Fractal Audio Introduce Axe-Fx II XL

Fractal Audio Introduce Axe-Fx II XL -

Fractal Audio Systems, creators of industry-leading guitar amp modeling and effects technology, has announced its latest model, the Axe-Fx II XL, will be available for sale in March 2014. The Axe-Fx II XL has the same DSP and amp modeling capabilities as the Axe-Fx II Mark II, but offers expanded memory, new I/O ports, and other upgrades detailed below.

Specs:

• 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.
• The Axe-­Fx II XL will have a list price of $2999.95. (Direct Price TBA).

The Axe-­Fx II XL will be offered for sale alongside the Axe-­Fx II Mark II at Fractal's online store.