Only 2 Amps?

[willowdale]

Cliff said it is possible and there would be aliasing. He didn’t say it’s the same situation as the Axe-Fx II with 2 amp blocks. The aliasing could be much worse, to an unaccetable level. We just don’t know, and maybe why he stuck with 2 amps.

We don’t know that there is “no problem at all.”

Cliff said "there can be aliasing" not "there would be aliasing" as you say......& if there is it may be an acceptable level......so let's have him work his magic & see. No need to be negative about it....

You can do it Cliff....we have faith in you & the power of the III

 

[steadystate]

Put in 16 amp blocks and change the name to the Fractal Alias.

 

[vangrieg]

It's 3% heavier. Showstopper?

For the whole band it translates to an 8U rack case with sharing vs a 11U or even 14U without (including wireless, vocal processing and the monitor mixer). Plus more complex routing and more testing for automation.

 

[steadystate]

Part of the quality of layering guitars are the subtle differences from various takes.

Yep. Paralleling different amps on the same signal doesn't do that much for me after two. I can see wanting to use different amp blocks on multiple input signals, but two is enough for me.

 

[scarr]

The question is what the oversampling rate is "currently" in the III vs the II. If it's like the 16x vs 8x in the II, I'd be fine with the option of running at 8x for the sake of more simultaneous blocks. (When you're layering that much, you're less likely to hear the subtle difference anyway.) If the III can offer the same internal, automatic "enhancement" switching as the II, we can all operate on whatever level we want.

For those familiar with dual amps for primary tone (which is increasingly common), but question why more:
I suspect you've never experimented with having your delay signal being a different base tone.

And that's just a start. Processing a modulation effect or a synth through a whole other "rig" is part of the fun. Being able to do that and keep a dual amp main tone would be extra wonderful. (I'm currently planning on keeping my II for just this reason, if I can afford it.)

 

[Dogstarr]

I think it's likely that Cliff will work on the aliasing issue and when it's ready, add the option for 3 (or maybe even 4) amps. So it starts with 2 that sound stellar and the ability to mix cabs, (virtually) seamless switching and a crazy amount of ins and outs, but I think of Fractal gear a bit like buying a game console, the line-up at launch has a few goodies, but you know it's only going to get better once more comes out for it, they figure out how to squeeze more out of it, etc.

There are a lot of good reasons to be able to run 3 amps in parallel, for one you get a very tight wall of sound, which can be tweaked and mixed in post production. It's quite nice to run a clean Fender, a vintage mid-gain Marshall and a high gain modern amp, pretty much what Adam Jones of Tool does and there are a lot of folks that would like to be able to emulate that sort of set up.

It's also mighty nice to split bass with a couple SVTs running in parallel providing oomph and a bit of it's signature growl and a clean amp/preamp running to a chorus. Of course you can run the clean side with no amp, as direct to the board is pretty traditional, still more amps for bass is generally a good thing and I'm sure the III will get 'em, just how many at a time is 2 (for now).

 

[NotGlenn]

I too really hope Cliff and Fractal can soon find an acceptable way to pull off more than 2 amp blocks. It would be nice to have a one-processor band practice machine, and tons of famous guitarists use 3-4 amp rigs for whatever reason.

 

[John Tisdale]

I have a few patches where I use two amps at once, one needs a pan from one ampnto the other, the others are places I would have liked to use x/y states, but there is either a pop, or a noticeable moment silence, depending on firmware.

And to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to NOT using two amps in those patches.

 

[Dogstarr]

It really just depends on what you're doing, I use 3 amps all the time on bass, 2 Ampeg SVP preamps, one set cleaner, once set real grindy, for my dry sound and a Fender set clean running through a stereo chorus (usually 100% wet), it's a real nice sound, gets a lot of compliments.

On guitars I also tend to run a mid-gain in parallel with any high gain amp, or a clean amp next to a midgain, it just gives nice options in mixing. Can 1 amp sound better then 2 (or 3, or 4), of course it can, it all depends on what you're doing, how much the tones really compliment each other and what you are trying to achieve.