Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

[unix-guy]

With all due respect, how pretentious of you!

It's marketed as a modeler and should be judged against its peers accordingly.
They all sound mostly great so what other areas differentiate them?

Maybe the Axe products should be moved to the Erector Set section of the store....

You literally highlighted the bit about Fractal being deep!

That would be in comparison to the competitors.

There was no mention of the sound in that post because it was about the interface to a complex device.

 

[timbuck3]

Not to add more pretentiousness to it, but the TMP isn’t remotely comparable to the FM9, in terms of functionality. No scenes, no snapshots, no channels, subpar amp modeling, limited effects, no fine adjustment in each block.

I think this is a very valid statement to a section of people but to the average Joe walking into Guitar centre it may not be that accurate of a statement as many people are visual. Stimulated people sell. They’ll see that nice big screen and touchscreen and all those little knobs you turn on the switches And psychologically, it’ll make them feel like the sound is just as good

 

[Orvillain]

A lot of you guys have never used high-end rack gear, and it shows.

 

[Achilles]

Not to add more pretentiousness to it, but the TMP isn’t remotely comparable to the FM9, in terms of functionality. No scenes, no snapshots, no channels, subpar amp modeling, limited effects, no fine adjustment in each block.

You and I and most everyone here knows that. Speaking from a mass market standpoint, we're all outliers.

 

[Achilles]

A lot of you guys have never used high-end rack gear, and it shows.

Amen.
Let's see you bitches fully program out a set list using a Digitech 2112!

 

[GTR37]

Amen.
Let's see you bitches fully program out a set list using a Digitech 2112!

Or the original Eventide H3000 that is a miserable experience

 

[Orvillain]

This is quite cool.

Midi clip playing back... being sent to my Novation Summit... audio comes back into Bitwig from that... then gets sent out again through the Axe3 … then it comes back in.. then goes through a software compressor.

 

[paisleywookiee]

You and I and most everyone here knows that. Speaking from a mass market standpoint, we're all outliers.

I disagree, having programmed a lot of these devices and teaching them how to use it. People DO care about snapshots and scenes, and they ask about features more in-depth than what some of these basic modelers offer.

 

[mbenigni]

Nice straw man - I said nothing of the sort. I've bought three successive generations of Fractal gear and have enjoyed the improvements. I was more talking about people constantly comparing a rackmount piece of music gear to consumer electronics and asking for things like a tablet-bound FM0, an app store for loading third-party plugins into the Fractal, etc. I guess I should have been more specific with my criticism, so mea culpa on that, but to say I'm a luddite for making fun of some forumites is a stretch.

I didn’t call you a Luddite. I poked some fun at your saying that Apple “ruined our expectations” of UIs by advancing UIs in ways that have been massively successful. Because you did say that.

 

[mbenigni]

I bet a lot of things that stop certain companies are the fact they don’t have the resources to pay people to. Let’s say figure out a better gui?
For instance fender just came out with a TMP this year which obviously they’ve been working on for while but they obviously have a group dedicated to the interface of the unit so they put amount of resources towards that so I think a smaller company like Cliff has to focus his resources maybe in certain direction he can’t spread out and divide up His number one number one on the list is the sound the tone and it shows probably interfaces more or less a slower evolution and not as important? Or doesn’t get as much of the resources involved in bringing a fracture unit to fruition.

Of course. And Cliff himself has said as much.

 

[Achilles]

People DO care....

But the majority?

 

[luckymethod]

I bet a lot of things that stop certain companies are the fact they don’t have the resources to pay people to. Let’s say figure out a better gui?

A design consultant would take a few weeks tops to take all the functionality on the current axe 3 and re-lay out the thing to be easier to use, and do a few rounds of revisions and testing. I know I could do it pretty quickly, and it wouldn't be a huge expense. If they don't do it it's because it's not a cultural thing for Fractal, it's not because it's a prohibitive cost. Hell hire a kid out of design school and get them to work, they might make some mistakes here and there but just someone focusing on the task will generate usable ideas to improve things a bit.

 

[Achilles]

Hell hire a kid out of design school and get them to work,

This stuff if so far from being a uniquely specialized skill at this point it's ridiculous.

 

[norminal]

I’ve been saying this for over a decade, but I think a simple toggle to hide ALL deep parameters from the front panel would appease to those who wish to interact with a model as if it were the real thing.

 

[timbuck3]

A design consultant would take a few weeks tops to take all the functionality on the current axe 3 and re-lay out the thing to be easier to use, and do a few rounds of revisions and testing. I know I could do it pretty quickly, and it wouldn't be a huge expense. If they don't do it it's because it's not a cultural thing for Fractal, it's not because it's a prohibitive cost. Hell hire a kid out of design school and get them to work, they might make some mistakes here and there but just someone focusing on the task will generate usable ideas to improve things a bit.

Oh I thought it may be some laborious task that would take months with team of guys costing a lot. If it’s so easy why doesn’t cliff do it? Cultural? What does that mean? Like the guy who still uses a flip phone from 2000 refusing to get any new touch devices? That culture!?

 

[norminal]

Oh I thought it may be some laborious task that would take months with team of guys costing a lot. If it’s so easy why doesn’t cliff do it? Cultural? What does that mean? Like the guy who still uses a flip phone from 2000 refusing to get any new touch devices? That culture!?

Ask him. He’s a member here.

 

[timbuck3]

I mean fractal is tops in many areas but the gui so others come out with the gui already there but tones and effects are lacking so yea I can see how the interface may be an easier project then the guts… but in the long run after the people who already have the gui down catch up the fractal and fractal does not improve their gui then fractal will be no longer relevant

 

[Orvillain]

A design consultant would take a few weeks tops to take all the functionality on the current axe 3 and re-lay out the thing to be easier to use, and do a few rounds of revisions and testing. I know I could do it pretty quickly, and it wouldn't be a huge expense. If they don't do it it's because it's not a cultural thing for Fractal, it's not because it's a prohibitive cost. Hell hire a kid out of design school and get them to work, they might make some mistakes here and there but just someone focusing on the task will generate usable ideas to improve things a bit.

Sorry. That's a load of bollocks.

 

[norminal]

Graphic designer here.

I actually come up with a really slick UI for the Fractal line not long after the Axe-FX III was released. It’s all laid out, complete with renderings. I know I offered them some assistance but was ignored.

 

[Orvillain]

Graphic designer here.

I actually come up with a really slick UI for the Fractal line not long after the Axe-FX III was released. It’s all laid out, complete with renderings. I know I offered them some assistance but was ignored.

I'd be interested in seeing that!!