Will Fractal commercialize presets?

Webb said:
Terrible idea. I would not pay a dime for someone else's presets because in my experience they rarely translate. And with the constant firmware epiphanies, presets would be dated before you even had a chance to fine tune them.
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Respectively disagree - although I understand where you are coming from. I have had a mixture of successes and failures when using other's presets, and it is rarely obvious as to why. With that in mind, the perception of having presets sold for money does seem ridiculous. However, I don't think it's luck when a preset works or not on your gear setup. I tend to think with a little brain power flooded into it (or a lot in the case of Cliff and associates), it's a solvable concern.

I like what someone previously mentioned with a subscription model, where Fractal might offer to update presets for firmware updates (which are not always deal breakers in sounds, I might add - many older sounds still sound great on Quantum even if not exact same). Perhaps in addition to updating the presets, they could offer that customer service I mentioned in the OP in terms of helping purchasers achieve appropriate sounds with their particular rig and acoustics (if not going direct).
 
Webb said:
Terrible idea. I would not pay a dime for someone else's presets because in my experience they rarely translate. And with the constant firmware epiphanies, presets would be dated before you even had a chance to fine tune them.
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The are some very active forum contributors here that have offered up their hard work for free or for a very modest fee. I'm not sure about the value in trying to "buy a tone" but I'd be willing to pay for some quality presets. That said, I use this forum and everything I've gotten from the community as a learning opportunity. I'm not chasing a commercial tone...

In the wake of Cliff's comment, I'm very curious to see where this goes :) I love deconstructing other users presets and blocks.
 
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I have to think that whatever FAS comes up with, will be pretty great.

This is based on past and current experience with the companies products.

A commitment to excellence shows in all the FAS products. So why would this endeavor be any different?
 
There was an announcement on the community page regarding Freeman a few weeks back (it didn't say exactly what).

If Simeon releases a preset pack consider it bought!

Some of the effects possibilities are overwhelming and take skill to set up. With the amp modeling it's very easy to get a great sound these days. So I think fw upgrades and presets will play together better than they have in the past.
 
Georgy said:
I think ultimately (sorta referencing the first and second post to an extent), it'll come down to what the playback system will be.

Example..
Assuming I had an Axe XL and a CLR (like Yek (I think?!)). And Yek makes a patch or preset whilst using his XL and his CLR. I buy Yek's patch and play it back through my XL and CLR.. Then in theory, it should sound the same, barr pick-ups, guitar, my playing vs Yek's playing etc - the minute stuff. Ultimately, that patch should be practically the same.

But, I don't actually have a CLR, I use something else. So Yek's awesome patch probably won't be as awesome through my rig. No point buying it if you've got a Matrix GT1000 with a OJ 4x12 cab... or trying to replicate that via my ASM or Alto wedge.. For that to be successful and accurate, I would think that the buyer's 'playback system' needs to be the same as what the patch was created on.. at least to give a good example of what the patch should sound like.

I'd be the first, or one of many, to buy some Metallica patches, especially to get their clean tone and even their Black Album and .. And Justice tones, but again, if I ain't gonna be playing that back at band prac or even home via my studio monitors, then they're gonna sound quite different I would think.

I'm not playing this idea down at all, I actually look forward to seeing some examples, but the skeptic in me questions how good/accurate it will sound if my playback system ain't the same as the what the patch/preset was created on/with.

My 2c worth guys..
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I approach programming presets like mixing a song (frequency-wise), my presets work well on different speaker systems. From various sound systems, studio monitors, CLR whatever. Ultimately the FOH engineer needs to make some adjustments for the various venues/sound systems but that's normal and it's just minor tweaks for the environment we're in at the time. A guitar amp on various stages/venues is going to need the same tweaks so I think the preset bundles could work. I don't really have a need for them but then you try one of Matts presets, make a few adjustments and bam, you've got something really cool that you may not have come up with on your own.
 
jlynnb1 said:
i'd be less excited about amp tones as i would fx. amp tones are easy to dial, some of the more esoteric effects etc would be cool.
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+100 I'm an FX guy but struggle recreating many FX. I guess my ears aren't picky about amp tones because I find it really easy to find amp tones in the Axe-Fx II that fit any style of music I throw at it.
 
I haven't read through all the posts, so maybe this was already mentioned but there was a thread where users were making tone matches of pickups. I think this is the thread I was thinking of: pickup tone match: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/pickup-tone-match.77058/

If FAS released preset packs and included an easy way to tone match the pickups that were used to create the presets, it would make the preset packs more flexible and user friendly. If they also included an audio file that could be used to tone match the preset to, that would help them be more sustainable through firmware updates.
 
GotMetalBoy said:
I haven't read through all the posts, so maybe this was already mentioned but there was a thread where users were making tone matches of pickups. I think this is the thread I was thinking of: pickup tone match: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/pickup-tone-match.77058/

If FAS released preset packs and included an easy way to tone match the pickups that were used to create the presets, it would make the preset packs more flexible and user friendly. If they also included an audio file that could be used to tone match the preset to, that would help them be more sustainable through firmware updates.
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That's a pretty cool idea; hadn't seen or thought of that before. This forum amazes me lol.
 
I'm a broke college grad so I get the lack of funds argument (for whatever reason Mr. Nobody, your messages only appear to me on my e-mail and not the thread even though it says it's a reply to thread), but I think we can all skip out on a few meals for a dream sound or two (that's how I got the Axe FX in first place...)
 
I'll comment.

Presets rarely apply for me. There are some that I feel are very good, but need touchups for my guitars/style/whatever. Recently, I've considered the factory presets to be more than usable for the 'out of the box' use. I've long argued for presets that are a good representation of amps most wouldn't come close to buying...and Fractal has delivered. I considered this a selling point. You plug in, and you get instant great tone...not with weeks of work (although there are those who still wonder what the hype is all about when they first fire it up.)

I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised, but remain unconvinced that a preset can be almost universally accepted. Block's, yes, presets...very much maybe.

R
 
electronpirate said:
I'll comment.

Presets rarely apply for me. There are some that I feel are very good, but need touchups for my guitars/style/whatever. Recently, I've considered the factory presets to be more than usable for the 'out of the box' use. I've long argued for presets that are a good representation of amps most wouldn't come close to buying...and Fractal has delivered. I considered this a selling point. You plug in, and you get instant great tone...not with weeks of work (although there are those who still wonder what the hype is all about when they first fire it up.)

I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised, but remain unconvinced that a preset can be almost universally accepted. Block's, yes, presets...very much maybe.

R
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I'm in the middle - I will say that Fractal's factory presets are incredible, considering the expectation of most "out of the box" sounds. However, for me at least, the biggest allure was some of the custom sounds I was hearing by other musicians using the Axe FX. I've had some success with these, and one huge success in my own department (by sheer luck lol). Also had a lot of failures and I tend to agree it would be an uphill task to move a preset towards being almost universally accepted as you mention.

However, the Axe FX has a lot less "random" variables than a traditional analog setup, and I think this is where it's possible to reproduce sounds on most rigs with some proper adjustments. I think no one other than the Fractal team themselves (or whoever they hire) would be in a better position to be able to identify what those "proper adjustments" are for another person's rig or acoustics. The only thing they can't help is playing style, but I tend to think if that's the problem you have bigger concerns than your sound !

EDIT: Also, part of what made me think about this was this whole concept of not requiring weeks of work to get excited about the unit. Not that you'd have the sounds at your fingertips instantly when you fire up a new Axe FX, but if you're looking into purchasing one you probably are going to look around at what it's capable of and I would think that premium presets would turn more heads than the factory ones. They don't require as much time commitment on your hands, but of course that comes at the cost of your hard-earned money.
 
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i'll jump in here and comment. as many people know, i write presets for various modelers. i'm known for making artist presets. the axe-fx is more than capable of cloning artist's tone. what i know about the whole process can be easily shared here.

if the artist preset is exact to the cd tone it won't sound or feel right to most people. that's just what it is. tone that works in a mix is usually thinner sounding than your typical guitar setup (whatever that may be). if you record much, your engineer might love your tone though.

artist presets will not sound right when played through anything but a full range speaker. period.

many will argue that your speaker being different from the guy who made the presets will render the preset useless....i disagree. if you play a preset that sounds just like the artist's recorded tone through your speaker, then play the cd through your speaker, it should sound the same. if you speaker sounds like crap with the cd on, so will the preset. the better the speaker, the better the tone for the most part. for example: i only make presets in a studio environment with quality reference monitors. i take breaks every few minutes and listen to the reference material over and over again trying to hear subtle eq differences between it and my preset. when i'm done it sounds very close if not exact in many cases. my history has proved that it can be done. http://www.singtall.com

what about your guitar? i use a ":standard" humbucker equipped guitar that has nothing special about it tonally. i also use a fender american strat when single coils are needed. if you have a guitar that sounds fairly average then the presets will translate very well for you. if you have some weird setup with pickups that sound like glass breaking then you will need to drop off some highs with an eq before you hit the amp model.

what about new firmware messing up the artist presets? simple: if you like what you currently have, don't update it. if you are gigging you probably should not be tinkering with your perfect tone anyways. if you like firmware updates and easter eggs, then artist presets are probably not your thing anyway. what i'll do is release presets with a firmware number attached to the folder. then every few updates i'll tweak the back of presets and post them again with the new firmware number. that's about all that can be done at the moment.

the bottom line is that artist presets are coming, and i'm making them. i'm working on making a whole bank of them. what i would like to see happen is that i write a bank of artist presets, then guys like Fremen dial in some presets, then Simeon makes his usual awesome effect driven presets. that would be a good starting point.

finally, although it's cool to play through your favorite artist's rig.....it's just not your tone. learn from the presets. see what amps feel the way you like (regardless of the amp brand). learn how to use an eq to tweak your tone. make YOUR tone and never stop playing.

peace,

Singtall
 
i'd pay for someone else's presets, even if they would provide me with a good starting point to work with.
 
I loved reading your post Singtall - well written and definitely better than anything I could conjure on the topic myself. I may hit you up on that custom Axe FX preset order ...

On a somewhat unrelated side note, I wanted to say something pre-emptively before anyone posts about tone being all in the hands: While this is true in many ways, it's also true that our hands respond differently to different tones. I know for a fact that once I get a tone I love, I play much better and the sound almost "guides" me in the right direction. So yes, your playing is important but please never underestimate the power of a good tone and its influence on YOU.
 
Webb said:
Terrible idea. I would not pay a dime for someone else's presets because in my experience they rarely translate. And with the constant firmware epiphanies, presets would be dated before you even had a chance to fine tune them.
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You would be amazed by the number of people for which presets made by an experienced user works very well. It may not work for you but it's far from a "terrible idea"
 
This is why the Kemper is successful as it is IMO. Some people would simply rather load up a premade sound and just play. I would argue that it's this more than the modeling itself.

Myself, I don't like that approach because of all the years invested twiddling with equipment, I know the sounds I like (not that they're useful for everything or even someone else)
I still see a lot of value in skillfully made presets, especially with the Axe Fx that has nearly infinite possibilities.
I've bought several ir packs and passed on a few and will do the same for preset packs if/when they come available.
It's all good and another great option to have IMHO.
 
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