Fractal ICONS Plugin

[DrewJD82]

Surely it's been mentioned already, but an effects-only plugin would make it's way to the top of a list for me. I'd love to use more Fractal delays/reverbs on vocals but I just hate dealing with the process of re-amping the tracks to do so. If I could get those via plugins to throw on busses.....hot diggity.

 

[mikah912]

About the price thing that some people keep being sour about or downplaying it over other brands...

Take into consideration that Fractal Audio has less employees and they need paid obviously for their skills and time etc. It's a lot of work to bring happiness to people when you don't have a huge arsenal of employees compared to a bigger company that can afford to do it faster and perhaps less accuracy in some brands and that allows them to be able to release things at a lower price probably.

However with Fractal, you're getting the fractal sound and feel and accuracy that is well known and loved. You can't put a price on happiness right or so they say?

One thing I know for sure is that they work their asses off daily to bring this stuff to you and more!

I'm not quibbling over the price at all, but this doesn't make sense against the AM4 which packages almost everything they have in hardware with a USB interface and switches for $700.

That establishes a valuation of their content that this Icons pricing isn't aligned with at all. So I can understand the people having sticker shock, even if I'm not one of them.

Like @Whizzinby, I'm not a fan of the arbitrary "sampler" of effects included this far, especially being intimately familiar with how sick Fractal reverbs and mod FX are.

I do think, however, we should give Cliff some time to cook with this concept and see how he fleshes it out.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Loading a FAS plugin into a session…

Did you have your stop watch out for boot time?

 

[toneseeker911]

The modeling is a direct port from the hardware code-base.

I would have thought the embedded platforms pose more constraints. Whereas the plugins on desktops/laptops can maybe handle much more complexity.

 

[LP59]

I would have thought the embedded platforms pose more constraints. Whereas the plugins on desktops/laptops can maybe handle much more complexity.

The plugins do indeed have fewer memory constraints. That's why you see so many microphones in the cab block in the plugins.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Damn, I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

Nitpick / Feature Request: bypassing the input gate block / global lock.

Currently, it's not possible to do it via double clicking, which seems unreasonable to me.
It is possible via turning the threshold parameter down to zero, but that's gotta be done for every preset and it's just silly.

FR: allow double clicking to bypass,
huge bonus would be to provide an optional global lock to bypass it for all presets

Possible solutions:
Click the 'threshold' label, like how on Valhalla DSP's plugins you can click to lock the mix control.
Easy enough, and makes it far more user friendly for those of us who may not ever want to have a gate active.

or

Have a context menu preference to lock it.

etc.

 

[FractalAudio]

Nitpick / Feature Request: bypassing the input gate block / global lock.

Currently, it's not possible to do it via double clicking, which seems unreasonable to me.
It is possible via turning the threshold parameter down to zero, but that's gotta be done for every preset and it's just silly.

View attachment 59016

FR: allow double clicking to bypass,
huge bonus would be to provide an optional global lock to bypass it for all presets


View attachment 59017

Possible solutions:
Click the 'threshold' label, like how on Valhalla DSP's plugins you can click to lock the mix control.
Easy enough, and makes it far more user friendly for those of us who may not ever want to have a gate active.

or

Have a context menu preference to lock it.

etc.

You should post this on our forum so the engineers/developers will see it.

 

[FracKing]

I can't help thinking this will complicate the update process. It used to be when a new amp feature was added to the AxeFX, it then followed on the FM3. Now it has to rolled out to the FM3, FM9, AM4, and the plugins.

And for preset makers like AustinBuddy possibly/understandably concentrating on where he can get the most sales -- or having to take on extra devices/plugins (AM4, ICON) while he is already way behind on his past plans... That nothing seems to convert between things ATM must suck extra for him too...
I do always wish him well

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

@FractalAudio

oops - it won't let me:

probably because I'm a new member and external URL links aren't allowed, but it wouldn't seem to allow me to add images directly either.

edit: posted there without any images

 

[BenIfin]

You should post this on our forum so the engineers/developers will see it.

Great Stuff. Can I ask - for those of us running plugins in real-time live [ I'm on a M4 Macbook Air with Gigperformer 5 ]

-> are these plugins "zero latency" ?
-> is there an adjustable oversampling rate setting ?

Thanks again and awesome product !

 

[FuzzyAce]

 

[Whizzinby]

Like @Whizzinby, I'm not a fan of the arbitrary "sampler" of effects included this far, especially being intimately familiar with how sick Fractal reverbs and mod FX are.

I do think, however, we should give Cliff some time to cook with this concept and see how he fleshes it out.

The mod effects are pretty strong as a baseline, but the Delays and Reverbs are a little light in the pants if you’re a FAS degenerate. They really need to add the Stereo Tape and something like the Stratocumulus reverb. That would round it out pretty nice, without having to go full ham.

Pitch block just chilling on the runway with the Marshall Bundle.

 

[FractalAudio]

The mod effects are pretty strong as a baseline, but the Delays and Reverbs are a little light in the pants if you’re a FAS degenerate. They really need to add the Stereo Tape and something like the Stratocumulus reverb. That would round it out pretty nice, without having to go full ham.

Pitch block just chilling on the runway with the Marshall Bundle.

I'm sure I can persuade them to add a few more delays and reverbs. I lost that battle the first time but since I sign their paychecks...

I want some more Drives too.

 

[[Nathan]]

Adding more amps and effects to this plugin isn’t going to bloat it, just more options. Duplicating this plugin 8 times with different selections of amps, drive pedals, delays, cabs etc is way more annoying, team wrapper plugin here.

I understand the pricing but has anyone looked at a trajectory of how much you’d spend if they kept duplicating this amp list at $300 a pop? It would be a major incentive to give recurring discounts based on plugins you own. If you own a bunch of stuff and the brand just keeps doubling down to reward those purchases it makes a massive difference to even getting that first purchase over the line imo.

I think those two things are a big thing to get people hooked. And yeah a 7-14 day demo is pretty mandatory.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

I'm sure I can persuade them to add a few more delays and reverbs. I lost that battle the first time but since I sign their paychecks...

I want some more Drives too.

Yes please!
A big +1 for more drives and verbs.

 

[BROCKSTAR]

I'm sure I can persuade them to add a few more delays and reverbs. I lost that battle the first time but since I sign their paychecks...

I want some more Drives too.

Ask for that new surround delay please!

 

[Whizzinby]

I'm sure I can persuade them to add a few more delays and reverbs. I lost that battle the first time but since I sign their paychecks...

I want some more Drives too.

Awesome! Just looking at it from an all-around perspective. I think everyone would like a tape in it, and one of your ambient verbs would be very much welcomed to get those tones a little more easily.

Side note, I wish you could have seen my face when this dropped.

I couldn’t believe it.

This is so badass.

 

[BenIfin]

And yeah a 7-14 day demo is pretty mandatory.

Actually I just assumed there was a demo ?

Current Fractal users will know exactly what they would be getting, but asking people to pay, potentially 00's of dollars to buy a product without having any idea if they will like the sound or how well it will run on-and-with their gear/ setup is a huge ask.

Off the top of my head, I cant think of any amp/efx sim plugin that does not have a demo version (?)

I presume one will have to come ? -or- possibly ? - and sadly given the world we live in - they are trying to absolutely minimize the possibility of them being "cracked" for as long as possible ?

 

[Whizzinby]

If you’ve ever once wished FAS would make a plugin, and you’d now consider using a cracked version when they actually did…