First off, do these photos not invoke the best feelings in the world? Like being a kid again and Christmas finally arrived 
I'm not even sure I'm qualified in this place to leave a review. These are my thoughts/opinion/uses, yours may differ. Hopefully I have something to offer some of you who have one, or are thinking about getting one of these delightful gizmos.
I would have paid 699 just for the PLX alone. I thought it was a block of Marshall Plexi settings. I selected it, and mind blown. I have a SA Collider, and a Halo, plus an MD-200, and all together can't get me anything like these ethereal expansive soundscapes. And the clarity! ... THIS, without even knowing exactly what "my this" was, is what I was searching for. And now I have an endless choice of sounds throughout this incredible unit.
The other FX are stunning. The best I've ever experienced. The MTD and Reverbs are excellent. So much to discover and use. I thought I was a chorus guy, and they are all there (hello dual chorus), yet I spent a whole day dialing in nothing but Flanger patches, and I didn't even know I liked Flanger. I've barely scratched the surface, and have practically ignored FX I really like, like Phaser, Pitch, and plain ol Delay because I can't stop playing with whatever one I'm in at the moment. The Fil block can really get a pristine clean tone that's dynamite with Ambient washes.
The presets are well thought out! I've only managed to get through a handful, but there's really creative creations from artists far above my pay grade that inspire ideas and creativity.
*EDIT ... I had idiotically posted that I wasn't thrilled with the DRV offerings. I was so enamored with the modulation effects, that I didn't realize the way I'm utilizing the VP4 strictly in the FX loop limits some of the VP4 features. You wouldn't put a Rat or MT-2 in the effects loop of your amp. Or maybe you would, and not realize why it didn't sound right. Like a certain idiot writing this review. To be fair, I am heavily sleep deprived since it arrived. Using it in the FX loop is absolutely worth the trade off though, as I explain below. I'm fine not needing the DRV or boosts, I have what I like there already. I bought this for the world class FX, and it's exceeded my sky high hopes.
Before buying the VP4 and studio monitors, I ran a WDW with a Vox dry, and 2 Katanas set to the acoustic channel for the wet. I ran the VP4 in all configurations. It sounds fine in front of an amp, fx loop of amp, 4cm (unfortunately only mono), and WDW with amps ...but if you bought the VP4 for it's FX like I did, you truly get the full experience running the VP4 stereo into studio monitors. Trust me on this. Amp speakers color sound to varying degrees. FRFR, and particularly good monitors give you the clearest signal. I A/B'd back and forth with 7 amps down to the minutiae. Some were good, but none replicated the purity of what the VP4 delivers like monitors. When you hear the expanding washes from the PLX dissipating into the Void clearly, it's something to behold. I told my golf buddy yesterday it sounds like a mind altering drug.
This is a stupendous FX unit. As I said before, it exceeded my expectations. Well done Cliff and all at Fractal!
ps .. special kudos to Ian, who has taken my 2 phone calls, and been very friendly, informative, and most of all patient with my dumb ass. Customer service. What a concept
I'm not even sure I'm qualified in this place to leave a review. These are my thoughts/opinion/uses, yours may differ. Hopefully I have something to offer some of you who have one, or are thinking about getting one of these delightful gizmos.
I would have paid 699 just for the PLX alone. I thought it was a block of Marshall Plexi settings. I selected it, and mind blown. I have a SA Collider, and a Halo, plus an MD-200, and all together can't get me anything like these ethereal expansive soundscapes. And the clarity! ... THIS, without even knowing exactly what "my this" was, is what I was searching for. And now I have an endless choice of sounds throughout this incredible unit.
The other FX are stunning. The best I've ever experienced. The MTD and Reverbs are excellent. So much to discover and use. I thought I was a chorus guy, and they are all there (hello dual chorus), yet I spent a whole day dialing in nothing but Flanger patches, and I didn't even know I liked Flanger. I've barely scratched the surface, and have practically ignored FX I really like, like Phaser, Pitch, and plain ol Delay because I can't stop playing with whatever one I'm in at the moment. The Fil block can really get a pristine clean tone that's dynamite with Ambient washes.
The presets are well thought out! I've only managed to get through a handful, but there's really creative creations from artists far above my pay grade that inspire ideas and creativity.
*EDIT ... I had idiotically posted that I wasn't thrilled with the DRV offerings. I was so enamored with the modulation effects, that I didn't realize the way I'm utilizing the VP4 strictly in the FX loop limits some of the VP4 features. You wouldn't put a Rat or MT-2 in the effects loop of your amp. Or maybe you would, and not realize why it didn't sound right. Like a certain idiot writing this review. To be fair, I am heavily sleep deprived since it arrived. Using it in the FX loop is absolutely worth the trade off though, as I explain below. I'm fine not needing the DRV or boosts, I have what I like there already. I bought this for the world class FX, and it's exceeded my sky high hopes.
Before buying the VP4 and studio monitors, I ran a WDW with a Vox dry, and 2 Katanas set to the acoustic channel for the wet. I ran the VP4 in all configurations. It sounds fine in front of an amp, fx loop of amp, 4cm (unfortunately only mono), and WDW with amps ...but if you bought the VP4 for it's FX like I did, you truly get the full experience running the VP4 stereo into studio monitors. Trust me on this. Amp speakers color sound to varying degrees. FRFR, and particularly good monitors give you the clearest signal. I A/B'd back and forth with 7 amps down to the minutiae. Some were good, but none replicated the purity of what the VP4 delivers like monitors. When you hear the expanding washes from the PLX dissipating into the Void clearly, it's something to behold. I told my golf buddy yesterday it sounds like a mind altering drug.
This is a stupendous FX unit. As I said before, it exceeded my expectations. Well done Cliff and all at Fractal!
ps .. special kudos to Ian, who has taken my 2 phone calls, and been very friendly, informative, and most of all patient with my dumb ass. Customer service. What a concept
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I'm going to amend my review. And maybe get some sleep. I'm obviously sleep deprived. Cheers