When Jay posted that comparison between Axe I & II and nobody could guess which was which, I thought Cliff wouldn't like that.
Xavi, first off let me say that I agree with you. However, I strongly suspect Cliff did not appreciate it, but not necessary so much because of the truth behind it. Any time you post a single clip which causes people to infer (without actually stating such) "see, you can't tell the difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 on this clip, therefore there is no difference" is just flat-out wrong unless you have sweeping measurements across all types of models and settings proving such. One clip doesn't prove jack to me except that you could get the same basic sound from two different sources. If I can get the same sound as a POD out of my Axe, does that make them somehow equal?
IMO, if you're a moderator on a specific company's forum, you should keep a tight lip about saying anything that paints the new product in a negative light unless it's to dispel flat-out hype and BS propagation, and I don't think that was the case here. I've often felt that Jay had a "I can get any sound I want from my Axe-Fx Standard using firmware 3.15, and it's your problem if you can't." I personally did not find this helpful at all.
Personally, I don't have Jay's level of underlying knowledge, much less the fancy speakers, so it's flat-out impossible for me to get the same end-result from my setup as he does. However, I am completely digging the Axe-Fx II, and *I* can get tones and feel out of it that *I* couldn't get out of my Axe-Fx I. Does it mean that it's impossible to get the same tones out of the Axe-Fx I? Who really cares?
Again, this is neither a "for him" or "against him" thread, just pointing out that I did take umbrage with that comparison thread for the reason that it seemed to make light of the new Gen II technology as if it were mostly fluff and packaging. I think what it did highlight was how awesome the Gen 1 product was, and still is, and that people shouldn't knee-jerk to buy the new product as if it's going to turn off their "suck" knob.