The Fractal Thread

Jonathanthomas83

All a bit quiet on the Fractal front! Wonder what they’re cooking up for us!?!

DavusPG

Not fussed about more amps, cabs and effects, but more flexibility would be good. I'd quite like a few more control switches and things like the ability to assign channel changes to control switches etc

Jonathanthomas83

Good shout. I heard the other day that there’s no midi clock out capability. Kemper has that and it’s ideal for my needs. I wouldn’t begrudge an update with that functionality tbh.

Roland

They’ve asked for beta testers, which could suggest that there is a significant re-write in progress. The other times when things have gone quiet have been when there’s new hardware on its way.

Nerine

Had my FM9 a year next month. 

Still love it. It’s fantastic. 

That is all. 

Can’t wait to get my amp sold so I can get a stereo SS power amp and a couple of 1x12 cabs. Gonna be epic. 

Jonathanthomas83

Full fat Axe III v FM3? Anyone made the “downgrade” and missed anything? 

Nerine

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Full fat Axe III v FM3? Anyone made the “downgrade” and missed anything? 

I've never tried out the full fat Axe III, but I'm never left wanting with my FM9t. 

I'm not sure the same would apply with the FM3, though. I'd definitely miss the switching for a start, the dual amps are pretty integral to me, too. (I use a mixer block to switch between amps for seamless switching and it requires two amp blocks) 

I feel like the FM9 is in a good spot for features, value, power, switching etc.

Roland

Firmware 23 beta is out, and features hapless switching. I don’t normally upgrade until the bugs are caught, but I’m intrigued about what this does. So you know what I’m doing tonight.

mrkb

Roland said:

Firmware 23 beta is out, and features hapless switching. I don’t normally upgrade until the bugs are caught, but I’m intrigued about what this does. So you know what I’m doing tonight.

I’m good at hapless switching ! 

Roland

mrkb said:

Roland said:

… hapless switching…

I’m good at hapless switching ! 

Bloody spillchucker.

DavusPG

How did you find it @Roland ?

My presets are built around gapless switching (dual amps, scene controllers etc) so I'm quite looking forward to this one filtering down to the FM9.

I've never used songs/setlists but now that even preset changes are gapless this opens up new possibilities 

Roland

@DavusPG  Similar here. The only channel changes I make between scenes are switching settings on the same Amp type, or switching CAB for acoustic guitar simulation. In both cases I normally mute the guitar for a fraction of a second to avoid a sudden volume change. I still need to do that with gapless switching. 

I’ve experimented with modifiers to provide gradual transitions between scenes, albeit still in the sub second range. However I don’t like having amp settings hidden away in the modifier pages.

Nerine

Gotta say, I am really looking forward to the (hopefully) gapless switching arriving on the FM9. 

Currently my workaround is to have two amp blocks and switch between them with a mixer block. That’s seamless. 

I really want to start running dual amps together though, so if I can switch two amps seamlessly at the same time, I’m gonna be real chuffed. 

As a side note, still the best piece of musical gear I’ve bought. Epic thing. I play a lot more guitar because of it. I adore it. It just sounds so, so good and does so so much. Worth the money for sure. I would HATE to be without it, now. I used to laugh at the Fractal fanbois trying to justify their purchases when the original AxeFx came out because I could tell it apart from a mic’d amp in blind A/B clips pretty much all the time. Now? Not a chance. Anyone that says they can is lying, I think. 

guitarmangler

The new Joe satriani model sounds pretty amazing .

https://youtu.be/JpEJgR3EfiQ?si=lIQArhq-jTS47BFu

I might be seriously thinking about a fm9 turbo .

welshboyo

guitarmangler said:

The new Joe satriani model sounds pretty amazing .

https://youtu.be/JpEJgR3EfiQ?si=lIQArhq-jTS47BFu

I might be seriously thinking about a fm9 turbo .

Nerine said:

As a side note, still the best piece of musical gear I’ve bought. Epic thing. I play a lot more guitar because of it. I adore it. It just sounds so, so good and does so so much. Worth the money for sure. I would HATE to be without it, now. I used to laugh at the Fractal fanbois trying to justify their purchases when the original AxeFx came out because I could tell it apart from a mic’d amp in blind A/B clips pretty much all the time. Now? Not a chance. Anyone that says they can is lying, I think. 

@guitarmangler - doesn't it just!! Jon C's playing helps mind - very much reminds me of Dave Grissom's live tone from the Storyville album...(if you know it!!)

@Nerine - couldn't agree more - I'm playing better, not worrying about on-stage volume wars, not breaking my back carrying in valve behemoths up stairs and across car parks!! I couldn't go back to a real amp now - and that's a big statement for me to say in public :-)

DavusPG

I think it's so easy to get up and running on the Fractal (and I dare say other brands, but never tried them) gear now. 

I started using their stuff in 2015 and whilst there is a learning curve, it's got progressively easier to the point that you can have a great sound from scratch in about 30 seconds now, which as you say leaves more time for actually playing. 

Hope the gapless reaches the FM9 soon as it could completely change the way I approach gigs - same tones just a far simpler workflow

Nerine

So I think this clip sounds freaking mega: 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy0lkNDIwbR/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I’m so pleased with what I can get out of the FM9. Like, the Les Paul just sounds proper Les Paul-y with this. It’s epic in my opinion. 

Probs gonna start sharing the presets if people are keen. 

welshboyo

Yep sounds great mate @Nerine have you gone DynaCab or are you still soooooo last year with Legacy IR's 

I've just been playing around with that JS410 with everything at 4 - really opens up at volume

Nerine

welshboyo said:

Yep sounds great mate @Nerine have you gone DynaCab or are you still soooooo last year with Legacy IR's 

I've just been playing around with that JS410 with everything at 4 - really opens up at volume

This is DynaCab. Boogie and Friedman 4x12's if I recall - 57 on the Boogie, Ribbon on the Friedman, all being fed with a Deluxe Reverb lol.

DavusPG

Nerine said:

So I think this clip sounds freaking mega: 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy0lkNDIwbR/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I’m so pleased with what I can get out of the FM9. Like, the Les Paul just sounds proper Les Paul-y with this. It’s epic in my opinion. 

Probs gonna start sharing the presets if people are keen. 

Sounds great, I'm always curious to see how other people put their presets together