How good are the Fractal ODs?

[Stone]

I've been messing with Gilmour tones the last 2 days with them and the Colorsound stuff.

The PastFX Patriarch (Civil War Gilmour tones) is first, then the Russian Big Muff and Colorsound.


I did this tonight, it's just the Colorsound Booster in front of a Hiwatt-

Love it and def worth a signature Pick toss

 

[Jarick]

I've always wondered, has anyone done comparisons to note dynamic range on inputs/outputs? Meaning can these modelers truly drive amps the same way an analog pedal would, and vice versa can the modelers handle the level boosts like a real amp?

To me that seems like a big difference...if the levels are getting compressed during conversion one or both ways, then even if the modeling is great, it's going to be a lot less dynamic and realistic.

I have no idea of the voltages but that's something you should be able to measure. And I don't have any shade to throw, I'm genuinely curious.

Anyways, the new Fractal Big Muff models sound awesome, at least in the box. Don't have the real thing to compare with though. I'm not sure how well the Fractal would work if you're trying to drive a real amp.

 

[FractalAudio]

I've always wondered, has anyone done comparisons to note dynamic range on inputs/outputs? Meaning can these modelers truly drive amps the same way an analog pedal would, and vice versa can the modelers handle the level boosts like a real amp?

To me that seems like a big difference...if the levels are getting compressed during conversion one or both ways, then even if the modeling is great, it's going to be a lot less dynamic and realistic.

I have no idea of the voltages but that's something you should be able to measure. And I don't have any shade to throw, I'm genuinely curious.

Anyways, the new Fractal Big Muff models sound awesome, at least in the box. Don't have the real thing to compare with though. I'm not sure how well the Fractal would work if you're trying to drive a real amp.

A 9V pedal would only be able to output 9Vp-p maximum (+/-4.5V peak). In practice a typical pedal can only output about 6-7Vp-p. An 18V pedal can typically output a maximum of about 15-16Vp-p.

I don't know about other modelers but our products can output 20Vp-p. Likewise the inputs can handle up to 20Vp-p.

 

[dk_ace]

A 9V pedal would only be able to output 9Vp-p maximum (+/-4.5V peak). In practice a typical pedal can only output about 6-7Vp-p. An 18V pedal can typically output a maximum of about 15-16Vp-p.

I don't know about other modelers but our products can output 20Vp-p. Likewise the inputs can handle up to 20Vp-p.

I’m probably misunderstanding something, but I don’t see how my FM9 could take a boost pedal. My main guitar has PAF pickups on the lower wind side of things, yet I have to lower the input sensitivity a LOT due to the quite hard spikes my picking hand delivers at times. It’s very low, but I can get it to avoid clipping.

Reading your post above it sounds like I should have loads of headroom, but I think I’d completely crush the input if I put a boost pedal in front. What am I missing?

D

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m probably misunderstanding something, but I don’t see how my FM9 could take a boost pedal. My main guitar has PAF pickups on the lower wind side of things, yet I have to lower the input sensitivity a LOT due to the quite hard spikes my picking hand delivers at times. It’s very low, but I can get it to avoid clipping.

Reading your post above it sounds like I should have loads of headroom, but I think I’d completely crush the input if I put a boost pedal in front. What am I missing?

D

Have you tried it?

 

[DrewJD82]

Playing with the new drive beta some more, this is the Fuzz Face into a Colortone Booster-

 

[DLC86]

I’m probably misunderstanding something, but I don’t see how my FM9 could take a boost pedal. My main guitar has PAF pickups on the lower wind side of things, yet I have to lower the input sensitivity a LOT due to the quite hard spikes my picking hand delivers at times. It’s very low, but I can get it to avoid clipping.

Reading your post above it sounds like I should have loads of headroom, but I think I’d completely crush the input if I put a boost pedal in front. What am I missing?

D

You're probably misunderstanding the taper of the input A/D sensitivity control. Since it's shown in percentage it's probably similar to other level parameters shown in percentage (e.g. input gain in delay and reverb blocks), so 50% would be 6dB lower than max, 25% 12dB lower and so on.
In other words, the most of the reduction in terms of dB happens in the lowest part of the rotation range.

And the value Cliff reported is the max input level, i.e. the one with the A/D sensitivity set at 0%.