Fractal Talk

Man, I think I struggled with my Fractal tones for the first time in.... forever.


Maybe it was the humidity. Or lack thereof. :LOL:

I used to get that nagging harsh and brittle high frequency content whenever
I dove into the digital realm. Never had an issue with it when using my Fractal,
and then the perception crept into my head last night when we were practicing
and I couldn't get past it. I still had fun and powered through. Just was not
loving/vibing with the tone.

I have to wonder if using the Engl E530 and Fryette GPDI/IR at home for the
past bit has retrained my ears. Weird.

Not hung up or paralyzed by what happened. Just a bit out of the norm as I was
experiencing those thoughts for the first time while playing through a Fractal device.

Must need some new firmware!!! :rofl

I just had this problem recently when I was trying to use my fm3 for fx in front of my /13.

When I added the fm3 to the signal chain it added that digital “edge” to the sound that I hate so much.
 
Man, I think I struggled with my Fractal tones for the first time in.... forever.


Maybe it was the humidity. Or lack thereof. :LOL:

I used to get that nagging harsh and brittle high frequency content whenever
I dove into the digital realm. Never had an issue with it when using my Fractal,
and then the perception crept into my head last night when we were practicing
and I couldn't get past it. I still had fun and powered through. Just was not
loving/vibing with the tone.

I have to wonder if using the Engl E530 and Fryette GPDI/IR at home for the
past bit has retrained my ears. Weird.

Not hung up or paralyzed by what happened. Just a bit out of the norm as I was
experiencing those thoughts for the first time while playing through a Fractal device.

Must need some new firmware!!! :rofl
q tip nicksplat GIF by Hey Arnold
 
I think tone is a daily struggle, not because of gear, but because of ear haha. Of course humidity changes sound, and I believe one's own physiology changes in ways that change hearing perception; I don't mean hearing loss, just perceiving new harsh frequencies where they were not before. Even Joe Barresi alluded to this on Pensado's Place, saying that if vocals sound like shit on a particular day, maybe try recording something else. I think it's inevitable, and when those things happen, tweaking the tone is fine for that day; you can always reassess next time!

I feel like my own perception of tone morphs within ten minutes of practicing, and after time I just utterly exclude frequencies from my perception to my detriment. If I take a break and come back, everything sounds great.
 
I think tone is a daily struggle, not because of gear, but because of ear haha. Of course humidity changes sound, and I believe one's own physiology changes in ways that change hearing perception; I don't mean hearing loss, just perceiving new harsh frequencies where they were not before. Even Joe Barresi alluded to this on Pensado's Place, saying that if vocals sound like shit on a particular day, maybe try recording something else. I think it's inevitable, and when those things happen, tweaking the tone is fine for that day; you can always reassess next time!

I feel like my own perception of tone morphs within ten minutes of practicing, and after time I just utterly exclude frequencies from my perception to my detriment. If I take a break and come back, everything sounds great.

Totally! This is why I am not too bothered by it long-term.

Might be time to go back to Amps for a bit..... so I can cleanse my sonic palette. :beer

Emphasis on the "Might be... " :unsure:
 
I'm not sure i want to keep my vp4 connected via spdif with my fm9. What i want is for zoia and vp4 to go in its own fx loop on fm9 so that i can use it with a normal guitar anytime, and with my gk-5 pickup and boss vg-800/gm-800 setup anytime etc..

Right now I have gk-5 pickup on guitar with serial cable going into boss vg-800, vg-800 stereo out into stereo in on boss gm-800 (serial cable out of vg to serial in on gm), gm-800 stereo out going into stereo in on empress zoia, zoia stereo out going into fm9 fx loop. Then I have vp4 hooked up with spdif

----------------------------------

But what I want is gk-5 pickup on guitar with serial cable going into boss vg-800, vg-800 stereo out into stereo in on boss gm-800 (serial cable out of vg to serial in on gm), gm-800 stereo into fm9. I can do that no problem right now....

However this next part, how can I do it?

Empress Zoia stereo in, then zoia stereo out into stereo in on vp4, and stereo out of vp4 into fm9. I have no guitar to plug into the stereo in on zoia to get this going?

Do I need a patch bay then? Will that allow me to patch stereo in and out from zoia into the patch bay and the same with vp4, and then run out of the patch bay into fm9?

Anyone?

IN SHORT: 2 fx loops only on FM9. I want zoia into vp4 (or vp4 into zoia maybe) in stereo into 1 fx loop, the vg-800 and gm-800 in stereo into another. I already have the vg-800/gm-800 done, but not sure how to do zoia and vp4 together in the 2nd fx loop?
 
I was using and comparing it to the Severe 2 Model. I kind of thought the iconic Engl tone was kind of scoopy.

One of the missing factors in the Fractal Models is the absence of the Upper Mid and Lo Mid controls. For me,
that is where you can really shape the Mids in a way that is pleasing. Having a default "Mid" only control in the
Fractalverse seems like some kind of oversight. :idk
 
I was using and comparing it to the Severe 2 Model. I kind of thought the iconic Engl tone was kind of scoopy.

One of the missing factors in the Fractal Models is the absence of the Upper Mid and Lo Mid controls. For me,
that is where you can really shape the Mids in a way that is pleasing. Having a default "Mid" only control in the
Fractalverse seems like some kind of oversight. :idk

I'm an idiot. This whole time I was confusing the E530 with the E650, the Ritchie Blackmore amp! I googled the E530 to compare its tone controls to the Savage, and I realized that's a totally different amp. 🤦‍♂️
 
I was using and comparing it to the Severe 2 Model. I kind of thought the iconic Engl tone was kind of scoopy.

One of the missing factors in the Fractal Models is the absence of the Upper Mid and Lo Mid controls. For me,
that is where you can really shape the Mids in a way that is pleasing. Having a default "Mid" only control in the
Fractalverse seems like some kind of oversight. :idk
Same with Herbert mid cut. I know you can get there with an EQ, but still. Would be cool to have.
 
Same with Herbert mid cut. I know you can get there with an EQ, but still. Would be cool to have.

I actually have a wishlist request on the Fractal Forum for that!

 
Ok here's a multitap delay block with the quad-tap delay.

I call this one "The Story Teller" because... well it sounded like she was telling me a story :P

I made it for FM9 turbo MKII but should be fine on any fm3/fm9/axefx3.

I also copied my settings over to fractal vp4 and turned it into a block as well for it. However there seems to be a slight sound difference going on for some reason.

The fm9 version sounds sweeter and more alive to me. The vp4 version sounds great but it seems like it lacks the reverb/diffusion as the fm9 one so I jacked up the diffusion double the amount on the vp4 to try to match but something just not matching right.

Listen to a sample below. First take is the FM9 version and second take is the VP4 version.

I wonder if it's due to my vp4 being connected via spdif to my fm9 and using output/input blocks to engage it in the signal path.



DOWNLOAD THEM HERE - https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ocks-thread-multi-model-edition.177536/page-4
 
I think tone is a daily struggle, not because of gear, but because of ear haha. Of course humidity changes sound, and I believe one's own physiology changes in ways that change hearing perception; I don't mean hearing loss, just perceiving new harsh frequencies where they were not before. Even Joe Barresi alluded to this on Pensado's Place, saying that if vocals sound like shit on a particular day, maybe try recording something else. I think it's inevitable, and when those things happen, tweaking the tone is fine for that day; you can always reassess next time!

I feel like my own perception of tone morphs within ten minutes of practicing, and after time I just utterly exclude frequencies from my perception to my detriment. If I take a break and come back, everything sounds great.

This has been my experience as well. Some days I think things sound amazing and other days the exact same rig doesn't do it for me. That's when I reach for a different guitar or another amp / preset.
 
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