Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[yek]

All comes down to the features / price ratio.

Supporting more than 4 effects means an additional DSP, more switches, larger housing, larger LCD, etc. = higher price.

If it's not expensive, you get a lot for the price. And you can buy two.

 

[Orvillain]

They might even have a VP8 in development, who knows!

 

[Rock Chalk]

I'm just curious to find out whether @laxu is going to give @mbenigni his "blessing" to buy one of these......

 

[Piing]

It doesn't have...

All comes down to the features / price ratio.

Supporting more than 4 effects means an additional DSP, more switches, larger housing, larger LCD, etc. = higher price.

If it's not expensive, you get a lot for the price. And you can buy two.

Price in Thailand: 26,900 THB (~800 USD)

Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

You get dick-wagons in most fandom. The trick is to not join them! Yup. That's why I quietly backed out of the room when I first looked into fractal. It's stupid but it put me off them for quite a while. I'm quite happy to admit I was completely wrong.

thegearforum.com

 

[Mongillo19]

Price in Thailand: 26,900 THB (~800 USD

As expected. Good find

 

[laxu]

This specific chain can be accomplished with the trick Orvillain mentioned previously, i.e. using the reverb block to do both delay and reverb (see the echo plate or echo room types for example)

PS: with the exception of the eq not being switchable within the preset I think.

I think it's a workaround that you should not have to do, like on my pedalboard I would prefer not to have to use the delay side of my SA Collider when I have a Volante or El Capistan that sound better for tape delays.

For my uses though, 4 blocks at once is going to be enough most of the time.

 

[metropolis_4]

Walrus release a pedal that does one thing:

Fractal release a pedal that does four things:

 

[TSJMajesty]

looking at a used FM3 ...I found out you could only use one reverb and delay block. For me that's an instant deal breaker.

FM3 can run 1 reverb block and 2 delay blocks.

 

[Orvillain]

I think it is a cool product anyway, and will put Fractal effects on the boards of quite a lot of people is my guess.

Not having storage for block presets or favourites is a bit of a shame though.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

This is written without any specific knowledge about this unit other than what I've read so far .. but that has never stopped me before

=> it looks like this unit has a Variable Input Impedance [very excellent !!]
=> it looks like it cannot Receive -and- Send Midi CC (?) [not good]

Other than the L6 HXFX having a fixed 1M ohm Input, Line 6 HXFX seems to have and do way more (?) .... plus it has 9 Blocks, scribble scripts, more FSW's, full Midi spec, hosts full spec IR's, has the full suite of the full Helix efx ... etc....

I'm really struggling to see [given the current very limited info] why a potential buyer would pick the VP4 over the Line 6 HXFX (?)

A Zoom MS50g can do way more, too...

 

[laxu]

I'm just curious to find out whether @laxu is going to give @mbenigni his "blessing" to buy one of these......View attachment 30681

Listen. Strange men posting on forums, distributing UI advice is no basis for a purchase decision. Supreme purchase power derives from a bank account, not from some farcical post count.

 

[yek]

Price in Thailand: 26,900 THB (~800 USD)

I will await the official pricing. I would like to see it a little lower, TBH.

But the price of pedals these days ... Suhr's delay pedal is $600 (around €700 in Europe) ....

 

[HotRats]

I think it's just different pros and cons.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the HX Effects is limited to 6 fx slots.

Let's say you want multiple drives to switch between. You can already waste a good 2-3 spots on the HX Effects on those, vs using channels on one block on the VP4. Same could be true for having several delays, modulations, or reverbs.

Where the HX Effects has an advantage is when you want to run a complex chain all at once, like Comp - Drive - Mod - EQ - Delay - Reverb. The way I'd get around that is two presets where Comp and Drive get swapped, as at least I don't often want to run Comp AND Drive together but instead it's Comp OR Drive.

I think it would be cool if Fractal could add a "preset EQ position" feature as a fw update, so you could put it before or after any block. Almost like a 5th block, and offer both graphic 10-band and parametric options like the Axe-Fx global EQ.

I think HXFX has 9 blocks but I understand your point.

 

[Lysander]

Don't know, is just my impression I'm not saying I'm right but seeing a brand new FX only unit that seems to offer less (at least in some areas) han an HXFX is weird.

The product's called Virtual Pedalboard for a reason. A HXFX lets you way do more, sure - but's also nowhere as straightforward to operate.

I was hoping for something small with Fractal amp modelling; this product is not for me. But IMHO anyone who's interested in adding a couple effects to their amp setup should take a very serious look at the VP4.

If the rumors hold, the VP4 should be priced roughly the same as a H90. And Fractal has many effects as good, if not better, than Eventides'.

 

[DLC86]

This seems to not have humbuster connections now that I think about it, or at least they're not mentioned in the manual...

 

[SillyOctpuss]

FM3 can run 1 reverb block and 2 delay blocks.

Still a deal breaker for me. I use more than one reverb on a few tracks. It's a shame I had thought about grabbing a used one in the UK.

 

[Baba]

The product's called Virtual Pedalboard for a reason. The HXFX lets you do more, sure, but's also nowhere as straightforward to operate.

Sorry. My meme vs text ratio has been WAY off, and it's making me twitch. I'm not even sure I disagree with you, but I'm a child, so . . .

 

[Whizzinby]

H90 gets released: YAS!! It runs two effects!!

Big Sky MX gets released: YAS!! It runs two reverbs!!

VP4, which runs four unique effects and loads 16 unique effects per preset gets released: Its limiting.


People buying Strymon, Eventide , Meris pedals etc. don’t give a shit about the cost to value ratio with an HXFX, they want Strymon, Eventide, and Meris effects. Same with the VP4.

Its “limits” exceed the pedals from its target market: H90, Big Sky MX, Meris LVX, Timeline users. Some of y’all trippin. (And I still think a loop would have been great on the VP4)

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Oh yeah ...well....Lego has all the blocks I need...and I can put them anywhere...at any time... including up me bum!!!!!! Also ...gapless

 

[Orvillain]

"Amps are coming back in a really big fuckin' way"