I HATED FRFR until I learned this
Grab the Fractal Favorite Amps and Cabs Guide…
https://www.mathewdale.com/fractal-favorite-amps-and-cabs-guide
Check out my Fractal templates and more…
https://www.mathewdale.com/store
An Audio Professor once told me, “All speakers suck- it’s just to what extent.” At the time, I had no idea what he meant, but after years of guitar playing, tone hunting, audio snobbery, and a healthy amount of gear acquisition syndrome I also found that to be true. And there is no other type of speaker that is more divisive in the guitar community than the FRFR. As a person that used to be on the side of hating FRFR and direct tones, I share my experience and knowledge gained as I learned how to use FRFR to great effect and get one step closer to tonal bliss.
Mat’s Trusted Gear…
————————————————————————————————————————
GUITARS
PRS DGT https://sweetwater.sjv.io/KjdaXe
PRS McCarty 594 https://sweetwater.sjv.io/DKd9eb
Strandberg Fusion NX https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9gd4zE
Strandberg Original NX https://sweetwater.sjv.io/5g02Z1
————————————————————————————————————————
GUITAR GEAR
Line6 HX Stomp https://sweetwater.sjv.io/AWMx3a
Shure GLXD Guitar Wireless https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VmDzYj
Mono Electric Guitar Gig Bag https://sweetwater.sjv.io/ZQjnKz
Mono Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag https://sweetwater.sjv.io/oq6mLW
Electric Strings https://sweetwater.sjv.io/zNmZbG
Acoustic Strings https://sweetwater.sjv.io/0ZKEjN
Music Nomad Set up Kit https://sweetwater.sjv.io/EKdreD
Fred Kelly Bumblebee Jazz Picks https://amzn.to/41sE5Eq
————————————————————————————————————————
STUDIO GEAR
Studiolive 32C https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OrdVKP
StudioLive 32R https://sweetwater.sjv.io/R5dgnv
Eris E5 https://sweetwater.sjv.io/daJNV2
Rode PodMic https://sweetwater.sjv.io/MmdGyn
QSC K10.2 https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xk6VQy
QSC K12.2 https://sweetwater.sjv.io/PydJ4R
Behringer P1 Personal Monitor Amp https://sweetwater.sjv.io/q465ZN
Presonus HP4 Headphone Amp https://sweetwater.sjv.io/5g02Y3
Studio One+ https://sweetwater.sjv.io/eKZygX
#MathewDale #Fractal #AxeFX3 #FM9 #FM3 #Guitar #Tone
THE SOCIALS…
https://www.facebook.com/MathewCDale
https://www.instagram.com/mathewdale/
#HATED #FRFR #learned
Originally posted by UCgQK9bSGaiKP-EVMk7gdTWg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v3WLvRcMSU
Love the bong in the bg
Buys full range speaker, limits frequency response to mimic actual guitar speaker. God help us.
Haha I also always start with 6500hz for the high cut. It's really the spot where it starts to feel like a real cab. Some amp models profit from more cut though.
Watched again thx ❤
"Show me which amp in the room sound is on your favorite record." Jim Lil
Bought a Headrush 108 FRFR 3 years ago and I was INSTANTLY disappointed by the sound… regretted buying it…its just ironic on how my Spider V30 sounded a lot better thru my Helix
Good video. A couple things that might also be worth considering, modelers with multi fx are often also made to be used with acoustic and bass guitars as well as electric guitars. Amps for both of those have generally speaking and historically had wider frequency responses than most guitar amps and cabs. So eq of your electric guitar tones in an FRFR system can't be over emphasized enough if you want a natural sounding tone and to sit in the band mix appropriate for your music style and the rest of your band's configuration.
Also when using an FRFR speaker for monitoring, take note of the high frequency driver position and throw in reference to your listening position. If you're getting blasted by a HF driver vs a more even mix of the entire FRFR, it can be difficult to get a good tone and end up over EQing your sounds. Same if you aren't getting enough of that HF from your listening position.
Lastly, if you practice at home with headphones/ ears and as a band with IEMS, especially at lower than gig volume, your tone as well as that of your band, CAN sound significantly different in a FOH system at gig volume in a venue. If you have a good FOH engineer that knows their equipment, trust their input! Otherwise, move your butt out front during sound check and try to check your most varied patches in context with your band through the FOH system! You might be surprised for better or worse at what your audience is hearing.
FWIW
Why don't you just blather some more and forget about the product altogether?
Far out man
Oh, fractal!
I do not get the misconcept of an FRFR speaker.
What you actually need is an active PA speaker going down to 80Hz, able to place as monitor and loud enough against a drumset.
For me, going from amps and cabs to a profiler was a big benefit first for recording snd second for live applications and even for silent practicing.
i like to play at home quietly, loud and gig. We rehearse at my house. What are some FRFR's you recommend? I want a wide sound for lots of pedals and dynamics. I play lots of styles, low sparkly fender cleans but I also crank it with fuzz, OD, mods, delays, etc.
Great video Matthew. It was really well organized with good attention to detail. I'm just starting to learn about FRFR. I have just been plugging my PodGo into the return of my amp and looking for other options. I am looking at possibly getting a Headrush or a Fender Tone Master FR. Mostly just for home use. I am also looking at various modelers.
Dude. Thanks ????
It took me so long to finally understand how that stuff works.
I've got great studio monitors my Adam A7X. Fantastic sound. Almost make the 4×12 sound sort of muffled. LOL
Great info, much appreciated!
❤ thx awesomeness info thx
Green and cream is a dream or maybe a hemp back
Thank you. Finally a video that has practical tips. I will be playing at the end of this winter and next spring thru a direct pedal board with a Boss IR2 or 200 probably just for my amp and cab tones and then use dual delays and micro pitch from an eventide in the loop. A boost in front of the Boss IR2 or 200 and maybe a chorus and compressor and my morley wah as well and thats about it. I also was thinking about an eq or two just to tone dowm the extra frequncies that the frfr or PA systems can produce that a real amp cant and cut those out, but your tips here are great. Thanks so much man. Where I will be playing amps are either not allowed or it is required that one uses very low stage volume. So, an amp is pretty much out of the the question.
Thanks man.
Tim…
Matt, I can' thank you enough. I was not having much luck finding great tone until I downloaded your Fractal Favorite Amps and Cabs Guide. I can't believe what a difference it made. Cutting through all the factory presets was not getting me there, but your suggestion of presets, some settings and IR's had made the difference between my returning the FM9 vs. keeping it. Aside from the quality of your information shared, I enjoy your demeanor, you present clearly and offer relevant info. Thanks so much. Suscribed.
I’ve been searching and searching for the best amp sim for a while now and just discovered the IRs make up so much of the sound. I did a sound comparison between Helix and Neural using pretty different amps and settings but using the same IRs… I was surprised to see how SIMILAR they sounded. In a mix, you would never tell the difference. Can’t stress how important it is to finding good IRs and you’re the first person in all my research I’ve heard say this.
I freaking don't understand why the best channels have always less views than the ad shows!
Thank god there are still people like you making videos, you can play very good, what you talk about is interesting and it's not a fucking advertisement for any company! Thanks Bro ❤
Too much fiddling…. no songs….
Just limiting the frequencies from 80Hz to 8kHz has made a huge difference on my Headrush MX5. Thank you for that
Great video! Answered a lot of questions I’ve been struggling with. Thank you ????????
I learned the hard way. Live tones and album tones are often never the same. Trying to dial in tones from albums often disappointed me in a live setting. Often lack low end and like a bit more gain live.
Dial tones for the area you are playing in. Delay and reverb feel so different in headphones versus an open air stage.
The main thing to do is set up all your patches and scenes at gig levels. Don’t dial them in at bedroom levels. And high pass/ Low pass is your best friend. And bring an actual EQ pedal to the show to tune to the room. An EQ pedal is the most important pedal you can use in any situation. Don’t rely on the EQ in the processor you’re using. It’ll never be right in the room. And make sure your patches/scenes are at complimentary levels. Don’t go from clean neck pickup to full bore metal with bridge pickup and have the volumes not match.
so what frfr speaker would you use for a rock band live gig ? what is used in this episode?
Little late to the party but this video showed up in my feed and I couldn't agree more with most of what you're saying. I think back to when I was a young teenager listening to all of this metal in the 90s and none of that was listen to through any amplifier it was through a crappy radio in my bedroom or the car. When I started to play guitar I didn't really understand how all of this stuff worked and would try so hard to reproduce the tone that I was hearing through a stereo system from my guitar amp and could never understand why I would fail repeatedly… Fast forward 20 years
… I'm not a quick learner I was still trying to do the same thing cuz I didn't understand…. I have a evh 5150 stealth along with a Mesa Boogie triple Crown… I also have a quad cortex and an FRFR cabinet. I realize now if I want to play along with backing tracks in my basement studio then the quad cortex and the FRFR are almost a guaranteed best choice. It can reproduce the studio quality sound that is pristine and exactly what will fit into the mix perfectly. If I turn on my evh amp I can get pretty close but typically I find myself overpowering the studio monitors because the guitar amp itself is just so much more powerful. I used to switch back and forth from modeling to amps, in some sort of frustrated dance to try to get what I was after. Now I have found peace I have found my zen… I have both! It's just a matter of when to use which tool for the job you are after
Been using a FRFR monitor being fed from my DAw plug ins ….
Best FRFR are the Red sound, did you ever tried?
So do these fractal IR tones work with other modelers like Valeton GP 200
The Tone master FRFR 12 is pretty good….The Headrush FRFR is the worst sheet I ve ever listened too.
This has been really helpful bro, many thanks for your efforts!
❤ thx so much Exploit wise information
I don't even worry about it. I don't even use guitar amps.
Namely because guitar amp speakers are frequency range limited.
Notably the old marshals. We would simply disconnect the speaker and run the speaker wires to some 3 way 5×9 car speaker to get the range back.
Remember, in the right hands a $50.00 Harmony Sunburst or GS1 guitar can sound like a $5000.00 guitar. If you want more confidence use the Fender SS/1000 super strat.
Thanks.
Thanks for this video and sharing your knowledge. This made me a subscriber. Clear and concise information here. Thank you. I use modelers and it has always been trial & error. This video has helped to shake out a lot of the issues I was having and being a lot together even more for.
Buying an FRFR amp to play using digital emulation of a tube amp? What´s next? Buying an electric car?
But.. why doesn't the amp modeler automatically roll off the frequencies of the cabinet that it's emulating? Isn't that the FRIGGIN POINT? Not much of a cabinet simulation if it passes frequencies that the real speaker doesn't. ????
Prs????????????????☀️ pozdrawiam serdecznie z Polski
This video is so good! Thank you!
I believe you about the cuts, but my thing was like, I’m putting in this IR that was supposed to be a large majority of the cuts, so why am I having to do this SO much?
So do you still need a practice amp if your not gigging and if so which one works best with the Helix ????
You explained this extremely well man! Thank you! 10/10 recommend
Dude you are a genius thank you for this.
Hello and thank you for the video. I recently bought a Headrush 108 known for having so many low frequencies. As a result, to compensate I have to make presets on my pedalboard by removing the low tones on the simulation of almost zero amps.
This is not a good thing because if I then go to the PA the sounds are extremely high-pitched and unpleasant. It's like I have to think the other way around when I make my own presets. Not to mention if the sounds, as often happens, I make them in headphones and then listen to them again through Headrush 108. It's frustrating!
LONG 2 THE SHORT, everyone peep game, FRFR is simply some marketing BS garnered to make you purchases more crap. Simply select a power amp and PA speakers and rock on. #cheers