Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[Achilles]

So it’s been 2 weeks right?

On the nose.

 

[timbuck3]

Temp = TMP = Tone Master Pro
We = QC = Quad Cortex

Someone didn’t proofread before posting.

 

[sashimi]

 

[synthpenguin]

I have yet to use a Fractal device (sorry! haha), but the UI doesn't look too bad in videos to me... but I also have a lot of experience programming rackmount stuff and I enjoy programming Yamaha DX synths etc, so I'm a bad judge lol.

I was thinking about this again and watched this video...



...and yeah, I don't really think it looks that bad. Seems fairly quick once you know it. The routing part is not intuitive at all, but the rest of making a basic patch is pretty simple and predictable at least. With all the pages and clicky buttons, it reminds me a lot of programming certain synths and workstations (though that may not be a good thing to a lot of people haha)

And more importantly, it made me want an FM3 again haha

 

[Jarick]

I think it's really valuable to be comfortable editing and building from scratch from the device. But it's still not a great experience.

 

[Tanax]

I was thinking about this again and watched this video...



...and yeah, I don't really think it looks that bad. Seems fairly quick once you know it. The routing part is not intuitive at all, but the rest of making a basic patch is pretty simple and predictable at least. With all the pages and clicky buttons, it reminds me a lot of programming certain synths and workstations (though that may not be a good thing to a lot of people haha)

And more importantly, it made me want an FM3 again haha

I think people here just make the point that it shouldn't require any "programming" to just be able to select blocks on a grid and their settings.
Can it be done? Sure. But there are far better ways and easier.

Let musicians focus on what's important. Tone and playing.
Axe FX already sounds excellent, why not make it easier/faster to use as well?

 

[synthpenguin]

I think people here just make the point that it shouldn't require any "programming" to just be able to select blocks on a grid and their settings.
Can it be done? Sure. But there are far better ways and easier.

Let musicians focus on what's important. Tone and playing.
Axe FX already sounds excellent, why not make it easier/faster to use as well?

Oh absolutely! And like I said, I have pretty high tolerance for this sort of thing as long as you can do the basics fairly quickly.

But if I had any point, it was more that even if they didn’t want to do a touchscreen or complete overhaul for one reason or another, the bones of something “easy” are there with a few changes (again, saying this as a non-user!). e.g. adding and changing amp and cab parameters and jumping from page to page looked really easy and intuitive, but it felt like half the video was spent setting up a basic signal path, and the way to do it was very non-obvious.

The other point being that, yeah, damn it instantly sounds good haha. I love my Helix and I haven’t been a believer in the “you have to tweak it and add EQs for it to sound good” thing, but the Fractals just sound good from the jump. Maybe someday I’ll get one!!

 

[deadpool_25]

No offense but if you haven't used the Fractal UI you don't get it. I'm not saying it's impossible to use by any stretch. It's just weird how easy it seems to find yourself wanting to navigate somewhere on the screen and pausing with your hand over the controls while your brain is trying to register which button to press. It's definitely learnable with some time and effort. It's just not particularly intuitive.

Fractal excels at damn near everything else imo. Sounds, connectivity, flexibility, control, variety, updating firmware, communication from the company, etc. In my opinion Fractal is fucking awesome in damn near every other way. The UI gets called out because while it's not awful (imo), it's not particularly good either and that really stands out when the rest of their stuff is so awesome.

 

[Achilles]

No offense but if you haven't used the Fractal UI....

Is there anyone here who hasn't messed around with the Fractal Ecosystem at one time or another?

 

[TSJMajesty]

YEAH WELL I'VE BEEN PROGRAMMING VCRs SINCE 1982!!

Then why is 12:00 STILL flashing??

 

[synthpenguin]

No offense but if you haven't used the Fractal UI you don't get it. I'm not saying it's impossible to use by any stretch. It's just weird how easy it seems to find yourself wanting to navigate somewhere on the screen and pausing with your hand over the controls while your brain is trying to register which button to press. It's definitely learnable with some time and effort. It's just not particularly intuitive.

Fractal excels at damn near everything else imo. Sounds, connectivity, flexibility, control, variety, updating firmware, communication from the company, etc. In my opinion Fractal is fucking awesome in damn near every other way. The UI gets called out because while it's not awful (imo), it's not particularly good either and that really stands out when the rest of their stuff is so awesome.

Yeah, that’s why I said while the UI doesn’t seem as bad as I had heard, and that it would be fine with me because of my tolerance for more obtuse interfaces, it could use improvements and some of it looked unintuitive, and said in my comment before that a UI upgrade, whether touchscreen-based or not, would be great :) sounds like we agree!

 

[Joshual-L]

On the nose.

View attachment 27053

I also thought it could be some pedals that can be better being separated from the axe or fm3 like pitch shifter or a fractal mimic.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Then why is 12:00 STILL flashing??

That’s what time I’m supposed to stop watching movies, and go to bed.

 

[mbenigni]

...adding and changing amp and cab parameters and jumping from page to page looked really easy and intuitive, but it felt like half the video was spent setting up a basic signal path, and the way to do it was very non-obvious.

Yep. Working with the devices already present in a given preset/ template is fine. (Not great IMO, but fine.) It's when you start trying to move or replace blocks, or otherwise restructure preset routing, that the WTF moments become more frequent.

Some global setup tasks (like configuring MIDI controllers) are also way more obtuse than on competing devices, but I'm willing to assume this in service to some deeper level of versatility I don't happen to need or understand. But all that Enter Shuntman business... there's got to be a better way.

 

[Mongillo19]

IS IT HARDWARE FRIDAY TODAY???

 

[TubeStack]

IS IT HARDWARE FRIDAY TODAY???

Was thinking same thing right after I woke up today .

 

[Achilles]

Pretty cool AX8 graphics.

 

[Lysander]

Pretty cool AX8 graphics.

 

[unix-guy]

Pretty cool AX8 graphics.

Ah, yes, Ye Olden Days!

 

[mbenigni]

Is it because I've been using Fractal stuff since 2010?

Yes.