Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

What is it not it is? Is it?

  • None of the above

  • Electric sex pants

  • Unsliced Bread

  • Prosthetic "tone fingers"

  • JiveTurkey's resolve to "innovate" with audio signal routing

  • Lab grown "safe & guilt-free" toe meat

Results are only viewable after voting.
Orvillain said:
Yes I owned one. I thought it was a pretty poor experience on the whole.

- Disconnect between the poo-knobs and the on screen knobs means that the eye is always flitting back and forth between the two areas, causing momentary confusion which affects workflow.
- Difficult to read the screen when standing above it, and from various angles the readability would change significantly.
- Lots of "off screen" parameters that you don't know about unless you read manuals or watch tutorial videos, which a lot of people don't.
- The touchscreen itself is very unresponsive. Nowhere near the quality of an iPad or Pixel phone.
- Most of their colour scheme and routing mechanics were lifted straight from Helix wholesale.
- The amp models themselves sounded pretty average, not standing up to an a/b comparison with my Axe FX III (I owned them side by side for 3 months)
- The cab section was fiddly to use.
- The knob values don't mean anything. 0.5 on a resonance control doesn't tell me anything and is not analogous to anything we experience in the real world. It would have been better to use a 1-10 scheme. Easier to remember when you want to build a patch from scratch.
- The whole file browsing and cloud connectivity side of things is UTTERLY ATROCIOUS.
Click to expand...
Angry Season 4 GIF by The Office
 
Orvillain said:
And I'd reiterate my point. When your product ends up having as much functionality and as many exposed parameters and as much flexibility as the Axe3 does, you're always going to have a challenge making the thing easy and intuitive to use.

The reality is that when you pack that much functionality into a single device, creating an intuitive and straightforward user interface becomes exponentially more challenging. Every parameter, every feature has to be accessible, but balancing that with ease of use is like walking a tightrope. It’s incredibly difficult to design something that’s both feature-rich and user-friendly, especially in a professional-grade product like the Axe-FX III, where users expect a high degree of control over every aspect of their sound.
Click to expand...
I agree with all of this 1000%, but IMO it supports the need to advance the FAS UI design in the wake of years and years of additions and improvements to the underlying functionality. I honestly cannot even grasp how this manages to be a debate. Nobody is saying the UI should revamped in an effort to make it shittier.

And on that same note, I can't fathom where TF this came from:
Orvillain said:
Somebody can't read, can't understand, and can't parse anything external to their own viewpoint.
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smiling-man-looking-in-bathroom-mirror-CVF00947.jpg


You said (yes, among other things):
With Fractal, I know I can design a delay tone that I have in my head. With other brands I know I am limited to the 4-10 parameters that they think I should be allowed to access. With other brands I know that if their digital delay sounds a certain way, or decays away at a certain rate, that I'm stuck with it. Whereas with Fractal I know I can mess with the EQ, the compander, the drive, and I can craft a delay tone that is exactly what I wanted. The downside of that is, I know it is going to take some time. I also know if I want to tweak it in the middle of a show, that it isn't going to be easy.

But I'd rather that that not be able to do it at all, or just be stuck with effect X on another platform.
Click to expand...
All I'm saying is that any number of parameters relating to a given device block can be paginated or arranged in a scrolling view - preferably in a sensible order so that more frequently used parameters are visible first. Most of the major players, including FAS, are already doing this. The flexibility of the device blocks, as measured in number/ variety/ depth of parameters, does not preclude improvements to other aspects of the user experience. No one is suggesting that FAS should improve their GUI by eliminating parameters or otherwise dumbing down their devices.
 
Achilles said:
So then, plenty of areas for Fractal to improve upon when they do theirs.

* Most folk's experience with the QC screen are really good. I think you may be biased. :giggle:
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I'm probably one of the few people here who doesn't have a bias.
 
mbenigni said:
And on that same note, I can't fathom where TF this came from:
Click to expand...
Go back and read your comment here:

Fractal Audio Systems mystery product speculation

I wonder if a big part of the reason Cliff doesn't stress over the UI is that in theory you shouldn't be using it much. Once the device is set up, you should be playing. I'm thinking of when I saw Metallica last weekend...the only pedals on the stage were the controllers for Kirk's wah. I doubt...
thegearforum.com thegearforum.com

It is pretty self evident. I wrote a fully detailed comment dealing with multiple topics, and you chose to reduce it to me saying "MuH pArAmEtErS!"

Pfft.
 
The QC screen is good, they tweaked the touch respons some time ago. Fractal have also optimized encoders in the past. It's ok to make things better along the way
The QC is easy to use, I don't need a manual
 
mbenigni said:
I agree with all of this 1000%, but IMO it supports the need to advance the FAS UI design in the wake of years and years of additions and improvements to the underlying functionality. I honestly cannot even grasp how this manages to be a debate. Nobody is saying the UI should revamped in an effort to make it shittier.
Click to expand...
The issue is, no-one making that comment has any idea about product design. That's pretty much the sum-total of my annoyance with the discussion.

For the vast majority of people who just want to string together a bunch of blocks, none of these devices are particularly any better than the other in terms of workflow. They're all much slower than just using an amp and a bunch of Boss stomp boxes - which is why I still own a ton of amps and pedals!!

But that's the price you pay for increased flexibility and the breadth of possibilities with these things. It'll always be the same.
 
Orvillain said:
The issue is, no-one making that comment has any idea about product design.
Click to expand...

Got over 30 years in my back pocket.
As a mechanical designer but rubbing elbows with acoustical, electrical, software, marketing, sales, and management the entire time.
Retired with the title of Director of Product Development.

If I had Fractal's flow chart I could story board up a UI concept in a day.

You keep trying to make it sound like rocket science when it's not.
During my week in the hospital I got to see all sorts of crazy medical devices and most of them had touchscreens along with
buttons and knobs. Pretty amazing actually.
 
Last edited:
Achilles said:
Got over 30 years in my back pocket.
As a mechanical designer but rubbing elbows with acoustic, electric, software, marketing, sales, and management the entire time.
Retired with the title of Director of Product Development.

If I had Fractal's flow chart I could story board up a UI concept in a day.

You keep trying to make it sound like rocket science when it's not.
During my week in the hospital I got to see all sorts of crazy medical devices and most of them had touchscreens along with
buttons and knobs. Pretty amazing actually.
Click to expand...
Like I said, go and design a product then. I dare you.

BTW, my Waldorf Iridium has a touchscreen on it. It is way better than the QC one was when I had it. People have said they've improved the touchscreen, but I can't see any source for that. Seems like people just wanted to disprove my experience precisely because they are the ones who are biased.

I'm cool. I've got 8 valve amps to play with. :rofl
 
Orvillain said:
For the vast majority of people who just want to string together a bunch of blocks, none of these devices are particularly any better than the other in terms of workflow. They're all much slower than just using an amp and a bunch of Boss stomp boxes...
Click to expand...
I don't agree with either of these observations. :idk

Dragging and dropping blocks on a QC happens almost as fast as I can decide to do it. On FAS, Enter Shuntman™. With a bunch of Boss stomp boxes, velcro and patch cables.
 
Stone said:
Different needs for different folks, For me I rarely bend down to my FM9 all is done in the editor which is fantastic
so for my needs a touch screen is not required
Click to expand...
I agree with this Mike .
I was only really thinking about myself 😮😂
An app and Bluetooth would be something potentially useful for me
I think 🤔
 
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