You guys are in for another treat.

FractalAudio said:
This leads to a potential improvement for solid-state HiFi amplification: Current-mode Class-D. If you could make a Class-D amplifier that works in current mode instead of voltage mode you would get the same benefits as a tube amp for HiFi applications.
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Thank you for the update Cliff. Would you consider creating such an amplifier as a complimentary product to your modelers or working with an amp company to do so?

Thanks again!!

edit: oh well, the search goes on ‘pa dum pa dum dum...’
@FractalAudio Does Crown’s DriveCore class D work this way?
 
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spikey said:
I went the other way with other modelers for a while and recently bought an Axe-FX III. I'm glad I did. Not only does it sound killer, but I had also forgotten how nice it was to have information on nearly a daily basis. I know that some of the competition doesn't even mention what they are doing on a monthly basis, much less keep us users informed on nearly a daily basis as Cliff does. So we are "very" fortunate to have this because believe me, this is NOT the norm outside of the fractal world.
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Oh man same here. I finally took the plunge about 2 months ago. I was so tempted just because I had one too many experiences of "wow, this tone sounds incredible, what're they using... oh it's an Axe Fx again". But what sold me was the support and community.
 
FractalAudio said:
It's an improved Speaker Dynamics algorithm. I've never been super happy with the current speaker compression. Mathematically it's right, or at least I though it was right. But I realized that there's a wrinkle to the analysis. It has to do with the change in the radiation impedance with respect to voice coil temperature.

I did a first pass at it that sounds good but it isn't exact. I just figured out how to do it exact but I'm too tired right now. I'll work on it more tomorrow.
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My gosh @FractalAudio, your brain is scary smart!
 
FractalAudio said:
Just finished coding it. Sounds much better than the old algorithm. I put in a switch in the debug build to switch between the new and old algorithms and it's noticeably better.

What I realized with this epiphany is that tube amps are better for HiFi as well. I'm not a HiFi person but now I know why HiFi people prefer tube amps. They probably don't understand why it sounds better, they just know it sounds better.

This leads to a potential improvement for solid-state HiFi amplification: Current-mode Class-D. If you could make a Class-D amplifier that works in current mode instead of voltage mode you would get the same benefits as a tube amp for HiFi applications.
Click to expand...
Will it be pretty much immediately be usable for both units once you can push the upgraded algo or just a Cygnus/AxeIII thing until we get caught up on the poor wittle fm3☠️
 
FractalAudio said:
It's an improved Speaker Dynamics algorithm. I've never been super happy with the current speaker compression. Mathematically it's right, or at least I though it was right. But I realized that there's a wrinkle to the analysis. It has to do with the change in the radiation impedance with respect to voice coil temperature.

I did a first pass at it that sounds good but it isn't exact. I just figured out how to do it exact but I'm too tired right now. I'll work on it more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Awesome to hear, can't wait to try it! I felt like the speaker compression was important in Cyngus to get the feel down, but it took a little while to dial in properly.
 
johnnypig said:
Tube hifi is awesome because you get to spend tons of money searching for efficient speakers and when you finally do, you can only listen to dark side of the moon.
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Back in my old studio days I would listen to DSOTM at night in the (overly acoustically dead) control room in the pitch black on the big Tannoy Reds. You can hear the tape hiss in the background and when the clocks go off... magic. Some of Roger Waters' solo stuff is also very hifi and I would also say the drums in places on the Metallica Black Album are a proper hifi moment, such as the beginning of The God That Failed. The breathing room sound is massive and I would hazard a guess that Bob Rocks production/mix is probably one of the most expensive drum performances committed to tape.
 
FractalAudio said:
It's an improved Speaker Dynamics algorithm. I've never been super happy with the current speaker compression. Mathematically it's right, or at least I though it was right. But I realized that there's a wrinkle to the analysis. It has to do with the change in the radiation impedance with respect to voice coil temperature.
Click to expand...
So, this would impact low frequency transient response?
 
FractalAudio said:
Just finished coding it. Sounds much better than the old algorithm. I put in a switch in the debug build to switch between the new and old algorithms and it's noticeably better.

What I realized with this epiphany is that tube amps are better for HiFi as well. I'm not a HiFi person but now I know why HiFi people prefer tube amps. They probably don't understand why it sounds better, they just know it sounds better.

This leads to a potential improvement for solid-state HiFi amplification: Current-mode Class-D. If you could make a Class-D amplifier that works in current mode instead of voltage mode you would get the same benefits as a tube amp for HiFi applications.
Click to expand...
Hughe&Kettner Attax amps used class B Current-mode amps. Still I prefer their tube amps.
 
FractalAudio said:
Just finished coding it. Sounds much better than the old algorithm. I put in a switch in the debug build to switch between the new and old algorithms and it's noticeably better.

What I realized with this epiphany is that tube amps are better for HiFi as well. I'm not a HiFi person but now I know why HiFi people prefer tube amps. They probably don't understand why it sounds better, they just know it sounds better.

This leads to a potential improvement for solid-state HiFi amplification: Current-mode Class-D. If you could make a Class-D amplifier that works in current mode instead of voltage mode you would get the same benefits as a tube amp for HiFi applications.
Click to expand...
You’re saying this simulates digitally the dynamic and saturation behavior of tubes? You could OEM that to a lot of pro audio makers. Paging Universal Audio.
 
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