Fractal Audio Axe FX III....To get, or not to get?
For a while, I'd been planning to dump a huge load of cash and get myself a Fractal Audio Axe FX III for the studio. I had the Ultra version of the original, and it's not a stretch to say that it was an extremely inspiring piece, that changed the way I approached FX. The III is everything the Ultra was and a lot more.Now that I have the cash, though, I'm not so sure.See, I have a certain workflow that's developed since then, particularly with regards to my modular. I tend to work with simple FX while I'm writing, but then I almost always track dry to give myself the most options possible once I'm in the box. Does it make sense to buy a $3000 processor that's mostly going to just be bypassed anyway?Aside from the aforementioned workflow, also going against, obviously, is the price and all that Eurorack I could buy for that chunk of change. Or I could use it as the down payment on a Moog One. The opportunity cost of this thing is not to be sneazed at. Really, that's the biggest issue I see.In the yes column, we have to consider that I bypass my external FX because, for the most part, they are nowhere near as good as what I've got in the box. My outboard FX consist of a few Eurorack modules and an Elektron Octatrack (which I use mainly for it's FX and almost nothing else).Also for getting the axe FX is the fact it has enough inputs to process a lot of stuff at once, and I could (potentially) replace it as my mixer into the Mac. That's a bit far fetched, but not an impossible idea.Finally, the Ultra was such an expert mangler of audio, it was practically a synth in it's own right. You could feed it anything and, if patched up right, be totally surprised and delighted by what came out the other side.So that's my current dillema. Fortunately, I don't have *all* the cash collected yet, so I'm still waiting. If I happen to miss that 'introductory price' on their site, then I guess fate makes the decision for me. I'm about 60/40 in favor.What do you think?