Fractal Audio Systems AM4 - Amp Modeler

[paisleywookiee]

Next time I have AM4 Edit up I’ll throw a preset in the preset thread, but it’s really nothing special. IIRC it’s:
Bass: 1
Mids: 5
Treble: 8
Presence: 4.5
Volume 1: 7.5
Overdrive: 6
Vol bright: on
Lead bright: on
Treble shift: off

The same sort of “bass low & treble high” strategy you use for tight tones on a Mark.

GEQ cranks the 80hz slider 7-8 db and yanks the 750 maybe 7-8 db. Mesa 4x12 with 421 & a ribbon. Dial the drive to taste but you start losing articulation if you go too high.

THIS is how you dial in a Mark IIC+. Almost exactly how I would dial one in when I was gigging.

Turning the bass almost all the way down and cranking the treble is key.

Yup. If you want to be a legend like uncle Leon says, you've gotta dial in your Marks like this.

 

[EOengineer]

Nice! Sounds awesome. What guitar did you use?

Guitar is a Burny (lawsuit MIJ LP) with burstbucker pros. Definitely not metal or distortion pickups but it works well enough with the amp having so much gain on tap.

Have you compared against the Stadium IIC+?

I’m hesitant to make a comparison from memory. I’ve only had this AM4 for a couple weeks and I’m very new to fractal. I’ve also only had about an hour of face time with the Stadium IIC+.

My initial impressions are that I prefer the high gain tones I’m getting from the AM4. When I listen to that clip, I hear a IIC+. I got myself nearly laughed out of the Stadium thread for this, but there’s a very particular “honk” inherent to the Mark series high gain sounds that I’m looking for. Fractal is the first platform to get that part right IMO.

There are certain things I might like better about how Agoura feels, but I can’t tell if it’s Stadium having the bass shift and simul class switches where Fractal does not, or an actual difference in the model performance. The Agoura clean and mid gain feel is maybe some of the most impressive I’ve seen in terms of handling dynamics but I don’t have an apples to apples comparison point in the AM4. Agoura feels VERY nice. Unfortunately, I find the midrange weird sounding once you start pushing into the higher gain stuff, kind of quacky instead of the mark honk I’d expect.

THIS is how you dial in a Mark IIC+. Almost exactly how I would dial one in when I was gigging.

Turning the bass almost all the way down and cranking the treble is key.

Whatever happened in that last update helped those Mark tones. There’s something happening in the mids/top that feels natural in a way that I didn’t notice on the launch firmware.

 

[Mongillo19]

got myself nearly laughed out of the Stadium thread for this, but there’s a very particular “honk”

I think a good amount of individuals agreed with you!

 

[Cactusprick]

Is it just me or has anybody noticed the usb playback is little too quiet? So gotta bump it up almost like 10db on the global setting. I never had to do this on FM3.

 

[yek]

Is it just me or has anybody noticed the usb playback is little too quiet? So gotta bump it up almost like 10db on the global setting. I never had to do this on FM3.

Install the latest beta. It fixes this. Available on the forum.

 

[KFF]

Is it just me or has anybody noticed the usb playback is little too quiet? So gotta bump it up almost like 10db on the global setting. I never had to do this on FM3.

Convenience link...

AM4 V1.02 Beta 4 Release

AM4 V1.02 Beta 4 Release firmware is available here: AM4 V1.02 Beta 4 The supporting AM4-Edit can be downloaded here: AM4-Edit V1.00.01

forum.fractalaudio.com

Grab the v1.00.01 of AM4 Edit, too. <-- available at same link/thread.

 

[Orvillain]

Are you not getting on with your stadium? I've not kept up with the stadium threads

I'm in a bit of a grump with it, but I'll post more in the Stadium thread when I'm ready.