FX8 Considerations

Bird

Bird

Member
I've been doing what many here have no doubt done, and that is weigh the FX8 against the boutique pedals you so desire :) Perhaps I've watched one too many episodes of That Pedal Show, but I just can't seem to make up my mind between going down the pedal route vs the FX8. Have any of you who've owned the King of Tone or Chase Bliss pedals, and the like, been happy going with the FX8? Do you feel you can tweak the sounds of the FX enough to separate your sound from the other guitar players with the FX8? I know it's "all in the fingers", but you know what I'm saying ;) I'll be here sitting on the fence waiting for any feedback, which will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
I may not have owned pedals as "good" as the ones you've mentioned but I did have a nice pedalboard. I will simply say that in the almost 3 years that I've had the FX8, I have not felt the need to look at any other pedals nor have I ever considered going back to individual pedals and a pedalboard. .
 
For me, a modular setup (pedals) seems like a compromise after purchasing the FX8. Through MIDI, the FX8 handles all amp channel switching, and the Input Gate takes care of any amp noise/gate issues automatically re-adjusting for each amp channel or preset. Each pedal is quite deep and typically offers more sonic options than most standalone pedals. No worries concerning FX8 users sounding alike. There are just too many variables in play. Cost and footprint also make the FX8 a great contender. I've wanted a product like this for years.
 
In my opinion the FX8 vs Analog pedalboard are different worlds that sometimes intersect. I used to have a pedal board filled with top notch pedals, and a switching system. This rig was good, however I found that all the extra cabling and power supply would cause issues. I play "mostly" cover material so moving to the FX8 was a no brainer. So far, I want for nothing on my pedalboard but my wireless, an expression pedal and the FX8. The way it is currently, I can achieve excellent sounds, albeit it does have a more digital type feel to it. The main benefit I see is the flexibility matched with the quiet nature of the FX8 (I do use a gate with the FX8, I did not with the pedals)
 
I'm going to be using it mainly for recording for now. The cost vs pedals, particularly once you add in a switcher and power, is very appealing with the FX8. Not to mention the cost of boutique pedals. Of course with the pedals you can tailor your sound a bit more with your selection of pedals. But then you get some artist, Prince comes to mind, who just use a bunch of Boss and sound great. Definitely leaning a bit more towards the FX8.... still waffling :D
 
Bird said:
I've been doing what many here have no doubt done, and that is weigh the FX8 against the boutique pedals you so desire :) Perhaps I've watched one too many episodes of That Pedal Show, but I just can't seem to make up my mind between going down the pedal route vs the FX8. Have any of you who've owned the King of Tone or Chase Bliss pedals, and the like, been happy going with the FX8? Do you feel you can tweak the sounds of the FX enough to separate your sound from the other guitar players with the FX8? I know it's "all in the fingers", but you know what I'm saying ;) I'll be here sitting on the fence waiting for any feedback, which will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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I'll offer a few thoughts. FWIW, I've owned something like 300 discrete mostly analog pedals in my lifetime, stretching all the way to the 1970's. Many are names you would know.

One thing about me that may color your opinion is that I have zero interest exactly copping someone else's tones. Oh sure, I may want a tone that sort of nods in the direction of Gilmour, Knopfler, et al. But really I want a tone that functions musically for me in the context I intend to use it.

Even if we posit for a moment that the Fractal sounds aren't quite as good as the real deal (I'm not saying that's true), FX8 offers some other compelling benefits.
  1. You get a world class switching and control system for FREE. Try pricing those sometime.
  2. ZERO signal loss. Normally, even the best discrete systems will lose some signal through the cable connections. Also, I've found that FX8 blocks stack more musically than their real world counterparts. Real world fuzzes in particular are known to be fussy. The FX8 models are much less so.
  3. Extreme versatility and cost effectiveness. Since buying the FX8, I've been involved with 3-4 very different projects. Everything from semi-plugged modern folk to '60s fuzzed out psychedelic to modern country. Were it not for the FX8, I probably would have spent thousands buying, trying and flipping pedals for these various projects.
18 months into my journey, my sole negative concern at this point is the level of support Fractal allocates to the FX8. It's been 10 months since the last firmware update, and that was buggy enough that some folks had to revert to the previous one. I don't use any other pedals with the FX8, but I desperately need multiband compression. Right now it takes me three blocks to crudely approximate what a single multiband compression block would do, and it would likely do better.
 
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Atmospheric said:
18 months into my journey, my sole negative concern at this point is the level of support Fractal allocates to the FX8. It's been 10 months since the last firmware update, and that was buggy enough that some folks had to revert to the previous one. I don't use any other pedals with the FX8, but I desperately need multiband compression. Right now it takes me three blocks to crudely approximate what a single multiband compression block would do, and it would likely do better.
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This is one of my main concerns as well. I had an issue with this regarding the Ultra, which I posted about, but won't get into here. I ended up selling it. Dropping or having inadequate support might discourage some people from purchasing or continuing with the product.

Switchers are definitely pricey. A decent programmable one is about $1000 easy.
 
Bird said:
This is one of my main concerns as well. I had an issue with this regarding the Ultra, which I posted about, but won't get into here. I ended up selling it. Dropping or having inadequate support might discourage some people from purchasing or continuing with the product.

Switchers are definitely pricey. A decent programmable one is about $1000 easy.
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The main thing that drove me to the FX8 was performance switching. Singing lead, playing guitar, trying to maintain contact with the audience while tap dancing to change things just go to be unworkable for me. The FX8 scenes great simplify that. I never use more than three scenes. Anything I need to do is one tap away. That is HUGE.
 
It's just about finding the solution that works for you. I had pedals break, joining cables break, power issues, you name it. I knew I wouldn't be going rack but wanted to try an all-in-one solution to see if that would help. Going from a traditional board to the FX8 + outboard dirt has worked as well as I expect it to. I don't fully understand how to precisely dial in some sounds I had with my old board, but that is on me to learn more about the unit. I don't use much functionality - I don't even use scenes. I have two band presets set up like a traditional board and I've done two tours without hassle.

I know a lot of folks are about MIDI and channel switching and whatnot but I just need reliability, some user friendliness (I had strymons and Boss xx500) and fitting on a PT-2 board. I found that with the FX8 and don't see myself going back any time soon.

Do I want some standalone pedals to have and to mess with? Totally. But until that extra income shows up, I'm set.
 
Ich really like pedals...I Love them but...
There was one big thing that made me Switch to the FX8.
It was all the signal loss and Tone Stüc that you geht from a Brunc of pedals that are hooked up with your setup.
I tried everything, midi switching system etc, there was nothing without tone Stück, except the FX8.
You get a complete Pedalboard with outstanding effect quality and without any tone suck!

All the best
Sash
 
Atmospheric has it right. There's a time and a place (and a wallet) for chasing tasty looking (sounding?) pedals on That Pedal Show. I have a 'big board' of lovely pedals, and a flight case full of ones I can switch out - that's what I generally use for recording - just more immediate. The FX8 really scores for gigs though. Less to babysit, less connections to go wrong when its thrown on and off planes. Just damn easier. And it does sound really great.

If you think about it, there are way more potential parameter combos on many fx patches than you could ever concoct on an analogue pedal, so homogeny of sound just won't happen. It's all down to what you need to get out of it. I still sometimes miss some pedals when I'm using the FX...the occasional Strymon Timeline 'hold for regen' function, lots of little things, but they're outweighed by the positives.

BTW, I have mine hooked up to a couple of Chase Bliss pedals running post the FX8. I run these seamlessly on midi change patches, so you can have the best of both worlds!

Like everyone, I do find the lack of updates for the FX very frustrating indeed. I know you can't please all of the people all of the time, but there are soooo many obvious ones. Come on Fractal!

Meanwhile, Dr. WHO....don't let the negatives put you off. It'll add to your life. Get one!
 
If I were touring or playing a similar set every week with an amp, I would definitely use the FX8 more. If you are just experimenting with sounds, you may be better off with some dedicated pedals. For example, I have a delay pedal that I like more since it is easier to tweak on the fly for messing around at home, but don't like to deal with it at a gig. The key benefit for me with the FX8 is ability to set up a good sound and then use presets and scenes. Its like any other of the many multi-effects out there, BUT it sounds the best and there is zero tone suck and its built solid. Plus it has true bypass and you can use other things with it if you like, which is really a key feature also.
 
I used an AX8 sans amp modeling as my main effect unit with a Mesa TC-50 with great results. Unit acted as FX and amp controller as TC-50 has midi capabilities. Not FX8 but same exact usage plus back up amp if Mesa failed...

Really great live rig- not sure if its ideal for the studio as compared to AXE 2 or AXE III though.
 
With the level of tweakablity the FX8 affords - I don't know that there is a better solution to finding one's own tone. The FX8 is as transparent as any pedal out there. Several have complained about the lack of firmware updates but when was the last time you updated a conventional pedal? Sure, the tweaks are nice and it is more convenient to have someone else design the effect blocks for us but there is a lot to be discovered. The secret is to approach it as an instrument - just as we did with our guitars and amplifiers.

The FX8 has allowed me to reach a level of expression I've never experienced in my 40 years of playing a guitar.
 
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