I've seen this term use a few times now, and I'm wondering if it's creating confusion.
"FRFR" normally refers to a system capable of reproducing sound over the entire range of human hearing from 20Hz to 20,000Hz (i.e. "Full-Range") without discernible distortion in amplitude or phase (i.e. "Flat-Response"). Page 18 and 19 in the current Axe-FX 2 Owners Manual (ver 10.02) defines FRFR and then refers to PA equipment, in-ear monitors and studio monitors as examples.
pdup, in technical terms what does "guitar frfr" refer to? How does it differ from what Fractal defines in the Axe-FX 2 manual?
Terry.
"Guitar FRFR" would seem to me to describe the Xitone with Matrix amp - as an example. Higher freqs than a guitar speaker on its own, to allow use of cab sims with the Axe.
The CLR seems to be a reference monitor as its "kernal function" - as pdup might say. But adding no "flavour"... which is great for some, but lacking for others...? Flyingfadr's point about the undesirability of a reference monitor profile being totally flat, or going down to 20Hz is interesting. Flat is what a reference monitor does surely? It doesn't sound great - and that's the point of it... Speakers for listening enjoyment boost mids etc and are not flat. And could a 12 inch speaker reproduce 20Hz?
Hugomack,
To me a monitor is either FRFR or not FRFR - you can't on one hand claim your product to be FRFR and on the other hand claim your product to impart a guitar tube power amps characteristics or a guitar cab like response - that's just not doable, right or honest.
You can't both have your cake and eat it, so "guitar FRFR" is by definition a hoax.
You could say that a monitor is FRFR within a certain frequency range, that's another story, but the question would then be - what is the frequency response outside of that given range ?
One thing I just can't understand is how a reference monitor would be less desireable than a non-FRFR cab to anybody if they intend to use speaker cab IR ? That just does not make any sense at all.
If you prefer a certain real regular guitar cab and just want the sound of that cab on all your presets, then that's fine and I can understand why some players would prefer going that route.
Personally I'd just get a good IR of that cab and enjoy that through a CLR as that would give me the portability and dispersion of the CLR.
But if you use a non-frfr cab with speaker cab IR's then you are hearing a a speaker cab through a speaker cab - might work ok for some sounds but surely not for all and you're thus limiting your choices and you end up having to eq some of the inherent character of your non-FRFR cab out of the sound.
With a FRFR monitor of reference quality you don't get into those problems, as you are hearing your source as it is without extra coloration.
So if you get a good IR, then a reference quality monitor will deliver the sound of that without coloration, with a non-FRFR cab you'll get extra coloration - which it the IR is any good is not what you want.
I've recently joined the OwnHammer beta tester group, and spend most of last evening and night in the rehearsal space going over a bunch of the beta IR's, and I can tell you that these IR's ups the ante for IR's as far as I'm concerned, and as IR increase in quality, the huge benefit of a reference quality monitor will be even more clear to most everybody.
Here's just my humble opinion. frfr is just an acronym for a speaker that can reproduce the higher harmonic content that ordinary guitar boxes or/and tube-amps add to the guitars normal frequencyband. And it can go way over 10 kHz. From tube-saturation to cone-breakup. Mostly way out of the guitars fundamental spectrum.
The Axe reproduces all the fundamentals, the overtones, the harmonic distortion, the sub-harmonics from a big cab responding to a heavy pounding on the strings. But this frequency-band are way from 20-20.000 Hz. In most cases from 100-10kHz. I have allways cherished Electro-voice for making the quasi-Thiele tuned 12" cab that was later adapted by Mesa and Bogner - simply porting the cab and making it go lower than a sealed or open-back.
But - what I'm very interested in, is how good a guitar frfr can be made. Most today are using great woofers, but the hi-frequency often comes from a 1" compression driver that would make a sound-ingeneer in a decent studio cry like a tormented baby.
I won't consider a frfr guitar speaker as a studio-monitor or a bass-amp. If it was, it would probably be mighty expensive and a faulty Schwiz knife.
pdup, just my humble opinion - FRFR is a very well defined entity in pro audio (take a look at the quoted text from Terry / Toneseaker above) so you shouldn't make your own definition of what FRFR is or isn't !
That is just counter constructive if you want to participate in a thread like this where the aim is to share knowledge and experience - if we don't stick to the proper definitions we can't have a meaningful discussion or exchange of experiences.
And again - I thing you need to re-read what numerous people who have ACTUAL experience with these monitors are saying about them, instead of just staying stuck in a trench with your beliefs about a product that you do not have any first hand experience with yourself.
The absolute best thing you could do is to try a CLR yourself - you just might change your position a great deal if you do.
All this just in my humble opinion of cause
