I'm Just Curious..., How Many Here Own a Fractal, and Who Doesn't?

[laxu]

 

[holoholo]

Or the number of units that @timbuck3 has come so close to buying...

If for every Gasp there were a TB

 

[Whizzinby]

If you cut and paste the user lists into Excel, the usernames are pasted into individual rows - I know, because I've already done it.

Sort and remove duplicates, and you are there!

 

[MadMaxG79]

It seems fitting that a Fractal Audio question would descend into math. Definitely something about that demographic!

Of course I include myself in that demographic.

Also explains why Fractal can keep their position at the top of the modeling game while having an atrocious UI...

 

[Achilles]

Wow nearly 140 Fractal Users

Any double dipping? OP did say 'which one(s)' do you own.
Raise your hand if you clicked more than one unit.

 

[Rock Chalk]

Also explains why Fractal can keep their position at the top of the modeling game while having an atrocious UI...

Their bad-ass editor might be partly to blame.......

 

[JCW308]

FM3 Turbo here for acoustic, electric and bass.

 

[Sedaxel]

I don´t own any Fractal unit. And, although I´m interested in them, since I think it´s top notch quality, I pretty surely Won´t buy one. Reasons: UI and the lack of profiling options.

I´ve become a simple guitar player, with simple needs. I enjoy playing almost anything (even a cheap Zoom), but when I switch to my tube amp I do notice an increase in “pleasure”. Name it feeling, or sound, or whatever. It more or less happens too when I switch from an amp sim (Helix, Amplifire, Zoom, Mooer, any plugin…) to a profile based modeler (GuitarML, Mooer, TH-U rig player, NAM, Tonocracy…).

So one thing that it´s clear to me is that, When I´m ready to spend again a good amount of money on a modeler, it´ll have profiling (at least as an option).

The other couple reasons are: I´m not into deep tweaking. I like to plug and play. I tweak basic things, EQ, gain and little more. So the great capabilities of Fractal would be overkill for me. And if those capabilities influence the UI “complication”, for me it turns out into a disadvantage. I ended up loving simple controls, easy to access UIs. Hated Amplifire 12 (and Ampli Forebox too) UI… it made me suffer a couple times live when I needed to tweak some parameter on the fly. I know how much more I liked Helix because of the lovely and easy UI. It was a whole complete different experience.

So, even when I´d love to try a Fractal (it has to sound fantastic, no doubt about it), it just doesn´t fit my profile for now. The day they come with a different UI, and maybe profiling options… well, I´ll have to save.

 

[JCW308]

For me, profiling was a major pain. I'm happy to be back with Fractal modeling.

 

[unix-guy]

I don´t own any Fractal unit. And, although I´m interested in them, since I think it´s top notch quality, I pretty surely Won´t buy one. Reasons: UI and the lack of profiling options.

I´ve become a simple guitar player, with simple needs. I enjoy playing almost anything (even a cheap Zoom), but when I switch to my tube amp I do notice an increase in “pleasure”. Name it feeling, or sound, or whatever. It more or less happens too when I switch from an amp sim (Helix, Amplifire, Zoom, Mooer, any plugin…) to a profile based modeler (GuitarML, Mooer, TH-U rig player, NAM, Tonocracy…).

So one thing that it´s clear to me is that, When I´m ready to spend again a good amount of money on a modeler, it´ll have profiling (at least as an option).

The other couple reasons are: I´m not into deep tweaking. I like to plug and play. I tweak basic things, EQ, gain and little more. So the great capabilities of Fractal would be overkill for me. And if those capabilities influence the UI “complication”, for me it turns out into a disadvantage. I ended up loving simple controls, easy to access UIs. Hated Amplifire 12 (and Ampli Forebox too) UI… it made me suffer a couple times live when I needed to tweak some parameter on the fly. I know how much more I liked Helix because of the lovely and easy UI. It was a whole complete different experience.

So, even when I´d love to try a Fractal (it has to sound fantastic, no doubt about it), it just doesn´t fit my profile for now. The day they come with a different UI, and maybe profiling options… well, I´ll have to save.

The "feel" is there...

The editor is a mighty fine UI...

There's absolutely NO need for deep tweaking. The ability is there, the need is not...

It does sound and feel fantastic.

 

[timbuck3]

I don´t own any Fractal unit. And, although I´m interested in them, since I think it´s top notch quality, I pretty surely Won´t buy one. Reasons: UI and the lack of profiling options.

I´ve become a simple guitar player, with simple needs. I enjoy playing almost anything (even a cheap Zoom), but when I switch to my tube amp I do notice an increase in “pleasure”. Name it feeling, or sound, or whatever. It more or less happens too when I switch from an amp sim (Helix, Amplifire, Zoom, Mooer, any plugin…) to a profile based modeler (GuitarML, Mooer, TH-U rig player, NAM, Tonocracy…).

So one thing that it´s clear to me is that, When I´m ready to spend again a good amount of money on a modeler, it´ll have profiling (at least as an option).

The other couple reasons are: I´m not into deep tweaking. I like to plug and play. I tweak basic things, EQ, gain and little more. So the great capabilities of Fractal would be overkill for me. And if those capabilities influence the UI “complication”, for me it turns out into a disadvantage. I ended up loving simple controls, easy to access UIs. Hated Amplifire 12 (and Ampli Forebox too) UI… it made me suffer a couple times live when I needed to tweak some parameter on the fly. I know how much more I liked Helix because of the lovely and easy UI. It was a whole complete different experience.

So, even when I´d love to try a Fractal (it has to sound fantastic, no doubt about it), it just doesn´t fit my profile for now. The day they come with a different UI, and maybe profiling options… well, I´ll have to save.

sounds like you should look at tonemaster pro

 

[Sedaxel]

sounds like you should look at tonemaster pro

Really?

No profiling.

Not better sims than any other good unit.

Why on earth should I spend 1700€ in something that won't give me everything? That's so much money, man. For that money, there's no excuses for falling short in any area.

 

[Sedaxel]

The "feel" is there...

The editor is a mighty fine UI...

There's absolutely NO need for deep tweaking. The ability is there, the need is not...

It does sound and feel fantastic.

Would the editor save me in a live situation on the fly tweak?

I'm not talking about software plugins... I'm talking about standalone units. If I went to use a PC on stage, wouldn't need to spend so much money on a multieffects. And I'm saying that I give importance to no-need-to-think tweakable UI.

I'm sure fractal quality is there... Otherwise it wouldn't have the love it has. To the date, without having tried fractal, my experience is that profiling gives me better sensations than sims. Maybe it'll change when I have the chance to try a fractal.

My minimum standard in UI designs will be helix. I won't buy anything below that standard. Been there... I don't want to go back. Of course it's my personal taste. Perfectly understand other one's.

 

[unix-guy]

Would the editor save me in a live situation on the fly tweak?

If you put things you commonly need to tweak (Bass/Mid/Treble/etc) on the Performance Pages, you can adjust quickly and quite easily on the fly with the front panel knobs.

I'm not talking about software plugins...

Neither am I. The editor is an application not a plugin. It's for control only, no audio.

Anyway, you're entitled to your own preferences but it seems a bit odd to rule out an excellent piece of gear based on opinions you've developed without any actual hands-on experience.

 

[Sedaxel]

If you put things you commonly need to tweak (Bass/Mid/Treble/etc) on the Performance Pages, you can adjust quickly and quite easily on the fly with the front panel knobs.


Neither am I. The editor is an application not a plugin. It's for control only, no audio.

Anyway, you're entitled to your own preferences but it seems a bit odd to rule out an excellent piece of gear based on opinions you've developed without any actual hands-on experience.

Yeah, maybe. I don´t know.

I´m not a clumsie guy when using gadgets. I´m used to dealing with technology, and tweak things since I was a child. I´m not talking about something being so dificult to use I couldn´t even handle it. I´m talking about suddenly feeling something odd in a live situation and in a couple of seconds having to dial it out. That things happen very rarely... so they are not aproblem 99% of the time. But when they happen, you wish you hadn´t bought an Amplifire 12. When they happen and you have a Helix... you thank god for that. I don´t own any Fractal, but I know Helix UI is way easy for these things than Fractal. No matter what things you could place in the performance Pages or Whatever.

And when you are a guy like me, then it´s hard to justify spending that amount of money.

Yeah mate, I know what a plugin is. I have not expressed myself well, but I think it´s clear what I wanted to say: using another device (PC, iPad) to make tweaks easier on stage is not an option for me. I know for others it´s fine, no problem at all with that.

I think my points are very clear for not finding Fractal compelling for my personal tastes. And I´ve also stated that I think Frcatal is top notch. I don´t find odd at all to rule them out given my preferences. Not talking about a 200€ piece of gear. For me, spending that money is important, and it must fulfill my needs. All my needs.

 

[Stratzrus]

I don´t own any Fractal unit. And, although I´m interested in them, since I think it´s top notch quality, I pretty surely Won´t buy one. Reasons: UI and the lack of profiling options.

Have you done any profiling? If so, were you happy with the results?

I can see how profiling would be a major benefit to some, particularly people who have some really great amps and want to carry them around in a small and relatively light box.

But for those who don't, the number of times you might actually do profiling may not be as frequent as one might expect.

In addition, I gather that making good profiles isn't just plug and play. And even then, your ability to shape the tone beyond the settings of the amp that you profiled are limited.

If profiling is truly important to your workflow I can see it being a must have but otherwise I wouldn't let it prevent me from getting some really good gear just because it doesn't have that one feature.

Regarding Fractal, the Axe FX III does have Tone Matching which I understand some have used to great effect. While not the same as profiling it can produce similar results and IMO is a greatly underused and unheralded function.

 

[Sedaxel]

Have you done any profiling? If so, were you happy with the results?

I can see how profiling would be a major benefit to some, particularly people who have some really great amps and want to carry them around in a small and relatively light box.

But for those who don't, the number of times you might actually do profiling may not be as frequent as one might expect.

In addition, I gather that making good profiles isn't just plug and play. And even then, your ability to shape the tone beyond the settings of the amp that you profiled are limited.

If profiling is truly important to your workflow I can see it being a must have but otherwise I wouldn't let it prevent me from getting some really good gear just because it doesn't have that one feature.

Regarding Fractal, the Axe FX III does have Tone Matching which I understand some have used to great effect. While not the same as profiling it can produce similar results and IMO is a greatly underused and unheralded function.

Yes, I´ve profiled my own amp many times (for NeuralPi, AIDA-X, Mooer, NAM...). The results are always impressive.

I agree with you in that profiling is not that versartile... I´ve just profiled my amp because I wanted a portable copy of my rig for fly gigs and rehearsals. I like sounding as similar to my main rig as possible in those cases. Profiling is great for that purposes... before that, I used several modelers (Zoom G5n, Amplifire 12, Helix LT). I was fine with that, but I´ve found it´s still better with profiling. I started to use a Mooer GE250 with my profiles, and it´s great for gigs where I can´t carry big stuff (mostly having to fly). The UI is dead simple to use, and the amp profiles sound is great.

For the rest of use, I´m OK with modeling... as I said, I enjoy playing anything. It´s just that, to date, I feel more joy playing profilers than modelers. I couldn´t tell you why, though. When I use TH-U rig player (which is supposed to be just a Kemper player) it feels just impressive to me. Of course, those rigs are proffesional made. They are great. The same with Tonocracy... I think it´s just fantastic (also its sims, honestly).

I agree too in that profiling maybe shouldn´t be a must. I could live without it? Yes, sure. But... if I´m going to spend 1000-1600€... why should I live without it? Nowadays, if I´m going to spend that money, I want it all. If I´m not going to have it all, I´ll stay with what I´ve already got. For me it´s an easy decission.

 

[Stratzrus]

I agree too in that profiling maybe shouldn´t be a must. I could live without it? Yes, sure. But... if I´m going to spend 1000-1600€... why should I live without it? Nowadays, if I´m going to spend that money, I want it all. If I´m not going to have it all, I´ll stay with what I´ve already got. For me it´s an easy decission.

Since what you currently have is capable of profiling I'd think getting modelers that don't have it shouldn't be a deal breaker. You don't have to "live without it", just use your other devices for profiling.

But to me, a more important consideration is that you said you enjoy playing through profilers more than modelers. If that's the case then there's really no reason to consider a modeler.

 

[Sedaxel]

Since what you currently have is capable of profiling I'd think getting modelers that don't have it shouldn't be a deal breaker. You don't have to "live without it", just use your other devices for profiling.

But to me, a more important consideration is that you said you enjoy playing through profilers more than modelers. If that's the case then there's really no reason to consider a modeler.

Well, actually the main reason to try a new modeler is... Fractal. It´s supposed to be the best modelling platform, so that´s what appeals me. And I´m sure that sooner or later I´ll have one. It´s just that currently it still doesn´t check all my needs.

No hurries... let´s give it a little more time.

 

[JCW308]

Would the editor save me in a live situation on the fly tweak?

I'm not talking about software plugins... I'm talking about standalone units. If I went to use a PC on stage, wouldn't need to spend so much money on a multieffects. And I'm saying that I give importance to no-need-to-think tweakable UI.

I'm sure fractal quality is there... Otherwise it wouldn't have the love it has. To the date, without having tried fractal, my experience is that profiling gives me better sensations than sims. Maybe it'll change when I have the chance to try a fractal.

My minimum standard in UI designs will be helix. I won't buy anything below that standard. Been there... I don't want to go back. Of course it's my personal taste. Perfectly understand other one's.

If you think profiling is better than Fractal amp sims, you are wrong. And don't forget that profiling leads you down a huge rabbit hole of never-ending profile searches. It's really not fun. With Fractal, you pick an amp, turn the knobs and you're done. It's so simple and sounds absolutely just as good as profiling.