Next Gen Fractal Speculation Thread

[Whizzinby]

A Virtual Amp pedal seems logical as they have the enclosure and UI ready to go with the form factor. The pedal amp market seems to be growing so it would make sense for FAS to dip their toe in the water. Though, I do wonder how much crossover FAS has with the dudes that are using stuff like a UA Ruby/Dream stack etc. I don’t get the sense that FAS crosses over to certain segments of the market and I would be curious if the VA4 would only be selling to the converted. (Not that there is anything wrong with that)

Would be interesting to know how much the VP4 is penetrating the broader effects market, versus selling to people already in the FAS ecosystem.

Selfishly I’d rather have some uber AxeFx IV or plugin-player, but I’d bet they are queuing up the VA4.

 

[Mongillo19]

Selfishly I’d rather have some uber AxeFx IV or plugin-player, but I’d bet they are queuing up the VA4.

Yeah but I have to imagine the IV is actively being developed.

I agree the VA4 makes most sense for the next product.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m still pulling for individual effects pedals that only do one effect at a time.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I’m still pulling for individual effects pedals that only do one effect at a time.

No MIDI, please.

 

[JiveTurkey]

No MIDI, please.

YES!!!!!

 

[GTR37]

I’m still pulling for individual effects pedals that only do one effect at a time.

Based on the fact that they are releasing a pedal power hub that might actually happen
I know Leon has said many times he would love a FAS Delay

 

[Tanax]

I still think the next product will be a VA4 amp/ cab VP4 style box , possibly early next year

I think so too, which is why I asked specifically about the next-gen product, which I don't count VA4 as. But yes, I agree. And that would be a very cool product. Especially if it's easier to use. Having more product options is great.

This is one of those things that I’m amazed hasn’t been done by now. That could seemingly be fixed current-gen, unless something is hard coded by those names and not some meta-ID ?

Like I said, I asked about this on Fractal forum and they said that it's just simply not possible with the current architecture of current generation. I'm guessing that it has something to do with how amp models are loaded under the hood in the amp block. Having (currently) 8 separate models in the same "amp model" with different switches to activate each underlying model, still probably force them to having to load all 8 when activating that scene, making it a no-go resource wise. I'm just speculating of course.

Nonetheless, they did say that it's something they were looking at for next-gen products. This was like 4 years ago, by the way. So I'm sure they've cooked up something great since then.

 

[[Nathan]]

I’m still pulling for individual effects pedals that only do one effect at a time.

Found some leaked designs for a new Boss pedal

 

[DrewJD82]

No MIDI, please.

Oh no, I'll need MIDI. Ya'll can just buy a couple of them for different delay types.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Oh no, I'll need MIDI. Ya'll can just buy a couple of them for different delay types.

I’m going to put them all under the lid of one of them flip-lid pedalboards and use a gigrig to control everything. Will be so much better than an FM9

 

[EOengineer]

I didn't know the Superlead was a channel/mode switching amp?

It can be if you have an AB box laying around.

 

[laxu]

I didn't know the Superlead was a channel/mode switching amp?

Treble, normal, jumped and all the different variants. The point was all the variants are named very inconsistently.

 

[Desertdweller]

Oh no, I'll need MIDI. Ya'll can just buy a couple of them for different delay types.

Right there with you, MIDI is essential. I use an amp as part of a system and I do not like to tap dance when I need to focus on my parts.

There’s super cool innovation right now with pedal amps like the Friedman IRX and the RedSeven Leviathan preamp, implanting tube preamp technology with MIDI, digital power amp modeling, and IRs. I’ve always pined for Mesa to release a pedal preamp Triaxis, which will never happen now, but I could definitely see Fractal going the mode of a few more parsed out offerings like a preamp/amp in a box pedal alongside a single fx pedal like the HX One or Eventide H9.

 

[JiveTurkey]

No knobs, screen or input and output jacks, please.

 

[Desertdweller]

No knobs, screen or input and output jacks, please.

It just levitates and makes sound from telekinesis. Fractal, get on it! Lol

 

[laxu]

A Virtual Amp pedal seems logical as they have the enclosure and UI ready to go with the form factor. The pedal amp market seems to be growing so it would make sense for FAS to dip their toe in the water. Though, I do wonder how much crossover FAS has with the dudes that are using stuff like a UA Ruby/Dream stack etc. I don’t get the sense that FAS crosses over to certain segments of the market and I would be curious if the VA4 would only be selling to the converted. (Not that there is anything wrong with that)

Would be interesting to know how much the VP4 is penetrating the broader effects market, versus selling to people already in the FAS ecosystem.

Selfishly I’d rather have some uber AxeFx IV or plugin-player, but I’d bet they are queuing up the VA4.

I agree. I just hope they would iterate on the VP4 for it.

To me the VP4 still has classic "Fractalisms" where it could be better to use than it is. The Select knob was IMO a bad idea as there's really no good reason why you have to scroll to the 4 blocks instead of being able to e.g push the encoder (if they had used the same encoders as Axe-Fx 3) to edit that block, and often knob 1 is what you use to select stuff.

With a "VA4" there's just two things you want to access: the amp and the cab. Ok, maybe they could support e.g dual amps/cabs in parallel as 4 blocks, but I don't think most people are looking for that. They want Fractal quality modeling with the vast array of amp models they offer.

On the competitors adjusting the amp is basically "turn knobs", just like a real amp. There's a few switches to select and amp cab models but that's about it. Anything that makes simple amp/cab adjustments a chore in menu scrolling and going back and forth between blocks with the Select knob is going to suck, especially since the VA4 is likely to be much bigger than most amp sim pedals, actual tube preamps excluded.

I see the VP4 primarily as a competitor to big box pricy effects from Strymon or Meris. When a BigSky MX is similar price (in the US) as a VP4, the VP4 starts to seem a lot more appealing since it can do so much more.

The things keeping me away from it are the EU price and that I don't like how it operates. And I'm saying this as a guy with a pedalboard that is really expensive.

 

[Whizzinby]

I agree. I just hope they would iterate on the VP4 for it.

To me the VP4 still has classic "Fractalisms" where it could be better to use than it is. The Select knob was IMO a bad idea as there's really no good reason why you have to scroll to the 4 blocks instead of being able to e.g push the encoder (if they had used the same encoders as Axe-Fx 3) to edit that block, and often knob 1 is what you use to select stuff.

With a "VA4" there's just two things you want to access: the amp and the cab. Ok, maybe they could support e.g dual amps/cabs in parallel as 4 blocks, but I don't think most people are looking for that. They want Fractal quality modeling with the vast array of amp models they offer.

On the competitors adjusting the amp is basically "turn knobs", just like a real amp. There's a few switches to select and amp cab models but that's about it. Anything that makes simple amp/cab adjustments a chore in menu scrolling and going back and forth between blocks with the Select knob is going to suck, especially since the VA4 is likely to be much bigger than most amp sim pedals, actual tube preamps excluded.

I see the VP4 primarily as a competitor to big box pricy effects from Strymon or Meris. When a BigSky MX is similar price (in the US) as a VP4, the VP4 starts to seem a lot more appealing since it can do so much more.

The things keeping me away from it are the EU price and that I don't like how it operates. And I'm saying this as a guy with a pedalboard that is really expensive.

Yeah, not making the encoders clickable was a little bit of a miss, and there are some erroneous moves you can make based on Mode jumping, but I think it’s generally easier to program than a big box Meris pedal, which can be hell on earth until you get on their wavelength. The H90 isnt exactly a picnic either. (And really gets saved by having a Bluetooth tablet app)

But, I do agree that for something like a VA pedal, much of that control schema is probably unnecessary, and I’m not convinced the size and form factor of the VP4 pedal translates as well for the purpose of “just” amps, as it does for a multi fx. A lot of the set it and forget it gals using the Dream/Ruby/Iridium might have pause with the general form factor.

 

[holoholo]

No knobs, screen or input and output jacks, please.

Keeps the toan from leaking out.

 

[paisleywookiee]

 

[unix-guy]

with realistic looking models

Please, no...