Fractal Audio Systems VP4 - Virtual Pedalboard
- Thread starter laxu
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Is there really no Preset Select via MIDI option?!?!?!
I’ve got Scene Select and Effect Bypass working fine, but if I can’t select Presets from the MC6 then I simply paid more money to add extra fucking steps to this shit.
Edit- Derp. Just found the MIDI Menu in the VP4 manual. Fuckin hell, man….
My whole board is about to get every pedal ripped off it and everything thrown into a fucking closet. It blows my mind that I can program a fucking Fractal unit from the front fucking panel, programmed a multitude of 80’s and 90’s MIDI gear without fucking manuals, can run a goddamn building management system with a massive fucking chiller system and two cooling towers but I can’t program a motherfucking MIDI controller made in 202fucking5 ?!?!?!?!?!?!
I’ve got Scene Select and Effect Bypass working fine, but if I can’t select Presets from the MC6 then I simply paid more money to add extra fucking steps to this shit.
Edit- Derp. Just found the MIDI Menu in the VP4 manual. Fuckin hell, man….
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iaresee
Roadie
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You send the PC# on the channel the VP4 is listening on to select a preset. This is the most trivial of trivial MIDI things to do -- nothing SysEx here at all.
From the MIDI block on the FM9, this is how I pick a preset and scene in that preset on the VP4:
My VP4 is listening on channel 4. The first command selects the 85th preset in the unit. The second command sets it to scene 1.
dean701
Roadie
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that Guardian in your video demo of the Squeezer is no slouch.
dean701
Roadie
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Hey Johnny Swearbag,
I have my Morningstar set up similar to Ian above. I have my favorite preset numbers jotted down and dedicate press functionality to go right to particular scenes within certain presets.
If you want an example I can show you (just have that computer powered off right now, and I'm feeling lazy)
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I just found the MIDI Menu with the preset values in the manual, I was assuming I could just start at 1. I was already miffed before I started programming after the expression cable disaster, sometimes I can’t see my hand in front of my face when I’m in that mood.
Thank you, good sir!
SillyOctpuss
Rock Star
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I get like that too. I'm trying to be better about just walking away when I'm close to breaking shit.
Elf
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RELEASE the surprise!
Mongillo19
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Richard_G
Roadie
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RELEASE the surprise!
The surprise is that there is no surprise
I'd be surprised!
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After that ridiculously simple correction, programming the VP4 is a breeze with the MC6 Pro software. There’s so much programmability on the MC6 it’s not too dissimilar from the FC/FM switches. I was questioning if the MC6 would be worthwhile and it definitely makes things easier for getting around the VP4.
Those reverbs with the delays are a trip, too. I had read about them but hadn’t actually heard them yet.
Those reverbs with the delays are a trip, too. I had read about them but hadn’t actually heard them yet.
Finally got the VP4 back from G66, they fixed it super quickly but shipping to Germany and back took 2 weeks. They replaced encoder B and now it's working as it should. I'm a little miffed that a brand new 840€ (945€ currently lol) pedal had a borked encoder, but I guess these things happen. This is the second new expensive piece of gear in the last 6 months that I've had major hardware issues with.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMB question that I can't seem to find the answer to. How do I change a specific preset's routing type to 4cm ON THE DEVICE itself? I was jamming through the Multiwatt last night and trying to check out the factory presets but kept triggering full bypass mode.
Edited for answered my own question. I think.
Edited for answered my own question. I think.
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hahahah that was one I assumed was going to be more difficult than it actually is and kept blowing past the page.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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laxu
Rock Star
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I don't blame you. It took me way too long to find the series/parallel routing option on my AM4 because there is no indicator that there are more parameters to scroll to on the Mix/routing page.I'm sure it will be staring me in the face the next time I fire up the pedal
Fractal has a scroll bar in other places so this is a bug. Reported it on Fractal forums in the AM4 section, and indicated that it applies to the VP4 probably as well.
laxu
Rock Star
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Well, apparently that lack of a scrollbar is intentional according to Fractal guys on the bug thread I posted.
Somehow the Cab page with a similar UI does fit a scrollbar but this one doesn't. Instead of e.g implementing a scrollbar that simply takes less pixels on screen to fit together with the more crowded text, they just omitted it completely.
"But it's just a scrollbar, you learned how to use that page by finding the extra controls by accident!" Yeah, but details matter.
"But maybe it took too much time and effort to add several scroll bar sizes?" Well, if you have issues with crowded views, perhaps said smaller scrollbar would have future uses as well?
Somehow the Cab page with a similar UI does fit a scrollbar but this one doesn't. Instead of e.g implementing a scrollbar that simply takes less pixels on screen to fit together with the more crowded text, they just omitted it completely.
"But it's just a scrollbar, you learned how to use that page by finding the extra controls by accident!" Yeah, but details matter.
"But maybe it took too much time and effort to add several scroll bar sizes?" Well, if you have issues with crowded views, perhaps said smaller scrollbar would have future uses as well?
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BROCKSTAR
Shredder
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VP4 Firmware V4.02 Beta 1 Release
The VP4 Firmware V4.02 Beta 1 Release is now available for download: VP4 Firmware V4.02 Beta 1 Release IMPORTANT: Always back up your Presets and System using Fractal-Bot built into AM4-Edit before updating firmware VERSION 4.02 Beta 1 | February 25, 2026 UPDATES, IMPROVEMENTS, FIXES NEW...
VERSION 4.02 Beta 1 | February 25, 2026
- NEW! Swedish Metal Drive pedal model based on a Boss™ HM-2 Heavy Metal. The expert Diode Type now also includes the 1S2473 from this model.
- Pitch tracking improvements:
- Increased high range to ~2500 Hz to allow better tracking of pinch harmonics etc.
- Improved low frequency shifting for , e.g. bass guitars.
- The Input Gate and Gate block now allow faster Attack times down to 0.1 ms.
Note: Setting Attack and Release times too fast in any gate can cause distortion. - Changed default values of Dual Tape type in Delay block to be a bit more musical.
- Improved the performance of tempo from external MIDI clock, which can push-pull during preset changes.
