Sigh - Still On The Fence

Circling back around here for 2 reasons. One this thread came up in notifications but even before that, I had the FM9 with me today at work and for the hell of it, tried to make a new kitchen sink preset from a blank using nothing but the UI.

Within 10 minutes, all my blocks were in place, effects set up to the effect type I like and the whole preset cabled together. Of course, I’d need a guitar to actually level it out but my point stands. With no manual, I was able to do this having never even tried it before and relatively easily, too. This is not difficult.

Actually, the only thing I couldn’t immediately figure out is how to title my new preset lol.

So, anyone with a successful YouTube channel want to be my friend? Apparently that is all you need to be a gear reviewer these days. Anyone NOT named Glenn Fricker, though.
 
Yeah. There are folks who think Mesa/Boogies are too complex. I've had no trouble getting fully versed in the Fractal stuff pretty easily. Between the manuals (which ought to be read a dozen times or more), the wiki, and Leon Todd's excellent, and free, videos, if you aren't a serious power user in 2-3 weeks, perhaps a 5-watt tube amp is a better investment for you.

I'd say the Headrush MX-5 and Boss GX-100 might be more intuitive modelers, largely because of the touchscreens, but the Fractal OS is a long way from difficult, and most of the slight added complexity is due to it's extreme capability, flexibility, and tweakability. You don't need an MIT professor to get up to speed, and at last check, there weren't any teaching Fractal classes, so really no need to get intimidated.
 
Bobbyoso said:
Yeah. There are folks who think Mesa/Boogies are too complex. I've had no trouble getting fully versed in the Fractal stuff pretty easily. Between the manuals (which ought to be read a dozen times or more), the wiki, and Leon Todd's excellent, and free, videos, if you aren't a serious power user in 2-3 weeks, perhaps a 5-watt tube amp is a better investment for you.

I'd say the Headrush MX-5 and Boss GX-100 might be more intuitive modelers, largely because of the touchscreens, but the Fractal OS is a long way from difficult, and most of the slight added complexity is due to it's extreme capability, flexibility, and tweakability. You don't need an MIT professor to get up to speed, and at last check, there weren't any teaching Fractal classes, so really no need to get intimidated.
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I realize you're a tad bit late to the party but, I bought the FX3, worked with it for about a year and sold it. It's just not for me.
I spent most of my time trying to get a sound equivalent to what I already have using my low wattage hand wired tube amps. I wanted something that I could use to record directly into my DAW and merge with video using Adobe Pr. But like I said, I couldn't get there and I ran out of patience because it was just taking time away from playing. 99.99% of what the Axe was capable of doing I was never going to use.

What I ended up doing (after much consultation) was buying a Royer R-121 ribbon mic and running that through my audio interface into my DAW. I couldn't be happier. I fault myself for not taking the time to really analyze what it was I was trying to achieve and then taking the most direct route to get there. I already love the sound of my own amps so why not use them? Duhhhh

Thanks for posting though.
 
Rolf1 said:
I realize you're a tad bit late to the party but, I bought the FX3, worked with it for about a year and sold it. It's just not for me.
I spent most of my time trying to get a sound equivalent to what I already have using my low wattage hand wired tube amps. I wanted something that I could use to record directly into my DAW and merge with video using Adobe Pr. But like I said, I couldn't get there and I ran out of patience because it was just taking time away from playing. 99.99% of what the Axe was capable of doing I was never going to use.

What I ended up doing (after much consultation) was buying a Royer R-121 ribbon mic and running that through my audio interface into my DAW. I couldn't be happier. I fault myself for not taking the time to really analyze what it was I was trying to achieve and then taking the most direct route to get there. I already love the sound of my own amps so why not use them? Duhhhh

Thanks for posting though.
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Learning what works and what doesn't for your music, scenarios, how your brain works, and the sounds you like is a fine thing. And I certainly understand that the Fractal gear can be overkill, especially if you are merely trying to clone a few amps you love.

Sounds like you figured it out for your needs. Profiler might have worked, as well, but they have learning curves and take time away from the primary goal of just playing/recording too. And of course, there's little that can go wrong with an R-121 and an amp you already love.
 
Rolf1 said:
I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on the FX3 and then I ran across Rhett Shull's review (link below). Now, let me first say that my intentions/application for the unit will be strictly home studio recording.
I've haven't really delved too deeply into modeling since all of my recording experience has been by using a real guitar amp running through my pedalboard into an OX Box then through an interface and finally into Logic Pro.

I'm tired of doing all that crap and naturally am leaning towards getting into a modeler/processor unit.
Here's my concern:
Is this going to be way too complicated for me? I really like all of the benefits and capabilities of the FX but if I'm going to spend 90% of my time trying to "figure it out", then it'll be a waste.

Here's Rhett's review:

[YouTube]
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If you know how to put pedals and amps together in whatever order in series or parallel and if you can click on a button you can program the axe with no problem. You just have to learn what each parameter does. On a chorus pedal you may have 5 parameters. The chorus in the axe may have around 50. But you can still only adjust depth rate mix etc. and not worry with hi pass cut etc. so easy and self explanatory
 
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