A thought came to me yesterday. Based on my guitar usage.
Is it time to sell my Axe Fx Ultra and Voodoo Labs Gcp pro and use the money to get the Axe 8.

Even less to carry. Better amp modelling and effects, more versatility
with scenes and XY function. and the Ultra is only going to go down in value.

If portability is important to you, then sure, go for it. But, I believe you'll lose some effects and I/O versatility. Anything you own will go down in value, so I wouldn't worry about that. If you want something that is definitely better than what you have, I'd consider an AxeFXII, which is still available and an excellent bargain.

I have AX8 and I can't love it more. I look at it every day and say, what a great invesment. I use it for everything.

The AX8 is a killer unit to be sure. It's the killer tone of the axe fx with the controller built in. It's a one piece rig that can run to front of house or in to amp. It's small enough to make is easy to carry to a jam session or a gig. If portability and ease of use is a factor, then yeah can't go wrong with ax8. The ultra is a very nice unit as well, but your back to having a rack and a floor unit to tote around and get power to.

Gabe has put countless hours on his ax8 and i"ve never heard anything but positive things. So yeah, if you wanna shrink your rig and keep your tone, great way to go
Todd

Cool, the AX8 does seem to be a fantastic gigging unit indeed!

Well it's annual bonus time of the year, so I've pulled the trigger and ordered the AX8.
This means that Fractal is probably about to announce the replacement based on the AxeIII

I'm looking forward to finding new improved tones and ways to control what I want to do.

The Axe Fx Ultra is still a great unit but I've not changed the presets I use in many years now and probably taking everything it can do for granted.

The Ax8 should arrive just as I have a week off work so I have plenty of time to work out how I want to use it

The AX8 is just an all around killer unit. It's got all the killer tones one could want, build in foot controller, etc. It really just means you have a backup AXE FX unit in your ultra. Having a backup is handy to be sure. If you are not gigging, it could always be used as a second rig setup,

Todd

The Ax8 arrived this afternoon.
First of all I was impressed by the size and build quality. It takes up less space than my Ground Control Pro and fits in my backpack.

Soundwise. Just WOW. The improvements of the amp modelling over the Ultra are impressive and the dynamic response to the guitar volume and picking really is something the Ultra never really had.
I bought Austin Buddy's Dream Rig patch bundle. So worth the $99 great gig useable patches. I'm going to have problems choosing .

Congrats PB! What are you using for amplification? I am curious as to how Gab uses his on stage as well. Straight into the board, I wonder?
I guess I am mainly wondering how it performs running into a guitar amp vs a PA and if using a guitar amp, would you disable any cab sim/IR?

Yeah I go straight into the PA, and then give evil looks to the sound guy if I can't here myself.
You'd get more of an amp in room feel using a power amp and cab with the cab disabled (You might have an option to disable the power amp too)

Right on PB, Thanks man. I had been using the FX8 for live stuff and it's been a great unit for that. I was considering getting the AX8 as well mainly because it's easier to record with. I can mic a cab and record with the FX8 that way but that limits me as to the times of day or night that I can record without bothering anyone.
I would probably consider using the AX8 live as well but I really don't want to have to spring for a power amp in addition to the AX8 and I don't want to be totally at the mercy of the sound man for my stage volume in the monitors by going straight into the PA.
So that's why I was wondering how a guitar amp on a clean channel might perform with the AX8.
Have you already transitioned to the AX8 for playing live or are you still setting it up?

Still setting it up. I'll be playing mandolin this weekend with it being St Patrick's Day, and then I'm off to the UK to see my parents. I started setting patches up based on the one's from Austin Buddy, but I'm probably going to be changing them again!