Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[Blix]

I'm sure after reading this thread, the midi may be addressed...I hope...for this exact reason.

Looks like a looper and IR block is in the cards for a future update, so I'm sure the midi thing can be addressed as well.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Looks like a looper and IR block is in the cards for a future update, so I'm sure the midi thing can be addressed as well.

He made a statement as much awhile back....just didn't want to speak for certain....so I am hopeful.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Post in thread 'Fractal VP4!' https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fractal-vp4.208615/post-2606323

Per Cliff; official launch is Tuesday

Clicked the link and was reading down the page thinking it reminded me of the complaining at TOP. All the while I'm thinking "well if you already have a FM9 and don't use an amp you probably don't need this so don't buy one" then I come to some common sense at the last post

Thanks for the update Re the release date @JiveTurkey. I'm excited for Tuesday to hopefully get confirmation of pricing, availability etc.

 

[Joshual-L]

If you post a screenshot of Steve Sterlacci, and Steve Sterlacci gets his info from here and then posts what you posted of him posting, is it Sterlacci Inception?

Sterlaception is the exact word

 

[PorcinePicker]

Clicked the link and was reading down the page thinking it reminded me of the complaining at TOP. All the while I'm thinking "well if you already have a FM9 and don't use an amp you probably don't need this so don't buy one" then I come to some common sense at the last post

View attachment 30799

Yep.

It took me a while to get there. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth (including mine) is from misunderstanding what this product is. I thought that this would be to the FX8 what the the FM3 was to the AX8. Nope.

This is an Eventide H90 killer, and a pretty amazing one at that. (Sadly, I'm not in the market for one and never will be....)

 

[Aleksi]

It will be interesting to hear about EU availability and price

Even though it's not exactly what I was hoping for, I'm still interested. It's just too guitar-centric for where I'm at right now, but I don't know what I was expecting

 

[Mongillo19]

At the end of the day I feel "bad" for Cliff and their team. To put work in on a product and just hear how bad it is before it's even announced must be rough.

Guess it can go for any new product these days to be honest. Not sure what people expect anymore

 

[holoholo]

I’m ready for the Leon and Cordy vids

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I’m ready for the Leon and Cordy vids

You and I use YouTube very differently

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

You know, the only thing the Axe FX can't do that some other devices can is an external control out to switch amp channels without MIDI.

The TC G Major had this, the Headrush devices have this, the Boss GT1000Core has this, the HX Effects has this, I even have a generic $40 DemonFX overdrive that has a separate control out to do this. It's the only feature the Fractal line (other than the old FX8) still seems to be lacking and I'm not sure why. Otherwise they do absolutely everything under the sun.

Which is kinda funny since the Fx8 had it.

 

[Aleksi]

At the end of the day I feel "bad" for Cliff and their team. To put work in on a product and just hear how bad it is before it's even announced must be rough.

Guess it can go for any new product these days to be honest. Not sure what people expect anymore

I wonder how much of this is just bedroom hacks (like me) feeling bad that it wasn't something ultracomplex and powerful they could buy to feel superior. Maybe some weird subconscious gatekeeping, because fas is putting out a simplified product that might have mass appeal.

 

[laxu]

At the end of the day I feel "bad" for Cliff and their team. To put work in on a product and just hear how bad it is before it's even announced must be rough.

Guess it can go for any new product these days to be honest. Not sure what people expect anymore

Fractal is in the difficult position where their other products do so, so much. So when you see a new derivative product you start thinking "hey, maybe this product will do this thing as well!"

We are already basically making "5th block please" requests by thinking of various workarounds to not having one, or for expanded MIDI functionality to make the VP4 our "brains of the operation."

 

[JiveTurkey]

Are they taking that much heat? I'm seeing some whiners but a lot of positive takes?

 

[norminal]

Which is kinda funny since the Fx8 had it.

Given the fact that many modern amps have midi channel switching, it’s probably cost prohibitive at this point.

 

[holoholo]

I wonder how much of this is just bedroom hacks (like me) feeling bad that it wasn't something ultracomplex and powerful they could buy to feel superior. Maybe some weird subconscious gatekeeping, because fas is putting out a simplified product that might have mass appeal.

The gatekeeping isn’t even subconscious. There are people in this very thread not wanting Fractal to be for the average guitarist.

 

[Elf]

FWIW, I'd buy a VA4 in a heartbeat!

Same here! Those digital in outs would work great for my workflow.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Given the fact that many modern amps have midi channel switching, it’s probably cost prohibitive at this point.

Many?

 

[AlbertA]

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.

Edit: See Fractal Audio's response later in this thread.

For context - not quite how you remembered it, but there's the source:

The TOP post:

Greg Girardin: Cliff wasn't happy with the architectural changes I made to the code and thought I was being insubordinate. I suspect if you talked to him today he'd say "yeah, now I know why Greg did that". But it's his company.

 

[norminal]

For context - not quite how you remembered it, but there's the source:

The FM3 Launch (for me) has been one of the worst experiences of my music career

The first post in the FM3 sub forum is from February 2020. I personally posted in that sub forum in 2019 so where is all of that content? On 11 Feb 2020 AdminM@ stated: “I'm going to re-open the FM3 forum now.”. The genesis of the FM3 sub forum was almost a year prior to that date. If they...

www.thegearpage.net

Water under the bridge.

 

[namathan_zirwir]

For context - not quite how you remembered it, but there's the source:

The FM3 Launch (for me) has been one of the worst experiences of my music career

The first post in the FM3 sub forum is from February 2020. I personally posted in that sub forum in 2019 so where is all of that content? On 11 Feb 2020 AdminM@ stated: “I'm going to re-open the FM3 forum now.”. The genesis of the FM3 sub forum was almost a year prior to that date. If they...

www.thegearpage.net

no question that the FM3 launch was a shit show.