Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[mbenigni]

Some more of my favourites

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My cream of the crop. For the poors

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“$50 more…” Don’t I wish LOL.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

“$50 more…” Don’t I wish LOL.

Yeah but don't forget its "sheet"

 

[paisleywookiee]

Don't. You. Fucking. Dare.

Citations issued? Closed for…..review?

 

[Frodebro]

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

People are entitled little c@#$ these days. If it’s not exactly what THEY want, then it shouldn’t exist at all.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I’m imagining an Amp/Cab only box, similar in footprint to the VP-4 that could integrate with the VP-4 digitally using the S/PDIF, essentially expanding the VP-4 into an eight footswitch Amp Modeler/Effects Processor.

Why exactly would you go for that instead of an FM9?

 

[Sascha Franck]

Kids snail… Sheldon, saying hi.

You need to work on your posing-with-snails skills, though.

 

[norminal]

Why exactly would you go for that instead of an FM9?

Think about it though. If you just want amps and cabs, get that. If you decide later that you want effects and expanded functionality, add the VP-4, or vice versa.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Think about it though. If you just want amps and cabs, get that. If you decide later that you want effects and expanded functionality, add the VP-4, or vice versa.

Sure. But it might still be a better idea to sell things and get an FM9 instead. Way easier housekeeping, more routing flexibility, etc.

 

[Frodebro]

Sure. But it might still be a better idea to sell things and get an FM9 instead. Way easier housekeeping, more routing flexibility, etc.

I have an FM9, but I also have tube amps and traditional pedalboards that I love geeking out on. The VP4 isn’t really anything exciting for people who are 100% digital and have their hardware sorted out already, but for the traditional types it’s a huge deal, as it is taking on Strymon and Eventide.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I have an FM9, but I also have tube amps and traditional pedalboards that I love geeking out on. The VP4 isn’t really anything exciting for people who are 100% digital and have their hardware sorted out already, but for the traditional types it’s a huge deal, as it is taking on Strymon and Eventide.

I'm quite aware of all that - I was just wondering about the scenario of adding a VP4 to a (hypothetical) VA4 (amp-thing), which IMO wouldn't make too much sense, unless you also planned to regularly use one of them without the other.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I'm quite aware of all that - I was just wondering about the scenario of adding a VP4 to a (hypothetical) VA4 (amp-thing), which IMO wouldn't make too much sense, unless you also planned to regularly use one of them without the other.

That's the scenario I'd be in. Having a modular axe fx style system would be perfect for my use case.

 

[Frodebro]

That's the scenario I'd be in. Having a modular axe fx style system would be perfect for my use case.

That’s kinda where I’m already at. I have a traditional board with the usual revolving door of pedals on it, with an HX Stomp XL handling the oddball stuff. But I also pull the Stomp off the board and use it alone with my amps for a streamlined traditional rig. The VP4 would fill that slot perfectly.

 

[jellodog]

I quite like the idea of modular FAS products linked by S/PDIF.

Modelling à la carte.

Might also solve the cooling issue to spread out the processor cores and housing. I couldn't see any mention of a fan in the VP4 manual, and we know it's only one DSP core.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

That’s kinda where I’m already at. I have a traditional board with the usual revolving door of pedals on it, with an HX Stomp XL handling the oddball stuff. But I also pull the Stomp off the board and use it alone with my amps for a streamlined traditional rig. The VP4 would fill that slot perfectly.

That's basically what I'm doing too only with a regular stomp and not the XL.

 

[Orvillain]

Way easier housekeeping, more routing flexibility, etc.

I used to think this. But now I think ... it would be easier to maintain a couple of presets on an amp device... and a couple of presets on a effects device... and do some mild tap dancing on both.... than having to maintain dozens and dozens of presets on an all-in-one device.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I used to think this. But now I think ... it would be easier to maintain a couple of presets on an amp device... and a couple of presets on a effects device... and do some mild tap dancing on both.... than having to maintain dozens and dozens of presets on an all-in-one device.

Which is another reason why block presets and global blocks are a great feature.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I used to think this. But now I think ... it would be easier to maintain a couple of presets on an amp device... and a couple of presets on a effects device... and do some mild tap dancing on both.... than having to maintain dozens and dozens of presets on an all-in-one device.

I agree. Which is why I treat my FM9 like three amp rigs, and stay in one at any given time. SLO, JCM800, and Mark V.

 

[dk_ace]

I used to think this. But now I think ... it would be easier to maintain a couple of presets on an amp device... and a couple of presets on a effects device... and do some mild tap dancing on both.... than having to maintain dozens and dozens of presets on an all-in-one device.

I do both on the FM9. 80% of my gigs I set up presets per songs. It takes me about 30 minutes usually to program those for a gig and then no tap dancing. 20% of the time, I’m lazy and just use a kitchen sink preset with a few scenes for amp selections and then effects on the other switches.

I get in a mood sometimes where I do the kitchen sink with a little tap dancing for a few gigs in a row. I always come back to the songs per presets thing though.

With pedalboards, I always have done the tap dancing. If I set up a rig with the VP4, I think I’d probably do the same.

D

 

[Antipodes]

Just on the modular thing - SPDIF is not usually a zero latency interface. Sometimes the latency experienced with SPDIF input is longer than the analog input latency. The digital data stream is collected in buffers on the way in and doesn't necessarily pass on to further processing with minimal delay.

 

[metropolis_4]

I used to think this. But now I think ... it would be easier to maintain a couple of presets on an amp device... and a couple of presets on a effects device... and do some mild tap dancing on both.... than having to maintain dozens and dozens of presets on an all-in-one device.

I used to use 2 HX Stomps instead of a full Helix for this exact reason. One is amps and drive pedals, the other is delay/verb/mod/etc.

That way I could control each separately and combine them as needed with way less presets.

I always wish Fractal would give two groups of Scenes so you could do this within one device. So you could have Scenes A switch between amp and drive settings, and Scenes B switch between effects settings