The Fractal Thread

Gadget

Maybe post the preset so we can try?

sweepy

Gadget said:

Maybe post the preset so we can try?

All presets, so a global thing 

Gadget

sweepy said:

Gadget said:

Maybe post the preset so we can try?

All presets, so a global thing 

Ahh, understood...

DavusPG

You haven't changed your output EQ have you?

Or turned off power amp modelling when you were running through your physical amp?

Presume music sounds OK through your DAW?

paulmapp8306

sweepy said:

Having a really bizarre issue with my FM9, sounds stunning through a 400w amp and 2x 2x12 guitar cabs but bloody dreadful in my DAW ( Logic ) using the USB , harsh, thin and spiky, tried Dynacabs etc,any tips greatly relieved 

Im not sure its bizarre.    I love mine though a power station into my Zilla 2x12.  I can never get it to sound right direct (even just into my monitors - I have Neuman KH120 plus the KH750 sub OR Senny HD650 phones)).

Cab irs are BY FAR the hardest bit to get right, and BY FAR the most impact on the direct sound.    Im just about OK if im recording in a mix, just anything else I cant get it right.  Ive tried loads of the default cabs, but non sound GREAT to me - and Ive been trying since 2008 with Fractal gear.

It is without doubt my lack of skill in the ir area, my lack of patience to learn it rather than just going back into my power amp and cab, and my expectation of how it should actually sound in that context - but if you want to go that route you just have to put the work in learning the skills.  

octatonic

sweepy said:

Having a really bizarre issue with my FM9, sounds stunning through a 400w amp and 2x 2x12 guitar cabs but bloody dreadful in my DAW ( Logic ) using the USB , harsh, thin and spiky, tried Dynacabs etc,any tips greatly relieved 

What monitors are you using with your DAW?

I'm using the FM9 and Axe FX III and they sound great through studio monitors.

welshboyo

@sweepy ;There is some confusing signal path you can change for the USB output - I think it’s on the I/O page, try scrolling through the available options.

sweepy

Sorted it, my stupid fault, disabled the cab modelling on the unit itself whilst I was setting it up with my power amp and guitar Cabs,,,Doh !!!  . Interestingly though the global enable sounds different to enabling the spkr  in the patch with the global bypass, at least its a step in the right direction and ty for all the help.

firepaulmusic

I was thinking that my clean sounds were dirtier than I remembered through headphones when put into the PA. So I investigated the input block and pulled back the gain there which had the desired effect of cleaning the Princeton clean sound up. It also knocked some of the guts from my Shiva rock sound so I had to compensate in the amp block. Anyone else done this or experienced the same?

exocet

firepaulmusic said:

I was thinking that my clean sounds were dirtier than I remembered through headphones when put into the PA. So I investigated the input block and pulled back the gain there which had the desired effect of cleaning the Princeton clean sound up. It also knocked some of the guts from my Shiva rock sound so I had to compensate in the amp block. Anyone else done this or experienced the same?

I've never adjusted the level in the input block, only amp block using the input gain or sometimes the input trim. 
I believe that one of the more recent updates had the impact of altering the amount of "dirt" produced in some amp models, that may well be why you've had to tweak.. but there again, I'd have gone for an amp block adjustment first. Horses for courses / more than one way to skin a cat etc.

DavusPG

Nerine said:

I’m back in. lol. And I’m not selling it this time, no way! So look out for it in the classifieds in several months time… I actually don’t think that will be the case this time around. 

Valve amps have been fucking boring honestly. Fractal land is just heaappppppsss more interesting and inspiring. 

I see in the classifieds that you're off again? 

What happened?!

Nerine

DavusPG said:

Nerine said:

I’m back in. lol. And I’m not selling it this time, no way! So look out for it in the classifieds in several months time… I actually don’t think that will be the case this time around. 

Valve amps have been fucking boring honestly. Fractal land is just heaappppppsss more interesting and inspiring. 

I see in the classifieds that you're off again? 

What happened?!

I bought it quite impulsively this time around. I’ve used it a bit but I have the same feeling I had when I got rid of it last time. I thought this time might be different and it was an itch I neeeded to scratch, but ultimately a valve amp still works better for my use case. I’ll possibly elaborate further down the line. 

ZenRigsMan

I'd have been more than happy to help if you needed any one-on-one time to get it where you needed it, but wish you all the best in getting the tone you're after with your new rig!

AndyJP

The best thing I’ve done recently is download some presets from pro players that I follow.  It’s interesting to see how pro players are EQ ing. Guthrie Govan for example.

Fractal do a regular release called the guy of tone. From what I’ve seen it’s usually a preset from a pro player. Keith Urban and Guthrie Govan provided one. To me these are a great starting place for building my own.

Heres Guthrie’s 

https://www.fractalaudio.com/gift-of-tone/#21

I made the mid boost in the amp block preamp switchable via a different scene. That preamp boost was a bit OTT for me. Pulled the clean patch in as a separate scene.

But look how he’s applied low and high cuts.  Some done in the amp block and some in the cab block.

ToneControl

I have found the factory presets to be pretty awful. Same as most modelers really.

The FM9 presets were better than the AF3 ones, but I first gathered what I could and tweaked on my AF2, more recently buying a set of patches from Austin Buddy

I can imagine people not being happy with any of these modelers with the factory presets. Why don't the manufacturers work hard on this?

Nerine

ToneControl said:

I have found the factory presets to be pretty awful. Same as most modelers really.

The FM9 presets were better than the AF3 ones, but I first gathered what I could and tweaked on my AF2, more recently buying a set of patches from Austin Buddy

I can imagine people not being happy with any of these modelers with the factory presets. Why don't the manufacturers work hard on this?

I've never used the factory presents other than for adding production guitars when I need a synth patch or something and CBA to build one myself. 

Have never gigged a preset. 

AndyJP

They could provide one set of presets for home playing and another for live.

And pay pro players who really know the unit to build them.

ToneControl

AndyJP said:

They could provide one set of presets for home playing and another for live.

And pay pro players who really know the unit to build them.

Yes
I just think it's a real own-goal to send units out with poor presets

Roland

It depends on what you expect factory presets to provide. When I was travelling a lot I used a Pocket Pod. It had a couple of basic sounds which didn’t transfer well from headphone to anything louder. Fractal equipment is at the other end of the spectrum. There are so many variables. There are so many ways of configuring those variables. That’s not a design fault. It reflects the way that people around the world use equipment.

For me the purpose of factory presets, and patches provided by other musicians, are to deliver ideas. Let’s take something simple: Telecaster into Deluxe Reverb. I’ll play with different settings for bass, treble and gain depending on where I’m playing, which guitar I’m playing, which pickup I’ve selected, and what song I’m playing.

If I turn on Delay then the same happens. It has to sit with any natural room reverb. It has to fit the song. Its brightness has to fit the guitar and pickup choice. What I learn from factory and user presets is what settings other people use, and how they choose to control them. 

I’ve never used a factory preset, and wouldn't expect to. When I started I lined up an amp which I knew, and a cabinet which was similar to my own, and worked things up from here. The first step in adding Wah and Tubescreamer was to duplicate my existing CryBaby and TS-9. 

Roland

AndyJP said:

They could … pay pro players who really know the unit to build them.

Here’s an example of that. Leon Todd building a preset similar to the Strymon Volante. Notice that it’s not a fixed “this does the Volante” preset. Instead Leon takes us through the build process, and demonstrates the effect of different settings. He also shows how he configured the per-preset Performance page to give the same physical control over settings as you’d get from the Volante front panel. 

https://youtu.be/QLAiuH0rZP4

They could provide one set of presets for home playing and another for live...

There are just too many variables here that it’s not realistic. Take just the home playing. Are you playing through earbuds, IEMs, headphones, hifi speakers, studio speakers, FRFR, keyboard amp, FX return of a small guitar combo, power amp and 4x12? Each needs EQing differently, not just for the equipment type, but also for the volume you’re able to play at. Playing live you generally need less gain and less reverb than you’d use at home, but how much less? It’s going to depend on the guitar, the room, the volume, and what other band members are playing. Presets can only be a starting point, a source of ideas.