The Fractal Thread

paulmapp8306

sweepy said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

sweepy said:

And you manifested it perfectly, the PRS links in that Forum are mental, ppl with far too much money  

Ah, now I can’t piss take too much with that due to my love of PRS. I’m no dentist, but I do spend money I don’t have!

Guilty as charged too tbh but some of them have a wall of the posh models !!!!!

Do I qualify there?  AFX3,  PRS CU22, Tom Anderson Cobra-S, Patrick James Eggle Oz, Custom shop strat... not to mention about 20k of synths...

paulmapp8306

FarleyUK said:

Yeah, that's (IMO) the major downside with Fractal - front panel editing CAN be tricky and very finicky. I know there's a 3rd party iPad editor app, but TBH, it's expensive and doesn't work that well. I was thinking of just getting a second-hand windows tablet or something to run it from, as well as my IEM mix software.

while I tend to use the editor now - I have no issues editing on the AFX front panel - but then I ve used every AFX since the original standard in 2007 - and I only started to use the editor with the AFX3.  For the Standard, Ultra and AFX2 I had I soley programmed using the front panel.

Roland

paulmapp8306 said:

FarleyUK said:

… front panel editing CAN be tricky and very finick...

… and I only started to use the editor with the AFX3.  For the Standard, Ultra and AFX2 I had I soley programmed using the front panel.

Ditto. I still use the front panel for quick adjustments, or when I need to do something at a rehearsal or gig. A PC is useful for propagating changes across patches, or copying/pasting blocks.

thomasw88

In my drunken state last night I ordered a fm9 , ev1, and a couple of humbuster cables.  not entirely sure I thought this through.   I did have an fx8 a few years ago which I think I sold too soon as it did sound fantastic., but I struggled with getting it to sound as good in a band as it did at home.

Any good tutorials for someone who wants to use this fairly simply.  I don't want to spend hours tweaking knobs in the house and then get on a gig and hate the sound.    is this possible with the fm9 or do you have to deep dive ?

DavusPG

I also started on the FX8 (brilliant) and have since had an AX8, FX3 and now FM9 amd have regularly gigged with each model.  

Over the years I'd say Fractal gear has become progressively easier to get a good sound from with little more tweaking than you would with a physical amp and pedals.

Yes the deep dive options are there, but I don't think you need to go there to get great results. I only ever use the controls you'd find on the real world versions

My advice would be to start with the presets in the unit and either use one of those you like the sound of as the basis for your own preset, or download some of the ones that have been shared by the likes of Leon Todd, Brett Kingman, Cooper Carter, Jon Cordy and Marco Fanton. They're all gigging musicians (Cooper designs presets for the likes of Metallica, Def Leppard, Neill Schon etc) so many of the settings you need in a live setting will already be in there. They all also have tonnes of youtube tutorials to learn from. 

What I will say though is that you will need to tweak to your taste. I've tried hundreds of presets over the years and only a handful have suited me from the off, many of them however have easily been tailored to my taste and have also been a good means of learning how to do different things on the unit. 

To start with I'd recommend keeping the presets you build very simple, get them sounding really good at gig volume and then gradually add effects, alternative amp models etc. If you recreate The Edge's rig at home then chances are you'll have nothing but problems when you get to rehearsal!

IRs are a potential rabbit hole. I use one of Leon Todd's free ones (LT TV Mix 7) for pretty much everything and it works for me. I've dabbled with hundreds if not thousands of others in the past, and it can easily get frustrating and counter productive. 

Finally as with all digital gear, trust your ears - if it sounds good, then it is good. 

welshboyo

Bloody Brilliant advice from @DavusPG above, same here, had FX8, AX8, FM3 and now FM9 - easier than ever to get a good sound and as good as the Helix UI is it’s not as easy “out of the box” to get a useable sound (I’ve had Helix too!!). Certainly no need for Deep Dive shenanigans..

I use a very slightly tweaked (Hi Lo cuts and some of the delay mixes) of the factory preset MF Euro for gigs.

Nerine

thomasw88 said:

In my drunken state last night I ordered a fm9 , ev1, and a couple of humbuster cables.  not entirely sure I thought this through.   I did have an fx8 a few years ago which I think I sold too soon as it did sound fantastic., but I struggled with getting it to sound as good in a band as it did at home.

Any good tutorials for someone who wants to use this fairly simply.  I don't want to spend hours tweaking knobs in the house and then get on a gig and hate the sound.    is this possible with the fm9 or do you have to deep dive ?

It’s possible. But don’t expect to be happy with your tone at the first gig. You have to take it out a few times to make some mental notes of what needs adjusting. Usually it’s the IR you feed front of house with that requires the most tweaking. 

Once you get it dialled, though…

Very easy to make different presets based on your needs once you’ve got the core sound down. 

I’d say it took me a few weeks and about 5-10 gigs to be happy with it. I was very happy with it after that, though. 

Beexter

As has already been said,  you don't have to deep dive to get a great sound but the options are there if you want/ need them.
I'd highly recommend the Cooper Carter Masterclass- it's well worth the price of admission in my book and really helps to give a thorough understanding of the unit and it's capabilities.

Heartfeltdawn

thomasw88 said:

In my drunken state last night I ordered a fm9 , ev1, and a couple of humbuster cables.  not entirely sure I thought this through.  

Couldn't you have just nicked a traffic cone like everyone else? 

thomasw88

Heartfeltdawn said:

thomasw88 said:

In my drunken state last night I ordered a fm9 , ev1, and a couple of humbuster cables.  not entirely sure I thought this through.  

Couldn't you have just nicked a traffic cone like everyone else? 

Wife was driving so no chance to Slope off for a bit of traffic cone shenanigans.   It's clearly her fault.

Kebabkid

welshboyo said:

Bloody Brilliant advice from @DavusPG above, same here, had FX8, AX8, FM3 and now FM9 - easier than ever to get a good sound and as good as the Helix UI is it’s not as easy “out of the box” to get a useable sound (I’ve had Helix too!!). Certainly no need for Deep Dive shenanigans..

I use a very slightly tweaked (Hi Lo cuts and some of the delay mixes) of the factory preset MF Euro for gigs.

I wish I had the patience to work with modellers as I've had a Stomp, Stomp XL and Fractal's FM3 and the FX8 effects unit - it's my fault as I just don't read manuals, yet I've heard excellent sounds from these units and Wayne, as we have similar musical and sound tastes, your sounds are fantastic with the Fractal gear. Maybe one day

AndyJP

The turning point for me was hearing the sounds Mateo Mancuso is getting live from a modeller. Plus hearing him chat about modellers vs real amps inspired me.  It made me want to embrace it and be more open minded.   It also made me think about how bassist and keys players have adopted new technology.   So tried line 6 then fractal.

But.. I’ve not used one live yet!

thomasw88

Going to cancel my order. 
1. I don't have 2.2k to spend on this... 
2. I spent a shed load  last year on a badcat amp which I absolutely love , so getting something that models 100s of amps and probably won't sound as good as the bad cat doesn't really fly.
3. I'm fairly sure it would be option paralysis, and having been over @Nerine ; thread again about why he went back to amp it does reflect my experiences to date with modellers.

 

Jonathanthomas83

thomasw88 said:

Going to cancel my order. 
1. I don't have 2.2k to spend on this... 
2. I spent a shed load  last year on a badcat amp which I absolutely love , so getting something that models 100s of amps and probably won't sound as good as the bad cat doesn't really fly.
3. I'm fairly sure it would be option paralysis, and having been over @Nerine ; thread again about why he went back to amp it does reflect my experiences to date with modellers.

 

What Badcat amp do you have?

thomasw88

Jonathanthomas83 said:

thomasw88 said:

Going to cancel my order. 
1. I don't have 2.2k to spend on this... 
2. I spent a shed load  last year on a badcat amp which I absolutely love , so getting something that models 100s of amps and probably won't sound as good as the bad cat doesn't really fly.
3. I'm fairly sure it would be option paralysis, and having been over @Nerine ; thread again about why he went back to amp it does reflect my experiences to date with modellers.

 

What Badcat amp do you have?

Hotcat

Jonathanthomas83

Nice, I’d love to try one, one day! 

thomasw88

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Nice, I’d love to try one, one day! 

You should it's a fantastic amp.

sweepy

Interesting comparison

paulmapp8306

sweepy said:

Interesting comparison

Im not sure youtube comparisons have any validity any more TBH.  

Its got to the point generally, where they all SOUND good and in many cases can sound identical to a real amp - but its about how they FEEL to play the the interaction between amp and guitar which you cant show in a video.

when it comes to comparing different modellers - again, you can here the feel, and most can get close to each other on a pure sonic level - often its down to how you tweek them rather than how they sound as such.

These vids are fine for a demonstration of functionality - and a tough idea how they can sound, but that about it I feel. 

  

sweepy

My take on linking the video was that he uses both units and has for some time, and therefore has a little more validity than the usual Fsnboy ramblings
Having had both myself and currently using an FM9 I tend to agree with his overall observation