I don't understand the hate for the green screen...

dr bonkers

dr bonkers

Fractal Fanatic
Vendor
I have seen a bunch of people both on these boards and other forums mock the Fractal product for having a green monochrome display that to them seems low res.

My question is simple for these people: how would a full color, hi-res screen of sliders, knobs, and values (along with the occasional graph) animation help you dial in better tones?

I'm not trying to be a jerk by asking this question, I am generally bewildered.

Part of the production manufacturing engineering and pricing process is to spend money on value components and cheap out on those that really don't matter in terms of product function, durability, and reliability.

So spending more money on a screen to take that money away from other components more critical to that goal seems counterproductive to me.

You always have the free Axe-Edit on your laptop if you want to see color and a slicker interface.

That's my two cents.
 
In fact, the green screen is the only reason, i play this gear ... freedom for the green screen! :mrgreen
 
dr bonkers said:
I have seen a bunch of people both on these boards and other forums mock the Fractal product for having a green monochrome display that to them seems low res.

My question is simple for these people: how would a full color, hi-res screen of sliders, knobs, and values (along with the occasional graph) animation help you dial in better tones?

I'm not trying to be a jerk by asking this question, I am generally bewildered.

Part of the production manufacturing engineering and pricing process is to spend money on value components and cheap out on those that really don't matter in terms of product function, durability, and reliability.

So spending more money on a screen to take that money away from other components more critical to that goal seems counterproductive to me.

You always have the free Axe-Edit on your laptop if you want to see color and a slicker interface.

That's my two cents.
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I'm not a hater of the green screen. It works fine.
BUT......when I have my Behringer Xrack right beneath the Axe, the green screen looks outdated.

There is a reason that phone tech has evolved from flip phones to full color touch screens.

If my Axe had a full color screen that looked like Axe Edit, it would allow me to target what I want to edit, more quickly.
Rather than have to read the 3 character description on each block, I would look quick and see a 'red' block, and know right away that was my drive pedal....and I get into editing just a second or two quicker.
Is it a big deal....no. But is it better....yes. Do I want it...yes, eventually.

I understand your point on cost......but let's take a look at the Behringer Xrack again.....big full color screen, 16 Mic Pre's, Digital Processing (including FX plugins), 32 channel multitrack via USB, really a kick ass unit....all for $1300.
Are the Behringer effects as good as what's in the Axe.....obviously not. But we're not talking about firmware quality, we're talking about hardware quality.

I very much view this like the evolution of phone screens. Some people are still just fine with a flip phone. And if it was all that existed, we'd all live just fine. But since awesome full color touch screens exist....once you have one, I dare you to try and go back.
I think we all agree.....the Axe sounds amazing (the best IMO). But think about when iPhones came out....the 'phone' part of it, didn't work for crap (and arguably still doesn't). But people still bought it because of how cool and new the technology was....even though their old flip phones 'sounded' way better.

Just some food for thought.
 
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BBN said:
but let's take a look at the Behringer Xrack again.....big full color screen, 16 Mic Pre's, Digital Processing (including FX plugins), 32 channel multitrack via USB, really a kick ass unit....all for $1300.
Are the Behringer effects as good as what's in the Axe.....obviously not. But we're not talking about firmware quality, we're talking about hardware quality.
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Bad argumentation... You want swap green-screen for Multicolor touch screen & swap the Axe-Fx II DA/AD Converters to the ones in the Behringer? ... hmmmm .... i prefer my money investment in tone, not in GUI - as long Axe-Edit will be also avaiable....
 
Morphosis said:
Bad argumentation... You want swap green-screen for Multicolor touch screen & swap the Axe-Fx II DA/AD Converters to the ones in the Behringer? ... hmmmm .... i prefer my money investment in tone, not in GUI - as long Axe-Edit will be also avaiable....
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I didn't say that I wanted to take the AD/DA converters out of the Behringer and put them in the Axe....simply pointing out that Behringer can put a full color screen on their unit and still keep the cost very low.
'Hardware quality' was just targeted at the screen....and nothing else (well, actually the 32 channel bidirectional ins/outs works killer on the Behringer)
I want to take 'that' part of the Behringer tech and put them in the Axe.
The investment has already been made in the tone.....so yes, keep all the existing high quality components of the Axe (which, yes we know are costly) and add the full color screen.

And I'm not saying I want the Behringer components specifically, I want them to be FAS quality....but I'm simply stating that the tech is getting less and less expensive if the majority of digital mixers are all moving to color screens.
 
@BBN: Understand, what you want to say! But refering to price and point only one (or some) pieces of harware out for argumentation is ... incomplete.

Just say: I want a multicolor-touch and be willing to pay additional cost. No? That´s your point. Do you want compare production costs of FAS with production cost of Behringer? No, you won`t. Because you can`t.
 
funkstation777 said:
You No looki to tha Displaya, you shoulda play ya' guitara, hombre. :))
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Exactly. Me personally, i like the green screen. Instead of multicolor/touch i would like some more dedicated knobs and encoders for the most important settings (one knob - one function) ... but i don`t like more than 2HE .... :devilish: Mission impossible ... haha ...
 
BBN said:
....There is a reason that phone tech has evolved from flip phones to full color touch screens....
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The reason for the evolution of the phones is because they are no longer phones, they are multimedia devices and you need color for cameras, to watch videos, etc. As for the cost difference between today and yesteryear with phones is that you are comparing a global industry to a very small niche product. Production costs are down because the R&D in smart phones is moving at a breakneck pace because of competition. And the phone industry is less about selling the phone than about getting subscribers for service providers.

It's just not an A/B comparison.

The green screen is not the sexiest thing ever made, but it's functional. It provides a high contrast display which is important in being able to read it and it probably keeps the development of that portion to a minimum where resources can be focused on improving the sound which is why this is a fantastic unit.

Nobody is buying an AxeFXII because of the way it looks. Now if the GUI itself were to be improved somehow than you've got something, but even the software editor is based on pages and tabs and you can only cram so much crap on one screen and be readable and usable.

The green screen is like the absolute last thing that I would concern myself with. I just don't think that anyone is seriously choosing the display of musical gear over the actual performance and quality of the device. Well, we know those people do exist, but does anyone really think that it makes the device sound better than the AxeFXII?
 
Fancy dashboards, cup holders, and LED strip lighting bling won't make a high performance Nascar any faster or easier to drive ;-)
 
What about a Blue Screen???? But that may be horrible for PC-Users (like me)...every time you look At the Display...
 
dr bonkers said:
My question is simple for these people: how would a full color, hi-res screen of sliders, knobs, and values (along with the occasional graph) animation help you dial in better tones?

I'm not trying to be a jerk by asking this question, I am generally bewildered.
Click to expand...

Fine, I'll drop the comparison to Behringers price point....I can see I'm not making my point clearly, so I'll just drop it.

But I can still tell you that I would 'like' a screen like that. And yes, I'm willing to pay more.

To answer the original question above - color visualization helps. If it didn't, then Axe Edit would be black and green too.

It's funny...the original thread here was 'I don't understand the hate for green screen'..... and I started out by saying that I don't hate the green screen.
But people are so damn defensive when any type of improvement can be pointed out for the Axe.

There are tons of technology advancements that you could argue are not necessary....but they happen, and people love them.
A big digital screen on the dash of my truck doesn't make it run faster......but for some reason, that's what are put in higher end cars.
It doesn't make getting to my 'heat' settings much quicker....but the tech still advanced there, and I love it.
Did it make me buy the car....nope. But did I willingly pay more for the model that had that tech....yup, I sure did.

I can't wait until the next gen of an Axe comes out with a color screen and everyone jumps onboard and says how amazing it is.
 
Morphosis said:
Just say: I want a multicolor-touch and be willing to pay additional cost. No? That´s your point. Do you want compare production costs of FAS with production cost of Behringer? No, you won`t. Because you can`t.
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Yes, this is part of what I was saying.
The other point is that, I don't think it would cost a fortune to put a color screen in the Axe.
 
I'd rather have a larger full-color display on the MFC. When rehearsing / programming, I have my laptop available so I use Axe-Edit. At gigs, the screen on the AxeFX is quite usable for my needs. If the MFC had a bigger, full-color display, it could display other messages / performance notes including chord cheat sheets.
 
I like the green screen. The USB port is to connect your computer/display of choice.

Maybe add a sexy voiced Siri type thing so we can just tell it what we need a preset to do.:p
 
BBN said:
....simply pointing out that Behringer can put a full color screen on their unit and still keep the cost very low.
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The Behringer has a nice screen, but I'm sure the Axe's two-space format limits what screen can be used. Even if the screen was high resolution and color, the physical size might limit the amount of readable information that could be presented. Perhaps someone can take the time to see what other two-space designs have to offer. As far as the price point, Behringer is made in China with poor quality control (I've had enough Behringer units fry to make this statement with confidence). I've also used other products whose LCD screens have gone blank in the Las Vegas heat. No problems so far with the Axe.

I only use the Axe screen for utility functions not available in Axe Edit. I doubt I would adopt a different workflow if the screen were changed. Now, if Axe Edit was not available, I'd have a different opinion.
 
I'd personally be happiest with the ability to get Axe Edit on my tablet and connect that. Then I'd just stick my tablet in a rack drawer and pull it out if I need it.
 
I like the phone analogy Scott. And pretty much exactly like the time when the iPhone was introduced to the time when people touched it for the first time the Internet was filled with comments like - I don't see the point, I'd wished they'd done X instead, there's no hardware buttons so you can't type fast, ... And from the moment everyone touched the iPhone the first time it completely changed the view and moved the benchmark for what a phone should be, to the point where almost every available phone today looks like an iPhone (more like an iPhone than any other phone that came before).

I also wish that we'll get a full colour high res touch screen one day. I wish it to be at lease twice as wide as today and get rid of most of the hardware buttons instead.
 
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