Fractal Talk

[State of Epicicity]

I expect custom label per channel is not something where they want to spend the effort and memory to make it (needs new UI too), but a "display current channel model name" option might be possible.

I have no idea what it takes to make any of this stuff a reality. I can program one hell of a spreadsheet, but that's it.

 

[Stratzrus]

Yeah Laney LFR112’s. They sound fantastic. At this point, they are THE solution for me.

Have you, or anyone else, compared them to the Fender FR-12? Just curious.

 

[Whizzinby]

I expect custom label per channel is not something where they want to spend the effort and memory to make it (needs new UI too), but a "display current channel model name" option might be possible.

I have no idea what’s in the FC in terms of processing. I’m assuming this would take some sort of minimal overhead on both devices. (FS engaged, Axe receives input and turns on device, Axe returns Type name to FC, FC displays type name)

I was a little surprised this wasn’t an option tbh, these things are massively configurable otherwise.

 

[Stone]

Have you, or anyone else, compared them to the Fender FR-12? Just curious.

that would be Interesting to know Laney seems to have better drivers, but the Fender has the EQ and cut

but again comes down to preference a lot here dont like the Powercabs but I swear by them Because they sound great to me and dont see any benefit to replacing them, your monitoring solution whatever it may be is very Important so stick to what works for you

 

[yek]

This is an awesome idea! You should totally start a wishlist thread on the Fractal Forum for this, in the FC section. They take those seriously, and maybe it would carry more weight than only writing here, especially if a bunch of people +1 it. I would think also allowing custom labels per channel would be extremely helpful, perhaps even moreso.

Already wished for. Examples:

Wish - Option to show model name in FC label

Rather than see just the block name and/or channel number on footswitches, I'd like to see "AC-20 EF86 TREBLE", "Tone of Kings", etc. Would be much more useful to me.

forum.fractalaudio.com

Wish - Label options in FC Edit

I would an option here to give Effect Type so we don't have to do a per preset on every preset if we want to see whether the effect is a Timmy, Bosom Boost, Brit 800, Medium Hall, Deluxe Mind Guy, etc

forum.fractalaudio.com

 

[laxu]

I have no idea what’s in the FC in terms of processing. I’m assuming this would take some sort of minimal overhead on both devices. (FS engaged, Axe receives input and turns on device, Axe returns Type name to FC, FC displays type name)

I was a little surprised this wasn’t an option tbh, these things are massively configurable otherwise.

The FC-6/12 is a pretty "dumb" device. All the actual processing is done in the Axe-Fx and the FC is basically just printing stuff on displays, running LEDs and sending footswitch commands back to the Axe-Fx.

Inside the FC-12 you will find a couple of stacked PCBs containing the LCD displays and footswitches, and another main board for I/O and the bigger screen.

I guess "Display Type" is not an option because it might be hard to fit the info you want on the screen. You'd want the channel letter, and the name of the model which can be long enough that you would have e.g multiple switches that say "A: Plexi 100", "B: Plexi 100" but don't fit whether it's "Plexi 100 Normal", "Plexi 100 Jumped" etc. So you would need something like "A: Plx100Jp" to shorten it.

I ran into this issue with preset and scene names where I had to figure out how to write them in a manner that fits the little FC-12 screens and still makes sense. If I remember correctly there's even an option to show what the FC label limit is where it dims the letters that don't fit, at least for scene names.

This means that to support a feature like that, you need:

• A new Axe-Edit UI that can configure the different channel names if you can customize them yourself.
• Some storage for per-channel names on the Axe-Fx.

Or:

• A full list of shortened model names that make sense when shown on the FC footswitch LCDs, if the system is automatic with "Display Type" selected.

 

[Whizzinby]

This means that to support a feature like that, you need:

• A new Axe-Edit UI that can configure the different channel names if you can customize them yourself.
• Some storage for per-channel names on the Axe-Fx.

Or:

• A full list of shortened model names that make sense when shown on the FC footswitch LCDs, if the system is automatic with "Display Type" selected.

Im thinking even simpler. Axe already knows the Type engaged so it doesn’t really have to “store” it anymore than it already is. It “simply” needs to send that Type name to the FS. It can cutoff whatever doesn’t fit. (I don’t think channel information needs to be displayed at all)

To me it just makes sense a user might prefer seeing Stereo Tape vs Delay. And it makes a ton of sense if you’re using their increment/decrement feature to cycle through the channels. It would be so much more useful to see as it’s cycling “Stereo Tape” “Dual Delay” “Deluxe Mind Guy” and “Digital Stereo” vs just simply “Delay” for all of them.

 

[iaresee]

To me it just makes sense a user might prefer seeing Stereo Tape vs Delay.

Honestly, this is a pretty excellent idea. An incremental improvement, likely, as well.

 

[Stratzrus]

that would be Interesting to know [Laney vs, Fender FR-12]. Laney seems to have better drivers, but the Fender has the EQ and cut

but again comes down to preference...

And that was my question: Is there a clear consensus regarding which people prefer or are they so close that neither is considered to be significantly better?

The Laney both weighs and costs significantly more than the Fender, even with the V2 Gold mod, so I'd think that the decision to go that route would have to be based on a distinct preference for it over the Fender.

 

[Whizzinby]

Already wished for. Examples:

Wish - Option to show model name in FC label

Rather than see just the block name and/or channel number on footswitches, I'd like to see "AC-20 EF86 TREBLE", "Tone of Kings", etc. Would be much more useful to me.

forum.fractalaudio.com

Wish - Label options in FC Edit

I would an option here to give Effect Type so we don't have to do a per preset on every preset if we want to see whether the effect is a Timmy, Bosom Boost, Brit 800, Medium Hall, Deluxe Mind Guy, etc

forum.fractalaudio.com

I guess I won’t spam another thread there then.

 

[Frodebro]

And that was my question: Is there a clear consensus regarding which people prefer or are they so close that neither is considered to be significantly better?

The Laney both weighs and costs significantly more than the Fender, even with the V2 Gold mod, so I'd think that the decision to go that route would have to be based on a distinct preference for it over the Fender.

I have a Friedman ASC12 and a pair of TM FR12s. The Friedman is a good sounding cab, but it’s heavy AF. The FR12s are pretty damn great on many levels- lightweight, plenty of volume, and the tone stack cut control is better than sex.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Have you, or anyone else, compared them to the Fender FR-12? Just curious.

Unfortunately no; haven’t had the opportunity. I did compare it to the PowerCab, and there’s no comparison. The Laney sounds WAY better.

 

[Frodebro]

Unfortunately no; haven’t had the opportunity. I did compare it to the PowerCab, and there’s no comparison. The Laney sounds WAY better.

I have a pair of Powercab Pluses. The ASC12 and FR12 stomp all over them. For those who have the Powercabs and are happy with them, do yourself a favor and don’t test drive anything else. The PCs sound good enough when you don’t have anything better to compare them to. What you don’t hear won’t hurt you.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Yeah Laney LFR112’s. They sound fantastic. At this point, they are THE solution for me.

Bingo!

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

These are sweet too!

 

[laxu]

Im thinking even simpler. Axe already knows the Type engaged so it doesn’t really have to “store” it anymore than it already is. It “simply” needs to send that Type name to the FS. It can cutoff whatever doesn’t fit. (I don’t think channel information needs to be displayed at all)

To me it just makes sense a user might prefer seeing Stereo Tape vs Delay. And it makes a ton of sense if you’re using their increment/decrement feature to cycle through the channels. It would be so much more useful to see as it’s cycling “Stereo Tape” “Dual Delay” “Deluxe Mind Guy” and “Digital Stereo” vs just simply “Delay” for all of them.

I think the feature would be great, but there's definitely more implementation challenges than you might think.

You can't just truncate the text of the model name.

The FC displays support up to 11 characters of text. Let's say to keep the channel letter you need A/B/C/D + space. It's relevant information because you might have the same model in multiple channels. 9 characters left for the model name.

"Plexi 100 Jumped" is 16 letters, or 14 without spaces. So we still need to get rid of 5 letters.

• A simple "remove spaces and truncate to 9" would be "Plexi100J" which works ok. But "Brit 800 2203 High" becomes "Brit800220" which is missing info.
• "Split by space and truncate each word to 3 letters" would give us "Ple100Jum" and that is still understandable. But with the 2203 you get "Bri800220Hig" which is too long and kind of a jumble.
• Ok, what about "numLettersPerWord = Math.floor(9 / originalName.split(" ").length)"? That gives you "Br8022Hi" which fits but is nonsense.

I'm sure you could think of more complex algorithms that remove e.g vowels but by that point you are way far in the weeds trying to invent an automated solution.

That's why a custom built list of short names for each model is the way to go. It's maybe a few days of work to compile since there's a ton of models for each block. You'd get e.g "Plx100Jmp" or "2203 High".

It's of course not that difficult feature to make, but it does take some work compiling a "block ID - model ID - short name" list and then getting the right stuff from that for the feature.

 

[dk_ace]

Just to hurt your brain even more, you can also run "per preset" layouts, which can be custom tailored for each preset. So you can populate the board with just the effects in that preset, then have a completely different set of effects for the next preset.

This is what I do, crazy powerful…

D

 

[Stone]

I have a pair of Powercab Pluses. The ASC12 and FR12 stomp all over them. For those who have the Powercabs and are happy with them, do yourself a favor and don’t test drive anything else. The PCs sound good enough when you don’t have anything better to compare them to. What you don’t hear won’t hurt you.

Its all in what you Prefer really, my Fractal makes anything sound good, but out of curiosity's sake Ill probably order one FR 12 (with option for refund) and compare them since i have 2 Powercabs, from there il see if worth to replace them, we will see
Based on what I hear in my room im able to match a recorded tone very near perfect so really i dont see what would be better with any other monitoring solution

 

[Frodebro]

This is what I do, crazy powerful…

D

I’m starting to implement this feature more now, but mainly due to the number of song specific presets I have been making for my band stuff.

 

[Frodebro]

Its all in what you Prefer really, my Fractal makes anything sound good, but out of curiosity's sake Ill probably order one FR 12 (with option for refund) and compare them since i have 2 Powercabs, from there il see if worth to replace them, we will see
Based on what I hear in my room im able to match a recorded tone very near perfect so really i dont see what would be better with any other monitoring solution

My local GC had one FR12 in stock. I bought it just to hear for myself how it sounded. Went back to the store the very next day and ordered a second one. I’m not crazy about the tolex and grill cloth, but if it ever gets to the point that I’m twitchy over it I’ll build a pair of new cabs to house the guts in, and I’ll do a Boogie-style hardwood/wicker grill thing.