Axe FX II XL

[Myshkin47]

Wow, who knew? Scott.........

http://www.fractalaudio.com/announcing-axe-fx-ii-xl.php

 

[Soothsayer]

Im on the list for an Axe II V2, I think I would rather have the XL. Thanks for posting.

 

[Spider-Man]

Since I don't use the MFC as my controller it looks like there's not a lot of interest to me - at least not enough to consider upgrading. The additional memory for more presets, IR's, and preset size sound like a good thing. I wonder if a memory upgrade is possible for existing units?

 

[Roodboy]

I'm curious if you need this version for the ultrares IR's.

 

[kmanick]

I'm curious if you need this version for the ultrares IR's.

god that would suck

 

[Spider-Man]

I'm curious if you need this version for the ultrares IR's.

I certainly hope not. IIRC, Cliff said they will use the same amount of memory as a "regular" IR.

Edit. Here's what he said on the Fractal forum:

"UltraRes cabinet modeling provides the frequency detail of a very long IR with little or no added processing power requirements."

Without going through the whole thread, he didn't say anything in the initial post about memory requirements.

 

[Strat O Matic]

Cool! Wonder if this will lower the price of the mark II....

 

[JubileeMan 2555]

I certainly hope not. IIRC, Cliff said they will use the same amount of memory as a "regular" IR.

My personal concern, is that after working on the Ultra Res, his initial estimates were close, but in practice, it was pushing the limits of the Axe and was making the unit unstable.

He hasn't posted anything since that original thread about "What he was working on" last year and if I'm allowed to speculate, he realized he was going to have to build in a beefed up memory version of the Axe to accomidate the new tech.

 

[LqdSndDist]

$2999 est list price....ouch

 

[Spider-Man]

My personal concern, is that after working on the Ultra Res, his initial estimates were close, but in practice, it was pushing the limits of the Axe and was making the unit unstable.

He hasn't posted anything since that original thread about "What he was working on" last year and if I'm allowed to speculate, he realized he was going to have to build in a beefed up memory version of the Axe to accomidate the new tech.

I'm betting you are right.

 

[wynsmth]

I'm curious if you need this version for the ultrares IR's.

NO, according to M@.

 

[JubileeMan 2555]

NO, according to M@.

You are right! Thats why i love Fractal as a company so much. They respond to concerns in real time on their forums.

M@ at Fractalforum.com:

Answers to some question asked above:

Does this mean that only the Axe-Fx II XL will have UltraRes IR capabilities?
No. The difference is in how many you can store onboard.

Does this mean that the PEQ, GEQ and PAN/TREM blocks on the non XL Axe II will eat up more preset memory than today?.
No.

Can an older Axe II be upgraded with one of these & maybe the new "Secret Sauce III” instrument input?
No, upgrading would require a whole new chassis and motherboard and be cost prohibitive.

 

[bluesdoc]

$2999 est list price....ouch

Like a nice high end amp.....

jon

 

[wcfields]

$2999 est list price....ouch

That's list....direct price will be lower..

 

[speedyone]

Three grand? Yikes. Kemper for me for over a grand less...when I win the lottery!

 

[deathbyguitar]

I remember seeing a video interview with Clif over a year ago that talked about wanting to expand the company and make a product at a lower pricepoint than the Axe-FX II. So much for that!

 

[Willowdale]

I remember seeing a video interview with Cliff over a year ago that talked about wanting to expand the company and make a product at a lower pricepoint than the Axe-FX II. So much for that!

There are other products coming from Fractal this year..........This is just an optional upgrade to their flagship, but not significant enough to be called an Axe III

 

[jeff5x0]

As someone who knows very little about the Axe Fx, can someone explain the differences. I didnt realize there was a Mark I and a Mark II. Now there is a Mark XL. Im genuinely interested to what all of the differences are.

 

[BCnSTL]

So there is strong enough consumer demand for an EVEN HIGHER end modeler but not enough for ..oh, I don't know...a floor-based AxeFX unit?

I'm sure Cliff knows what he's doing but this has me puzzled.

 

[Digital Igloo]

As someone who knows very little about the Axe Fx, can someone explain the differences. I didnt realize there was a Mark I and a Mark II. Now there is a Mark XL. Im genuinely interested to what all of the differences are.

From the site:

• Built-in FASLINK™ port for connection to MFC-101 Mark III over conventional XLR cables.
• Dedicated MIDI IN, OUT, and THRU jacks (vs. shared OUT/THRU in the Mark II).
• Two onboard PEDAL jacks (vs. one in the Mark II).
• Primary VALUE entry via optical encoder with a lifespan of 1,000,000+ rotations.
• “Secret Sauce III” instrument input features an even lower noise floor.
• 128 Mb of non-volatile Super-FLASH memory allows for storage of up to 512 presets and 512 user cabinets with copious reserves for future expansion.
• Double-capacity preset size allows for expanded functionality including X/Y switching on more blocks and more instances of effects.
• Built-in backup firmware allows recovery in the event of complications during update.
• Backward compatibility with Axe-Fx II Mark I/II presets via Axe-Edit software.