solo-act
Fractal Fanatic
Revised a couple things....
The Ultra lost hundreds in value overnight and users are pissed. Nothing wrong with being pissed off. I read through quite a few complaints and never felt the need to say anything.
But with users talking about suing Fractal, endless posts and multiple threads laying the blame at Cliffs feet for the overnight loss in the value of their Ultra, I've come with my rebuttal.
Those complaining have yet to admit they did not know or did not consider the following facts when buying their Ultras:
---------------------------------------
Cliff has never released a lesser version of his hardware
He outgrew the standard in ONE year
Based on that, he most likely outgrew the Ultra in less than TWO
Historically, Cliff has been hell-bent on nailing the math of amps, something which doesn't easily squeeze into hardware, particularly old hardware
Outside of getting the MFC off the ground, he spends all his time coding for the Axe-FX (not the MFC, Axe-edit, or Atomic)
It's been THREE years since the Ultra was announced
So odds are he moved beyond the capabilities of the Ultra
Firmware updates went from flood to trickle, supporting Ultra was full, or new hardware, or both
--------------------------------------------------------
Those alone should've made new Ultra buyers pause, but it didn't.
Here's more to consider:
--------------------------------------------------------
EVERY time Cliff announced future hardware, people complained and even lambasted Fractal over production delays
So Fractal stopped talking about future hardware
If you're not going to talk about future hardware before it's released, you don't -- even if people call asking about it
-------------------------------------------------------
Based on that, and considering current axe-fx hardware was 3 years old, getting info on a future product most likely wasn't gonna happen
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
So, if you didn't think about any of that before you bought the Ultra, did it pop into your head when everyone started talking about the countdown?
-----------------------------------------------------
Let's think it through anyway and look at two consequences:
---------------------------------------------------
Announcing/talking about future products backfired, so talk of future products ceased, even when asked
Instead a countdown was created
If the countdown was for something big, and all the NEWEST hardware was "non-Cliff" hardware......
and the Cliff-specific hardware was the OLDEST hardware at 3 years old (Ultra)..........
and odds were Cliff had OUTGROWN that hardware........
and Fractal created a 10-day LEAD to let the world know something was coming......
Then -- despite how crazy it seemed, an Ultra-killer could no longer be dismissed, and the forum began talking about it
At that point, selling during countdown would've become a SERIOUS consideration
Consequences:
But what if it wasn't an Ultra-killer and you sold during countdown? At worst you'd be axe-less but values would stay the same, Fractal would re-supply, and you'd just buy another
However....if it WAS an Ultra-killer, and you didn't sell yours during the countdown, then...not only would yours instantly lose value, it would be hard to sell quickly after the fact. And if you had to sell it to get the axe-fx II then you'd either take a huge loss now or a smaller loss after the smoke cleared...god knows how long that'd take!
------------------------------------------------
If you had all that info above at the moment of truth, which consequence would you pick?
If you had HALF that info above and decided to sit on the sidelines with your new Ultra, who you gonna blame?
Fractal for not pre-announcing a future product?
Fractal for telling you there's NOT a future product? (not the best approach if true)
Fractal for running down inventory?
Fractal for running down inventory without telling people something is coming to replace it?
Fractal for not offering a full refund on B-stock which I believe was non-refundable in the first place?
Fractal for not creating a trade-in program?
Fractal for not offering a compensation to recent buyers who's return window just closed?
Or yourself for not thinking this s**t through?
If you simply didn't know the info listed above, you have all the right in the world to freak out and be pissed. But at least try to remember how much Fractal's competition short-changes their customers before you start laying blame at Cliff's feet.
I remain faithful to Fractal not because they're perfect, far from it. I remain faithful because IMO, no company has a better modeling product -- and the one's that try to don't have Fractal's personal response to, and respect of, their customers.
Cliff doesn't suffer fools, but he and his Fractal crew BUST THEIR ASSES to listen and deliver based on their customers' needs and feedback.
How much do I respect that? My sig says it all.
The Ultra lost hundreds in value overnight and users are pissed. Nothing wrong with being pissed off. I read through quite a few complaints and never felt the need to say anything.
But with users talking about suing Fractal, endless posts and multiple threads laying the blame at Cliffs feet for the overnight loss in the value of their Ultra, I've come with my rebuttal.
Those complaining have yet to admit they did not know or did not consider the following facts when buying their Ultras:
---------------------------------------
Cliff has never released a lesser version of his hardware
He outgrew the standard in ONE year
Based on that, he most likely outgrew the Ultra in less than TWO
Historically, Cliff has been hell-bent on nailing the math of amps, something which doesn't easily squeeze into hardware, particularly old hardware
Outside of getting the MFC off the ground, he spends all his time coding for the Axe-FX (not the MFC, Axe-edit, or Atomic)
It's been THREE years since the Ultra was announced
So odds are he moved beyond the capabilities of the Ultra
Firmware updates went from flood to trickle, supporting Ultra was full, or new hardware, or both
--------------------------------------------------------
Those alone should've made new Ultra buyers pause, but it didn't.
Here's more to consider:
--------------------------------------------------------
EVERY time Cliff announced future hardware, people complained and even lambasted Fractal over production delays
So Fractal stopped talking about future hardware
If you're not going to talk about future hardware before it's released, you don't -- even if people call asking about it
-------------------------------------------------------
Based on that, and considering current axe-fx hardware was 3 years old, getting info on a future product most likely wasn't gonna happen
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
So, if you didn't think about any of that before you bought the Ultra, did it pop into your head when everyone started talking about the countdown?
-----------------------------------------------------
Let's think it through anyway and look at two consequences:
---------------------------------------------------
Announcing/talking about future products backfired, so talk of future products ceased, even when asked
Instead a countdown was created
If the countdown was for something big, and all the NEWEST hardware was "non-Cliff" hardware......
and the Cliff-specific hardware was the OLDEST hardware at 3 years old (Ultra)..........
and odds were Cliff had OUTGROWN that hardware........
and Fractal created a 10-day LEAD to let the world know something was coming......
Then -- despite how crazy it seemed, an Ultra-killer could no longer be dismissed, and the forum began talking about it
At that point, selling during countdown would've become a SERIOUS consideration
Consequences:
But what if it wasn't an Ultra-killer and you sold during countdown? At worst you'd be axe-less but values would stay the same, Fractal would re-supply, and you'd just buy another
However....if it WAS an Ultra-killer, and you didn't sell yours during the countdown, then...not only would yours instantly lose value, it would be hard to sell quickly after the fact. And if you had to sell it to get the axe-fx II then you'd either take a huge loss now or a smaller loss after the smoke cleared...god knows how long that'd take!
------------------------------------------------
If you had all that info above at the moment of truth, which consequence would you pick?
If you had HALF that info above and decided to sit on the sidelines with your new Ultra, who you gonna blame?
Fractal for not pre-announcing a future product?
Fractal for telling you there's NOT a future product? (not the best approach if true)
Fractal for running down inventory?
Fractal for running down inventory without telling people something is coming to replace it?
Fractal for not offering a full refund on B-stock which I believe was non-refundable in the first place?
Fractal for not creating a trade-in program?
Fractal for not offering a compensation to recent buyers who's return window just closed?
Or yourself for not thinking this s**t through?
If you simply didn't know the info listed above, you have all the right in the world to freak out and be pissed. But at least try to remember how much Fractal's competition short-changes their customers before you start laying blame at Cliff's feet.
I remain faithful to Fractal not because they're perfect, far from it. I remain faithful because IMO, no company has a better modeling product -- and the one's that try to don't have Fractal's personal response to, and respect of, their customers.
Cliff doesn't suffer fools, but he and his Fractal crew BUST THEIR ASSES to listen and deliver based on their customers' needs and feedback.
How much do I respect that? My sig says it all.
Last edited: