So...Now the FX8 is in peoples hands...what do you think?

Got the FX8 this week. Fairly easy to get up and running since I am used to the Axe and MFC. The drives are significantly better with the firmware update, make sure you are up to date on firmware.
The mod/delay/reverb effects are just awesome. Every bit as good as my Mobius, Timeline, and H9.

The main issue I am having is some delay switching between scenes and/or when turning on drives in stomp box mode. I used this for my first gig this weekend...a cover band at a Casino in NY. The band does 70s, 80s, and 90s covers and I had a lot of trouble nailing the 90s loud-quite-loud thing. For example, Today by the Smashing Pumpkins has that quiet intro then the heavy Muff 90s punch. There seemed to be about a half a second delay in stepping on the drive to when I would hear it. I am sure this is some kind of operator error and I plan to read everything I can on this...but needless to say this was long gig whenever the song required this kind of switching we were off a bit. A better player can probably get around this. Should have ironed all this out beforehand I was just pumped to use this thing. We used a mic on my amp so it wasn't a front of house delay.

Anyone else run into this? If I solve this or find out the operator error I will repost anything I resolve on this. The unit sounds awesome. I am ready to sell my other "boutique" stuff once I can figure this out.
 
Are you using it to switch a mesa amp ? If so this is also a common problem for G System users. It's sorted easy enough with a mini amp gizmo
 
Got the FX8 this week. Fairly easy to get up and running since I am used to the Axe and MFC. The drives are significantly better with the firmware update, make sure you are up to date on firmware.
The mod/delay/reverb effects are just awesome. Every bit as good as my Mobius, Timeline, and H9.

The main issue I am having is some delay switching between scenes and/or when turning on drives in stomp box mode. I used this for my first gig this weekend...a cover band at a Casino in NY. The band does 70s, 80s, and 90s covers and I had a lot of trouble nailing the 90s loud-quite-loud thing. For example, Today by the Smashing Pumpkins has that quiet intro then the heavy Muff 90s punch. There seemed to be about a half a second delay in stepping on the drive to when I would hear it. I am sure this is some kind of operator error and I plan to read everything I can on this...but needless to say this was long gig whenever the song required this kind of switching we were off a bit. A better player can probably get around this. Should have ironed all this out beforehand I was just pumped to use this thing. We used a mic on my amp so it wasn't a front of house delay.

Anyone else run into this? If I solve this or find out the operator error I will repost anything I resolve on this. The unit sounds awesome. I am ready to sell my other "boutique" stuff once I can figure this out.

The issue is the way the switches have been implemented. It's not you. The switch engages when you release it. This allowed them to have X and Y switching. The unit senses how long you've been holding down the switch and decides whether you mean to engage X or switch to y.

I also find it extremely difficult to time distortion changes this way.

I'm hoping they will implement a switch down option. In the meantime just try to flip the switch quickly. It will engage as soon as your foot is off of it.

Additionally I'm fairly certain that the scenes engage when you press down. So you might be able to set up your clean and dirty sounds as different scenes and have the switches behave as you would like. I will doublecheck this later with my unit.


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Got the FX8 this week. Fairly easy to get up and running since I am used to the Axe and MFC. The drives are significantly better with the firmware update, make sure you are up to date on firmware.
The mod/delay/reverb effects are just awesome. Every bit as good as my Mobius, Timeline, and H9.

The main issue I am having is some delay switching between scenes and/or when turning on drives in stomp box mode. I used this for my first gig this weekend...a cover band at a Casino in NY. The band does 70s, 80s, and 90s covers and I had a lot of trouble nailing the 90s loud-quite-loud thing. For example, Today by the Smashing Pumpkins has that quiet intro then the heavy Muff 90s punch. There seemed to be about a half a second delay in stepping on the drive to when I would hear it. I am sure this is some kind of operator error and I plan to read everything I can on this...but needless to say this was long gig whenever the song required this kind of switching we were off a bit. A better player can probably get around this. Should have ironed all this out beforehand I was just pumped to use this thing. We used a mic on my amp so it wasn't a front of house delay.

Anyone else run into this? If I solve this or find out the operator error I will repost anything I resolve on this. The unit sounds awesome. I am ready to sell my other "boutique" stuff once I can figure this out.

yep. i'm running into this as well
 
This is a big issue for me also. Trying to get used to the "slap" change. Hoping that Fractal makes an option for us on this.

The effect activates when the switch comes back up upon pressing, not when it "hits bottom." This is to allow the X/Y functionality.
 
For those of us that don't use or need X/Y switching the option to disable would be nice to have.

Couldn't you just make the hold time to switch between X and Y really really long on the global menu? That way you'll never accidentally switch but can if you really want to. Or is the issue having to release the switch for the effect to engage? That's how the switches work on a TC Nova and you don't get the x/y switching.
 
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This is a big issue for me also. Trying to get used to the "slap" change. Hoping that Fractal makes an option for us on this.

You simply need to get used to the effect engaging when you release the switch. Push slightly before you want to change and then release on the beat.

It has to be this way or X/Y on press-and-hold wouldn't work.
 
FWIW, when setting a "hold" function on the RJM MMGT controller, normal switch functions activate on the "release" as well.

people asked for this functionality on the MFC for years, now it's here on the FX8 and we can't wait to turn it off somehow hehe.

practice. that's all. it definitely becomes easier to do, and then you'll be able to effectively use the XY and standard functions without a hitch.
 
You simply need to get used to the effect engaging when you release the switch. Push slightly before you want to change and then release on the beat.

It has to be this way or X/Y on press-and-hold wouldn't work.

To help make this method of switching easier, the Press and Hold time can be adjusted from 0.25 seconds to 2.00 seconds. This way you can customize the "feel" of the switch to meet your needs.
 
+1 please add an option to remove the hold for x/y. 8 presets is plenty for me. I'd much prefer to have the preset change as soon as it is engaged (not released).

If people want the hold for x/y, great. They can have it. I don't need it and it has affected my performance the first few times I have used the product. Yes, I might get used to it, but i'd rather not have too.

Otherwise, awesome unit! Love it.
 
+1 please add an option to remove the hold for x/y. 8 presets is plenty for me. I'd much prefer to have the preset change as soon as it is engaged (not released).

If people want the hold for x/y, great. They can have it. I don't need it and it has affected my performance the first few times I have used the product. Yes, I might get used to it, but i'd rather not have too.

Otherwise, awesome unit! Love it.

Agreed...and honestly I have been playing for over 30 years...I practiced my craft for many hours a day when I was younger and I still practice a couple of hours a day or more. I've got better things to focus my practice efforts on. I think expecting people to "practice" turning the effects on and off for a live performance on a $1300 effects unit is a lot for a manufacturer to ask. A function as common as foot switching should be intuitive so that it doesn't get in the way of the live performance. Just give the people the option. I came up with my own solution but it involved me spending a couple hundred bucks on a custom 8-switch MIDI CC box so I can switch scenes with a single button and have it switch on the press. That isn't an option for everyone after they've saved up to buy one of these.

It really is a remarkable unit and at certain price points some might be more inclined to just say, "Hey...I only paid $600...I'll live with the issue" but when you pay the kind of money you're doling out for the FX-8 I feel you're paying for the ability to customize the unit around YOUR style and your preferences not for the privilege of spending time conforming to the limitations of the unit. Especially when that limitation is centered around something you're going to do a lot like turning effects on and off or switching scenes.

Give us the option and let those who want to continue to practice tap dancing on the upbeat to do so. ;)

That being said...this is the ONLY complaint I have about this unit. It really is an outstanding piece of equipment and it's extremely well thought out in literally every other way. I suspect I'll be using it many, many years longer than any other multi-effects device I've used over the last 30 years.
 
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I hope the update will add the ability to navigate through the presets using the bank up/down buttons?

you and me both brother! cliff said that he was going to ask the engineers if they could make this a possibility. IMO, it was a pretty big oversight to not have this simple feature available on the FX8
 
Impressions after nearly two months of gigging with the FX8:

Good:
-The wonderfully pristine signal chain, whether used in 4CM or in front of a clean amp, with external pedals, whatever. It always feels like being plugged straight into the amp, with no compression or tone loss. Magical.
-Effects quality. No surprise there, awesome Fractal effects as expected.
-Drive blocks quality. I was surprised by this. The drives are killer, especially with the new firmware. I have 4 beloved physical drive pedals - an Emma Stinkbug, an Xotic SL Drive, a Wampler Sovereign, and a Timmy - that sit in front of the FX8 (I use an RJM Mini Effect Gizmo to switch them). I may end up retiring them and just go with the FX8's drives, they're so good.
-Scene switching. Amazing capability. It really changes the paradigm - instead of changing presets all the time, I use one preset per song and change scenes frequently.
-User friendliness. It's very intuitive to edit via the unit's controls. I use FX8-Edit because it's easier, but adjusting stuff between songs in a gig setting is easy.

Improvement areas:
-MIDI capabilities. Don't say it - I know the FX8 is not designed to be a MIDI controller. However, a few small tweaks would help a ton. For one thing, I'd like to use the scene-specific Program Changes when a MIDI block is enabled. Currently the MIDI block disables the scene program changes (why?). It prevents the FX8 from being an effective "nerve center," so to speak, for my rig.
-Tap tempo. I think the tap tempo switch must work the same way the other switches do - it sends the tap impulse when released, not when pressed. For whatever reason, it's very difficult to tap an accurate tempo.

Overall, quite happy with it. A solid triple by Fractal. Fixing the items above would make it a home run in my book.
 
Impressions after nearly two months of gigging with the FX8:
Improvement areas:
-MIDI capabilities. Don't say it - I know the FX8 is not designed to be a MIDI controller. However, a few small tweaks would help a ton. For one thing, I'd like to use the scene-specific Program Changes when a MIDI block is enabled. Currently the MIDI block disables the scene program changes (why?). It prevents the FX8 from being an effective "nerve center," so to speak, for my rig.
-Tap tempo. I think the tap tempo switch must work the same way the other switches do - it sends the tap impulse when released, not when pressed. For whatever reason, it's very difficult to tap an accurate tempo.

Overall, quite happy with it. A solid triple by Fractal. Fixing the items above would make it a home run in my book.

We are working to address some of the common concerns that we are hearing, and I hope and expect you will be pleased with the results. The MIDI issue you describe should be resolved in the public beta. Additionally, you should find that the Preset Up/Down will be addressed with a couple of different cool options. Stay tuned.

Oh, and by the way, we have found an issue with Tap Tempo, and it will be fixed.
 
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