Is the Ultra for me??

ryanhathaway

New Member
Hi guys, Fractal noob here asking for some advice on my first unit.

Basically, i'm curious if a used axe fx ultra is still a worthwhile investment. I'll possibly be running it 4CM with a Laney Ironheart studio, but more realistically just the axe on it's own, and I have an interface to connect monitors/headphones to. I'm not really looking to run it through a cab - this is more a "downsize the rig and be able to play it both in the day and at night" type thing.

I've heard that the modelling on the axe 2 is obviously better, but that with impulses the ultra bridges that gap a bit? The 2 here in the uk also costs about £2000, even approaches that new, while an ultra can be regularly had for £800 - £900. I think the 2 is a bit out of my budget, and i'm considering used ultra and putting the extra money into Adam A7X or Yamaha HS8 monitors.

I also know about the AX8, but i'm not totally sold on having the brains of the whole thing on the floor. I mean, it's possible I might gig in the future with this, and I don't like the possibility of having beer or water spilled on an AX8, or getting cat hair and fluff etc on a £1500 unit at home. With the Ultra it's housed nicely in a rack, off the floor and protected.

I've also heard conflicting things about axe edit. luckily my interface has midi so i can connect axe to pc via that, but is the axe edit version for ultra stable? I'll still be able to dial in stuff visually without it going kaput?

For the most part, i'll be keeping things fairly simple - amp sim, impulse, couple of individual stompbox effects. I think the most complex patches will be stuff like Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time tone, with multiple FX going off at once, or some of the more ambient stuff you hear on youtube where it's literally just spacey delay things. Mostly i'll be playing 80s metal, 90s death metal, some modern tech death and 00's metalcore drop c stuff, and 8 strings ala Meshuggah.

I'll be controlling it with an uno equipped FCB1010.

Basically what my question boils down to is, if I get a used axe ultra, will i still be able to craft amazing tones with axe edit, use it with impules/4CM, map multiple fx to one midi button, and not risk running out of cpu on some of the more demanding stuff (I don't think this would be a huge issue as my POD could handle a SiT tone well enough)?

Also, if I run my Irt Studio DI into the Axe, then monitors into the Axe, and run the Axe in 4cm, will I get tube power through the monitors? Or is it sorta pointless and i'd be better off leaving the laney out of the equation altogether?

I know a lot of people might just say "get the axe 2", and if it wasn't 2 grand i'd agree, but I think that much money is a huge investment for me when I've not got any experience with prior Fractal products, so I have no idea if the axe is truly, 100% for me or not - I suspect it is, but i'd rather not drop 2 grand to test the waters.

Sorry for the long question but tl;dr - used axe ultra + impulses with tube poweramp, yay or nay?
 
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I picked up an Ultra for a lot of the same reasons you mention, and it worked really well. Investing in some Ownhammer or ML impulses and spending the time dialling in using the in depth settings really brings it to life too; I wouldn't even bother with the factory presets to start with. As a stand alone effects processor it's still an amazing unit too

Having said that, switching to the AX8 made a world of difference. The amp models are at an altogether different level and are so much easier to dial in, which helps work flow in a big way. If you're worried about it getting beer spilled on it, you could easily pick up a cheap midi controller for shows and put the AX8 in a safer space (or mount it in a rack drawer).

You can't lose either way; if you get the Ultra and end up loving it, you'll probably want to migrate to an Axe2 or AX8 down the track anyway.
 
That's sort of what i'm thinking, use the Ultra as a learning curve to find out if I like fractal stuff enough to plonk down the cash for a 2 in the future.

Trouble is here in the UK, we can't just nip down to the shops and try one out, and I don't know anyone who has either an ultra or a 2, so i'm just going off internet hype and youtube clips.

Way I figure it is enough people were raving about the ultra before the 2 came along, so it can't be obsolete just because a new shinier unit exists.
 
I owned a pair of Ultras for about 7 years and they served me well but last year I replaced them with an XL II+ and the difference was noticeable.

I think it's easier to get a good sound with the late test tech then with the Ultra. I'd rather have an AX-8 than an Ultra.
 
I mean I am tempted by the II don't get me wrong..but it's a huge, huge investment...as much as I say i'm trying to avoid having a cab in there, i'm definitely also considering Axe in 4CM with a Laney IRT studio as the poweramp and a 112 cab.

I'm sort of curious if this makes the divide between Axe Ultra and Axe II a little narrower. I mean I know the whole Super Duper HD 8000 odd Hi Res Cab thing in the Axe II is astounding....i'm just curious is a real, actual cab makes having that feature in the axe sort of pointless.
 
use the Ultra as a learning curve to find out if I like fractal stuff enough to plonk down the cash for a 2 in the future.

The Ultra is indeed still an amazing unit, but the experience and sound will be quite different from that of the Axe-Fx II. I'd suggest that it will be very difficult to assess the Axe-Fx II by playing with an Ultra. The concepts are the same, but the Ultra is a (wonderful) dinosaur in a sense. Its buggy editor sadly never left beta, its firmware was last updated many years ago, and the hardware is not really comparable (lacking the better display, Humbuster™, secret sauce III, lower noise floor, etc. etc. etc.). Several of those last options would weigh on your "4CM" plan.

What might make more sense, if you really want to "find out if [you] like fractal stuff" is to find some way to actually get an Axe-Fx II. Borrow one, or buy it with the option to return it. I think you'll probably be hooked, but if that's too much of a stretch, change over at that point to the Ultra if that's what fits your budget.

In other words, don't get a horse to help decide if you're going to like driving a car.
 
Hey I just switched over myself with a new to me Ultra. My original intent was 4cm into my mesa rig with tc gforce...but after a few practices at the jam hall I really patched to ultra into fx rtn of triple recto...no more gforce or rack shelf with pedals. The only thing I kept was my rack wah and wireless. The unit is great I'm going straight to foh out 1 and parallel out 2 no cab sim to amp for stage. Also using behringer fcb1010 with uno chip...it is very versatile for any route you choose.

I am a tweaker as I usually mod everything like my head has kt88 and a mix of pre amp tubes and pedals etc...but I'm good with the ultra tones....I can just imagine what the axe 2 would be. I am happy for now but would like to try the 2 and see if I go down the rabbit hole!
 
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