FM9 and fractal stuff

[dharq]

I’ve had the pleasure of using a lot of Fractal Audio gear over the years — the Axe-Fx II XL, FM3, Axe-Fx III, and the Axe-Fx III Mark II — and I’m now seriously considering the FM9.

I still can’t get over how incredible this gear is. Huge respect to Cliff Chase — an absolute engineering mastermind and the driving force behind what I consider the greatest guitar gear company out there. The innovation, attention to detail, and sheer sonic quality of Fractal products are second to none.

Cliff is one of those rare, brilliant minds in music tech who deserves far more recognition. His work continues to inspire and elevate the standard for tone and versatility in the guitar world.

Thank you,

James

 

[Ole]

I 100% agree with you.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

I have a friend who is a respected audio engineer who, years ago, told me to pay attention to modeling, that it was a coming thing. "Yeah, right!" I thought at the time, but I still occasionally looked around to see what was out there, then I quit playing for a while, and when I started again there were the early units, and they sounded like… well, I wasn't about to waste my money. Then Line6 was spending an awful lot of money on advertising and a friend had a couple of their amps and one of their boards so that perked my ears up a bit, and a couple years later decided to dip a toe into that water, and didn't like it at all. The sounds were like glorified distortion pedals with no touch sensitivity and bad EQ.

Then the Helix Floor came out and that seemed to be a step forward, so I got one, got rid of it, then a couple years later, after they'd released a couple updates, bought another, which soon broke and went into the shop for over a year, so I bought another to tide me over, then I heard about Fractal, sold the Helix and bought an AX8, then stupidly sold it and went back to my tube amps. Then word came out that the FX3 was this killer thing, and I saw the FM3 announcement and immediately signed up. And then COVID hit and ruined the supply chain. FX3's went on sale along with the FC12 so I bought that to wait out the FM3, and watched how Fractal operated during a MAJORLY lousy time for the market, and I was really impressed by their openness about the problems, while they were cranking away on updates.

Fractal earned my business SO many times over, and in my years in IT and in manufacturing, I've never seen a company like them. They're amazing.

 

[Scott Peterson]

I’ve been using Fractal Audio gear as the backbone of my guitar rig since 2007, and have watched Fractal shape its evolution ever since. As a Beta Tester since 2008 and a moderator on the official Forum, I’ve had a front-row seat to Cliff and Matt’s vision, focus, and endless work ethic.


I rely on Fractal gear for my weekly gigs and day-in/day-out practice, and its reliability is second to none. Beyond just the hardware and software, the entire ecosystem they’ve built—firmware updates, community support, feature rollouts—has become an indispensable part of my playing. I can’t thank everyone at Fractal Audio enough for pushing the envelope and giving us S-Tier pro-level gear that won’t quit.