Fractal Audio Systems AM4 - Amp Modeler

[GTR37]

Ditching the redundant enter/edit buttons is a pretty big step forward.

The USB C which I am happy to report seems to fix the “disconnected” from the edit i sometime had w FM9 and the printer cable

 

[laxu]

Ditching the redundant enter/edit buttons is a pretty big step forward.

For sure, but I hate that they chose that scroll dial instead. It's more annoying to turn something like that than spam a button a few times to cycle between mere 4 blocks, or cycle a row.

I really hope Fractal makes that "Amp mode" behavior a universal thing so you can use it on the VP4 and AM4 for effects as well.

To me the biggest hurdle with Fractal onboard UI has always been "getting to the thing you want to edit". By being able to press one of the footswitches to immediately get to the editing view of one of the blocks is a huge improvement in workflow speed. Then you don't have to do some Scroll - Enter - turn knobs - Exit - Scroll - Enter - turn knobs dance.

Scenario: "I want to tweak my overdrive, then I want to tweak my amp a bit to work with that overdrive. My preset is WAH - DRV - AMP - DLY"

If there was a "Edit mode" that applies to all fx blocks, this would become:

1. Press footswitch B for Drive.
2. Turn knobs
3. Press footswitch C for Amp.
4. Turn knobs
5. Scroll to 2nd row (less than ideal but what can you do)
6. Turn knobs
7. Press fooswitch B to go back to Drive
8. Turn knobs a little again.

That's pretty fast.

If Fractal were to combine that with the "hold to choose channel of currently selected effect" then that would make tweaking any block and channel pretty quick.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

For sure, but I hate that they chose that scroll dial instead. It's more annoying to turn something like that than spam a button a few times to cycle between mere 4 blocks, or cycle a row.

I really hope Fractal makes that "Amp mode" behavior a universal thing so you can use it on the VP4 and AM4 for effects as well.

To me the biggest hurdle with Fractal onboard UI has always been "getting to the thing you want to edit". By being able to press one of the footswitches to immediately get to the editing view of one of the blocks is a huge improvement in workflow speed. Then you don't have to do some Scroll - Enter - turn knobs - Exit - Scroll - Enter - turn knobs dance.

Scenario: "I want to tweak my overdrive, then I want to tweak my amp a bit to work with that overdrive. My preset is WAH - DRV - AMP - DLY"

If there was a "Edit mode" that applies to all fx blocks, this would become:

1. Press footswitch B for Drive.
2. Turn knobs
3. Press footswitch C for Amp.
4. Turn knobs
5. Scroll to 2nd row (less than ideal but what can you do)
6. Turn knobs
7. Press fooswitch B to go back to Drive
8. Turn knobs a little again.

That's pretty fast.

If Fractal were to combine that with the "hold to choose channel of currently selected effect" then that would make tweaking any block and channel pretty quick.

Meh, I don't think the intention here is necessarily gaining outright speed but making it easier to approach and intuitively use not just for the first time user, but for the user that spends a lot of time NOT editing, then after weeks returns to tweak some things and remember how to do that.

I love the AxeFx III most when I'm using it every day including going in and making small tweaks to things; or if I've got everything set up and don't have to touch it. I like it least when I've been away from it for even for just a couple of weeks and no I need to do some editing on it.

And to be fair, that's not just a Fractal thing. In Helix if I've been away for a minute and I have to do anything more than just add blocks to a series signal path and assign an on/off footswitch to blocks that need them, I'm having to think more than I'd like, too.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Okay thanks @yek and Brockstar (really hard to tag your weird formatting of your username!) for letting me cantankerously work through how I might use this thing. I while I would looooooooove to see the channel-toggle function added back as an option for the amp button in effects mode, once I started thinking "how can I use this switching" instead of "can this switching do what I want?" solutions came more easily:

(1). In terms of uses that have me wanting one-button-press access to amp channels and effects, I could definitely make that work using the two-button latching switch for effect bypass and keeping the AM4 in amp mode. the third block is most likely an always-on reverb

(2). In terms of times when I JUST want to use the AM4, while I generally hate using scenes, on a four-block device I can keep my head wrapped around it and accomplish everything I need in such a stripped down scenario in scenes.

 

[BROCKSTAR]

Brockstar (really hard to tag your weird formatting of your username!)

Ha I know. I don't know how to get it changed to BROCKSTAR again without the symbols lol.

 

[Vic Winters]

Here are the screens of Amp Block in Expert Edit Mode for those interested to know what can be tweaked in AM4. But it depends on the AMP.


View attachment 55766

Can you show the different GEQ options?

 

[BROCKSTAR]

Can you show the different GEQ options?

 

[paisleywookiee]

Ha I know. I don't know how to get it changed to BROCKSTAR again without the symbols lol.

I know a guy.

 

[BROCKSTAR]

I know a guy.

Apparently I did too, because it's done now lol

 

[laxu]

I know a guy.