Front panel poll

[H3O2]

Option to stay on Utilities screen when changing or modifying a preset in Axe Edit. I like to sit on the "ACD Levels" page.

 

[J.C]

Where is the Thank You Fractal! option? I am convinced people will complain about absolutely anything.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

I disagree. The only real difference is form factor, DSP capabilities and the intended placement of the unit. For the user experience using the onboard UI the only relevant difference is that the FM units are difficult to read when on the floor because of the small home screen text. A longrunning wishlist item in itself that I hope Fractal solves after they get FW 5/2 out for the FM series.


My main issues with the onboard UI are all software and I've done plenty of wishlist threads for them already.

For next gen Axe-Fx, the closer they can get the front panel to operate like Axe-Edit the better. At this point I would probably prefer Fractal abandoned their front panel UI (excluding volume controls) and went all in on computer, tablet and phone versions of Axe-Edit. The current gen is largely designed to not be any larger than the Axe-Fx 3's 3U rack form factor - and for good reason, I don't think anyone wants massive rack units and increasing the display size would mean a 4U rack most likely.

Or maybe a separate controller unit with a touchscreen and a set of knobs because physical controls are nice. I would take just better MIDI knob controller integration too.

Form factor and intended placement of the unit are HUGE in expectations and use. I wouldn’t buy an FM3 for my desk, and I wouldn’t buy and AxeFXIII for gigging especially now the FM9 exists. 2 completely different uses and desired feature sets. Granted people do these things, but still.
I’ll never reamp with my AX8. I’ll never gig with my AXEFXIII.

 

[yyz67]

Interfacing with old rack gear through the front panel seems like more of a consequence of there being no ubiquitous, cheap laptops at the time rather than a purposeful choice.

Nah. Like others said i don't want to be bound to a separate device/computer.

If I suggested to "old" tube amp users they should use a laptop or tablet, they'd laugh me out of the room.

But you hit on something that I hadn't considered, which is that there are lots of people who are used to that old gear and simply like that workflow.

Now you're get'n it.

Plus it doesn't have to be "old" gear to like physical interfaces... why do physical mixing desks/interfaces still exist?

Disclaimer: I am "oldish" (54) and lived on the cusp of analog/digital and grew up during the PC revolution. I made a career on data and computers but am now appreciating fewer (touch) screens and devices and related complexification. IoT, universal surveillance, AI "solving" human problems etc. sounds like my nightmare Singularity scenario.

 

[Moondog Wily]

If Fractal really wanted to show all options on the user interface, they would simply configure it as such:



Of course, for all the FXIII options, they may need to double or triple this unit!

 

[tysonlt]

Ha yes, imagine a hardware panel with every single parameter… that would be kinda awesome to see

 

[laxu]

Form factor and intended placement of the unit are HUGE in expectations and use. I wouldn’t buy an FM3 for my desk, and I wouldn’t buy and AxeFXIII for gigging especially now the FM9 exists. 2 completely different uses and desired feature sets. Granted people do these things, but still.
I’ll never reamp with my AX8. I’ll never gig with my AXEFXIII.

On the flip side, I bought a FM3 mostly for my desk. Axe-Fx 3 felt too big and expensive to fit my current setup well. I hate crouching down on the floor to adjust things but like the portability and size of the FM3.

 

[laxu]

Plus it doesn't have to be "old" gear to like physical interfaces... why do physical mixing desks/interfaces still exist?

Having real, physical controls to work with is just plain nicer than pushing virtual knobs around. That's why for me onboard UIs or having better integration with external controller devices is important. I sit on a computer all day for work so the less I can do that after the better.

I feel none of the modelers on the market are that great at interfacing with MIDI knob controllers and the focus seems to be very much on footswitchable things for MIDI. Sure you can map knobs to a limited set of params, but that may be per preset, gets forgotten if you change models (Helix), doesn't work well for changing stored preset values (Fractal and no support for relative values) and so on. So that kind of ruins the "bring my modeler and a MIDI knob controller for quick tactile control" aspect and you have to make do with e.g Perform views and their limitations.

 

[yyz67]

Having real, physical controls to work with is just plain nicer than pushing virtual knobs around. That's why for me onboard UIs or having better integration with external controller devices is important.
So that kind of ruins the "bring my modeler and a MIDI knob controller for quick tactile control" aspect and you have to make do with e.g Perform views and their limitations.

A flat or 1-2U knobby/button controller (expandable) with scribble scripts would be really cool. Basically a smaller FC12-like thing but with knobs/buttons assignable globally and/or by preset.

 

[ruso]

Ha yes, imagine a hardware panel with every single parameter… that would be kinda awesome to see

How about every parameter on-screen at once? 😮

 

[squealie]

I've been a fan of PC editors since the COSM days of Roland, and POD 1.

This is all about screen real-estate. Anyone who's done something like Cisco CLI should attest that remembering the global config while editing one parm...it's just not as fun. Some of us remember the Rocktron syntax on one line of an LCD.

I feel like I can navigate the front panel of any Axe if I have to. But thank FSM I usally don't.

The Axe and Axe-Edit synergy is much appreciated. Without it, the Axe-FX experience would not be as gratifying.

 

[squealie]

This is not to say that Performance Controls are not a huge advancement.

Performance controls are a giant leap forward. Unfortunately I'm an A/V tech in real life at this moment. Look at a Crestron box, or a Biamp box that a commercial client spends WAY MORE on than what we spend on an Axe-Fx. If you don't have their 'toolbox' or editor...you are completely fucked if you want to make a quick change. (granted you don't want ham-n-egg users making changes to these DSPs)

 

[Jeronimo]

I bought the FM3 shortly after buying a Helix so I could decide which one to keep. Must say that I agree with the majority of reviews / opinions I read before buying these units. So the Helix UI is super intuitive, and I really feed Fractal is way behind.

My impression of the FM3 interface was that it has the looks and feel of devices of a decade ago. Now I consider myself as “tech savvy” so I quickly learned how to navigate through the menus.

It really reminds me of Garmin vs TomTom for gps navigation in the times that I still rode motorbike. The TomTom is great for quickly navigating from a to b, or to set up a random tour. If you want to drive a specific route, the Garmin was the device you needed. You really needed a PC to get that right, there were countless settings and menu options. With the slightest deviation of map version or settings, everyone in the group would have small differences, but we would all reach our destination. The Garmin just seemed to be made by engineers, where the TomTom is made for users. And it felt for me that it is similar for Fractal vs Line 6.

Being an engineer myself I have no problem to navigate through a more complicated menu structure with more options but I can imagine that is not te case for everybody.
Maybe the Fractal units (and especially the FM series) could benefit from a “noob” mode in which only the essential settings are shown for those who may be scared off by seeing too many options?

For information: the Helix was sold a few weeks after I bought the FM3, the Helix had something going on in higher frequencies that I hated, and I just love the sounds I got from the FM3. I also prefer the FM3 edit software over the Helix interface so that was an easy choice!

 

[Bodde]

I disagree. The only real difference is form factor, DSP capabilities and the intended placement of the unit. For the user experience using the onboard UI the only relevant difference is that the FM units are difficult to read when on the floor because of the small home screen text. A longrunning wishlist item in itself that I hope Fractal solves after they get FW 5/2 out for the FM series.


My main issues with the onboard UI are all software and I've done plenty of wishlist threads for them already.

For next gen Axe-Fx, the closer they can get the front panel to operate like Axe-Edit the better. At this point I would probably prefer Fractal abandoned their front panel UI (excluding volume controls) and went all in on computer, tablet and phone versions of Axe-Edit. The current gen is largely designed to not be any larger than the Axe-Fx 3's 3U rack form factor - and for good reason, I don't think anyone wants massive rack units and increasing the display size would mean a 4U rack most likely.

Or maybe a separate controller unit with a touchscreen and a set of knobs because physical controls are nice. I would take just better MIDI knob controller integration too.

I agree with this. Good points!

 

[axl-fx]

Being an engineer myself I have no problem to navigate through a more complicated menu structure with more options but I can imagine that is not te case for everybody.
Maybe the Fractal units (and especially the FM series) could benefit from a “noob” mode in which only the essential settings are shown for those who may be scared off by seeing too many options?

I said something similar before about a "hide deep parameters".

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Fine how it is wins at 37.2%
32.4 rats ass
30.4 needs improvement.

 

[Moondog Wily]

I wonder how many of the "rats behind" voters don't use it because it needs so much improvement that they would rather not use it!