Fractal Talk
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Mongillo19
Rock Star
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Dang! Imagine how much people would be trashing if it was a QCWell, I got my FM9 back from RMA this morning. Box looked great; no damage at all. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I noticed the sound of something very tiny falling from end to end inside it.
Then I plugged it in, and it appeared to boot normally to the presets screen. I pushed the "Page >" button once, and the screen immediately went black, and the tempo LED went out again, just like it was doing before. The top 3 scribble strips aren't lighting up at all either.
I'm not too happy.I just emailed them again, and thankfully I had the forethought to record video of all of this stuff as it was happening, but I politely but firmly insisted they send me a brand new one before Thanksgiving. I offered to pay Next Day Air out of my pocket again, because I am stupid with my money.
I'm sure they'll take care of it, but sadly my first experience with Fractal gear has been a major fail. I bought this unit 10/19, and I've only gotten to use it for a couple weeks. On the bright side, I loved everything else about it. Tones are killer. Just wish I actually had one I could use and trust!
I wish they could toss something in for you at this point
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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Crap! That sucks!
fretworn
Rock Star
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Well, I got my FM9 back from RMA this morning. Box looked great; no damage at all. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I noticed the sound of something very tiny falling from end to end inside it.
Then I plugged it in, and it appeared to boot normally to the presets screen. I pushed the "Page >" button once, and the screen immediately went black, and the tempo LED went out again, just like it was doing before. The top 3 scribble strips aren't lighting up at all either.
I'm not too happy.
I'm sure they'll take care of it, but sadly my first experience with Fractal gear has been a major fail. I bought this unit 10/19, and I've only gotten to use it for a couple weeks. On the bright side, I loved everything else about it. Tones are killer. Just wish I actually had one I could use and trust!
This is just a special hazing ritual for you
FWIW- If Cliff is aware, I’m sure some heads will roll… At least that’s what he said last time something like this happened.
eggpl@nt
Roadie
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- 903
Makes me wonder (a) wtf these carriers are doing to packages and (b) what does FAS need to do to make the FM9 more robust so as to not get damaged during whatever is happening in (a).Well, I got my FM9 back from RMA this morning. Box looked great; no damage at all. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I noticed the sound of something very tiny falling from end to end inside it.
Then I plugged it in, and it appeared to boot normally to the presets screen. I pushed the "Page >" button once, and the screen immediately went black, and the tempo LED went out again, just like it was doing before. The top 3 scribble strips aren't lighting up at all either.
I'm not too happy.
I'm sure they'll take care of it, but sadly my first experience with Fractal gear has been a major fail. I bought this unit 10/19, and I've only gotten to use it for a couple weeks. On the bright side, I loved everything else about it. Tones are killer. Just wish I actually had one I could use and trust!
SwirlyMaple
Shredder
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- 1,329
I am 100% sure it's not shipping damage. The way it's behaving has all the hallmarks of intermittent electronics faults, and the box is unblemished. Also, this is very similar to what it was doing before I sent it in for the RMA.
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Dang! Imagine how much people would be trashing if it was a QC
I wish they could toss something in for you at this point
To be fair, these two companies have ENTIRELY different track records when it comes to failing units. You see something like this pop up maybe 2-3x a year on the FAS forum and that’s a strong maybe. RMA’s for the QC are closer to 2-3 a day/week.
eggpl@nt
Roadie
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Good point. Well then (b) it is.
SwirlyMaple
Shredder
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Yeah. I fully believe this is isolated, bad luck on my part. I haven't read many complaints at all about Fractal gear, except maybe the first batch of FM3s and shielding issues. I still think their stuff is great. Just waiting for my chance to partake in it
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SO basically what you mean is..tube amps have the "something" that class d will never have? Hard to put into words but that "something" that to some small and to some large but it DOES matter in dynamics and "feel" when playing?Ughh I really didn't need to read this --->
A lot of it is about transient energy storage. A tube amp stores a LOT of energy. Take a typical 100W tube amp like a Diezel. It will typically have 220uF of reservoir capacitance and a B+ of 450V. The energy stored is 22.3 Joules!!!
Now take a typical consumer Class-D "500W" power amp (actual continuous power about 100W). They usually have voltage rails around 50V and 680uF or so of capacitance. The energy stored (assuming bipolar supplies) is 1.7 Joules.
The tube amp has over 13 times the energy storage. So those palm mute transients are reproduced accurately. The Class-D amp runs out of gas.
For example, if your transient duration is, say, 100ms, and you're pushing a full 100W then the energy required is 10 Joules. The Class-D amp simply can't do it.
It's one of my pet peeves. People use cheap, low-end, consumer grade Class-D power amps and then make bold proclamations that the models don't sound as good as the real amp without understanding even a lick of the physics involved.
I put an Axe-Fx through a Crown X2 once and it Marty McFly'd me.
Thank you very Much @FractalAudio
Mongillo19
Rock Star
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Very true! I'm just frustrated for SM as we all know FAS is awesome. It's like talking about a friend for a job and then they bomb.
I'm sure FAS will make it right lol
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should have just sent you a new one initially..like line6 would have done. I mean what if you were a gigging musician and had shows?Well, I got my FM9 back from RMA this morning. Box looked great; no damage at all. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I noticed the sound of something very tiny falling from end to end inside it.
Then I plugged it in, and it appeared to boot normally to the presets screen. I pushed the "Page >" button once, and the screen immediately went black, and the tempo LED went out again, just like it was doing before. The top 3 scribble strips aren't lighting up at all either.
I'm not too happy.
I'm sure they'll take care of it, but sadly my first experience with Fractal gear has been a major fail. I bought this unit 10/19, and I've only gotten to use it for a couple weeks. On the bright side, I loved everything else about it. Tones are killer. Just wish I actually had one I could use and trust!
- Messages
- 1,413
i hope they double boxed it and it was not shifting in transit? On amazon i always choose to box it up inside another box instead of shipping the manufature box only. But even then it comes flopping around inside that other thin box..lolWell, I got my FM9 back from RMA this morning. Box looked great; no damage at all. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I noticed the sound of something very tiny falling from end to end inside it.
Then I plugged it in, and it appeared to boot normally to the presets screen. I pushed the "Page >" button once, and the screen immediately went black, and the tempo LED went out again, just like it was doing before. The top 3 scribble strips aren't lighting up at all either.
I'm not too happy.
I'm sure they'll take care of it, but sadly my first experience with Fractal gear has been a major fail. I bought this unit 10/19, and I've only gotten to use it for a couple weeks. On the bright side, I loved everything else about it. Tones are killer. Just wish I actually had one I could use and trust!
SwirlyMaple
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,329
Honestly, I agree. But, I understand that Fractal is a small company, and probably doesn't have the same kind of brute-force financials behind them to just send out new units any time an issue is encountered. I also admire that they maintain jobs for technicians and service their own products. So I don't really fault them for that.
Mongillo19
Rock Star
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- 5,211
IIRC fractal double boxes and uses an insert to suspend it. Atleast they did for the III
Rock Chalk
Roadie
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- 613
As others have said, this stuff doesn't happen very often with Fractal .......it must just be you......yer bad luck!Yeah. I fully believe this is isolated, bad luck on my part. I haven't read many complaints at all about Fractal gear, except maybe the first batch of FM3s and shielding issues. I still think their stuff is great. Just waiting for my chance to partake in it
I keed I keed..........Hang in there bro.........good things come to those who wait.
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I refrain from making “I haven’t had that problem” posts because I think they’re most useless than anything, but doing my own “just check the socials” I preach about the QC, it seems hardware failures aren’t very common with Kemper, Line 6 or Fractal, save for the outliers like this.
Hahahahah maybe now is a good time to ask Cliff for the broken FM9 for our Modeler Durability videos where we smash other modelers with an FM9. “You might ask why we’re using an FM9 for this; Fractal only had one hardware failure in 3 years with the FM9 so they gave it to us to smash these other units with”
SwirlyMaple
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,329
It was packed in their original packing, which is double boxed, and the FM9 is mounted in foam standoffs. The box looks pristine, and just like the photos I took of it before it was returned for the RMA, so I strongly doubt shipping played a role. The issue it's doing now also is very similar to what it was doing pre-RMA.
Foxmeister
Roadie
- Messages
- 937
If they had any sense, such a person would have a backup of some sort!
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