FX8 vs G-System?

Aeolianreflex

Aeolianreflex

Member
Any users out there have insight into how the FX8 stacks up against the G-System?
Ease of use, effect quality, overall tone coloration, tone suck, floor noise, etc.
The effect routing options seems to be more robust on the FX8 but the lack of a dedicated boost button and only 8 simultaneous effects is a question mark in my mind.
 
Aeolianreflex said:
Any users out there have insight into how the FX8 stacks up against the G-System?
Ease of use, effect quality, overall tone coloration, tone suck, floor noise, etc.
The effect routing options seems to be more robust on the FX8 but the lack of a dedicated boost button and only 8 simultaneous effects is a question mark in my mind.
Click to expand...

The noise floor and tone suck on the FX8 (aka the complete lack of noise and the complete lack of tone suck) should alone just about seal your decision.
 
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Aeolianreflex said:
Any users out there have insight into how the FX8 stacks up against the G-System?
Ease of use, effect quality, overall tone coloration, tone suck, floor noise, etc.
The effect routing options seems to be more robust on the FX8 but the lack of a dedicated boost button and only 8 simultaneous effects is a question mark in my mind.
Click to expand...
You can make a boost button with a Volume block. a Drive block, a Filter block, an EQ block, or just about any block, for that matter. Yes, the G-system can run 9 simultaneous effects (I'm not sure how they count that, and how often does anyone really do that, anyway?). That's one more than the FX8 offers. Most of those effects don't come close to what the FX8 offers. If simultaneous block count is your measure of a good processor, go with the G-system. If anything else matters to you, go with the FX8.
 
To me it's flexible routing vs having analog loops.

I like having the ability to control the effects order more than some people. But that said if FX8 had 4 controllable loops I'd probably have a few fuzz pedals at my feet.


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Technically there's also the input noise gate and the 2 global EQs, so that's 11 simultaneous effects (12 if you want to include the global volume pedal). :encouragement:
 
I owned both and sold g system.

3 main reasons were :
Noise level is way higher on g system
Easy of use is not great on g system
There are no distortions/drive on g system

Zecure.
 
There are a lot of good things that can be said about the G System. If you count the four analog loops as effects, you can run significantly more effects simultaneously. I absolutely love the footswitches there - big, visible, reliable, hard to miss. The display showing the current preset is superior. The spillovers and preset switching "just work" - I've had zero problems with delay or stuttering. It's easy to use and reprogram just by using footswitches. You don't need to worry about CPU limits.

That said, it's a rather outdated device, unfortunately. Its not flexible, rather noisy (although that's nothing an ISP Decimator pedal can't handle with ease), you cannot run two effects of the same type simultaneously, some effects are missing, some are too simple and limited, many controllers/modifiers are missing. Expression pedal connections can be finicky, there are some bugs in this department. And it doesn't have a drive block. Yeah, that's the idea - you're supposed to run analog pedals, but then you're stuck with a limited number of them. It desperately needs a new version, and there's a reason why its hardcore fans are leaving it.
 
philipacamaniac said:
Technically there's also the input noise gate and the 2 global EQs, so that's 11 simultaneous effects (12 if you want to include the global volume pedal). :encouragement:
Click to expand...

Yes, I would count the global volume block as an effect. Fractal should have named it the FX12!

And to add to the versatility, the global volume pedal can be inserted at one of 4 different places in the signal chain. The only reason to use a volume block as one of you 8 FX instead of the global volume pedal is if you only have one pedal and you need to assign it to different FX in different presets. If you dedicate a pedal to the global volume pedal there is no way to override that on a per-preset basis and use if for something else (which would be a nice feature).
 
Aeolianreflex said:
vangrieg, it's interesting that you said this. Does this mean that there are issues with delay spill over and preset switching with the FX8?
Click to expand...

I decided to pass on FX8 for this reason. All Fractal products have what one might call "issues" with preset switching. It's tricky to set up spillovers on FX8 if you use more or less complex presets as you need to duplicate delays/reverbs in order for the spillovers to work, and you have a limitation of only 8 simultaneous effects. Heck, I run into hardware limitations even on AFX IIXL+. Having an extra reverb and an extra delay just for spillovers in a preset isn't realistic a lot of times as they consume CPU when bypassed.

That said, spillovers do work, you just need to do some work on your patches to make that happen. Like use scenes instead of presets. But then again, mind the 8 simultaneous effects limit. There ARE workarounds, you CAN dial in great sounds, and you CAN have seamless switching including spillovers on Fractal products including the FX8, maybe even more so on the FX8 since it doesn't have amps which have the biggest audio gaps when switching. But, like I said, these things "just work" on the G System, so it's much easier in this regard.
 
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The g system does not have a boost. The fx8 does.

What the g system calls "boost" is actually attenuation of everything except what's "boosted".

That's not necessarily a bad thing but important to understand in this context since the fx8 actually has the upper hand.

The biggest difference between these two though, is in my opinion, transparency. Fx8 has it and the gsys doesn't (at least mine didn't but I did not have the later ibmod version).

I liked the gsys overall. It's a nice piece of gear with some great sounding effects.
 
I just received my FX8 and will be selling my Red Limited Edition G-System soon with the nova drive pedal. The G-System is fantastic once you deal with all the quirky ins and outs of amp choice, what works and what doesn't, noise levels, just to name a few problem areas. If it wasn't for the G-System forum and Laird Williams' expertise, most people would return the thing. The PC Editor (Vyzor) is another issue all itself. When you weigh all the pros and cons, the FX8 wins hands down. I've read enough on this forum to know I made the right choice, and I have not even plugged in the FX8 yet! Just my 2 cents. Have a great evening everyone!

Dave
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. In regards to tone suck, I've seen a few posts in this forum in regards to lag or audio momentarily dropping out when changing scenes. Each time the suggestion to turn off true bypass in global settings seems to work and the lag disappears. The question that come to mind is does turning off true bypass nullify the tone suck advantage that the FX8 has over the GSystem?
 
My FX8 definitely has the edge on my G-System tonally. More transparent for sure. But it's not necessarily a night and day difference. Especially with my iB modified version. It's more noticeable with my red limited version. Sure guitar players could tell the difference but a bunch of buzzed people in your audience would never notice any "tone suck". But I still give the edge to my G-System as far as the layout. Buttons are bigger. My Frankenstein feet sometimes hit more than one button on the FX8 and my MFC for that matter. I prefer the layout of the G-System. Preset buttons 1-5 on the bottom with the ability to bank up and then having the top row for assignable fx to turn on and off within each preset. The FX8 hasn't addressed this last time I checked. It's either buttons 1-8 for scenes 1-8 or preset mode correct? Scenes is great but I'd still like the ability to have access to the individual or at least certain fx. Say have buttons 5-8 be scenes and buttons 1-4 be assignable fx buttons. I can do that with my Axe and MFC. Some complain that the FX8 doesn't have the external loops and 9 volt power supplies like the G-System but the FX8 has everything you would ever need in FX IMO.
 
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