FracPad- worth it or no?

Ryan Ankenbauer

Ryan Ankenbauer

New Member
hey everyone, I'm considering spending the $45 on frac pad for my iPhone and iPad. Anyone have it? How does it work for you guys? I don't want to buy it and it have bugs and not work that well. The "lite" version it's little buggy but I think that's because it doesn't have all the features available. Im using the recommended apple camera adapter for it as well. Thanks!!
 
I have to be honest here - I have it for the iPad as well, and I've found I've never used it really. I had quite a few issues with it to start with, and the tutorial isn't very helpful - you have to find out a lot of the functionality yourself. However, when it works, it works very well indeed (which it's been doing more of lately).

For example, the set list mode has superb potential.... I've just never used it, due to not wanting to use my iPad Pro at the front of a gig!

So, if you need to either access setlist mode to switch presets at a gig, or need to be able to tweak the more in-depth params on the fly at a gig - and are comfortable with your iPad being used at a gig - I'd say it's worth it.

Just annoying it's so expensive on Apple devices...!
 
FarleyUK said:
I have to be honest here - I have it for the iPad as well, and I've found I've never used it really. I had quite a few issues with it to start with, and the tutorial isn't very helpful - you have to find out a lot of the functionality yourself. However, when it works, it works very well indeed (which it's been doing more of lately).

For example, the set list mode has superb potential.... I've just never used it, due to not wanting to use my iPad Pro at the front of a gig!

So, if you need to either access setlist mode to switch presets at a gig, or need to be able to tweak the more in-depth params on the fly at a gig - and are comfortable with your iPad being used at a gig - I'd say it's worth it.

Just annoying it's so expensive on Apple devices...!
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I mean id want to use it for tweaking on the fly and what not. Seems way faster than using the actual ax8 interface. Prob wouldn’t ever use the set list mode. I just mainly was worried if it functions properly or not. Like do all the edit functions for your blocks work like on ax edit? Or do they get weird or not even work. Thanks!
 
Tweaking on the fly is actually quite fast and easy on the unit. Setting up a full preset, attaching modifiers and all that is a pain on the unit, but I always do that at home.
 
Smittefar said:
Tweaking on the fly is actually quite fast and easy on the unit. Setting up a full preset, attaching modifiers and all that is a pain on the unit, but I always do that at home.
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Yeah I guess not for really on the fly quick edits. That’s fine on the board. But like I don’t like to travel with my laptop so I’d like to have something else if I were on tour or traveling to build new patches or do some major changes it’s not my favorite on the board interface. I’d basically like having the functionality of ax edit without needing my laptop, (which I leave at home)
 
Ryan Ankenbauer said:
I mean id want to use it for tweaking on the fly and what not. Seems way faster than using the actual ax8 interface. Prob wouldn’t ever use the set list mode. I just mainly was worried if it functions properly or not. Like do all the edit functions for your blocks work like on ax edit? Or do they get weird or not even work. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Everything works like in AxeEdit and you even have more functions. Try it, you can ask for a refund if it doesn't suit you ;)
Btw, more people will probably chime in and that's fine
 
Ryan Ankenbauer said:
Yeah I guess not for really on the fly quick edits. That’s fine on the board. But like I don’t like to travel with my laptop so I’d like to have something else if I were on tour or traveling to build new patches or do some major changes it’s not my favorite on the board interface. I’d basically like having the functionality of ax edit without needing my laptop, (which I leave at home)
Click to expand...

For this, yes it'll be good. I haven't done super deep editing with it, but I've built patches and tweaked things and it's been fine. I have a little trouble sometimes trying to get exact values entered... Sometimes getting the sliders in the right spot and not having them jump when I lift my finger is difficult, but it's not bad by any means.

I got it mainly for the wireless functionality which works great, but I've found that in general I have my laptop anyways and prefer to just plug in to Ax8Edit instead.

But for not wanting to travel with a laptop, it'll do the trick.
 
Ryan Ankenbauer said:
hey everyone, I'm considering spending the $45 on frac pad for my iPhone and iPad. Anyone have it? How does it work for you guys? I don't want to buy it and it have bugs and not work that well. The "lite" version it's little buggy but I think that's because it doesn't have all the features available. Im using the recommended apple camera adapter for it as well. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I’m in a similar situation. Lite version is so limited it’s difficult to evaluate its benefit, so it’s a very large leap of faith to see if it’s worth it. All I could check with Lite version is if it accessed the AX8 ok (which it did). I’d prefer a full 10 day trail or suchlike to allow me to actually test it out. That’s how Helix Native demo worked.
 
Correct me if im wrong, but you have to use a power supply for usb dongle. This kinda defeats the idea of the easy editing. Its much easier just to plug usb into my Mac.
 
pauliusmm said:
Correct me if im wrong, but you have to use a power supply for usb dongle. This kinda defeats the idea of the easy editing. Its much easier just to plug usb into my Mac.
Click to expand...
Yes for the ax8. The Yamaha md-bt01 for the axefx doesn't need power supply.
And if you use a regular usb cable to the ax8...
 
Works like a charm on Android just with the usb cable adapter and better than UI tweaking on an axe fx. Use it rarely as I prefer tweaking at home on axe edit and almost never during rehearsals. Wouldnt imagine using it on a gig.
 
pauliusmm said:
Correct me if im wrong, but you have to use a power supply for usb dongle. This kinda defeats the idea of the easy editing. Its much easier just to plug usb into my Mac.
Click to expand...
For Apple no I didn’t. I just went to Apple store and bought the “usb camera adapter”. Plugged in and synced right up to the Lite version of FracPad.
 
I'm using the Yamaha USB-Bluetooth adapter with the full version of FracPad. Normally, I use a phone USB charge adapter to power it as I didn't realize the AX8 could power it.
Running AX8 Edit most of the time but mostly because I also run other applications on my HP laptop. (Soundcraft UI16 control, H9 control, Atomic Amplifire Box app)
I definitely don't regret buying FracPad for the times I use it with the iPad.
 
Its a great tool if you need to tweak any parameters in a live situation. I purchased it with the intent of having it plugged in and running all the time when playing live, but i started having some issues with the ax8, i guess it was related to CPU usage. So i only use it if i need to level out volumes, EQ'ing a patch, etc.
 
Pete1959 said:
I'm using the Yamaha USB-Bluetooth adapter with the full version of FracPad. Normally, I use a phone USB charge adapter to power it as I didn't realize the AX8 could power it.
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You mean the AX8 can power it through its USB socket? I learnt from older posts the AX8 cannot do this, or did I miss something?
 
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