I Gotta Wonder About Fractal's, er, "Perception"

[JiveTurkey]

The thing that’s great about Fractal footswitches is the whole “you can make each individual footswitch do anything you want”

The thing that’s stupid about Fractal footswitches is the “each switch can only do ONE single thing. If you want to do multiple things you have to make the footswitch do one thing and then make that thing do multiple things”

It's really just getting to it and how it's presented. It is the only thing left from my POV where I still dread having to make any changes without the editor.

For which unit, the VP4?

Nah. The modelers. VP4 is Fisher-Price by FAS normal standards.

 

[Tanax]

Fractal just expect you to know what you're doing, to an extent. Whereas the QC and TMP come at it from the angle that their unit may very well be the first bit of digital kit that you've purchased. They hold your hand throughout the user experience, and they limit the possibilities and how much you can access at any given time, in order to curate the experience for someone who might not have a clue what they are doing.

They target totally different types of user profiles. At least that's how it seems to me from the outside.

The two aren't mutually exclusive. A good designer can make a complicated set of features easy (and quick) to use without limiting its possibilities.

It's easy to come blind to your own work, so having a fresh perspective (someone who has never used it) can be useful.

I feel Fractal's approach to UI design has often been based on:

• This is how it was easiest to program.
  • That's why moving blocks is a nightmare on the onboard UI. It makes sense from a programming point of view: "Execute function to move block/row/column left/right/up/down" as row/col matrix manipulation. But it is completely unintuitive for the end user.
• Cram the new features somewhere in there, but don't spend time making them truly user friendly.
  • For example on the Triple Crown model, you just need to know to turn on a TS input boost to match the amp's "Tight switch". Why not just have a "Tight" toggle switch in the Authentic view that does that for you behind the scenes?
• Don't spend any effort iterating on the onboard UI until next gen.

By comparison we have seen some improvements and redesigns on Axe-Edit that are most welcome. I guess this is because those are much easier to do compared to the onboard UI code.

Overall all modelers are somewhat unfriendly to new (most likely hobbyist) users because they expect you to know about:

• Effects order and routing. The idea of "fx after the amp/cab" is foreign because you don't do that in anything but a studio environment.
• Amps vs cabs. For many people amp = combo amp = speaker.
• Micing an amp. Many people who have been playing real amps don't have any idea how to do it, at most they've used a smartphone to record themselves. So when you throw them things like movable mics, different mic models, low/high cuts etc they don't know what to do.
• Output systems. "Why my cheap ass headphones don't sound as good as my relatively decent combo speaker at twice the volume in the room?"

I don't like the Fender TMP for example because in some ways it feels too dumbed down for someone like me. But can see why it'd be liked by people who are used to using a combo with some pedals. Helix UI and its derivatives (QC, Hotone) strike a good balance where they work pretty well for both less experienced and power users, but obviously they have their own issues too.

I agree. Even the naming of the amp models have been all over the place. It feels like Fractal really doesn't have any internal guidelines on how they do things.

And this is the thing - there's a fundamental philosophical question at play here. Is it reasonable for a company or product to expect you to have previous knowledge of something in order for you to be able to use it most effectively?

I would say yes.

When your answer to that question is yes, then you quickly realise that a hell of a lot of gear is very usable, and any usability "issues" observed on forums like this, really just boil down to opinion.

When your answer is no, or maybe... that's when you get into trouble.

The one thing I see on forums when discussing usability and workflow, is a lot of people have very fixed ideas about what they think is good and bad, and most often it is based only on their opinion.

I agree, but the amount of things you need to know how to do with a modeler quickly becomes very high.

For instance, if you are used to a BE100 DLX and then come into Fractal world, you'd need to decide if you want the C45 switch model or the voice in the right position (V3 model), no option to combine them. In order now to get what you're used to, you'd need to probably pick the V3 model, then learn what the C45 does exactly and try to replicate that by modifying the frequency curves and what not.

What was a simple switch on the real amp is a myriad of things you need to replicate.
This is obviously a highly specific example, but nontheless a good example to highlight that you run into scenarios where you need to learn way more than what regular guitarists knows, or even wants to know, about.

So yes, knowing some things is fine, but once you start to get into frequency curves and things like that... that's sound engineer territory and not what I as a guitarist want to dabble with. The best thing of course, is if the UX is designed in such a way that those who ARE interested in diving deeper into sound engineering, can.

 

[ejecta]

 

[yek]

 

[jay mitchell]

So yes, knowing some things is fine, but once you start to get into frequency curves and things like that...

Riiight. We wouldn't wnat to have to understand notes (frequencies), would we?

 

[JiveTurkey]

It's really just getting to it and how it's presented. It is the only thing left from my POV where I still dread having to make any changes without the editor.

Nah. The modelers. VP4 is Fisher-Price by FAS normal standards.

I forgot. It needs on device library as well

 

[Cactusprick]

type selector & level control - prefer physical knobs

effects blocks, signal routing and deep menu diving - prefer touchscreen

conclusion - i would like something with QC interface from others (Fractal or Line6), but I hate NDSP.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I forgot. It needs on device library as well

100%. This is the feature that I most appreciate on the Helix/HX. Makes preset creation or modification on the unit so quick.

 

[JiveTurkey]

100%. This is the feature that I most appreciate on the Helix/HX. Makes preset creation or modification on the unit so quick.

I had to swap out my PC and realized my library wasn't on said replacement PC in an instant. Boo!

 

[OrganicZed]

I had to swap out my PC and realized my library wasn't on said replacement PC in an instant. Boo!

The ability to have on-device storage of the user block library (or even external via a USB drive or SD card) would be a significant quality of life improvement.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The ability to have on-device storage of the user block library (or even external via a USB drive or SD card) would be a significant quality of life improvement.

Not sure what kind of storage requirements it would take but you could dump 80% of the IR storage space if that would help

 

[laxu]

Not sure what kind of storage requirements it would take but you could dump 80% of the IR storage space if that would help

Yeah I'd trade the factory IRs any day for more DynaCabs or block settings storage if space is at a premium.

Just tell users this is gonna happen, here's where you can download the factory IRs in .syx format to install into user IR space, and to adjust presets accordingly.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Not sure what kind of storage requirements it would take but you could dump 80% of the IR storage space if that would help

But we need 16 variations on the Pignose.

 

[Orvillain]

I've filled up almost every single IR slot, but yes, I would absolutely take a drop in IR storage in order to have blocks library storage. I'd only need 16 or so slots per block. That can't be that much can it??

I do occasionally use Dyna-Cabs. But I also create cab blends in Cab Lab 4 and export them to the Axe3.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Yeah I'd trade the factory IRs any day for more DynaCabs or block settings storage if space is at a premium.

Just tell users this is gonna happen, here's where you can download the factory IRs in .syx format to install into user IR space, and to adjust presets accordingly.

Honestly, I could do without all the factory IRs. Give me the option to offload them and use that space for something like the a block library. It's either user IRs or Dynacabs for me.

 

[Someoldqueenorother]

Any old shite. It really doesn't matter.

We get Sarsons vinegar. It tastes like Californian wine.

I picked up some garlic infused vinegar last year. Absolutely fantastic stuff.

 

[Gothi]

Who or what or where the hell is Fractal? It is impossible to know what this thread is about, even from the OP. Is it of importance?

 

[Frodebro]

Who or what or where the hell is Fractal? It is impossible to know what this thread is about, even from the OP. Is it of importance?

Fractal is mankind's second greatest technological achievement after the Weber charcoal kettle grill.

 

[Rock Chalk]

I'd trade the factory IRs any day for more DynaCabs

This^......all day long.

 

[DrewJD82]

Yeah, I’d have no problem dumping all my IR’s for more DynaCabs or a Blocks library. At this point I’m only using a couple bass cab IR’s and whatever WEM/Fane IR’s for Gilmour presets, everything else has been replaced with DynaCabs.