Which is worse - limited blocks or limited paths??

[Orvillain]

You all know the deal. Stadium or Helix floor, or any modeller with multiple paths really.... ahhh hit my DSP limit on this path.... need to re-route and move some blocks....

Versus Axe FX ... godamnit... I bought the FM0 and I can only run 2 delay blocks when I want 58!!!!


Which is worse??

 

[JiveTurkey]

Limited paths. Provided the limited blocks has enough for what I "need". The TurdBlasterPro's dumb signal chain implementation was farrrrrrrrrr more annoying than dealing with HX Stomp 8 block limit.

 

[Orvillain]

Sorry @JiveTurkey I mixed up my worse and better! lol. So limited paths is worse aye??

 

[JiveTurkey]

If it's about moving things around on the Axe on the device itself; ugh. Doable but not fun no matter how much I love the sounds.

 

[Whizzinby]

I’d always side with more blocks, even if it means I have to route to multiple paths.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

You all know the deal. Stadium or Helix floor, or any modeller with multiple paths really.... ahhh hit my DSP limit on this path.... need to re-route and move some blocks....

Versus Axe FX ... godamnit... I bought the FM0 and I can only run 2 delay blocks when I want 58!!!!


Which is worse??

On the FM3, honestly -- I'd go for a more restricted signal path with two reverbs available and 3-4 drive blocks. On FM9 or higher --there are enough blocks of every type available that if you're running into problems there its probably solvable by just using two different presets where the limited path approach is always a bit of a brick wall at some point.

Which is to say the bigger devices are where I really don't want my Enormous Levels of Creativity to be stymied by a hard-wired signal path; but on smaller devices I'm mostly going for bread and butter signal path and typically get annoyed by "I know two drives is mostly enough, but I'd really like to have a fuzz, an overdrive and a mid-hump-boost all in one preset."

 

[DrewJD82]

Paths.

I’d rather have less tonal options as long as I have every possible way to hook up what I do have. With the TC G-Force my main effects unit for a long time before the AxeFX, I’m quite comfortable with the grid and really don’t want to deviate from it at this point. It’s been 23 years of thinking of effects chains on a grid like that and when I see other modelers being discussed and how to route effects I scratch my head as it all seems way more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[dean701]

hmmmm. paths are great. FAS holds the crown for routing and it really spoiled me. However, if you can't put down the block intended for that path, it all seems moot. Trying to run 3 parallel paths seems like a no brainer after using FAS but it simply can't be done on some other devices and it really bothers me.

 

[Orvillain]

Speaking for myself, when I'm in "I just want to create!!!!" land .... the Fractal matrix grid and paths is just super annoying, cumbersome, and I rarely find it engaging; it feels too much like work, and not enough like play. My imagination doesn't light up in the same way as when I just chuck a few blocks in series in the QC or Stadium.

At the same time, I do appreciate some flexibility, but it needs to be done right IMO.

For me, maintaining flow state is super important. A lot of these devices fail at that.

 

[dean701]

I guess it all depends on the architecture. Obviously limitations are part of the equation. For example if I want to run 3 amps in a preset in Stadium for a kitchen sink preset then I need routable options to be able to include the pre and post effects. Not being able to route from 1A to 2A, and simultaneously have a split in 2A is a limitation. Then there is the block count limitation per line. Not having gapless presets is the root cause for wanting multiple amps in the first place. All in all, running pre effects to multiple amps and then have those amps route to different effects for post is not doable in all platforms. As said earlier, for Stadium, if everything was gapless, all this pretty much goes away for me.

 

[Digital Igloo]

You all know the deal. Stadium or Helix floor, or any modeller with multiple paths really.... ahhh hit my DSP limit on this path.... need to re-route and move some blocks....

Versus Axe FX ... godamnit... I bought the FM0 and I can only run 2 delay blocks when I want 58!!!!


Which is worse??

I can speak to both. Overnight, HX Stomp went from 6 block locations to... 8 block locations plus a bunch of Poly Pitch algorithms.

 

[mbenigni]

Speaking for myself, when I'm in "I just want to create!!!!" land .... the Fractal matrix grid and paths is just super annoying, cumbersome, and I rarely find it engaging; it feels too much like work, and not enough like play. My imagination doesn't light up in the same way as when I just chuck a few blocks in series in the QC or Stadium.

At the same time, I do appreciate some flexibility, but it needs to be done right IMO.

For me, maintaining flow state is super important. A lot of these devices fail at that.

The QC kind of splits the difference by giving you the fast/intuitive 4 lane approach, while also letting you "hack" that architecture with Transparent Blend blocks.

My kitchen sink preset crossfades between clean (heel down) and heavy (toe down) guitar out to a 4x12, while also processing vocals to a FR monitor. A couple of footswitch assignments let me substitute piano and synth (from USB inputs) in place of the clean guitar - and automatically reroute these to the FR lane (with post FX.) There's no way I could have set this up before Transparent Blend came along.

 

[dean701]

The QC kind of splits the difference by giving you the fast/intuitive 4 lane approach, while also letting you "hack" that architecture with Transparent Blend blocks.

My kitchen sink preset crossfades between clean (heel down) and heavy (toe down) guitar out to a 4x12, while also processing vocals to a FR monitor. A couple of footswitch assignments let me substitute piano and synth (from USB inputs) in place of the clean guitar - and automatically reroute these to the FR lane (with post FX.) There's no way I could have set this up before Transparent Blend came along.

I can't remember, does the QC bind the lanes to different cpu's or is that all done behind the 'scenes'? oh a pun.

 

[mbenigni]

I can't remember, does the QC bind the lanes to different cpu's or is that all done behind the 'scenes'? oh a pun.

It's very much like a Helix (or a Stadium, I assume): 2 lanes per CPU, with the option to cascade 1/2 into 3/4. But you can get pretty weird cross-wiring stuff with the Blend blocks.

 

[laxu]

QC and Helix are often both. Want that 3rd amp "channel" or to run more things in parallel? Well start playing Tetris to make it fit!

Fractal channel system is in most cases just better, and at least most of the limitations are not deal breakers. That said, the grid system is a chore.

 

[Orvillain]

Fractal channel system is in most cases just better, and at least most of the limitations are not deal breakers. That said, the grid system is a chore.

I find the channel system a chore too tbh.