obsolete ax8’s with 200 amps, 130 cabs and every effect known to man.
 
curious said:
Definitely. Here’s a little perspective for all of us suffering Ax8 users: I was at a bar this past weekend watching a buddy of mine’s band. The guy plays a strat through a compressor, tube screamer and cheap delay unit plugged into a 10 year-old Mesa 5:25 1x12 and he was crushing it. His band played for 4 hours and he got every tone he needed for every tune. I think we’ll all be fine with our little obsolete ax8’s with 200 amps, 130 cabs and every effect known to man.
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ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Totally agree... Btw, if people really worry about this stuff and really worry about what your AX8 will be worth 10-15 years from now, it'll be about 200.00 if you can sell it. . I have ADATS, loads of heavy PA gear, Studio mixers,etc collecting dust here as they're worth nothing to people. I'm really glad I enjoyed them when I used all of it though, made lots of music and loads of great memories. When you buy gear, you best be looking at what it's worth to you now, and not the future, or definitely don't buy any mass produced digital gear


Eric
 
I think people don’t understand the difference between digital audio equipment (like the AX8) and computers or smartphones.

Software gets more complex and old hardware gets abandoned on the computer and phone industry. It is a fact that a 15 year old computer is worth nothing and doesn’t run any modern software. So, old hardware becomes useless.

But audio gear and DSP doesn’t work that way. You can still sell a 20-30 year old TC Electronic 2290 digital delay rack unit for around $1500 and it still works and does exactly what it used to do 20-30 years ago.

You never see the same concerns on digital pedals like Eventide or Strymon stuff... And they also eventually get “obsolete”, and are worth less to resale, and get no updates whatsoever, but they still work the same way.

Of course technology evolves. Obviously the algorithms in the AxeFX 2 are more complex and realistic than an AxeFX 1 and they will be even better with the processing power of the AxeFX 3. But, there is a lot of AxeFX 1 users that are totally happy with their sound. They don’t get updates anymore, sure. But Eric Clapton never got any update on his Fender Tweet amps either, and they still sing :)

In summary: eventually the algorithms in the AxeFX 3 will be better and they will not be ported to the 2 or the AX8, fact. Eventually there will be an AX8 2, fact. One day Fractal will not be able to keep updating the AX8, also fact. But, as long as it is running, your AX8 will still sound as good as it does today for years to come...
 
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As long as the AX8 is the current floor model I'm sure it will continue to evolve. I believe it's only a matter of time before it is replaced with something newer with more power and scribble strips. Of course the announcement of the 3 goes to show that uninformed speculation is not worth the memory it takes up on the forum server.
 
At some point, some people here will have to buy into their own hype. That is, "Holy cow! The AX8 sounds awesome! Just like the real thing! Thanks Fractal for nailing it so perfectly!!"

Ironically, this statement is made, then the new firmware comes out, and: "Wow! It sounds even better! More real!" ...More real than the already "nailed it perfectly."

Now, fear of a new unit making the already "perfect, couldn't be better" tone of our AX8s obsolete is starting to creep in.

Either your AX8 sounds great and "nails it" or it falls short and the theoretical new unit will reveal these sonic shortfalls. And at some point in the future the newer model will make that AX8 sound inferior... :)

Thus, the psychological confusion of consumers dealing with computers. Newer is always better, faster, stronger. This isn't the case with traditional guitar gear and actually, the computer aspect is what I like the least about the AX8. Try looking at your AX8 as guitar gear, and not a computer. (Hard, I know. But try...) And this concern about newer units will be much smaller.
 
I think we are looking to be near the end of the AX8 and Axe FX XL unfortunately. Just speculating but that's my guess. They also know how much people want the seamless switching and more processing power in a floor unit so I expect a new AX8 etc is very close on the horizon. ALLLLL SPECULATING .
 
bsas said:
I think people don’t understand the difference between digital audio equipment (like the AX8) and computers or smartphones.

Software gets more complex and old hardware gets abandoned on the computer and phone industry. It is a fact that a 15 year old computer is worth nothing and doesn’t run any modern software. So, old hardware becomes useless.

But audio gear and DSP doesn’t work that way. You can still sell a 20-30 year old TC Electronic 2290 digital delay rack unit for around $1500 and it still works and does exactly what it used to do 20-30 years ago.

You never see the same concerns on digital pedals like Eventide or Strymon stuff... And they also eventually get “obsolete”, and are worth less to resale, and get no updates whatsoever, but they still work the same way.

Of course technology evolves. Obviously the algorithms in the AxeFX 2 are more complex and realistic than an AxeFX 1 and they will be even better with the processing power of the AxeFX 3. But, there is a lot of AxeFX 1 users that are totally happy with their sound. They don’t get updates anymore, sure. But Eric Clapton never got any update on his Fender Tweet amps either, and they still sing :)

In summary: eventually the algorithms in the AxeFX 3 will be better and they will not be ported to the 2 or the AX8, fact. Eventually there will be an AX8 2, fact. One day Fractal will not be able to keep updating the AX8, also fact. But, as long as it is running, your AX8 will still sound as good as it does today for years to come...
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You can't really cherry pick a specific piece of gear like a 2290 as representative for digital equipment as a whole though.

How much are decades worth of Zoom, Digitech et al., digital effects processors worth ? Next to nothing

Same with older modelers, what is an original POD worth ?

The AX8 is going to go down the same pathway, in 10-15 years it will still work, still sound good, but its going to be next to nothing because products are going to keep evolving.

The 2290 is an isolated case due to its rarity, famous artist roster, and the "they don't build them like they used to" design of the circuit.

AX8 isn't going to be a 2290
 
Keg8605 said:
I think we are looking to be near the end of the AX8 and Axe FX XL unfortunately. Just speculating but that's my guess. They also know how much people want the seamless switching and more processing power in a floor unit so I expect a new AX8 etc is very close on the horizon. ALLLLL SPECULATING .
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Probably right. After all, the fine folks at FAS are running a business to make money. If they don't innovate and keep coming out with new stuff they die pretty quickly. Facts! Until then, my AX8 is my rig and I'm going to play this sucker into the ground!
 
lqdsnddist said:
You can't really cherry pick a specific piece of gear like a 2290 as representative for digital equipment as a whole though.

How much are decades worth of Zoom, Digitech et al., digital effects processors worth ? Next to nothing

Same with older modelers, what is an original POD worth ?

The AX8 is going to go down the same pathway, in 10-15 years it will still work, still sound good, but its going to be next to nothing because products are going to keep evolving.

The 2290 is an isolated case due to its rarity, famous artist roster, and the "they don't build them like they used to" design of the circuit.

AX8 isn't going to be a 2290
Click to expand...

Makes you wonder if 20-30 years down the road folks will find old AX8's and use them for a retro vibe like many artists today are doing with old gear.
 
lqdsnddist said:
You can't really cherry pick a specific piece of gear like a 2290 as representative for digital equipment as a whole though.

How much are decades worth of Zoom, Digitech et al., digital effects processors worth ? Next to nothing

Same with older modelers, what is an original POD worth ?

The AX8 is going to go down the same pathway, in 10-15 years it will still work, still sound good, but its going to be next to nothing because products are going to keep evolving.

The 2290 is an isolated case due to its rarity, famous artist roster, and the "they don't build them like they used to" design of the circuit.

AX8 isn't going to be a 2290
Click to expand...

My goal wasn’t to say that the AX8 would have the same mojo status of the 2290. My goal was to point out that it is a 20-30 year old DSP unit running a 20-30 year old algorithm and it still “sounds the same”.

I can care less if my AX8 will worth zero dollars in 10 years. If it still sounds good to me and still works, that is all that matters. This was my point.
 
I could still continue to check email, use MS Word etc on a Windows 95 computer, just like a 19” CRT tv will still let me watch the Super Bowl etc

Plenty of old products still work fine. I see no reason the ax8 won’t work and sound as good as it did today in 10 years.

However, I also expect a smart phone like device in 10 years will have more power than a axeIII does today, and we may have a $0.99 app capable of even better sound quality.

As a result, a product like the Ax8 wouldnt have much advantage, thus the price will be so low

Reason a 19” crt is worth like $10 these days is because you can get a 23” LCD for like $100. The “better” product is a cost effective alternative, and that is what is going to happen with modeling

It’s going to get better, and cheaper, and as a result older alternatives are going to lose value just like a Fractal ultra has

Does the Ultra sound good still? Sure, but when I can get a ax8 for $1100 or a mkII used for $1200, how much would I realistically want to pay for one these days ? Not much, even though it was once a $2000 product
 
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