Fractal Audio Firmware Update Thread

[Gearzilla]

Very good point.
I think it says the companies really believe they are doing the best job they can, at least the honest ones, but there is always room for improvement.
What I post is from personal experience, knowledge, and the desire to share that knowledge with everyone and with an intention to push modelers to their fullest potential.

Well said.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I kind of struggle to match the real world top end+fizz of a Rectifier. I know a lot of people complain about that part of a Recto but thats such a distinctive part of their sound and something I love. I think the FAS Rectifiers sound great, but I seem to have to dig into more advanced parameters to get them sounding like my amp.

The Mark's sound great, but my main gripe is the experience of using them is pretty far removed from dialling in a real Mark amp.... they're just such a hands on amp and the FAS approach adds in more barriers than most.

Happy to make/share NAM models of my Rev G Rectifier loaded with a Mesa cab (OS or trad) to reference against if anyone feels confident in matching their behaviour.

I can see that on that Recto sizzle. I think the low end is crushing in the right ways; certainly.

I was tracking a sh!tty nu-metal riff last night using my Recto preset and I had to take a minute and laugh because it was giving me that "whoomph" you'd get from running up loud through a 412 on each single note as well the second pass where I doubled it up with that one finger drop-D goodness

As far as Marks go; you are right. But I again find myself feeling like I am on another level versus what I get just at stock and the level of closeness to my studio preamp, IIC+ on into VII experiences. Generally speaking at least? I am all for authentic GEQ slider tapers being implemented on the FAS Marks. 100%.

I think up to now, we have had a few types of arguments. You get the "more realer!" crew of people who have bought a FAS whatever and are emotionally tied to it. Then you have the same argument, but other side of the coin of this, where someone got their feelings hurt and mock this mentality. I think neither perspective is helpful to the advancement of modeling. We are now adding "who cares as long as it feels good to play" to this list and I think it does a HUGE disservice to the evolution of this sector of gear and is a dumb hill to die upon.

 

[Whizzinby]

I see both sides of it, but the Fractal brand is really built on modeling accuracy and its lack of compromise. Having authentic controls is very much on brand. Idealized controls just add a needless layer of subjectivity. FAS Originals are where we turn for idealized or improved models.

 

[OrganicZed]

Fidelity to the real amp is one of the primary goals of digital modeling. The closer we can get to having a digital copy of the real deal the better in my opinion. It isn't like you have to choose between easy to dial in and authentic; we can have both in the Fractal ecosystem. Between the deep editing parameters and the FAS models, there are a lot of ways for the end user to get an idealized version of a classic amp tone.

I've been really pleased to see the way that Fractal has responded to the detailed critiques offered by @James Freeman. Cliff obviously respects his knowledge and values his opinions. I am looking forward to the continuing improvements that will come down the line as he puts every feature under the microscope. Constructive criticism is good.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I see both sides of it, but the Fractal brand is really built on modeling accuracy and its lack of compromise. Having authentic controls is very much on brand. Idealized controls just add a needless layer of subjectivity. FAS Originals are where we turn for idealized or improved models.

If I didn't want accurate; I would have just got the Boss.








Oh. Wait.

 

[SwirlyMaple]

I was tracking a sh!tty nu-metal riff last night using my Recto preset and I had to take a minute and laugh because it was giving me that "whoomph"

Ah, but does it also wapoosh?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

sh!tty nu-metal riff

blasphemy! there is no such thing!

 

[JiveTurkey]

blasphemy! there is no such thing!

 

[la szum]

I can see that on that Recto sizzle. I think the low end is crushing in the right ways; certainly.

I was tracking a sh!tty nu-metal riff last night using my Recto preset and I had to take a minute and laugh because it was giving me that "whoomph" you'd get from running up loud through a 412 on each single note as well the second pass where I doubled it up with that one finger drop-D goodness

As far as Marks go; you are right. But I again find myself feeling like I am on another level versus what I get just at stock and the level of closeness to my studio preamp, IIC+ on into VII experiences. Generally speaking at least? I am all for authentic GEQ slider tapers being implemented on the FAS Marks. 100%.

I think up to now, we have had a few types of arguments. You get the "more realer!" crew of people who have bought a FAS whatever and are emotionally tied to it. Then you have the same argument, but other side of the coin of this, where someone got their feelings hurt and mock this mentality. I think neither perspective is helpful to the advancement of modeling. We are now adding "who cares as long as it feels good to play" to this list and I think it does a HUGE disservice to the evolution of this sector of gear and is a dumb hill to die upon.

I wasn't fully in this group until I read the last few pages of this thread.



I mean, isn't the end goal to make music and have fun and enjoy the process??

Dying on a dumbhill, again, because all hills are dumb (and a bit blessed!) when you die upon them.

I would bet more actual music is made by the dumbhill group than the overly analytical group who
is constantly pecking at the ground of modeling evolution looking for a tasty stone to help them
better digest their way to "progress," "accuracy," "authenticity," or "over-idealization."

You look back at the history of music and most musicians seem to have progressed based on trying
to get to the "feels good to play," and "sounds good to me" place. Many made the best music ever
with what would now be considered weak and inferior gear full of warts and complications. In essence,
I think the entire digital modeling movement is itself idealized at its core. Getting all the sounds (authentic
or not, accurate or not) is fucking insane in and of itself. Even as little as 30 years ago that would have
been an insane notion.

But we all picky motherfuckers around here.... who find fun and the feels good in being our picky little fits
and bouts of chronic hair-splitting. And if that is fun and feels good that's cool, too.

 

[la szum]

"Sounds and feels good" to me seems like the eternal litmus and standard that I suspect we all chase/live with/want.

If it doesn't we chase, tweak, evolve, buy, sell, flip, rinse, repeat.

There are just different levels of experience, and people have different tastes about what sounds and feels
good. Weaseling the subjectivity out of sonics just seems to me to be a fool's errand. Pretty confident it'll
never happen.

Authenticity or idealizing be damned!

 

[JiveTurkey]

My flip flops always stem from having some sort of "issue" during a gig. Combined with overthinking. so surprising

Racked III and GM levels not easily adjustable because on the floor and moreso because rack case is jam packed and FM9 and GM800 on a board is a battle ship? FM3 it is. Plus it lets me just leave the III in jam room and drool over it

Not making music is a big problem with me. Love gigging covers and the gear it provides but not riffing is a soul killer.

 

[SwirlyMaple]

Weaseling the subjectivity out of sonics just seems to me to be a fool's errand. Pretty confident it'll
never happen.

That’s precisely why we obsess over the objective accuracy of models vs. the real gear. It’s the one thing that actually can be measured and quantified

Many of us are actually just engineers and measurebaters, moonlighting as musicians, which provides an outlet for our engineering and measurebating

 

[la szum]

My flip flops always stem from having some sort of "issue" during a gig. Combined with overthinking. so surprising

Racked III and GM levels not easily adjustable because on the floor and moreso because rack case is jam packed and FM9 and GM800 on a board is a battle ship? FM3 it is. Plus it lets me just leave the III in jam room and drool over it

Not making music is a big problem with me. Love gigging covers and the gear it provides but not riffing is a soul killer.

I can totally see myself arriving at the place, too. III for the residence and studio, and then the
my Lil' Buddy for travel.

 

[la szum]

That’s precisely why we obsess over the objective accuracy of models vs. the real gear. It’s the one thing that actually can be measured and quantified

Many of us are actually just engineers and measurebaters, moonlighting as musicians, which provides an outlet for our engineering and measurebating

It's absolutely insane how much we as humans try to rob one another, and the world itself,
of any and all subjectivity. Even after Schrodinger Cat's, we all still be trying to kill it before the
box is opened, and we find out if we were successful, or not, in doing so.

 

[la szum]

And measurbating. My new favourite word.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I can totally see myself arriving at the place, too. III for the residence and studio, and then the
my Lil' Buddy for travel.

I had the III a long time ago. About right after it first dropped. I was nowhere near as impressed with it then as I am now. This thing is

 

[SwirlyMaple]

And measurbating. My new favourite word.

I can’t take credit for it. Saw it on other forums in the past many times

 

[la szum]

I had the III a long time ago. About right after it first dropped. I was nowhere near as impressed with it then as I am now. This thing is

I sometimes think we are not ready for certain gear at some points in our journey.... and then we are.

I've gone from loathe to love on a few pieces when revisited. Also from love to WTF was I thinking??

 

[metropolis_4]

I don't like Fractals Top Boost AC30 model either, something iffy about the Bass knob that turns everything to mud very quickly.
My only other reference is Helix.

I’m not a big fan of it either, but to be fair I don’t like most digital AC30 models. Vox AC30s were my go-to tube amps, but they never sound/feel right to me in digital models.

Also to be fair there is a ton of variation between different AC30 models, so maybe this is how the Fractal amp sounded. But there is something mushy and congested in the low mids that just doesn’t sound right to me

 

[metropolis_4]

If you loaded old presets try resetting the Amp block.

I noticed last night that my saved amp blocks from the blocks library didn't sound good. Resetting made a big difference.

Tried doing a full reset again, also tried creating a brand new preset from a blank slate. Same experience. It's weird, some amps seem improved to me, but others seem worse than I remember. Maybe it's my imagination, I don't know.

I would swear it sounds like the Vox models and a lot of the Fender models have the wrong bright cap value. They sound really dull and dark, and there is a push in the midrange that sounds clangy that I didn't hear before. Bumping up the bright cap values helps a lot. I hear the same thing in the Matchless models, and other 6V6 models like the /13 CJ11.

The 100w Plexi sounds much better to me, but the Plexi 50W High sounds a lot fizzier than it used to.

Also noticing the input gain seems hotter. I've never touched the input gain on a Fractal unit, and my pickups are fairly low output, but a lot of amp models sound/feel like I'm hitting them harder than I would expect. And they are breaking up much sooner on the gain control than I remember. With the input trim on 1.00 I have to turn down the Deluxe Reverb gain to 0.4 before I stop clipping it. I know DRs breakup early, but that seems extreme to me.

Not getting a warm fuzzy feeling about this new update at the moment...