The Fractal Thread

WiresDreamDisasters

Freebird said:

I thought it was settled science that Kemper had better amps than Fractal?

Pretty much, yes.

welshboyo

Rumour has it that Fractal are working/looking at Ares Firmware for the AX-8...having problems probably to get it stable/useable, but it certainly means there's life in the old beast yet....

Freebird

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Freebird said:

I thought it was settled science that Kemper had better amps than Fractal?

Pretty much, yes.

I'm just asking because I like to keep up to date with the latest developments 

WiresDreamDisasters

Freebird said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Freebird said:

I thought it was settled science that Kemper had better amps than Fractal?

Pretty much, yes.

I'm just asking because I like to keep up to date with the latest developments 

I was just taking the piss

All the modeller fanbois say their particular brand is the best or more realistic or rawest, etc etc etc.

I figure just use what you want that gets the job done. Or be a gearslut like me and use it allllllllllll !!!!!

ToneControl

Freebird said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Freebird said:

I thought it was settled science that Kemper had better amps than Fractal?

Pretty much, yes.

I'm just asking because I like to keep up to date with the latest developments 

depends what you mean by "better"

Kemper aims to copy real world amps, and definitely does a good job, although I personally find the FX on it are mediocre

Fractal copies real world amps and also lets you create amps that don't really exist, it's possible one of these might sound "better" to someone

Jonathanthomas83

I think the argument is not "better", as such, but rather, the immediacy of being able to find the tone's in your head.

I think the nature of profiling allows you to find that sound quicker...although, the process of sludging through countless profiles is soul destroying.

Creating presets on a Fractal or Line 6 device is not as immediate. The reward could potentially be just as good, but that's subjective.

I personally have never found 3rd party presets that tick my boxes like a Profile does. So am left to create from scratch, which does take time. Then there's IR's...!

Jonathanthomas83

This is long lost...anyone still using these things? ;-)

It's gonna take an age to save to get all my gear back, so have recently been thinking that a quicker win would be to save for a Fractal unit.

I'm very attached to my amps though and just can't see it working out. I have noticed a difference in tone, for the better, in the Axe III demo's I've seen since I owned my Axe II.

DavusPG

Had an AX8 for a couple of years and then an AxeFX 3 since they came out and have never looked back. Gigged it regularly pre Covid too

I treat it as i would a physical rig and avoid deep diving into all the possible settings.  I tweak a little but only the basics. For my ears the tones are more than good enough, the effects are top notch and the options are ridiculous. I can now play 80% of a gig on one preset - if I had a board with that many effects etc it'd look like The Edge had turned up at the local!

It took me a while to get the EQ right for my guitar to sit in our mix how i like it and will admit that there was a time when I felt our other guitarist's valve amp had more punch, but not within a full band mix. 

I recently picked up a Redsound powered cab and that's been a game changer, very punchy and just sounds "right" It's bloody loud, but in the hope that we'll eventually be playing gigs again I mic'd it at our last rehearsal so that I could go through the PA with the rest of the band. Everyone commented on how good it sounded. I know micing a cab that's using IRs of a mic'd guitar cab sounds ludicrous, but it seemed to work. Next time I'll use output 2 on the Axe so I can do a proper A/B between going direct to the PA and the mic'd cab.

All in all the AxeFx is a keeper, and for me a total GAS killer - except for guitars of course cos you can never have too many of those!

TeleMaster

Just to add, I love the FM3. Bit complicated editing via the unit, but I'll get there. 

Roland

Jonathanthomas83 said:

This is long lost...anyone still using these things? 

Yes. For me it’s about the convenience: no heavy equipment to carry or valves to replace, and the workflow: no more tap dancing. The MFC floor pedal also drives our lighting computer. Apart from setting that up there’s been no deep diving.

I use five patches, one of which has an acoustic simulation. Could get it down to four. I play through the pa, so amp-in-the-room cabinet sounds aren't an issue. Just an FRFR powered speaker for acoustic coupling. Most of the time I use IEMs, so the speaker is for the guitar’s benefit rather than mine.

firepaulmusic

AX8 for the past 3 years, no issues, great tone. Just now transitioning to Kemper for a change. Redsound active cab is great, may try a power amp and guitar cab in the near future...

Jonathanthomas83

Necro bumping this one because I miss it and now I have a vested interest in it again.

I've got an Axe FX III arriving this week and am wondering what rituals and best practices you lot tend to perform when setting it up to get the most out of it? Is there anything I need to bear in mind?

I mean, I'm not completely new to this as I had one two years ago (almost to the date), but am also wondering how things may have moved on since then.

I'm particularly keen to learn the setlist feature and hear how the amps have improved.

Roland

I was at this point 15 months ago, but with several years’ experience of and Ultra and AxeFX II to work from. Some of what I learned was blogged - https://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/212278/axe-fx-iii-the-blog

What’s moved on?
1. With Ultra and AxeFX II I used the front panel most of the time. With the III there’s a lot more detail, and I find it easier to use AxeEdit. It allows me to copy and paste blocks between presets, and compare different settings. 

2. The amp models are much, much better.
3. Fractal have started providing complex delay and reverb models. If they haven’t done it already then they will eventually cover all of the Strymon models.
4. MIDI control works differently. I use it to drive our lighting.
5. FC-6 and FC-12 footpedals can be programmed from AxeEdit. If you’ve got one it’s worth spending a little time working out a pedal layout which works for you.
6. You can build your own block library. Find a set of Amp block settings which work for you, and save them in your library.
7. Video support. Cooper Carter and Leon Todd are well worth following. G66 have a good YouTube library of these and other videos.
8. The setlist feature is easy, and invaluable for live use. I no longer have to write preset numbers on my setlist, and remember which scenes I use for intro/verse/chorus/bridge etc. Cooper Carter has done a good video about it. 

Personally I’d begin by trying to emulate what you currently do with real world amps, cabs, and FX, using an amp and speaker combination that you currently own. That way you can distinguish between problems with set up parameters, with your monitoring, and with not understanding how to use the model of an amp type that you’ve never played. 

A lot of people say start with factory presets. Personally I avoided that because they included stuff which I didn’t have experience of. Instead I started with a blank preset, and copied into it an amp and speaker from a preset. At first that meant transcribing my own setting from my AxeFX II. Since then I’ve looked at factory presets for ideas, but always copied them into my own preset.

Hope that helps.

Jonathanthomas83

Roland said:

I was at this point 15 months ago, but with several years’ experience of and Ultra and AxeFX II to work from. Some of what I learned was blogged - https://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/212278/axe-fx-iii-the-blog

What’s moved on?
1. With Ultra and AxeFX II I used the front panel most of the time. With the III there’s a lot more detail, and I find it easier to use AxeEdit. It allows me to copy and paste blocks between presets, and compare different settings. 

2. The amp models are much, much better.
3. Fractal have started providing complex delay and reverb models. If they haven’t done it already then they will eventually cover all of the Strymon models.
4. MIDI control works differently. I use it to drive our lighting.
5. FC-6 and FC-12 footpedals can be programmed from AxeEdit. If you’ve got one it’s worth spending a little time working out a pedal layout which works for you.
6. You can build your own block library. Find a set of Amp block settings which work for you, and save them in your library.
7. Video support. Cooper Carter and Leon Todd are well worth following. G66 have a good YouTube library of these and other videos.
8. The setlist feature is easy, and invaluable for live use. I no longer have to write preset numbers on my setlist, and remember which scenes I use for intro/verse/chorus/bridge etc. Cooper Carter has done a good video about it. 

Personally I’d begin by trying to emulate what you currently do with real world amps, cabs, and FX, using an amp and speaker combination that you currently own. That way you can distinguish between problems with set up parameters, with your monitoring, and with not understanding how to use the model of an amp type that you’ve never played. 

A lot of people say start with factory presets. Personally I avoided that because they included stuff which I didn’t have experience of. Instead I started with a blank preset, and copied into it an amp and speaker from a preset. At first that meant transcribing my own setting from my AxeFX II. Since then I’ve looked at factory presets for ideas, but always copied them into my own preset.

Hope that helps.

I was absolutely hoping you'd chime in, @Roland, thank you! This is very helpful indeed! I didn't know about the block library thing, that's the kind of best practice advice, along with the copying the amp/cab into a fresh preset, that I was after. Superb!

mrkb

The block library has improved recently, you can now save individual channels as well as full blocks (ie all four channels together). So you could save your favourite Fender amp config and load that into an existing high gain amp block (or a factory preset) as the clean channel and still keeep the other three channels unchanged. It’s a great feature.

Jonathanthomas83

Just got it and I'm experiencing a bit of a blanket over the sound. Mainly trying the 800, Recto and SLO presets right now. I have built my own and am noodling to try and work out how to make it sound more alive.

Monitoring as an aggregate device and using my RME interface headophone out which is ultra reliable and always sounds great. The Fractal headphones sound muffled too.

FarleyUK

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Just got it and I'm experiencing a bit of a blanket over the sound. Mainly trying the 800, Recto and SLO presets right now. I have built my own and am noodling to try and work out how to make it sound more alive.

Monitoring as an aggregate device and using my RME interface headophone out which is ultra reliable and always sounds great. The Fractal headphones sound muffled too.

That doesn't sound right; maybe try a factory reset? Also try these vids:

Jonathanthomas83

FarleyUK said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Just got it and I'm experiencing a bit of a blanket over the sound. Mainly trying the 800, Recto and SLO presets right now. I have built my own and am noodling to try and work out how to make it sound more alive.

Monitoring as an aggregate device and using my RME interface headophone out which is ultra reliable and always sounds great. The Fractal headphones sound muffled too.

That doesn't sound right; maybe try a factory reset? Also try these vids:

Thank you @FarleyUK VERY much appreciated, mate! Will report back with my findings!

Nerine

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Just got it and I'm experiencing a bit of a blanket over the sound. Mainly trying the 800, Recto and SLO presets right now. I have built my own and am noodling to try and work out how to make it sound more alive.

Monitoring as an aggregate device and using my RME interface headophone out which is ultra reliable and always sounds great. The Fractal headphones sound muffled too.

Yeah, the 800 is one of the brightest amps in the thing! 

Did you buy it new or used? 

Perhaps there’s some global EQ been applied?? 

I’d factory reset it. 

Jonathanthomas83

Thank you @FarleyUK and @Nerine. I got this sorted a couple of weeks back thanks to your advice. Late in responding because I've been enjoying every minute of it. For now, it's the best thing I've bought in years. Done everything I've thrown at it. With ease, might I add. It sounds ridiculously good!

It's funny because I've owned two III's before and for the life of me, I couldn't get it to sound as good as this. No doubt there were factors at play, but it seems strange. Everything seems to have clicked this time around. Reminds me of how much I used to love my Axe FX II XL, I'd never have sold that if it weren't for the III announcement. They'll have to do some pretty groundbreaking stuff to warrant forking out for an Axe FX IV, I mean there's absolutely nothing left to desire with this unit as far as I'm concerned.

Honeymoon period goggles, no doubt, but I'm certainly happy a fortnight into owning it again.