n.d.escher Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 (edited) I´m from germany, so sorry it´s not in english, but sound demo starts at 2,50! Edited April 24, 2022 by n.d.escher 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimfist Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 I used to own the AxeFxII, from the time it was released up until around 2005. As with just about everything Fractal Audio makes, it was a world class piece of gear. I can only imagine how much better the AxeFxIII is by comparison. From all I've read and heard, it is very much improved, both sonically and functionally. I have my eye on the FM9, though production has come to a halt due to supply-chain issues for components. Patiently waiting. It's very pricey stuff, but worth every penny. Very sophisticated engineering and capabilities. My only gripe, and it's a longtime issue bassists have had with Fractal Audio, is that their bass support (in the form of updates and/or additions to their very small list of bass amps/stomps/fx) has always been lacking. It is rare indeed to see Fractal introduce anything new for bass, and bassists are encouraged to branch out into trying guitar amp models...and quit complaining. If only Fractal had Gallien-Krueger, SWR, Trace Elliot, Acoustic, MarkBass, Sunn and other popular models added to their current list of bass amps (SVT, B-15, Mesa 400, Orange), it would dominate as a preferred bass amp modeler/multi-fx. I'd be very curious to see if the newer modeling algorithms in the AxeFxIII/FM9 have markedly improved since 2005, when I sold my AxeFxII to a guitarist I work with, who is very pleased with it. Really fantastic gear, though. I'd recommend it to anyone who has the money and is serious about modeling as a live performance/recording alternative to traditional stomps-amps-cabs-mics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n.d.escher Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Hi, it has not to be a pure bass-amp. As a tried to show, also guitar-amps can sound very good or even better than the "normal" bassamps. Greetings 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 13 hours ago, n.d.escher said: Hi, it has not to be a pure bass-amp. As a tried to show, also guitar-amps can sound very good or even better than the "normal" bassamps. Greetings Definitely. That's the best thing about any of the modelling units - any model can be used for any instrument. I have a Helix Rack and I mix amps and speakers all the time. Whatever sounds good is good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimfist Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 13 hours ago, n.d.escher said: Hi, it has not to be a pure bass-amp. As a tried to show, also guitar-amps can sound very good or even better than the "normal" bassamps. Greetings 20 minutes ago, fretmeister said: Definitely. That's the best thing about any of the modelling units - any model can be used for any instrument. I have a Helix Rack and I mix amps and speakers all the time. Whatever sounds good is good. Yes, of course there are endless choices of amps that can be used for bass, and that can sound good DEPENDING ON what it is you're looking for in a tone. But that's never been the issue many have had with Fractal Audio. Bassists have their preferred amp/cab combinations, just as guitarists do. The fact is that with Fractal stuff, if I want the tone of an iconic amp such as an Acoustic 360 or SWR RedHead or GK 800RB, I'm out of luck OR I have to figure out convoluted ways to try to recreate these sounds from scratch. We're not talking about odd-ball choices here. We're talking about some of the most popular and desirable bass amps ever produced, many of which will likely NEVER be part of Fractal's amp model choices. So this is where alternative modelers have appeal vs. Fractal Audio, when they offer a broader selection of bass amps, preamps, and effects/stomps. Zoom and Line 6 offer more for bassists, and with the Kemper or Quad Cortex, you can either profile your rig or use someone else's profile that is shared throughout their community. The reason why this gets brought up about Fractal is that it seems to be a missed opportunity to court the bass community...and it's a shame they don't really seem to care much. That said, I'd love to own a FM9. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2pods Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Good video. Agree with all of that. There's nowhere near the choice of a Helix. As you said, enquiries regarding this don't go down that well on the Fractal forum. However, the sounds that are there for guitar are amazing. Just not so easy to get for a bass player looking for all the usual suspects. I preferred the sound of the Orange guitar amp over the bass amp too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimfist Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Well, my name came up on the FM9 invitation list last week and I caved to temptation. I've been futzing around with my new FM9 Turbo pedal for the last couple of days. It may not have a long list of well-known bass amps and cabinet IR simulations, what it does have is very, very good. The core of the modeled tones that I look to first (compression, amp modeling, cab IR) are all markedly improved vs. my last visit with the AxeFxII in 2015. Since I'm getting reacquainted with the way Fractal does things, and the inherent complexity, there's something of a steep learning curve when editing on the panel. However, the editor software is intuitive and excellent, so I'll be using that mostly. Sifting through hundreds or amp and cab models to find a couple lonely bass models is a pain. So far, the shining stars of the FM9 are the compressor and cabinet blocks. They've really come a long way. Amp modeling improvements not far behind. Most lacking is selection of popular bass cabinet IRs as stock items. Thankfully there are enough 3rd party IR providers that this is less of an issue than in previous years. This still doesn't scratch the itch for the need for more bass amp model flavors, but that is now mitigated by just the sheer quality (and number of options) for what they DO provide. I'll know a lot more about this after I've gigged the pedal a couple times. So far....very impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2pods Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Dr Bonkers' Bass Guide for Axe III is a good start, and there is always Austin Buddy's Bass Pack to be going on with, but I doubt we'll see any more bass amps. I just don't think Cliff is interested in bass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimfist Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 1 hour ago, 2pods said: Dr Bonkers' Bass Guide for Axe III is a good start, and there is always Austin Buddy's Bass Pack to be going on with, but I doubt we'll see any more bass amps. I just don't think Cliff is interested in bass I've always held Ampeg bass amp tones near and dear to my heart, so that's where I started with the FM9 and the results so far have been excellent. I have, though, loaded up the Dr. Bonkers Mesa Boogie 8x10 IRs to use with the SV Bass2 amp. I think that Dr. Bonkers IRs are the sweet spot for me, however he does what he does. I had contemplated getting the Austin Buddy Bass pack, but I don't think I'll need to spend the extra coin on that, the tones I'm getting are so nice. It's good exercise to build presets from scratch in order to get a better feel of the process, what the FM9 does and/or doesn't do well, and with respect to any limitations. There has been a lot of angst and gnashing of teeth in the past about the lack of bass stuff from Fractal Audio. Guilty as charged. The good news is that Cliff, though disinterested as he is in blessing us bassists with more bass items, has created a product that is so damn fine that it makes up for these deficiencies IMO. I would not have said that about previous iterations of Fractal products, having owned the AxeFx Ultra and AxeFxII. It was easy to poke holes in those products. Not so easy with the FM9. As a bassist, had the FM9 been my first experience with Fractal, I'd probably never have left the platform, let alone aggressively slag them for their treatment of bassists. I spent a couple minutes last night creating a really, really aggressive bass tone, that had a crossover split to a guitar amp model into a 4x12 cab IR. If you like that sort of thing, it was pretty amazing, and surprisingly easy to implement. Crazy heavy tones with the punch of the core bass amp retained, sonically seamless. I liken the Fractal products for bassists as I would a fine restaurant that does only a handful of things you enjoy, but better than any other restaurant out there. Other products certainly offer more bass options (and that's a good thing...the Zoom B6 has been my go-to rig), but IMHO just can't compare to the quality and attention to fine detail that Fractal currently delivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2pods Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Sold my FM3 to get a FM9. I know what you mean 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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