The Gear Forum designs a next-gen digital modeler!

[GTR37]

I actually thought the Eleven Rack was really well designed, if it had a large Color screen
The way they did the encoders was cool it was real knobs and changed Colors from orange amp to green fX
It’s was very intuitive and amp like
I don’t know there is just something
Familiar w Gain,Bass,Mid,Treb, Pres Depth Then having the same knobs switch. To Drive ,Rate, depth , Time, Feedback, Mix etc
It’s guitarist friendly

 

[Sascha Franck]

Touchscreen is about as bad as a mouse if the inputs on screen are not designed for it. Virtual knobs are kind of awful to operate with both mouse and touchscreen. Sliders work better for both but I understand why people don't like them as they tend to take a lot of space and are not easy to read at a glance compared to knobs.

Generally, I agree, but virtual sliders aren't too bad, even for a still-holding-the-pick hand (fwiw, for plain mouse operation, I usually prefer knobs myself), in case they're sized properly, adjusting them with the middle finger works fine. Yeah, that means only around 8-10 of them fit on, say, a 10" tablet, but that's fine for me, as long as I can arrange them any way I like in "live performance" mode.

 

[ian_dissonance]

I pretty much just want a Helix with 4x the DSP, a touchscreen, and wireless mobile editing. Maybe a slightly smaller overall size. Either that or a 4x DSP “brain” that pops into a bunch of different chassis styles.

 

[Sascha Franck]

What is truly needed is better remote control with endless encoders. I have a 16 knob/button Arturia Beatstep MIDI controller here that I can't effectively utilize with any digital modeler on the market. I'd like to open up Axe-Edit, have those 16 knobs mapped to controls on any block I select automatically so I get the physical knob experience paired with the virtual one. But this is not possible.

Fwiw, same here with my BCR2000. Only ever works one-way.

 

[James Freeman]

a Helix with

4x

Quad...

“brain”

Cortex...

 

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

Quad...


Cortex...

 

[ian_dissonance]

Quad...


Cortex...

I’ll give their next Gen a shot if they can make good on their pre-launch feature set for the first one. And I’m apparently the only person that wants a built-in exp pedal.

 

[Desertdweller]

To be perfectly honest, I had a Mooer Preamp Live a few years ago, and the whole thing made so much damn sense. Now it didn't sound terribly great and has some reliability issues. But imagine if Mesa came out with a next gen Triaxis in THIS format. It has full MIDI implementation, assignable cab sims to the XLR and / or the 1/4" out, and a PC editor. The design of this unit was ahead of it's time, even if it wasn't terrible great due to reliability and overall quality:

 

[TubeStack]

I have zero interest in a touchscreen, though I realize most consumers will expect one these days.

Honestly, for me the FM9 is near perfect, just maybe a little big and with a dated UI.

An FM7 with a touchscreen would probably be a sweet spot. Just lop off two switches on the right and add the touchscreen, maybe take away some of the buttons on the cluttered interface for the modern user (though I've come to love those buttons and become pretty adept at manipulating them with one hand, without looking).

Really, the QC seems to have nailed what the average consumer wants in a modeler, form and UI-wise. Switches are too close for me though. I also don't love that they are the knobs as well, as clever as that is, and I actually would like a smaller screen. FM9 screen is about as big as I want. Oh, and the lack of scribble strips on the QC isn't ideal.

However, I don't work in the industry and have zero product design experience . These are just random thoughts from having owned all three of the big modelers, at some point (not the QC though, yet…).

 

[James Freeman]

I have zero interest in a touchscreen, though I realize most consumers will expect one these days.

Me neither.

Personally I prefer a more detailed/denser screen where I can see more things at once and navigate with buttons while editing, AND a performance mode with bigger text and layout that I can see while standing.

 

[metropolis_4]

Touchscreen is about as bad as a mouse if the inputs on screen are not designed for it. Virtual knobs are kind of awful to operate with both mouse and touchscreen. Sliders work better for both but I understand why people don't like them as they tend to take a lot of space and are not easy to read at a glance compared to knobs.

FracPad solves that issue in an interesting way by popping up a slider on screen as you adjust a control but otherwise shows knobs. I think that's a novel solution.

What is truly needed is better remote control with endless encoders. I have a 16 knob/button Arturia Beatstep MIDI controller here that I can't effectively utilize with any digital modeler on the market. I'd like to open up Axe-Edit, have those 16 knobs mapped to controls on any block I select automatically so I get the physical knob experience paired with the virtual one. But this is not possible.

I would love to see a digital modeler work as a USB MIDI host!

That would be a great feature to have with all the excellent USB MIDI controllers out there

 

[metropolis_4]

Another idea I like is having multiple screens that serve different purposes rather than one big screen.

For example have my signal chain represented in a separate screen from my preset name/number display, or have the tuner shown on a separate screen so I don’t have to lose visibility of one screen just to see another.

I’d like to be able to see my tuner without losing visibility of my signal chain

 

[JT]

I'd rather design a next gen tube head with certain modeling features that isn't a ridiculously priced Diezel that no one bought.

 

[DrewJD82]

It’d be an FM9-H, or FM9 Hologram.

It’s basically an FM9; the footswitch spacing and layout is perfect for me, I can’t think of how I could customize it to be any better for myself alone, never mind the rest of the world.

However, instead of the screen that‘s on it, it’s now a hologram projector that projects a 3D AxeEdit that allows you to ‘turn the knobs’ by picking up your finger movements breaking the beam. For the amp tab, you get a holographic recreation of the actual amp, minus the branding. Same goes for all the pedal effects.

And it’ll have a fairly impressive set of lasers on the front that are mapped to the footswitches, along with a bunch of pre-programmed motions to choose from. There’s also an additional output port for the FMFM that can be bought separately, the FM Fog Machine.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Since nobody will agree on what form, how bout big blobs of conductive putty that you can stick a screen, buttons and/or knobs into. Shape it how you want, stick them wherever, however many blobs.. Brain blob, controller blob. Stick the brain blob on a mic stand with a few blobknobs, stick a small blob controller to your instrument and rock out with your blob out!

 

[TubeStack]

Since nobody will agree on what form, how bout big blobs of conductive putty that you can stick a screen, buttons and/or knobs into. Shape it how you want, stick them wherever, however many blobs.. Brain blob, controller blob. Stick the brain blob on a mic stand with a few blobknobs, stick a small blob controller to your instrument and rock out with your blob out!

 

[Alex Kenivel]

You see? The blob agrees!

 

[laxu]

It’d be an FM9-H, or FM9 Hologram.

It’s basically an FM9; the footswitch spacing and layout is perfect for me, I can’t think of how I could customize it to be any better for myself alone, never mind the rest of the world.

However, instead of the screen that‘s on it, it’s now a hologram projector that projects a 3D AxeEdit that allows you to ‘turn the knobs’ by picking up your finger movements breaking the beam. For the amp tab, you get a holographic recreation of the actual amp, minus the branding. Same goes for all the pedal effects.

And it’ll have a fairly impressive set of lasers on the front that are mapped to the footswitches, along with a bunch of pre-programmed motions to choose from. There’s also an additional output port for the FMFM that can be bought separately, the FM Fog Machine.

"DrewJD82 going through Axe-Edit pages", digital, 2054

 

[laxu]

Really, the QC seems to have nailed what the average consumer wants in a modeler, form and UI-wise. Switches are too close for me though. I also don't love that they are the knobs as well, as clever as that is, and I actually would like a smaller screen.

I love that they approached it more from the "desktop unit" side where it makes compromises as a floor unit, unlike everything else on the market. It's easy to replace the footswitches with any MIDI controller, but damn near impossible to make a well working knob replacement setup on any current modeler. Sure, you can for replicate the front panel controls on a Helix, but you can't add to them if you want e.g more context-based controls. QC has the right amount of onboard control.

 

[DrewJD82]

Since nobody will agree on what form, how bout big blobs of conductive putty that you can stick a screen, buttons and/or knobs into. Shape it how you want, stick them wherever, however many blobs.. Brain blob, controller blob. Stick the brain blob on a mic stand with a few blobknobs, stick a small blob controller to your instrument and rock out with your blob out!

All gear should come in ball-form, especially the heavy sh*t. A half-inch steel casing around the entire unit. Stairs? F*ck it, roll it down. We’re not going to talk about getting it up the stairs, I’m having more fun thinking about rolling a ball-shaped Triple Rec down a flight of stairs so it smashes into walls and can break femurs.