Low gain player reviews SnaxFx Tres

[brain21]

I have no problem with Rhett's stuff. I've watched a ton of his videos. I rarely learn anything from them, but that's not why i watch them. People have to remember that it's all one guys opinion, and you should really formulate your own. Yeah, most of us can't buy a bunch of modelers and try them out, even if we send them back, so we listen to his opinion, but it should be but "1" input of many.

Take his videos for what they're worth: "that's just, like, your opinion, man"

Many of them are still entertaining and (for me) better background than CNN.

That being said, his contrived, fake longing glances and lifted eyelids that he uses for the photo that goes with the video really bug the crap outta be. Idk why, but some of those poses make me wanna smack him all Cher style.

The click-bait titles don't bother so much as make me roll my eyes b/c I know fully that it's going to be ridiculous and/or dumb, and fairly sophomoric, but whatever. Get off my lawn.

 

[Jarick]

His analysis is right on the money for all units

Agreed, I watched the video last night and he was absolutely on the money IMO. His tones were amazing. Really, really good stuff. That speaks to the quality of modeling and his ears, and of course his playing.

And his observations on the UI especially, very much agree. Compared to the competition, it's unappealing and clunky. And I've got the FM3 powered on sitting next to me and I primarily use the interface on the device rather than the editor.

I listened to a lot of Rhett's podcast, primarily the one he did with the pedal builder called "Dipped in Tone", last summer. He's pretty honest and is pretty adamantly anti-shilling. About the only thing he fanboys over is Novo guitars, otherwise he's been pretty even handed on his videos IMO.

As for "click bait"...well everyone unfortunately does click bait titles and covers. At this point I know who will produce a good and entertaining video and who's just churning them out because they are paid to do so. There's a lot of monster players on YouTube who are much more obviously shilling for products, and I don't really watch those channels much anymore. Reviews are great. People's experiences are fun to listen to. Commercials I don't want to watch.

 

[brain21]

All of these devices stand to benefit from an actual UX Designer taking a crack at their interfaces...

 

[RevDrucifer]

RJ, Pete Thorn...even Tim Pierce now....they're all just showcasing gear for the $$$. Make no mistake here.

Thankfully, their comments on gear aren’t why I watch their vids, I just love their playing, mainly Tim and Pete’s. I could listen to Tim noodle all day and that’s pretty rare. I grew up a massive Vai fanboy and can only handle about 3 minutes of him noodling on most days, but I’d buy an album of Tim improvising any day.

 

[Jarick]

All of these devices stand to benefit from an actual UX Designer taking a crack at their interfaces...

The Helix UI is still pretty impressive IMO, even 5+ years after release. The capacitive switches were a pretty neat touch, and it's very quick and easy to get around.

There's probably a lot of improvement that could be made with larger high resolution touch screens, but we also have to consider they are often supposed to be stomped on and will get a lot of wear and tear. Will be interesting to see how that all plays out.

 

[RevDrucifer]

Plan B=eat crow.

I dunno dude, I’ve crushed up a bunch of those Plan B’s to sneak into food and i’ve never seen any crows.

 

[LaXu]

Just curious - have you tried Fracpad for editing?

I have. Too many problems connecting it reliably wirelessly with my CME Widi Master dongle which works without problems with my Airstep.

When it works it has a lot of good ideas but lacks polish. Fractal should work with its developer to make it an official mobile app.

 

[onwingsoflead]

Hey you posted it, not I. To be more thorough...1 part selling his preset pack, 1 part expressing his love for the Helix and QC UI, 1 part praise of the AXE, and 1 part diss of the UI. Those quotes just stuck out to me. Like he's suggesting the editing depth is a bit of weakness and suggesting the Helix might be a better fit especially for gigging. But then he literally says "the Helix is almost as good".

I think both of those ideas can coexist. The Fractal probably sounds better. But if I have to navigate something so clunky I am going to lose any kind of plug in and play inspiration. I've actually had nearly that exact experience in a studio session with a Helix and a Fractal unit. We had both at our disposal. Had an issue with a Fractal patch that wasn't behaving. In the time it took to get the laptop out and begin hunting for the issue we were able to build a patch from scratch and get rolling with the Helix.

For me as a player, live and recording, I will sacrifice a little bit of epic toanz for being able to quickly and reliably create serviceable tones. In a world where the average listener is judging your records by the vocal and drum productions, it seems pretty silly to waste most of my time chasing that last 5% on guitar tone. YMMV, IMHO;etc

 

[JasonE]

Someone forgot to inform Rhett of the cardinal rule. Thou shalt not make critical statements about any Fractal products.

 

[guitarlix]

The Fractal hardware UI is essentially no different from an industrial controller. So, if you dig programming a PLC as part of your gigging experience...there you have it!

Again, nothing that Cliff couldn't resolve almost overnight with the help of some UX folks....or just copying what everyone else is doing.

 

[Will Chen]

I think both of those ideas can coexist. The Fractal probably sounds better. But if I have to navigate something so clunky I am going to lose any kind of plug in and play inspiration. I've actually had nearly that exact experience in a studio session with a Helix and a Fractal unit. We had both at our disposal. Had an issue with a Fractal patch that wasn't behaving. In the time it took to get the laptop out and begin hunting for the issue we were able to build a patch from scratch and get rolling with the Helix.

For me as a player, live and recording, I will sacrifice a little bit of epic toanz for being able to quickly and reliably create serviceable tones. In a world where the average listener is judging your records by the vocal and drum productions, it seems pretty silly to waste most of my time chasing that last 5% on guitar tone. YMMV, IMHO;etc

I'm not defending the Fractal on unit UI, but if I'm being honest I'm not going to edit any modeling device from the unit when editors are available. IMHO there are actually a few global things from the FM3 which are less steps/menus to access from the panel than they are on the HX Stomp but maybe that just comes with familiarity. I've said this before, but for whatever reason I find it much easier to dial things in on the FM3 than I do with the HX Stomp. With the Stomp it feels almost like a tweaking merry-go-round where I can never get things just right vs the FM3 where once I have something dialed in I just don't really go back and touch it. But clearly, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to these things.

 

[Will Chen]

I don't think you are an idiot at all. But I do know I am not lugging a laptop to gigs to adjust things; so working with the front panel is just a necessary "evil" in using it. The AX8 was the biggest dumpster fire of onboard interfaces ever so the FM3 seems like a walk in the park, comparatively speaking.

Do you commonly need to significantly edit at a gig? I actually jammed with a group last week, first time bringing the FM3 out, small adjustment to global EQ and reverb mix was all I needed to do 3 or 4 clicks and a twist of a dial. I much prefer the UI implementation of Global EQ on the FM3 vs HX Stomp, and have global control of ReverbMix is a very nice option.

 

[ejecta]

Do you commonly need to significantly edit at a gig? I actually jammed with a group last week, first time bringing the FM3 out, small adjustment to global EQ and reverb mix was all I needed to do 3 or 4 clicks and a twist of a dial. I much prefer the UI implementation of Global EQ on the FM3 vs HX Stomp, and have global control of ReverbMix is a very nice option.

I do. On my FM3 I had dialed in a new ambient scene to sound more like the sound in a song we were playing and needed to mix in more of the verb because it wasn’t come through as much as it needed to for the room. I didn’t even bother to do it then because it’s a pain in the ass to get to when we need to keep moving for the short rehearsal before service. Made me think hard about going to back to my Syn3 again with real pedals but I played the set and when I got home I made the adjustment for next week. So yeah 3-4 clicks for a small adjustment? It’s not like it’s the end of the world but with modern tech the question becomes a huge “why???”

 

[Watt McCo]

The Fractal hardware UI is essentially no different from an industrial controller. So, if you dig programming a PLC as part of your gigging experience...there you have it!

Again, nothing that Cliff couldn't resolve almost overnight with the help of some UX folks....or just copying what everyone else is doing.

What is everyone else doing differently? Joystick? Prettier fonts?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Do you commonly need to significantly edit at a gig? I actually jammed with a group last week, first time bringing the FM3 out, small adjustment to global EQ and reverb mix was all I needed to do 3 or 4 clicks and a twist of a dial. I much prefer the UI implementation of Global EQ on the FM3 vs HX Stomp, and have global control of ReverbMix is a very nice option.

Beyond output levels; never.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Set up performance pages and get back to playing?

 

[guitarlix]

What is everyone else doing differently? Joystick? Prettier fonts?

Let's just say...way better thought out.

 

[Will Chen]

Set up performance pages and get back to playing?

That's new-ish (I think) and I imagine will be huge for those who want to make last minute adjustments on the unit.

 

[JiveTurkey]

That's new-ish (I think) and I imagine will be huge for those who want to make last minute adjustments on the unit.

It's been around since 4.0 I think? I don't have them setup or use them.

 

[Gojira1954]

I totally get the flack FAS gets for their UI (when put against HX, QC, Headrush, etc), it can benefit A LOT from a thorough revision by a qualified expert. Now, some of the comments are totally hyperbolic as if the HW was absolutely impossible to tweak on the fly. Having coming from the TC Electronics G-Major/Nova System, Eventide H9000 and similar units, tweaking the Axe-FX III is a breeze, IMO of course.