Fractal Audio Systems AM4 - Amp Modeler

[HotRats]

Personally, I could actually play most gigs with just this. For pretty much all things I'm asked to play, I get around with 4 patches (clean-ish, dirt and lead variations of each), anything else is icing on the cake. But I do in fact want options to expand any given setup just a bit. And quite unfortunately, over the last number of years (yuck, it's in fact decades, getting older...) a freely placeable onboard loop has every single time been a part of that.
And fwiw, the fanboys may feel free to call me names as much as they want, couldn't care less: At €899, I actually expect such a loop to be there, no less, especially as most of the R&D has already been done and as the hardware framework at least sort of existed already, too.

Well, guess it's just not for me then.

I cleary understand you point and agree. We all have different needs and habits.
I'd rather buy a bigger unit (like an fm9) that does more than what I need insted of somenthing that needs a workaround to get the work done.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

View attachment 55452


it's the price on the site if you're in the UK ... > so about 800 or a bit over, if you factor in shipping on top.

789£ is 899€.
Then you have 3% customs and 19% vat on the cost plus shipping.

So buying in UK from Germany will be about 1140€

 

[bucephalus]

I mean, that isn't terrible really.

I think it seems a good deal compared to EU prices actually. That is with free shipping from UK depot so no import duty, and VAT included. So that's the full price delivered.

 

[bucephalus]

789£ is 899€.
Then you have 3% customs and 19% vat on the cost plus shipping.

So buying in UK from Germany will be about 1140€

No the £789 is the full cost for UK.

 

[- ★ - BROCKSTAR - ★ -]

Note: Whatever you put in the inserts doesn't get recorded when recording with the AM4.

"NOTE: The insert is fixed in hardware and cannot be repositioned or switched on/off. It applies only to the main outs and is not heard on USB, SPDIF, or headphones."

 

[laxu]

Last FM3 (non tubro, but with headphone jack) I saw in Finland sold for 790 euros.

The AM4 is 899 euros.

If I sold my FM3, most likely I'd have to pay for some difference. Not getting into that.

BUT if I was buying a unit now, it would certainly be the AM4. I just don't need more than what I understand it offers.

And I prefer the form factor to fm3.

With Finnish VAT, G66 sells AM4 at 945 euros. FM3 on the used market goes for about 800 euros all the time.

 

[HotRats]

Personally, I could actually play most gigs with just this. For pretty much all things I'm asked to play, I get around with 4 patches (clean-ish, dirt and lead variations of each), anything else is icing on the cake.

Forgot to address this.

In theory I can play any gig with this at the moment, since I use simple analog rig with 1 amp, 1 reverb, 1 delay, 2 modulations and 2 overdrives but I'd never spend 900€ for a digital device that can't cover future and more sofisticated needs, needs I already had in the past in my bands.

Anyway, as a standalone box I think is killer, given the well known fractal quality.
The EU price is hard to swallow, though.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

789£ is 899€.
Then you have 3% customs and 19% vat on the cost plus shipping.

So buying in UK from Germany will be about 1140€

We have our own g66 shop in the UK, so it's £789 inc. vat.

 

[yek]

So it doesn’t have all amp models?

Almost all of them. A couple of legacy ones are out, see here:

AM4 amp modeler - Fractal Audio Wiki

wiki.fractalaudio.com

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

I think it seems a good deal compared to EU prices actually. That is with free shipping from UK depot so no import duty, and VAT included. So that's the full price delivered.

ah, just checked and it does say free delivery... that's a bonus. =)

 

[Lysander]

how do you come to 756? Deducting the mandatory VAT?
Here in Hungary it’s 954€

...yes? f.ex. this makes the AM4 some 820€ where i live.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I'd rather buy a bigger unit (like an fm9) that does more than what I need insted of somenthing that needs a workaround to get the work done.

I usually run two kinda main setups since quite some time. One being the full deal and one being something that fits in pretty much anywhere, so I can go by train (or sometimes even fly, but that's gotten somewhat less during the last years). And for that latter setup, I usually have some means to expand it. The AM4 wouldn't fit in either scenario.
Which actually is at least kinda sad as I always sort of wished I could dip my toes into some Fractal modeling waters. But here we are, money well saved.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

The AM4 wouldn't fit in either scenario.

Why not?

 

[ejecta]

Put one of these in the loop of my Stadium and I have best of both worlds.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I usually run two kinda main setups since quite some time. One being the full deal and one being something that fits in pretty much anywhere, so I can go by train (or sometimes even fly, but that's gotten somewhat less during the last years). And for that latter setup, I usually have some means to expand it. The AM4 wouldn't fit in either scenario.
Which actually is at least kinda sad as I always kinda wished I could dip my toes into some Fractal modeling waters. But here we are, money well saved.

I’m just have an ideological objection to buying stuff at street price.
I wait til I get 20% below. Or better

I mean the US price is 605€ with today’s exchange. That’d be a no brainer.
20% upcharge for distributor and 27% tax make it harder to justify.

Which is a pain when the distributor is the dealer.
Was like this with Soldano X88 and Tone King Imperial pre.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Note: Whatever you put in the inserts doesn't get recorded when recording with the AM4.

"NOTE: The insert is fixed in hardware and cannot be repositioned or switched on/off. It applies only to the main outs and is not heard on USB, SPDIF, or headphones."

So it’s literally just to get your post fx to the same pair of outputs , but for live only? Odd choice.

 

[Mooselake]

This is pretty tempting for someone who hasn't ventured into the Fractal world yet. It fits the footprint for my over-the-summer rig (currently using a Pod Express). I'll have to see if I can scrape up another $700 bucks before next May, seeing as I just parted with enough to pick up a Stadium XL for my main at-home rig, and the Stadium isn't going anywhere. I'd planned on waiting to see if the Stadium family produced a Stomp variant over the next couple years, but patience is not always my strong suit.

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

Note: Whatever you put in the inserts doesn't get recorded when recording with the AM4.

"NOTE: The insert is fixed in hardware and cannot be repositioned or switched on/off. It applies only to the main outs and is not heard on USB, SPDIF, or headphones."

Thanks for the clarification! This together with no pitch shifting, no loop plus the EU price point means is quickly cooling my interest. If I need more stuff to run a small pedalboard with headphones it’s not for me.

It does look ideal for a lot of simpler use cases and I might have gotten one over a Helix LT a couple of years ago!

 

[Sascha Franck]

Why not?

I already said so: I've been using the loops of whatever modeling units to insert things since ages, be it just a dirt pedal, a preamp (in 4CM) or even some more complexed things (sometimes even with "sub-loops". Been doing so with the GT-10, Helix Floor, HX Stomp and now the GT-1000s (and very obviously with all loopswitcher setups I was using inbetween). Every single modeler in this kinda league would allow me doing so, the AM4 is not.

 

[yek]

So it’s literally just to get your post fx to the same pair of outputs , but for live only? Odd choice.

Quoting Cliff:

"The idea is you put your pre effects before the unit and your post effects (should you need any) in the insert. The outputs of the AM4 are balanced and designed to be sent directly to FOH and/or monitors. If you just put your post effects after the unit you would then need a DI to go to FOH."