The Prusa XL Just Got WAY Better with INPUT SHAPING... But Is It Enough? 

I keep going back and forth between wishing I’d pre-ordered earlier and being glad that I didn’t.

I have my XL for two weeks now. I changed the nozzels for Bondtech CHT's. The printer came with the new alpha firmware installed. I did not have any stringing with PLA and very little with PETG. As the Bondtech CHT nozzels are capable of melting the plastic faster, I've set the printspeeds about 15% faster. The Bondtech CHT nozzels not only melt the filament faster, the have less ozing too.

Thanks for the updates Tylor I got my 5 colors XL few days ago and going to unpack and put it together this weekend.

I got an XL 5 Head and I can’t really say that it is worth the money yet. I am not disappointed that I bought one but I can’t say that it is an incredible bang-for-buck machine. However, if the support is as good as it was for my first Prusa Printer (Mk2) then it will eventually become and incredible printer.

Thank you for showing the changes and updates with this machine.

Excelent review as always, but I would love to see a video of the XL making the most of those toolheads. By this, I mean: * Printing with different nozzles, a large one for infill and a small one for perimeters and details. * Printing with different filaments... solubles / regular ones. * Combining rigid filaments with TPU to achieve more complex objects.

if I remember correct there is a port on the main board for an accelerometer... but nothing connected yet... have a look yourself ;)

I think PRUSA released the XL before it was ready, with that said, they have years off goodwill they have built with the community and I think they will make it right.

You could install a 0.4 mm nozle in one of the XL's heads and show differences in speed and print quality vs. the results with 0.6 mm nozle.

Also worth noting, the move to the prime tower before lowering Z during a tool change happens on the pre sliced benchy they provided but not if you slice prints yourself. I'm on alpha firmware and PS 2.7 and the behavior is still the same as it was.

Would be interesting to compare XL with 0.4 nozzle or bambu with 0.6 nozzle.

For that price should be enclosed.

your XL alpaca was 162g, and 142g for your X1 alpaca. the 20g isn't going to make up all of the time difference, but when you mix in the speedy toolhead changes, I think it starts to show its advantages. especially for people that sell a lot of prints, through much less wasted material. i think a video that people want to see is a large multi color print where we can really see the benefits of the XL. the XL wasn't built with speed as the primary feature, so doing a test that does test its strengths would be cool. like a side by side Timelapse of a large multi-color print on both printers

One thing to note about speed is that prusa actually cares about part functionality and strength. Its easy to critisize speed if you are making prototypes all the time and dont care about rigitity and the like. But prusa has experience with ACTUAL manufacturing - every single printer they have ever made is partially printed. They actually take the time to make strength checks and slow down the printer for strength and toughness purposes instead of pumping out crappy plastic garbage at the maximum speed.

good review. I am calibrating my new xl now and pray I didn't waste 2500$

So I had a late pre-order - I've had mine a few months. The nice thing is...how much has been ironed out. I don't worry that much about speed so I can't speak to that - but I can say, anecdotally, that my xl runs like a champ. It. Just. Works. I've been running it nearly non-stop. The 6.x firmware has all but totally remove vibration. The bottom line is this machine has a lot of advanced tech in it - and fully using it all correctly is taking some time to get right. But it's definitely moving forward. No regrets here.

The XL actually does have an onboard accelerometer for every toolhead, it's just not implemented in the aplha yet.

I'm still thinking about getting an XL. Im watching channels like yours to see how the issues are fixed. I think if I did get one I'd put 0.4mm nozzles on from the beginning. I think Prusa should provide this option when you order the XL without having to order the 0.4mm nozzles separately.

Good points Seams as a quality of life thou Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us :-)

I think I am finally ready to pay for my two head XL....thanks

Too bad XL wasn't mass tested with input shaping and things like resonance compensation were not even planned.

Nice deep dive. I really don’t car about speed. Speed has been a rabbit hole for Prusa

Day by day with each improvement I move closer to wanting one. Seems like a great compliment for my X1C.

Can you try some multicolour/filament prints on the XL (not just benchy), and see the differences in quality and time between the XL and the Bambu X1C? As you said, the biggest thing the XL has is the lightning fast tool changes, so I would love to see that be explored a bit more. In what scenarios is the XL's tool changing superior in time AND quality, and in what scenarios is the Bambu set up better. I saw in a different channel a guy with a 2 head XL, and he's doing TPU inside another material (forget if it was PLA or PETG), in order to make pressable buttons. Now that's not even possible in the AMS I think since it doesn't officially support TPU. What about using PETG as support for PLA, does that set up work well? Do the supports leave a nicer surface than normal same material supports on the XL? I know I can do that on the AMS, but it is just so slow with the filament swap, and since it is different material, you can't reduce the poop amount. Anyway, those are just some ideas to showcase what the XL might be better at.

I have the 2 tool version. I’ve been running nonstop for weeks now and tried the input shaping alpha for a couple days before switching back. I did see a significant time reduction in some prints, but I had issues with the GUI, errors during print starts, print pauses due to false errors and a couple long prints error out past the 90% point. That last one alone was enough for me to go back to the stable version, but I’m looking forward to the official update and the new features.

I hope the Prusa XL improves fast from here on, at least fast enough to remain relevant when more tool changers come to the market over the next few years. I was seriously thinking about an XL, and contemplating a twin tool head version that I could later upgrade to five. I love the approach Prusa have to upgrades over time, and to continuous product improvement. I think that's really the key advantage of a Prusa over other manufacturers. I'd buy a Mark 4 now, because it's been sorted and just works and has beautiful quality, but its build area is not large enough for what I need. But the XL is not yet at that point of reaching its performance potential. I have to say, I so want to support Prusa and see the XL succeed. They deserve it for their investment in open source, Prusa slicer, and their dedication to quality and innovation. But their product development speed is just not up there at the level people are starting to expect after Bambu Labs arrived on the scene. I watched this video after just having watched CNC Kitchen's interview of the Bambu Labs CEO, and he teased that the next generation 'X2' printers would be when they would launch a larger sized printer, but they wanted to wait until the printer was not only 'the same but larger' but had moved the product on to the next step... which makes me wonder if that "next step" will include tool changers... and whether by the time Prusa's XL is fully sorted, Bambu will have launched a tool changer XL competitor that's faster, cheaper, with fully sorted Prusa slicer derivative 'Bambu Multimaterial Slicer'? But the price point for two tool heads, when the machine isn't fully functioning after two years, has made me think twice. I'm currently thinking of getting a Qidi X Max 3 instead as a stop-gap printer, and waiting for a year or so to see what happens with the XL and whether any better alternatives arrive. I'm sure I can't be alone in taking this approach, given the Qidi and now SOVOL SV08 price points are so competitive. My worry for Prusa is that they just can't compete on price without moving to a mass production model like Bambu. I hope they find a way to accelerate their development work, because I would happily buy Prusa over alternatives if only their product development was faster and their launch products did what the marketing claims.

@YGK3D I would be great to get an update video on your Prusa XL with the .4 nozzle and all of the firmware updates. Would be interesting see what your thoughts on the current print quality.

to me it just proves how far prusa had their head in the sand for so many years riding off the reputation of being first and reliable, now they are starting to actually get some competition in reliable fast machines and they need to improve their speeds its just showing how much they are reacting and figuring it out and pushing stuff before its ready, just like they and prusa fans have critisized every other manufactuer for over the years with their heads up their a holes, you would think that prusa of all companies would be the ones to release a polished well tuned product that works and is reliable, but no instead they rush and push out crap before its ready to try to avoid looking bad by not having a competative printer on paper, they tarnish their reputation by instead having a printer that looks competitive on paper but in reality is a total s show, again just like every prusa fan has critisized every other manufacturer for all these years

Prusa default input slicer profiles are extremely conservative. All you have to do is modify some settings and then your print will finish just as fast as bambu lab. The Prusa XL/Mk4 with input shaping is just as fast as anything bambu lab when using apples to apples settings. I did an exact comparison the other day and the MK4 finishes exactly one min faster than the X1C using same settings. Im sick of people doing "prusa vs bambu lab" speed comparisons...when they don't even try to match slicer settings.

This is exciting to hear, though if I had one I would have likely given up already. I commend your patience

I canceled my 3 years preorder for the XL .. I will stick to my exsited MK3s for now ..

In regard to the stringing, how about doing some oozing tests with 2 little cones, finding a temperature at which there is no oozing on the filament in question. This might require turning down the fans, in order to maintain good layer adhesion, but it should also remove a large portion of the stringing.

When this works this will be a great machine

The XL with multicolor with its input shaping won't show its advantage doing a small benchy. Look at Joel Tellings recent post with the massive Clockspring3d multicolor print. But looking forward to the update to deal w stringing.

Correct me if im wrong, Bambu cant use multiple materials for a single print right?

When they fix the price, I'll consider this an option.

Honestly - Prusa is facing an uphill battle. It used to be that you sat through their backorders because you knew what you were getting at the end would be better than the competition. Now, they're charging a premium and making people wait for devices that perform less well than things that cost less than they do. They've been left somewhat behind. A friend of mine was one of the Prusa faithful. I've been telling him to get on the core-xy train for a long time, but as he produces items for sale he wanted to stay with Prusa as he trusted them. After getting backordered for over three months he gave up and bought an X1C and not looked back. I believe his Prusa mk IIIs are all being sold off relatively cheaply or repurposed into other things. I suspect the best way forward for them would be to concentrate on larger format / industrial printers and to more or less completely de-emphasise their consumer machines similar to Ultimaker.

The more I see about the new Prusa printers, the happier I am that I opted to go with a bambu lab printer. Smaller printers not shipping with input shaping, the input shaping that gets implemented later is default values and doesn't get changed per machine (which could be important through the life span of the machine), prusa seemingly not being fully transparent with implementation of input shaping on the XL, and them seemingly not shipping finished products. Like, most of these "new" features all seem like they should have been implemented AT LAUNCH. These machines feel like anyone that buys them has seemingly been enrolled in a large scale beta testing platform without their knowledge and at the cost of Prusa machines, that is simply unacceptable.

The print speed for multicolor prints for the Prusa XL can be several times shorter due to the amount of color purging needed. Its really quite drastic a 16 hour multicolor print on a Bambu can take 5 hours on the XL, thats where the XL shines along with the bigger print bed, so print speed with single coloris not the most important factor although Prusa does lag behind with regarss to print quality and speed...Surely bambu is working on something similar. That will be really dangerous for Prusa.

Great video. It's for that reason that I prefer custom 3d printers and I publish tutorials for them on my channel for nerds Like me 💪

Unfortunately I already sent mine back. I was getting hideous prints, especially if they were taller (like over 13cm) and had any kind of hole in the design. Then shortly after it was just completely unable to do a first layer, constantly running into it and peeling it up ruining prints using the exact same gcode and filament it had used before. And strangely the speed settings on the default profile for infill were INSANELY high and I didn't realize. Like this thing cannot do 230mm/s infill. It was leaving chunks all over the place. I really wanted to like this thing as it was my first prusa and I was excited to get another toolhead in the future, but it just wasn't worth 2 years and over 2000 dollars.

The XL doesn't need to be as fast as a Bambu for single color. My reason for wanting an XL is for multi color prints, which take forever on my Bambu X1C

Hey thanks for the vid! I'm on the ropes do I pay remainder of XL or wait and get a refund- honest opinion if the XL is worth the $ ? thanks!

Hi great video especially since many of the bigger channels seem to be under embargo or arent interested in the xl Quick question though: when you compared the print time between the bamboo and the xl is that with the same nozzle size and overall material volume? Would be interesting to see the print when the same amount of material is extruded in both models...

You should do a video on the dangers of dealing with Bambu from China vs European printers like Prusa. You do sound like you have a like for the Bambi printers and I hope you talk about their activities trying to do things with the Printables site.

Thanks for the videos on the XL. I had narrowed down my fdm printer choices to either the Prusa XL or the Bambu X1C. From what I see the XL isn't there yet and still lacking in a lot of areas; the base XL with one head cost is $1,999.00. The Bambu X1C seems to do more out of the box in regards to speed and quality than the XL and the cost is only $1,199.00, a savings difference of $800. I just can't see paying 2K for a printer that doesn't really set itself apart from others on the market. If its build size you need, Elegoo Nepture 4 max is on pre-order and the cost is less than $500, so maybe I need to look into that. Lots to consider until I pull the trigger.

I just paid for my 5 head XL. I still prefer the prusa printers ecosystem and customer service.

Do you prefer the Pursa XL or your Qidi XMAX ?

Nope. Not too little too late. Love my XL5

Given that Prusa is no longer constrained by an 8bit system, I wouldn't be surprised if they were working on a Klipper FW version for the XL, Mini, & MK4. At least I would hope that they would be working on it if they want to stay competitive. Just got my email for the XL5H today. Looking forward to seeing what it's capable of.

Excellent review. I want one but it seems prusa has bitten of more than they can chew here. These problems should never come at this price and have tarnished the reputation of prusa.

I have no problem with stringing on the XL. It seems that your nozzle seals are not optimal adjusted. They should only touch the nozzle as slightly as possible. When the force is to high, they do not work, because the faces of seal and nozzle are not parallel.

Thank god I canceled my order 2 years ago; I would be pissed that I would have received a printer that was not fully baked after 2 years of waiting. And see, they still need to work out a good portion of the issues even though they said delays were to provide better quality. And to add input shaping and pressure advance, which has been around for years. By the time this is a refined printer, they will be 3 years behind technology. Prusa has lost its way.

Stringing doesn't always mean moisture

This is an impressive show for the XL considering the size difference to the x1c. A larger printer will never be able to out-speed a smaller one. I.e. The banbu can't beat a voron zero.

Don't the run a printer before selling it?

You didn't really expect this machine to be as fast as an X1C, or even anywhere close, no? These are entirely different machines. Much larger build volume = heavier moving mass = slower. There is no "could have been" there. You want a super light gantry and super light toolhead? You're not getting a tool changer. Oozing is just a fact of life with tool changers. As an E3D Tool Changer owner, there are many "solutions" to the oozing problems, but none of them are perfect.

Great review. From what I can take away is that Bambu has overtaken Prusa in the technical and quality of printers and software

Technically, there is a way to pull ahead of Bambu. I was almost tempted to get the A1C for its MMU component, but according to some reviews it had issues. If Prusa were to develop a solid "Micro MMU" for the Prusa MINI that can do what the A1C's and beyond, that would prove they're not done for yet!

Amazing! I have read the blog post, how did you not mention “This turns the XL into the fastest and most efficient multi-material solution out there”?

Are you Canadian?

Im so tired of hearing the x1 carbon being compared just because its slightly "larger" than a typical form factor. The build volume is TOO SMALL still, and until theres a 300mm+ cubed printer, the prusa xl is the only option over like, a modified ender 5 plus, and unfortunately its not turning out to be significantly better. This was supposed to be the chosen one and its a huge let down. Im having vibes of what happened to makerbot and thats a shame cause the sum of its parts here should make it a winner. I hope they give this thing the support it deserves, but I guess Ill be waiting for a second generation..

Personally I think you can't compare Prusa XL with the Bambu X1/P1. Well, you can, but is the same as compare a rally car with a formula 1 car, both totaly different. Yes, the Bambu is faster when printing one color, but Prusa isnt build for speed, but for quality. And to be honest, you dont buy a XL with one toolhead. You take at least 2 toolheads. I'm still waiting on my XLLLLL. At the moment I'm using 3x X1C, 2x MK4 and 1x MINI+

I was in the pre order list for this printer. Then I saw Taylor’s video on the Troodon 2.0. Bought a 2.0, installed klipper on it and printed tons of stuff at 200mm sec in ABS to my delight. Cancelled my Xl order. Looking at these videos, it appears Taylor saved me a bunch of money and headache. I’m glad I stuck with the Troodon. I liked my previous Průša printers, love the ecosystem and helpful users. Bambu users turned me away from that printer for sure. Comparing this XL to a Bambu is wrong. The size of the printer really has a bearing on the speed. Gantry weight of the little Bambu is so much less than the much bigger XL. It’s like comparing Bambu speed to a Voron 0.1. But I get why it’s done, Bambu for some reason is perceived as the competition to the XL and Voron just never gets mentioned. Maybe because the comparison is for printers you pull out of the box and print with no manufacturing or little assembly involved. Then the Troodon 2.0 gets ignored in that argument being a fully assembled Voron with injection molded and metal parts. Either way, thanks to Taylor for putting me onto the Troodon 2.0, putting the time into the klipper printer.cfg, and therefore avoiding an XL purchase. And the Bambu community thank you for making me avoid you. I have zero doubt that Josef and his team will sort this out. However, it would be nice if it was shipped working well.

For the Bambu Lab vs Prusa XL speed comparison (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3AB5zlnQukE.html), make sure to change slicer settings so that the same amount of filament (in grams) is being printed by each printer. The +15% print time of the XL is partially due to the 7.5% more filament being extruded

Your claims about the speed difference is flawed. If you look at the weight difference between the two sliced models, you can see that the Bambu Lab slicing results in a lighter model ergo less material being printed, which results in less time to print the model. While the Prusa has to put down more material, which even if the printers would have the same print speed, has to take longer. This means you compare apples to pears instead of apples to apples. Secondly the estimated print time and actual print time is not necessarily a close match. If you would like to objectively compare print speed, you would need to set the slicer settings so that models are the same by weight and have the same wall thickness, infill patters, and infill density - and then while printing also measuring the actual print times with an stop watch.

If people are still waiting for the price to equal performance and features then don't hold your breath. The money spent on this product which should have never been released is shocking. they had plenty of time before it was released to get things right but failed . They would rather have the public be the beta testers. image if you purchased a car and an Apple product with that type of philosophy.

wow wtf you are totaly right though.. a 12 and 13 minute bonkers benchy.. thats not far off from my ender 3.. id expect way faster honestly.. kinda strange and dissapointing to hear from prusa.. i really hope they give ya somethin that makes it worth it.. an update or upgrade or somethin.. that is the VERY least they could do!

Prusa right now: Guys do us a favor and pay us $4,000 to be beta testers. It'll really save us a ton of money on internal testing. We gave away all of our technology and now people smarter than us are winning but if you pour money into us you'll help us continue doing that. Thanks.

be careful when comparing the X1C and the XL. The XL lamer is heavier and extruding more filament takes more time... the X1C is still faster with 115s/g compared to the 128s/g of the XL. But its not only due to different acceleration like you said.

The Bambu lab CEO has already said that their XL release will be a next gen printer so you can assume it will be a larger X1C with multi-tool support and be no more expensive than the Prusa XL. IMO, these problems you've had and the lack of features are kinda unacceptable in an expensive printer. Prusa has had too little competition and have been resting on their laurels for way too long so have to play catch up, and it doesn't seem to be going well.

about the only honest review at the start ..

When comparing speeds you have to look at the final volume of plastic.

So what you're saying is that the XL is going to be able to print almost as good as my old as shit Geeetech A10 lol in the next 12 months some time haha

For the price of this setup with the multiple horends you have a bambu X1 with ams and a voron...it's really beyond me how people can still choose prusa.

NGL, the tool changing is such an overkill feature - even considering all the other drawbacks. I'm just not ready yet to dump 4k into it, so I will stick with by X1C for now until some fancy printer with tool changing comes along. My dream printer has 5 toolheads, 3x 0.4mm nozzle with different colors / materials, 1x 0.2mm Nozzle, 1x 0.8mm nozzle for small / lange prints. That would make my life so much easier.

Still feels like a beta product. I cancelled my pre-order today :(

Its better but not good enough for the money it cost, you can have all the support in the world but if the printer at the price it is cant print perfectly whats the point, just because it says prusa big deal, prusa are falling behind and need to up there game which i know they can do they should not release product's that cant deliver with a promise that it will one day.

its still not worrh the price, 3d printed parts and no enclosure and still SLOW

Thx - canceling our XL order - Bambu too good

By the time they fix this thing Bambu will have their own toolchanger

I still don't get it. I have the 5 toolheads version, and I have printed pla, petg, and asa. No stringing at all and I live in FL with extreme humidity. Also I doubled the print speed from the provided speed profile, and noticed much faster print times with very little reduction in quality

Joseph's ego is bigger than most!!! so give it a couple of Model up grades. But don't hold your breath for too long on this xl .........LOL!!!

I'm so glad prusa is developing at a slow pace. In my mind this means they're not selling out, they're not expanding too quickly beyond their expertise and they don't have drastic changes as a company that put off half the fanbase.

Thank you for the video. On the topic of speed XL vs X1C, you stated the alpaca takes 4:49 on the Prusa va 4:32 in the X1C. Some have pointed out the difference in weight which is a valid point, but is this really a big of a deal? +17mins is not bad on a print that is almost 5h. I mean if it was a full hour or so I would say yeah that’s a problem. But what you didn’t ask is how strong are the prints? Too fast = poor mechanical properties. That is HUGE and just because is not important to you it doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. I print mechanical parts, not trinkets. On the other hand, have fun with Bambu labs selling your data to everyone and their mama. I need more intrusive apps like I need a random bill. Cloud machines are a deal breaker. Same with Glowforge or anything similar. The XL is getting there…. Let’s see how far they take it. Keep posting the videos.

Input shaper works by changing the acceleration curves, not current.

Bamboo=flashy sports car... Prusa=pickup truck I like trucks to get the job done, but others like the thrill of 0-60 in 3 seconds...Pick what you like best.

prusa fanboys coping HARD ONCE AGAIN 🤣🤣🤣 high school science project tier printer that is SLOW AF 🤣

"too little too late" bros got a 3000 plus dollar printer hes ready to give up on when i wont even give up on my 160 dollar ender neo v1 lmao with that being said if you give up, send er my way so i would have some content to start makin some videos lol

Thank you for your NON FAN BOY videos truely enjoy watching. (wish I had not dumped my shipping box)

It seems a lot of your issues are slicer settings. I think with a little more time and experience you’ll figure it out. You should note in your video that the Bambu and PRUSA are two completely different printers, but if you want to compare them that’s your choice, just know it exposes your inexperience comparing the two. Also tune into the 3D printing today podcast. They and many of us are way past prime towers and have figured out how to retract adequately up out of the melt zone.

Jesus, my makeshift Klipper corexy is printing better and faster than that XL.

Imo too little too late…..

If this printer was made by ANYBODY ELSE, it likely never would have gotten this much attention and fine-tuning, and probably would have been returned. PRUSA is good at making simple Cartesian bed-slingers and that's it. The XL is completely outside of their wheelhouse and it shows. Yes, it has tool changers, but the entire design is very obviously still half-baked. You can't release something like this at $4000 + shipping anymore and be successful.

I think you all got robbed

This was the most terrible printer I ever had. 1. Outdated software 2. No camera to monitor the print 3. Outdated hardware 4. 5 Toolhead Setup which does not print without an error. I tried it for 4 weeks and was not able to get the quality I knew from Bambulab. 5. No wiper for the hotends. Yes Prusa printers actually don’t wipe! This is an absolute joke and leaves a lot of mess on the print bed and the actually print itself. I had so many filament remainigs in the middle of my prints. 6. A missing wiper for the filaments is like driving a car without brakes. It’s embarrassing for Prusa sorry. 7. Comparing Prusa to Bambu printers is like a modern car against a horse wagon from the 18th century. I had to buy a Prusa printer before I understood how far ahead Bambu Printers are. Take any 300 dollar Bambu printer and it will outperform the Prusa XL flagship which costs thousands of dollars. My concern is that Prusa will be dead in the next 5 years. Which is very bad for competition. I could continue the list with 20 other showstopper for this printer. It’s just a very very bad printer. I was able to send mine back to Prusa based on the 60 days return policy. The only good point about this printer is the Prusa support. Those guys were awesome.

The Prusa XL sucks. Definitely *too little too LATE.*

Thanks for the video. Please, please stop doing that thing where your voice starts to rattle at the end of every sentence.

NGL kinda disappointed in Prusa. There is a such a need for a XL printer that can print like an X1 Carbon but doesnt sound like this is it.

It's too little too late. Dynamic input shaper is confirmed to not be planned right now. Plus bambu more than likely has an xl competitor in the works. This printer is over valued for what it is.