Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[deadpool_25]

I'm very much game for this. My only concern is basically "Will I like working with it without the editor?"

No one would have guessed that might be a concern of yours.


Poking fun with

 

[Jarick]

Adding MIDI clock should be easy. The VP-4 code was frozen before it was implemented in the Axe-Fx III and the FM-3/9. The only development allowed after code is frozen is bug fixing.

The VP-4 uses the Axe-Fx III DSP's little brother. It's a single core version with the same instruction set so porting stuff from the Axe-Fx III is almost trivial.

We're already talking about adding a Looper and an IR player block.

The product focus was on three things: quality, simplicity and flexibility.

Re. quality. It uses premium analog components and converters. The input stage is FET and the op-amps are all "iPolar". None of this cheap CMOS stuff that other products are using.

No product will ever satisfy everyone. If low price is your primary concern then the product is not for you. If having lots of simultaneous effects is your primary concern the product is not for you. If having up to four, high-quality effects from the Axe-Fx III in a small, pedal board-friendly format is what you want then this product is a compelling choice.

Awesome to hear the improvements. It's exciting to hear about a focus on simplicity!

I'd expect nothing but the best in terms of build quality from Fractal, and I'd expect the price to reflect that.

 

[Mongillo19]

Is it a good looking unit?
View attachment 30720

Tim, if you saw this pic and thought it was a human.....whoo boy

 

[laxu]

No one would have guessed that might be a concern of yours.


Poking fun with

 

[Jarick]

I still think $800 is a pretty reasonable target price. $1000 would be close to FM3 territory, although these are different devices, there's some overlap. Strymon standalone pedals are $250+ each, and if you just looked at this as four high quality effects, that's your value proposition.

Now there's still competition from things like HX Stomp and Effects or GT Core. Depends on how you view the Fractal effects compared to those. I'd more likely want to build a board with the VP4 than either of those units, although I want to see how the UI works.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Tim, if you saw this pic and thought it was a human.....whoo boy

Tim sadly went from doesn‘t-buy-shit-but-is-kind-of-fun-to-have-around to doesn‘t-buy-shit-and-is-dropping-spam-in-every-thread.

 

[yek]

Adding MIDI clock should be easy. The VP-4 code was frozen before it was implemented in the Axe-Fx III and the FM-3/9. The only development allowed after code is frozen is bug fixing.

The VP-4 uses the Axe-Fx III DSP's little brother. It's a single core version with the same instruction set so porting stuff from the Axe-Fx III is almost trivial.

We're already talking about adding a Looper and an IR player block.

The product focus was on three things: quality, simplicity and flexibility.

Re. quality. It uses premium analog components and converters. The input stage is FET and the op-amps are all "iPolar". None of this cheap CMOS stuff that other products are using.

No product will ever satisfy everyone. If low price is your primary concern then the product is not for you. If having lots of simultaneous effects is your primary concern the product is not for you. If having up to four, high-quality effects from the Axe-Fx III in a small, pedal board-friendly format is what you want then this product is a compelling choice.

@FractalAudio
Are VP4 presets compatible with the other processors?

 

[SonVolt]

The FX8 was definitely the one that got the least amount of updates. I think it only had 5 major releases, with any number of smaller releases and bug fixes. In other words, it got a lot more releases than most any other digital guitar pedal.

I've read this like 18 times now and unless I'm going crazy you contradicted yourself.

 

[deadpool_25]

Tim sadly went from doesn‘t-buy-shit-but-is-kind-of-fun-to-have-around to doesn‘t-buy-shit-and-is-dropping-spam-in-every-thread.

I had to block him. I was actually a little sad about that tbh. Used to be fun.

 

[SonVolt]

This is mostly hearsay and some conjecture on my part, but this is how I understand the history.

There was a thread at TOP where the person claimed he was the lead engineer for the AX8 and FX8. He explained that he decided to port the code from the Axe-FX II firmware to these new products in the way that made most sense to him rather than in the way that was consistent with how Cliff had coded the Axe-FX firmware. He explained that he felt it was necessary to take a different approach due to the differences in the core DSP. It was his opinion that doing things Cliff's way was needlessly complicated and that it would have made the products worse. Cliff was not pleased with this choice and they parted ways sooner than was anticipated. That ended up leaving the AX8 and FX8 in a bit of an orphaned state.

I suspect that part of the reason why it takes so long for updates to get ported to the FM3 and FM9 is that the project teams are required to do things in a manner that is consistent with the Axe-FX III firmware code. Although it takes longer, it allows for nearly seamless interoperability of patches between devices and it will mitigate mess caused by a firmware engineer leaving unexpectedly.

Again, this is just what I remember reading on an internet forum years ago from a guy who claimed to have inside knowledge. It may be totally untrue.

I've been writing software for 25 years now and this doesn't pass the smell test. If it's true, which I doubt, then it's bad management as Cliff should have been well aware of design decisions his team was making on core products. This is Fractal, not Boss... they have <10 products.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

[…] The VP-4 uses the Axe-Fx III DSP's little brother. It's a single core version with the same instruction set so porting stuff from the Axe-Fx III is almost trivial. […]

Although not for me, this is a really cool product that will appeal to lots of people. What you wrote about the portability… is there a chance we might see an amp-only counterpart to the VP4?

 

[paisleywookiee]

John's a friend. This place is the best forum but let's face it--it's still a forum. Forums can be rough on YouTubers, gear devs, etc.

Yeah, it can be challenging. Not saying I’m the problem. But it can be challenging.

 

[TubeStack]

I've read this like 18 times now and unless I'm going crazy you contradicted yourself.

He's saying it received the least amount of Fractal updates, which is still more updates than similar products from other brands receive.

 

[SonVolt]

He's saying it received the least amount of Fractal updates, which is still more updates than similar products from other brands receive.

it's been a long day

 

[the swede]

Tim sadly went from doesn‘t-buy-shit-but-is-kind-of-fun-to-have-around to doesn‘t-buy-shit-and-is-dropping-spam-in-every-thread.

it would be very sad if he beats my spamming.... I would feel lessened... or what its called, diminished? Miniaturized?

 

[ian_dissonance]

The “idiot mode” for fx editing is probably my favorite thing here.

 

[fetishfrog]

it's been a long day

If you were on the conference call I was just on, solidarity brother.

 

[FractalAudio]

This is mostly hearsay and some conjecture on my part, but this is how I understand the history.

There was a thread at TOP where the person claimed he was the lead engineer for the AX8 and FX8. He explained that he decided to port the code from the Axe-FX II firmware to these new products in the way that made most sense to him rather than in the way that was consistent with how Cliff had coded the Axe-FX firmware. He explained that he felt it was necessary to take a different approach due to the differences in the core DSP. It was his opinion that doing things Cliff's way was needlessly complicated and that it would have made the products worse. Cliff was not pleased with this choice and they parted ways sooner than was anticipated. That ended up leaving the AX8 and FX8 in a bit of an orphaned state.

I suspect that part of the reason why it takes so long for updates to get ported to the FM3 and FM9 is that the project teams are required to do things in a manner that is consistent with the Axe-FX III firmware code. Although it takes longer, it allows for nearly seamless interoperability of patches between devices and it will mitigate mess caused by a firmware engineer leaving unexpectedly.

Again, this is just what I remember reading on an internet forum years ago from a guy who claimed to have inside knowledge. It may be totally untrue.

It wasn't the AX8 and FX8, it was the FM3. Regardless, we have an architecture that we've spent years perfecting. It's a client-server architecture and allows for maximum code reuse across platforms.

The rest of your post is hearsay and completely false.

 

[deadpool_25]

I Fractal

 

[OrganicZed]

It wasn't the AX8 and FX8, it was the FM3. Regardless, we have an architecture that we've spent years perfecting. It's a client-server architecture and allows for maximum code reuse across platforms.

The rest of your post is hearsay and completely false.

I have edited my post to direct interested parties to your response.