Purchased a Axe Fx ii just befoer the iii came out.

Sorry if this has been posted, I'm sure it has before but I couldn't find it anywhere!

I purchased the Axe Fx ii XL at the end of Jan/ beginning of Feb and paid nearly 2k as I got the import charges completely wrong haha and paid more than I wanted to. I see now the iii has come out and I'm seeing the ii is cheaper to buy now. I haven't even sold the standard yet that I upgraded from.

Convince me I haven't made a terrible decision and why I shouldn't feel as gutted as I should do.. Or alternatively tell me why it absolutely is the wrong decision ever made and I should feel very, very bad about it.

Thanks,
Sam.
 
No need worry. Technology is speeding forward and sometimes we are not in "sync" with our updates or purchases.
XL is a great unit. You can enjoy for years I am sure.
And the AXE-FX III is not really "out". its currently slowly starting shipping in USA/Canada. Worldwide distributors hasn't got them yet. If you are not on waiting list and not in North America you are not likely to get a unit until May/June earliest (my own wild guess, could be massively wrong).
Dont look back, start playing and enjoying your XL
 
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I try to look at it from this perspective: as of January 2018, the XL and XL+ were the pinnacle of modeling. And I haven’t even scratched all the capabilities of my XL. The introduction of the III hasn’t made my XL any less amazing, and it still rivals nearly everything out there. Also, keep in mind all those out there who still do amazing things with their original standards, Ultras and Mk II.

Timing and buyers remorse can be painful. But if one is always waiting for the right time or price, they’ll be waiting forever. Enjoy your Axe and start making music.
 
You always have to look at what you replaced not what you could have had. Trying to keep pace with technological advances can be brutal. If you write a hit song with your XL you can buy all the III's you want :)
 
I've done a similar thing, having got a good deal on an XL+. I bought a used MFC-101 for a brilliant price. The XL+, with Quantum 9.04, is at the height of its development and maturity. The III's current status is right at the beginning of its journey, and sonically it is only marginally better than the XL+ (according to the man himself); of course, what it will eventually achieve will take time.

So the XL+ is a great piece of kit and will be the zenith of this generation's current modelling processors. This will give us time to really enjoy the XL+ until the time when the III really starts to surpass it and take advantage of its new processors, power, and capabilities.

Having said that, I'm on the waiting list for the III, but here in Europe it is going to take some time for it to arrive. In the mean-time, this will allow the early bugs to be tackled, Axe-Edit and new firmware for the III to be released, product reviews/videos to come out and (maybe) the new foot controllers. You can always decide to upgrade at a later time.
 
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Enjoy it. There are a TON of people who would give anything to have that unit , and can't afford it.
There are a TON of professionals who are still currently using this unit.
There are a TON of people who have this unit , and haven't even scratched the surface of the what it can do.
Overuse of the word TON , but you get my opinion. Enjoy it.
 
No problem - I had the same problem with buying the Ultra - only a few weeks the Axe II came out. At this time the sound of the Axe II wasn´t as good as today after many updates and developements, betafirmwares which have been tested from many users.
The Axe II (all types) ist the the state of Art Modeler with his Firmware 9.04 - so you can immediatly start with the best sound! Buy an few cab packs and don´t think what could have been if you´ve have waited longer.

There will be sure a lot of developments wih the III, so the best you can do is to wait till Axe III Mk II - so I do.
 
One positive with sticking with the II ( apart from the fact that is does and always will sound great ), is that at some point in the near future, the firmware updates will cease. The positive of this is that any work that you do on your presets will not be undone by the next firmware release - you can make marginal improvements to your presets and they will stay valid. I also suspect that the modeling improvements in the III will be not nearly as dramatic as those in the early days of the Ultra and II. So I can see a lot of benefit in having a II - it will serve you well for a long, long time.
 
I've had my Axe Fx II for almost 5 years now. As a home hobbyist, I don't use 75% of what it is capable of and am still blown away by the tones I can get every time I power it up. Sounds great, I'm very capable of tweaking to my liking, there are TONS of amazing presets out there, and the community is great.

I'm good!
 
Name one thing you ever bought that remains new forever. There was a day when an Apple IIc was state of the art. The XL is an awesome piece of gear. Enjoy it.
 
It's never a good feeling when a recent purchase is immediately devalued.

Play it, enjoy it, and consider if selling and buying a III is worthwhile. It might be for the long term.
 
If you can, I would sell/return the Axe Fx 2. The Axe Fx 2 was originally released in 2011 so stayed current with firmware updates for 7 years. An educated guess would therefore be that if you get an Axe Fx 3 now, you can keep it and get updates until about 2025.

Obviously the Axe Fx 2 will continue to sound as awesome today as it did when you bought it and 5 years from now. But the future is Axe Fx 3 and if you think you would want to update within the next 7 years or so anyway I would do it as soon as possible.
 
Axe FX 2 is a great piece of gear and it already sounds awesome. You can use it for a couple of years and eventually upgrade to 3. I know that I will take this route :)
 
Sorry if this has been posted, I'm sure it has before but I couldn't find it anywhere!

I purchased the Axe Fx ii XL at the end of Jan/ beginning of Feb and paid nearly 2k as I got the import charges completely wrong haha and paid more than I wanted to. I see now the iii has come out and I'm seeing the ii is cheaper to buy now. I haven't even sold the standard yet that I upgraded from.

Convince me I haven't made a terrible decision and why I shouldn't feel as gutted as I should do.. Or alternatively tell me why it absolutely is the wrong decision ever made and I should feel very, very bad about it.

Thanks,
Sam.


Don't sell your XL short; until less than three weeks ago, it was the most amazing preamp/effects processor to ever grace this planet. Its presence today is not diminished in the least by the release of the Axe III.
 
Sorry if this has been posted, I'm sure it has before but I couldn't find it anywhere!

I purchased the Axe Fx ii XL at the end of Jan/ beginning of Feb and paid nearly 2k as I got the import charges completely wrong haha and paid more than I wanted to. I see now the iii has come out and I'm seeing the ii is cheaper to buy now. I haven't even sold the standard yet that I upgraded from.

Convince me I haven't made a terrible decision and why I shouldn't feel as gutted as I should do.. Or alternatively tell me why it absolutely is the wrong decision ever made and I should feel very, very bad about it.

Thanks,
Sam.

I sold an AX8 to fund a purchase of an Axe2XL+ last November. I justified the purchase thinking well it IS the best modeler currently available and it should last me for several years. I don't understand why Fractal couldn't give the heads up that the model is likely to be discontinued within the next year but that's not their policy. But that's how it is. So you have a choice... try to return, sell and upgrade, sell and don't replace or just play it for a couple of years. In my case I sold the Axe2 and MFC quickly and got on the Axe3 waitlist. The consequences are that I will end up spending even more money and the foot controller may end up being an RJM. In the mean time I don't have any Fractal gear and I kind of miss it. The future is the Axe3.
 
The II sounds really, really good. Just enjoy it until you are ready to upgrade to the III. I have heard people getting amazing tones out of the original Axe Standard and the Ultra as recently as last week in March of 2018!. Fractal has taken modelling into the world of professional processors, and I think these units will always hold a certain base value and be useful. There are still guys out there using ancient setups like the old Digitech 2101 units and achieving darn good tones with them.

Full disclosure: I am on the wait list for the III. However, I am seriously thinking about running with my II for a year or two more.
 
It's just an economical mistake.
If I was you, I'd return the Axe and get my money back, then sell the Standard and with the sum of money, I'd buy the Axe 3.
If you are going to eventually upgrade anyway, there is no reason to wait...
 
Buy it 2 years from now. Right now the difference in the amp modeling is nothing you could pin point side by side.
 
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I actually did this intentionally, recently. I picked up an XL after being away from the Axe FX for a while, as some used prices went down after the III announcement. Didn't really need any of the advanced features in the III, and the tone/feel is more than good enough (in fact it is miles better than when I last used a II in 2015).

I will pick up a III in a few years once initial prices have gone down and the product has matured and it's using all that extra horsepower.
 
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