Make AT5 MAX better value for AT4 MAX users, please

[christopher.moyse]

In the AT4 era, I went for AT4 MAX and then added a number of packs, including the Fender Collections and Leslie. In the AT5 era, I have acquired AT5 SE and, as promised, I have a fully-functional AT5 rig with all of my AT4 gear available in it. So far so good. Then GAS strikes. I have several times got as far as putting AT5 MAX in my shopping basket, but then I look at the new gear that I will get with it and the gear that I already have by virtue of my AT4 era investments and decide not to proceed.

What would make me upgrade in an instant would be a pricing structure that reasonably reflects my earlier investment in the AT4 era. That is, something which recognises that I have already acquired a substantial part of the gear between AT5 SE and AT5 MAX and hence discounts the AT5 MAX price accordingly.

I can't be the only longer-term user who gets caught in this trap, so pretty please IK Multimedia!

[hwiho2002]

I'm actually in the same dilemma, have AT4 max, and about to switch to AT5. With the upgrade discount the standard AT5 is cheaper than the SE version, and I'll get to retain all of the gear from AT4 max.

From what I can gather I'd be missing the dimebag, brian may, hendrix, satriani, fender 2, and svt 2 packs, but I've tried those in AT4, and didn't care for them.

[christopher.moyse]

Interesting. It's a matter of taste and your style, of course, but I've found the Fender 2 pack to be very useful. And AT5 MAX provides a number of appealing amps and FX that aren't available any other way (AFAIK) other than to buy them as single items. Purchasing single items seems relatively expensive, but the total "missing items" for me doesn't make me enthusiastic about paying for the upgrade to MAX. And it just seems somehow unfair - if that's the right term - that someone with no investment whatsoever can get AT5 MAX for the same price that I'd pay for my "missing items"!

[mod redacted - unnecessary]

[huli50]

I was in the same boat. I purchased AT4 MAX and had a number of collections before AT5 launched. Once AT5 did hit the streets, I found that the single model gear in AT5 MAX (those not included in a brand collection) was the same as those I already owned. I only needed to upgrade to AT5 (standard, not max) to take advantage of the new amps, stomps, and racks that were brand new at the time. So I did that, filled in any more gear collections from various IK promotions over time, and now I have all AT gear being offered at the moment. I did not need to buy any more single model gear. So how much did that all cost? About the same as what AT5 MAX would have cost me being a current user. So, at least to me, the pricing for AT5 MAX was just about right. Your experience may be different than mine; I'm just offering a description of my upgrade path.

Also keep in mind, with Mesa 2 and the X-gear software pedals, you might not get all the AT gear available even with AT5 MAX. I'm not positive what's included nowadays.

[Peter_IK]

Exactly what is included is listed on the AmpliTube 5 page. There are PDFs with every piece of gear listed there.