Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[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.

 

[paisleywookiee]

no question that the FM3 launch was a shit show.

I must have gotten a good one. I had no issues, except the audio interface deal, which I got around by using an interface. I mean yeah, it should have worked as advertised, but I enjoyed the device nevertheless.

 

[norminal]

no question that the FM3 launch was a shit show.

I got on the waitlist on day one got my invite exactly a year later. Other than that, it wasn’t a shit show for me.

I mean, mine didn’t have a headphone jack, but I don’t gig with headphones plugged into a modeler, so it wasn’t a concern for me.

 

[la szum]

Not sure what people expect anymore

Nothing sensible or within reason, is my guess.

 

[the swede]

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

This is sadly what happens with every release from any brand. Then when the shitstorm settles and the loudmouths gone away, the positive things is heard. Somehow, everything negative is always louder than the positive.

 

[AlbertA]

Nothing sensible or within reason, is my guess.

Yeah I mean the FC-6 costs $550 - I read some people where expecting like a $399 price? Yeah fat chance.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Pretty sure that's just someone taking a piss. That is unrealistic....and I thought my 700 was a bit on the low side.....sheeze.

 

[FracKing]

This is sadly what happens with every release from any brand.

In a way companies in general choose it by creating hype, especially when it goes on for too long.
At least Fractal hardly did it this time... and still got bitten, I guess...
I wouldn't yet fear for its success though.

 

[paisleywookiee]

There's always some asshole that's going to expect something like the VP4 to cost $399 in 2024, when there's no indication it could possibly even be made for that, much less sold retail. People have no fucking idea what goes into designing, making, marketing, and selling MI gear in 2024, with such a small slice of the world pie. These aren't fucking smartphones being sold to billions of people.

 

[norminal]

In a way companies in general choose it by creating hype, especially when it goes on for too long.
At least Fractal hardly did it this time... and still got bitten, I guess...
I wouldn't yet fear for its success though.

And then again, unless you’re living in this small bubble that are gear forums, you’d be none the wiser.

 

[GTR37]

Ironically not...

Nothing gots by you

 

[FractalAudio]

It's quite possible we could add more blocks in future firmware. I can envision, say, four switchable blocks and two fixed blocks per preset. The fixed blocks are always on. The switchable blocks can be bypassed/engaged. Or four fixed blocks and four switchable blocks.

It's just software. It's a fairly powerful processor, more powerful than the FX8 had, but our algorithms have continued to increase in complexity and require more processing power than things did back in the FX8 days.