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RE: Reverbs. It wouldn't surprise me if they were limited 'normal' quality. But that level is still very good. TBH, even the economy ones still sound great.
Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation
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norminal
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9V 500mA?
GreatGreen
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Yeah we totally need a "modern" interface, which means knockoff imitation looking jpeg bloat of the amps and effects being modeled that will baloon each firmware to 10 times the size it is now for basically no benefit, a touch screen interface that's going to get smudged up and which means you can only have a fraction of the info on the screen at a time relative to a standard screen, and bluetooth connectivity with a badly designed app attached to your phone with some controls only available via the app which by the way loses connectivity every other time you try to make an adjustment... and both the bluetooth app and any hardware it might run on will become depreciated LONG before the depreciation or breakdown of the main product.
Please keep every bit of that nonsense away from Fractal's stuff, thanks.
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I mean.... I'd settle for not having to fuck about with shunts like a prole, tbh!
ian_dissonance
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A modern UI doesn’t mean copying Fender’s knock-off PODFarm thing, it just means something that doesn’t feel like you’re working on something that came out between the home VCR and a late 90’s car stereo.
GreatGreen
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lol, I wouldn't. I like the flexibility. I've been able to do some really cool stuff with the right shunt and block placement. I made a thread on the Fractal forums showing how to make an idealized W/D/W patch, which is basically impossible to do on any other modeler. All effects run into each other like a standard pedalboard, so like your delay trails are processed by the reverb block, etc, easy ability to mix wet signal into the dry cab and dry signal into the wet cab, global effects volume (mix) control, all kinds of stuff. Here's the layout:
You couldn't even begin to do that on pretty much any other modeler or multi-fx unit and it would be a logistical nightmare to do something like that with analog gear, and that's specifically because you've got the freedom to put whatever you want on the grid wherever you want it.
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norminal
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Yeah, I'm not looking for that kind of thing from this product tbh.lol, I wouldn't. I like the flexibility. I've been able to do some really cool stuff with the right shunt and block placement. I made a thread on the Fractal forums showing an idealized W/D/W patch I made, which would have been impossible on any other modeler. Here's the layout:
You couldn't even begin to do that on pretty much any other modeler, and that's specifically because of the patch flexibility that comes from shunts and the ability to place whatever you want on the grid wherever you want it.
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Are these my only two options?
GreatGreen
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Still, there's a lot to be said for the freedom to build out your signal chain however you want.
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Which is not mutually exclusive to modernizing a UI. Just because e.g. Fender managed to release a shite UI "in modernity" doesn't mean that any deviation from "VCR" should be met with suspicion.
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Yeah but on the Axe3 using hardware only, putting together your layout takes bloody aggggeeeessssss. For something that sits on a pedalboard with a QC or HX Stomp, along with a few other pedals and a valve amplifier - potentially in 4-cable-method - I just don't think many people are looking for that kind of depth or complexity.
One parallel path would do most people. Like the original FX8.
Achilles
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I love the one the NanoCortex came with.
Amazingly, it not only turns off the box but also my entire rack!
Lights up red to remind me to shut it down too.
GreatGreen
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That's fair. What kind of modern elements do you think would benefit Fractal's UI?
GreatGreen
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I agree with you there. The only thing I'd say about how long it takes to make a patch like the one I made is that if you save it to a template patch, you only need to do it once. Or you could download my patch from Axe-Change and not have to do it manually at all.
But I do see your point about an effects-only product like the AX8 that's meant to sit on a board alongside other pedals not needing as much complexity. I agree that a parallel routing option would probably do fine for most people. BUT, people can be creative. You never know what might've been if the option is never presented.
nicolasrivera
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QuadCortex owners are going crazy!!!!
*****WALL WART*****
Just needed to get that off my chest.
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I mean, there's obviously no short answer to this question. We'd have to start by asking a few questions: What product are we trying to improve? Are we talking about firmware improvements to an existing product, or hardware and firmware changes for a future product? What are our budgetary restrictions? Etc.
A very, very short answer based on my own personal preferences would be: See QC as a point of reference. It's not perfect, but in broad strokes it's mostly what I'd recommend. (I know you hate touchscreens; some folks do for whatever reason. IMO there's no way to present as much information and as much context-sensitive interactivity in such a small footprint.)
This doesn't mean that I'd dumb down an FMx to make it suit the QC UI exactly as-is. You could, for instance, present a full FM-style grid on a touchscreen rather than the QC/HX-style 4x lanes. (Some creativity would be required to devise a way for the use to select and shunt between blocks.)
I could go on and on about streamlining menus, eliminating or renaming physical controls that are ambiguous vs. other physical controls, optimizing positioning of physical controls, etc. But I've done a lot of that already - probably in this very thread.
Achilles
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Funny, if no hints had been dropped, no scuttlebutt, no Fractal artist teases, etc., and everyone just woke up tomorrow
to a 100% surprise announcement that FAS just introduced a 4 button multi-FX floor/desk unit to compete at the same price
point as the large box FX offerings from Keeley, Wampler, Strymon, Meris, Walrus, etc., every single Fractal fan on this board
would have to change their shorts as soon as their hyperventilating died down.
me too!
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The power supply that came with my QC is even better. On/off switch, lights, and it'll run the QC for about 20 hours... in a blackout!I love the one the NanoCortex came with.
Amazingly, it not only turns off the box but also my entire rack!
Lights up red to remind me to shut it down too.
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