Although Fractal may not have discovered or invented tone matching, there are creative places they could take it. For example, this is a cool plugin by Zynaptiq called Unfilter, that amongst other things, can do what the company calls "Adaptive Tonal Contour Linearization".
One question this brings up to me is whether the use of the term "adaptive" here might represent changes in coloration that occur when a filtering component, like an actual cab, is hit with various signal contours. If this is the case, does it merit a "living IR" that isn't static but instead responds to changes in signal. (I don't really understand IR's, so excuse my comment if it sounds naive, it probably is.).
See 2:28 into the vid, where they take off the cab from a guitar signal (without causing it to sound like a trash bag with a few hundred used razor blades in it), and then apply that cab-derived filtering over the top of a synth. The point here is that it IS possible to refine the usability of these algorithms and their GUI's, and Fractal can certainly compete in this field - it has a user base to sell to, and the hardware to run the effects flawlessly live, and on and on.
I can't vouch for how original this company is, with its plugins "Pitchmap" , and "Morph", and the software DSPs inside of Native Instruments Molekular. There are guys like the one behind Meldaproductions, and Izotope, and so on. But the cool thing about the Zynaptiq plugin to me, is that it, and their other products, have an easy interface and are designed to appeal to the mind and show off a lot of new possibilities. These, IMHO, apply to what fractal might do; e.g.with the ease with which one can, per the company, take a "colored signal" such as one that has been filtered, run through a cab, or otherwise colored, and 1) remove the colorization as desired, or 2) apply that colorization to a new signal. 3) Apply EQ refinement via a mastering-grade Free form EQ.
While tools similar to these have been around, from what I see, many are unique. This one has what appears to offer both a streamlined and a creative workflow. This means, eventually if things keep progressing, maybe, that if one likes the colorization in a Periphery guitar part, one can examine it in a harmonically based, exceptionally EQ-ing-friendly environment and quickly arrive at new places. (I know nothing about harmonic EQ's, but I think it might be an appropriate comparison).
Maybe one day I could make my non-strat sound like a strat. One might even perhaps morph between the Periphery sound and others that might be appropriate, etc., etc., without actually amp switching, all in the domain of some new Cab Block perhaps.
I haven't worked with this plugin at all. I only just discovered it and am seriously considering buying it. And I would rather give Fractal my business since their product should be more for live guitar playing or studio guitar recording. But it does point to a direction in which such a tool could be more tailored by Cliff and Crew (toward guitarists for both live & studio use).
Even though this has been more or less around as a developing concept, I know these companies are really just scratching the surface of all this potential.
