Fractal Audio Systems AM4 - Amp Modeler

[Boudoir Guitar]

Anyhow, talking about internal switches: It doesn't seem as if there's any manual assignment options for the internal switches on the AM4, correct?

Yeah, the footswitch options on this are fixed to what's described in the manual by design. I get it and agree with the design choice.

Also, if all you're wanting to do is turn on/off multiple things from a button press that is pretty straightforward to setup and not that complicated. I was talking more about adjusting numerical values of parameters -- I often change delay feedback/mix and overall output level somewhere near the end of a patch along with turning on a boost, for example.

 

[iaresee]

So, can you as well use an external switch to control literally *any number of operations* at once?

Not "any number" -- there's a limit on modifiers per-preset. I'm not near my gear so I can't tell you what it is, but someone else will come along with the number.

You have two ports on the back you can use for either control switch or potentiometers. And then you can bring in more via MIDI. Plus you have internal controllers you can assign to things.

 

[iaresee]

Fractal's modifier system is still unmatched IMO - is there any other guitar focused product that comes close?

None that I've come across.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Yeah, the footswitch options on this are fixed to what's described in the manual by design. I get it and agree with the design choice.

On one hand, I can understand how they've decided to keep things straightforward. But otoh, as these things are possible with external switches, there could as well be a kinda "manual configuration" mode as another option - as said, internal switches come with the huge advance of having an LED tied to them, something requiring extra power supplement and more expensive switches when using external ones.

Also, if all you're wanting to do is turn on/off multiple things from a button press that is pretty straightforward to setup and not that complicated.

That's basically all I ever wanted - but then, due to the block limitation, I would likely have to think about modifying individual parameters as well.

Fwiw, I just looked up the modifier section in the manual. From how I understand it, modifiers are only able to deal with absolute min/max values, correct? For my hypothetical use case, I'd likely prefer it "synth style" where typical modulations are only offsets from a base value.
Example: I might want to have a little bit more of reverb when pressing a switch. For that to happen, I'd have to set the min/max values. But that automatically seems to result in losing "overall" control of the reverb mix, right? Because whenever I pressed the switch, it'd always jump to the max/min values.

Btw, this is something that modeler makers could possibly adapt from synth land. In many many cases, relative modulations are way easier to handle than absolute controls. The only guitar amp sim I'm aware of allowing to do these kinda things would be NI's Guitar Rig - and that particular feature is excellent.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Not "any number" -- there's a limit on modifiers per-preset.

I'd likely never run into any such limits. So "any number" was more or less just meaning "a handful" or whatever.

 

[iaresee]

I'd likely never run into any such limits. So "any number" was more or less just meaning "a handful" or whatever.

It's somewhere between 10 and 24. That I know.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Fwiw, I just looked up the modifier section in the manual. From how I understand it, modifiers are only able to deal with absolute min/max values, correct? For my hypothetical use case, I'd likely prefer it "synth style" where typical modulations are only offsets from a base value.
Example: I might want to have a little bit more of reverb when pressing a switch. For that to happen, I'd have to set the min/max values. But that automatically seems to result in losing "overall" control of the reverb mix, right? Because whenever I pressed the switch, it'd always jump to the max/min values.

Yeah, so what you need to do at that point, and its a bit hard to override your brain to do it, is to go into the modifier and adjust the min/max values when you want to do a slight tweak of the parameter, rather than going to the parameter itself. Which has its pluses and minuses. I don't know of any modeler that has an "add 3.2 to whatever reverb mix is currently set at" as an option for any kinda footswitch control.