XL+ Becoming Obsolete?

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Axe FX II sounds awesome. that's for sure. in the meanwhile I would like to know if our Axe FX IIs and AX8s will get more updates or 9.04 is the final firmware for them? That would be a crucial thing for me to decide on getting the 3.
 
Gigged the AX8 tonight. Sounded incredible. Love this magic box!
Ax8 is still the latest floorboard version, so maybe that will keep the ax8/axe-ii development branches alive.
Although a few people have asked if there is an ax8 replacement, and there have been no replies so far.
So many questions!
 
Gigged the AX8 tonight. Sounded incredible. Love this magic box!
i used my AX8 on Sunday. i've been using some other vocal-focused gear for a while, and coming back the AX8, wow it sounds SO good. even my gig partner was like "wow i forgot how good that thing sounds."

we are so lucky to have this gear available to us!
 
The Axe-Fx II did not just suddenly get worse-sounding.

I agree. But there will be a serious devaluation of the Axe fx 2 on the used market. It is always like that with digital gear. Just as with the Ultra or standard. A lot of people are going to sell their Axe fx 2. No doubt.
 
Obsolete: not a chance.

Yes, sales are going to happen. Good for everybody, more and more people can now get onboard with an affordable II, which is still state-of-the-art.

Drop in price is more of a consequence of Fractal's current pricing than the number of units becoming available on the 2nd hand market.
 
As long as you keep it and still use it it doesn’t become obsolete. But once you have an Axe 3 you probably will stop using the II and then it becomes obsolete and you sell it. Probably for not too much since new buyers also want the new one. So either keep your 2 and use like you did before or buy the 3 and take your loss.
Also updates will stop soon I think. Most manufacturers stop updating the old one when the new one is there.
 
As long as you keep it and still use it it doesn’t become obsolete. But once you have an Axe 3 you probably will stop using the II and then it becomes obsolete and you sell it. Probably for not too much since new buyers also want the new one. So either keep your 2 and use like you did before or buy the 3 and take your loss.
Also updates will stop soon I think. Most manufacturers stop updating the old one when the new one is there.

I don't intend to ditch my XL+ in the coming years.
It sounds amazing and I can always try new IRs for diversity.
 
The Axe-Fx 2 will still be relevant for years unless someone comes up with much more advanced modeling, which I don't see even Fractal doing soon.

Now is probably the best time for those who don't own an Axe-Fx to buy one. Those who recently bought a XL+ are the ones taking the biggest hit. I have a MK I that has paid for itself over all these years and I fully expect it's the first one that is EOL in terms of firmware updates as it is starting to hit firmware space limits like the Standard/Ultra did. The XL models should fare a bit further. Depends entirely if Fractal is willing to continue investing in adding any new modeling developments to those considering the architecture of the 3 is different.

So either your Axe-Fx 2 is feature complete or it might get some future updates still. In any case it will continue to sound as good as it does today.

I do hope that Axe-Edit keeps getting updated and being compatible with the Axe-Fx 2 though!
 
It's all speculation at this point, but the way I remember it was that development on the standard/ultra was ended because of a lack of space for more code, not because there was a new product.
When speaking to Fractal customer service yesterday they confirmed this but had very little to add on timing of how long updates on the II would occur for.
 
My prediction is that the II's will receive updates as long as the AX-8 does because they share the same codebase. A ton of people are using the AX-8's and I don't see those being discontinued anytime soon (but what do I know?) so I think we're good for the near future update-wise. I think there's also a chance that they keep selling the XL+'s as a mid-range Axe-FX product, but I also base that on absolutely nothing. :D
 
I'm sure that from this point forward, the III will get the lion's share of development time and resources - and rightfully so. That said, it's been stated several times that there's plenty of "room" left in the XL/XL+ for additions, updates, etc. I don't think we're at EOL on the XL series yet but we most likely won't see the frequency of updates that we've grown accustomed to. Either way, it's still a damn fine piece of equipment!
 
I agree. I remember when the original AxeFx came out, everybody was just touching themselves in excitement because it was such a peerless revolutionary product. Granted, it has improved over the years, but it's still heads above most stuff out there.

No need to get all butthurt over a new unit. Yes, it's better, but I think we're reaching a point of diminishing returns, sound-wise. Smaller increments in sound improvement are giving way to greater improvements in connectivity and configurability.
 
The Axe-Fx 2 will still be relevant for years unless someone comes up with much more advanced modeling, which I don't see even Fractal doing soon.

Now is probably the best time for those who don't own an Axe-Fx to buy one. Those who recently bought a XL+ are the ones taking the biggest hit.
I disagree. The sale price is a substantial savings over the original price. So technically anyone buying a new XL+ now is getting a bargain. Kinda like buying last year's car model at the end of year clearance sale.
 
There is a solid argument for the following approach:

Save your money, relax, keep your AFX2 \ AX8 and enjoy. Appreciate the simple pleasure of consistent, great tone from your perfectly dialed-in presets. Appreciate NOT having to endlessly re-do them to keep up with ever changing firmware. Know that while others are reading, posting, updating, tweaking and re-tweaking, you will have more time to play guitar and make music. Realize that thousands of other players will still sound worse on the new platform, because getting great sounds out of the box is still much more about your own musical ear and ability than the tools, at this advanced level of toolsets.

There is also a solid argument to get the III and enjoy the ride!
 
Speaking only for myself (duh...) when I bought my XL+ last year I purchased a platform - one that allowed me entry into an online Community of intensely talented AND generous users who support one another in ways that still make me smile (yes, Yek et al - I’m talking about you...)

Gear is gear is gear - it’s the people behind it that make it what it is.

That said, I’d still appreciate a better Looper Block for the XL+
 
I disagree. The sale price is a substantial savings over the original price. So technically anyone buying a new XL+ now is getting a bargain. Kinda like buying last year's car model at the end of year clearance sale.
There is a difference though...when buying a car at the end of the year, you KNOW a new model is coming. The axe was listed as a sale, not a clearance. I bet that there are quite a few of us that would have waited to buy the III. Like many people have said, the XL+ is a solid piece of gear and with the price differential between it and the III it will still appeal to a large segment of people. Even though I don't come even close to pushing the limits of the axe II I'd still like to enjoy the ride with the III (especially due to the channels feature)...hopefully I won't take too bad of bath on selling my new XL+.
 
I bet that there are quite a few of us that would have waited to buy the III...

Too true. There are some among us (like me) who paid full-pop on 9/25/17, only to see a $100 price reduction 26 days later (which FAS Sales offered to soften with a $50 FAS credit - nice enough) and THEN another $500 (I think) White Christmas drop - and now the AxeFXIII for what I paid for my XL+ a mere 4 months ago. Not the first time during my 40+ years in Pro Audio that I’ve wound up with the short straw - more often than not when I didn’t have the backdoor connections to buy wholesale.

All in all, still a pretty painful financial hit - although the chances of me EVER needing more than an XL+ are remote. Then again...
 
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