State of the Union for FAS - what's next for Axe Fx and more

J

jm9239

Member
To the extent that they're able to talk about it, I'd love to hear from Cliff, or anyone in the know, about what's going on with FAS and what's next for the Axe Fx, etc.

I'm in the market for a new Axe Fx and controller, but to be honest, it's a tough time to pull the trigger on them given the current landscape. For example, the current iteration of the hardware has been out for quite a while. The TigerSHARC is hitting end of life. Competitors are releasing new products.

Taking these factors into consideration (particularly the TigerSHARC EOL) gives me a lot of pause because it feels like new product(s) should be right around the corner or even released yesterday. It's never a good time to buy technology given how fast things move, but if you keep waiting you'll never get anything and will miss out on what you could have done with the product. I know that. However, it just seems like FAS is due for something new and something big related to their flagship product. It could be Axe Fx III hardware, Axe Fx plugins, etc.

Cliff or others, can you comment at all? Give us some guidance or set our minds at ease, etc. Thanks in advance!
 
I cant see Cliff giving even a hint of the future plans. Thing is, even if my AX8 never saw another update there's plenty here to keep me happy for years. So in my eyes there's not a bad time to get on the Fractal bandwagon as you're guaranteed great tones. It just depends if being state of the art bothers you
 
From everything I've gathered the AX3 is still years away. Yes the chip is out of production but the prevailing theory is this will still enable many years of production before it becomes a problem. Unless you want an inferior product or want to sit on the sidelines for several years I would recommend pulling the trigger.
 
jm9239 said:
To the extent that they're able to talk about it, I'd love to hear from Cliff, or anyone in the know, about what's going on with FAS and what's next for the Axe Fx, etc.

I'm in the market for a new Axe Fx and controller, but to be honest, it's a tough time to pull the trigger on them given the current landscape. For example, the current iteration of the hardware has been out for quite a while. The TigerSHARC is hitting end of life. Competitors are releasing new products.

Taking these factors into consideration (particularly the TigerSHARC EOL) gives me a lot of pause because it feels like new product(s) should be right around the corner or even released yesterday. It's never a good time to buy technology given how fast things move, but if you keep waiting you'll never get anything and will miss out on what you could have done with the product. I know that. However, it just seems like FAS is due for something new and something big related to their flagship product. It could be Axe Fx III hardware, Axe Fx plugins, etc.

Cliff or others, can you comment at all? Give us some guidance or set our minds at ease, etc. Thanks in advance!
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I doubt any company will give away road map
I also would not be to concerned about tiger sharc I am sure they have a stockpile and I am sureCkiff already has thought ahead to find other options
 
All fair points. I don't need a road map per say; however, hearing a statement from Cliff like "the Axe Fx III is still years away" would certainly put my mind at ease. The same goes for a follow up to the MFC-101. If you look at just the timing gaps between product releases that would indicate that something new is close. Add in the EOL and it begs the question...
 
Jimmytwotimes said:
Ha ha - that being said- it is kind of an odd first post..
Tim Cook - can you tell us what new things Apple has in store for us??
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Apple has been releasing new iPhones (their flagship product) at about the same time interval. I don't think it'd be out of the realm of possibility for someone to ask Tim about what's going on with the iPhone if it was past due for a refresh, its key components were EOL and competitors were continuing to release new products. Do you ever listen to analyst conference calls? Questions like this get asked all the time and there are ways to give some guidance without presenting a product road map.
 
jm9239 said:
To the extent that they're able to talk about it, I'd love to hear from Cliff, or anyone in the know, about what's going on with FAS and what's next for the Axe Fx, etc.

I'm in the market for a new Axe Fx and controller, but to be honest, it's a tough time to pull the trigger on them given the current landscape. For example, the current iteration of the hardware has been out for quite a while. The TigerSHARC is hitting end of life. Competitors are releasing new products.

Taking these factors into consideration (particularly the TigerSHARC EOL) gives me a lot of pause because it feels like new product(s) should be right around the corner or even released yesterday. It's never a good time to buy technology given how fast things move, but if you keep waiting you'll never get anything and will miss out on what you could have done with the product. I know that. However, it just seems like FAS is due for something new and something big related to their flagship product. It could be Axe Fx III hardware, Axe Fx plugins, etc.

Cliff or others, can you comment at all? Give us some guidance or set our minds at ease, etc. Thanks in advance!
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search the forum. Cliff Address the Sharc thing in a post a while back
 
brokenvail said:
search the forum. Cliff Address the Sharc thing in a post a while back
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Yes, I've searched extensively and read that and other threads. However, it is still incredibly ambiguous and doesn't put my mind (and likely other potential buyers' minds) at ease given the landscape.
 
Being an owner of an Axe-Fx Ultra, I can tell you that I am happy with it and there are plenty of great tones in there. In addition, there is enough in the unit to keep anyone busy for years. The Axe-II is double the fun of the Ultra, so your best bet is just to get in now. I would have the II, but cannot afford one. If you have the cash get one now. Trust me, it's worth it.
 
Buy or, don't buy. You either want the best modeller available now or you don't. If you want certainty then don't buy. As far as tone emulation is concerned I think we have hit the singularity. The only potential improvements are in ease of use and additional facility. I won't be replacing my AFX ever.

...Apple provide (ambiguous) guidance because it is legally obligated to. It's as worthless as the 'analysts' it's fed to.
 
FWIW, this question gets asked constantly as I'm sure you're aware from your search. I'm not sure it is reasonable for FAS to post: Yep! Still no Axe3! Every month. At some point status updates on long range plans could tip their hand to their competitors the accuracy of the unit is monstrous now. As someone else noted the old units still rule, too. Buy based on current value. Tech will always move.
 
jm9239 said:
To the extent that they're able to talk about it, I'd love to hear from Cliff, or anyone in the know, about what's going on with FAS and what's next for the Axe Fx, etc.

I'm in the market for a new Axe Fx and controller, but to be honest, it's a tough time to pull the trigger on them given the current landscape. For example, the current iteration of the hardware has been out for quite a while. The TigerSHARC is hitting end of life. Competitors are releasing new products.

Taking these factors into consideration (particularly the TigerSHARC EOL) gives me a lot of pause because it feels like new product(s) should be right around the corner or even released yesterday. It's never a good time to buy technology given how fast things move, but if you keep waiting you'll never get anything and will miss out on what you could have done with the product. I know that. However, it just seems like FAS is due for something new and something big related to their flagship product. It could be Axe Fx III hardware, Axe Fx plugins, etc.

Cliff or others, can you comment at all? Give us some guidance or set our minds at ease, etc. Thanks in advance!
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What should the Axe FX III be able to do that the Axe FX II can't do?
Which recently released product could hold a candle to the Axe FX II in your opinion?
 
I remember trying to find similar info back when I bought my Ultra. The Axe II came out literally 4-5 months after haha. The Ultra was still awesome and I kept it for a year getting familiar with it then sold and upgraded to the Axe II. no regrets
 
I wouldn't worry about the hardware. Cliff continues to support upgrades for the Ultra which was released in 2008, so the current generation should be supported for many years to come. Also, the hardware seems to hold its value fairly well for a digital product. So you could wait a few years until the latest comes out, or buy now and enjoy it for a few years.
 
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