Hoping to get amp/cab captures in Fractal gear in the future, does that appeal to anyone?

Anyone know if this recent development from Steinberg RE: VST3 going open source would allow for hardware manuf. to start implementing 3rd party guitar plugin compatibility. (think NDSP/ToneX/AmpliTube//etc built in support) Perhaps setting up a license portal for the VSTs and then having access to your presets from said plugins. Pipe dreams or possible?
 
Tomer said:
Anyone know if this recent development from Steinberg RE: VST3 going open source would allow for hardware manuf. to start implementing 3rd party guitar plugin compatibility. (think NDSP/ToneX/AmpliTube//etc built in support) Perhaps setting up a license portal for the VSTs and then having access to your presets from said plugins. Pipe dreams or possible?
Click to expand...

I think something like that exists, although I can’t remember which device specifically it is.

It definitely should be technically possible, although I suspect that it’s not such an attractive idea to actually do that for a hardware manufacturer because how exactly do you make money on it? How do you support it all? Plugins are often buggy but the users will complain about your device most probably, and you can’t control that. So a lot of hassle, thin margins, and no fame.

Native Instruments kinda do it with Maschine+, and NDSP, but of course that’s not open to using any third party plugins - that’s a race to the bottom.

If anybody does it, I’d expect it would be some Chinese Amazon type no name manufacturers first and foremost.

To me personally, it’s like the last thing I want, I can already run plugins, why would I pay for a dedicated hardware host, not sure.

The opposite of this would be nice - either Fractal as a plugin or at least Edit apps as plugins, so I can have proper automation in a DAW when using fractal hardware.
 
axl-fx said:
I can't ever see why more features is a bad thing and even with competitors its doubtful we would be where we are today without other ideas/innovations. People can crap on the competition but its had a hand in making a lot of gear what it is today.

My no1 wish is just dumb down the UI and I'm sold lol. Or at least hide the deeper stuff in a tab.
Click to expand...
"More features" and "simpler ui" are almost always antithetical. More parameters to set, harder to find any given feature, more to go wrong. I would consciously avoid a Fractal product with onboard profiling, just like I'd avoid a car that doubles as a boat. Jack of all trades...
 
zebric21 said:
Can you elaborate on this? If i had an axe fx standard could i find spare parts or get official service if needed?
Click to expand...
I can’t speak about Fractal’s current stock of spare parts for the Standard, which was discontinued 14 years ago. Only Fractal can say. But if something is wrong with your Standard, contacting Fractal support is your first step.
 
Rock Chalk said:
Will purchased packs be able to be loaded and used on the hardware?
Click to expand...

FractalAudio said:
This is an all-new platform. Standard IRs (including Dyna-Cabs) will be 170 ms long (user adjustable if you want shorter). Ultra-Res has be deprecated as it's no longer needed.

I don't want to turn this into an announcement or a feature request thread but it's a significant leap from the current products. I'd love to share the specs but I don't think that's prudent.
Click to expand...

Rock Chalk said:
Will the on-board SSD allow purchased Dyna-Cabs to be used ?
Click to expand...
Guess not..........bummer thumb down.gif
 
FractalAudio said:
This is an all-new platform. Standard IRs (including Dyna-Cabs) will be 170 ms long (user adjustable if you want shorter). Ultra-Res has be deprecated as it's no longer needed.

I don't want to turn this into an announcement or a feature request thread but it's a significant leap from the current products. I'd love to share the specs but I don't think that's prudent.
Click to expand...

shut up and take my money GIF
 
unix-guy said:
Where was SSD mentioned?

Did i miss something?
Click to expand...

The Axe 3 has non volatile memory, the next one will as well, whether the chips are packaged in an SSD or not we don't know (I don't think it was mentioned).

But to store many user dynacabs we will need a decent amount of storage.
 
vangrieg said:
Last time, IIRC, previous gen wasn’t supposed to get the new modeling, but after some backlash they gave up and ported it there.
Click to expand...



Here's what really happened...


@FractalAudio released Ares 1.0 for the Axe II, containing parts of the new modeling that the new Axe III was based on. This happened before the first Axe-Fx III even shipped.

That was followed a month later by Ares 1.01, which ported over most of the remaining Ares modeling. But there was a cost:

The Release Notes said:
*******************************************************************************
Ares 1.01
Ported most of the “Ares” modeling from the Axe-Fx III. NOTE: To make space for the required additional code, support for presets created prior to Quantum 7.00 has been removed. While these presets will load certain parameters may not initialize correctly. Be sure to audition any presets created before Quantum7.00. It is also recommended to do a “soft reset” of the Amp block on these presets by deselecting and then reselecting the model.

*******************************************************************************
Click to expand...

That was followed by Ares 1.02 and 1.03, containing bug fixes.

Then along came Ares 2.0, which contained new improvements ported over from recent firmware updates for the Axe III.


That's five firmware updates over a half-year period for a discontinued product. Time, effort and money spent with no hope of ever earning a dime from it. No one else does that for their customers.
 
Rex said:
Time, effort and money spent with no hope of ever earning a dime from it. No one else does that for their customers.
Click to expand...
Look, I’m not saying that Fractal’s policies and practices wrt supporting their products aren’t awesome. They are.

What I’m saying is that they make perfect business sense. Yes they maybe didn’t make money from porting Ares to the previous generation directly. But it doesn’t mean that didn’t bring them benefits. Such practices make purchasing devices late in the product lifecycle less risky, also they hold value better, which helps charging higher prices. Updates that bring new modeling and improvements let them extend the product lifecycle and make money on selling devices like the FM3 even when they are getting noticeably long in tooth and soul. Not to mention that Cliff probably likes solving challenges that result in better modeling anyway, it’s not like he needs to go to a board with a business case to justify the investment, so it’s probably more a matter of not withholding improvements rather than fighting to deliver them.

In addition to all that, they have very poor distribution and little to no marketing, so in order to sell anything at all they simply must be much better at something than the competition, and rely on recommendations and overall customer satisfaction to even stay in business.

It’s a great thing for me as a customer as well, so I’m happy they do it. But it’s not because they’re a bunch of mother Teresas. They do what makes sense to do, and I pay them money for it. If they didn’t do what they do with updates, I probably wouldn’t have a Fractal device right now.
 
Last edited:
I have little interest in amp captures. I tried ToneX, Neural DSP and Kemper and I got annoyed at the editing side of things. I would find a nice sound, like an overdriven Plexi, but if I tried to edit that sound, it didn't work like a real Plexi does. The EQ, volume and cut controls didn't sort of interact in the way I would expect. So then to get a nice clean Plexi, it was back into the legions of captures to find one that was close to what I wanted.

With the FM3 I just have a good Plexi. The knobs work right and I can change some power amp stuff, speaker impedance and dynacab to taste.

The only reason that I see to use captures would be for a touring guitar played with a particular rig full of great amps, that he/she can't take on the road. That way they could capture their stuff pre-tour in the studio and take a Fractal out on the road, which is what a lot of Kemper players have been doing for years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom