Fractal Audio Systems AM4 - Amp Modeler

laxu said:
I would not be surprised if the next gen FMx products are similar in design to the AM4/VP4, just with a touchscreen, more footswitches, upgraded scribble strips and whatnot.
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michael fassbender perfection GIF
 
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
 
Orvillain said:
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
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Yeah totally, people just want everything in the new / small / refined unit, and for the lowest cost possible. FM3 exists, FM9 exists, Axe3 exists etc etc

If I hadn't accumulated all the gear I have today I'd probably grab the AM4 and be stoked to get "what I want" out of the Fractal gear in a small unit for a desktop. It fits a bunch of workflows like desktop users and pedalboard jenga. Heck its the same price as the KPP in the USA, wild.
 
Orvillain said:
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
Click to expand...
At least for me personally, AM4 could be my whole board :D But sure, I get the point.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I really think it is.
Another thing I'll add, is I don't get the impression Cliff feels he needs to "compete" in order to stay relevant. Like for example, I would not be surprised at all if he has not changed any of his business plans for the future because of the Stadium and all it entails.
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He does feel the need to say new gen fractal products will make stuff look like game boys, for processing power, so I don't know.

But they also seem to have had plans for a while now.

Having had Kemper for ages, I've seen birds talk about meltdowns on fractal forum when the toaster came out, apparently stuff that's been deleted?

So I'm sort of unsure.
 
Orvillain said:
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
Click to expand...
While I agree, I think there's also a lot of "Well, the FM3/VP4 can do it so maybe the AM4 can do it too" expectation and hopes for feature updates.

I was actually surprised the AM4 has anything more than amp/cab and maybe a room reverb for headphone use. But I guess with the form factor being larger..people would feel a bit left out if it didn't do more than say a Tonex.

I feel like what people truly want is a FM3 in the AM4/VP4 form factor. The biggest complaint I, and many people have about the FM3 is its lack of footswitches and its size/shape. There's less complaints like that about the FM9 because it offers a lot of switching capability, I/O and horsepower to make up for it.

Past that, people start wanting the modern usability found in say QC, TMP or Hotone. If I were to design a box like this, I'd take the Hotone Ampero 2 Stomp, put a slightly larger/different form factor touchscreen on it, add a 4th encoder under the screen and call it a day. It was IMO that close to spot on in terms of I/O, footswitching and form factor for the "compact, powerful enough" modeler category.
 
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deadpool_25 said:
“Aw, that’s cute.”
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Oh no, they don't get any leeway here. People asking for basic footswitch functionality 5 years into the lifecycle of "the world's most powerful floor modeler" is not the same thing as people asking for the FM9 guts in an AM4. If we're at the point of stating it's unreasonable to hold a company to their own word then we're so far off track it's time I bow out and hand my keys to this place to someone else because I don't want to see how much closer to the bottom of the barrel it can get.
 
Orvillain said:
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
Click to expand...
Stop being rational. There's no place for that on the interweb.
 
laxu said:
While I agree, I think there's also a lot of "Well, the FM3/VP4 can do it so maybe the AM4 can do it too" expectation and hopes for feature updates.

I was actually surprised the AM4 has anything more than amp/cab and maybe a room reverb for headphone use. But I guess with the form factor being larger..people would feel a bit left out if it didn't do more than say a Tonex.

I feel like what people truly want is a FM3 in the AM4/VP4 form factor. The biggest complaint I, and many people have about the FM3 is its lack of footswitches and its size/shape. There's less complaints like that about the FM9 because it offers a lot of switching capability, I/O and horsepower to make up for it.

Past that, people start wanting the modern usability found in say QC, TMP or Hotone. If I were to design a box like this, I'd take the Hotone Ampero 2 Stomp, put a slightly larger/different form factor touchscreen on it, add a 4th encoder under the screen and call it a day. It was IMO that close to spot on in terms of I/O, footswitching and form factor for the "compact, powerful enough" modeler category.
Click to expand...
I feel like you read my post, and just went... "yeah, but....."

:rofl
 
Orvillain said:
I think what the launch of VP4 and AM4 has shown me is as a company, if your reputation is built on making everything-in-one-box type products, and you've garnered that reputation for over a decade and it has always been one of the fundamental selling points of your products .... when you try to do something that is genuinely different to the rest of your products, people lumber you with expectations that are just not relevant.

The AM4 and VP4 aren't trying to be the Axe FX III. They're not a cut down FM3 or FM9 either. They're not do-it-all boxes. They are not meant as standalone products, although you CAN do that if you want.

They're meant to work in an eco-system of gear. They're meant to be a component on your board, not the whole board. They're meant to be one choice in your studio, alongside the others. Whereas the Axe FX III is genuinely designed and meant to be a one stop shop for everything to do with a guitar rig.

That's the difference.
Click to expand...
I guess I haven’t read the whole thread, but I’m not seeing a ton of “gimme the whole FM9 for $650”. I think a two-button switch with just amps would have had everyone just nodding and agreeing that that works great along the VP4. I think this on its own as-is is a one or two details away from being a “full rig” for most/a lot people and that has them wishing for whatever to make it that. Doesn’t seem unreasonable, IMO.
But hey, at least you don’t have to pay extra to use all the DSP.
 
For me, the AM4 launch was late. It should have come out when the Tonex, or perhaps the VP4, came out. I always have the impression that Fractal is just watching what its competitors are doing and then adjusting accordingly. The hardware, however, has always been a step backward, never forward, and that's the big handicap. I really wish this product had come out three years ago.
 
Marco2073 said:
The hardware, however, has always been a step backward, never forward, and that's the big handicap
Click to expand...

I disagree. The AM4 and VP4 hardware and interface and editors are much more friendlier and a step forward, especially for those who were or are intimidated by the FM line and AXE-FX 3. This gives them a solid space to love the same fractal quality without being scared on how to use it.
 
I suppose it's safe to say NAM player won't be included on the AM4 considering even Axe fx III doesn't have sufficient processing power.

I like the concept of a unit that's as portable as AM4 seems to be, but also includes capturing (ideally) or just player capability.

That said, considering tonex one price, that and the AM4 would be a good mix for me. The second best capture player plus the best modelling when you consider the wealth of amp sims and deep parameters.

(Well, if there's a small version of line 6 stadium, that may be great for me, especially if it can run proxy captures. BUT tonex already does amazing for that, and I doubt stadium units will ever come close to the massive selection of sims on fractal units).

I don't like keeping units around that are too large or have many functions I don't use. The FM3, which I use a lot, is already overkill. I would swap it with an AM4 if it meant not loosing out money.
 
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