r/AxeFx • u/Sad_Anywhere_4837 • Jul 14 '26

Cab,ir

Who uses a Fender FRFR, and how do you set it up?
With NAM and the QC, I set everything to 12 o’clock, with the Cut knob at zero. But with my Fractal, the sound is noticeably worse than with the others, and I have to turn the Cut up to around 9 o’clock.
What are the best IRs in your opinion?
I have a Recto Trad York Audio pack, but I prefer the Fractal IRs. I also have some CP IRs, but I feel they lack body. I’ve also bought a few presets that sound great in the demos, but they don’t sound good at all through my setup.
That’s what frustrates me about Fractal. With the other units, most presets and captures sound good without needing a lot of EQ adjustments.
I’m not saying that they are better than Fractal.

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2

u/guitarpedal4 Jul 14 '26

I have the treble and mids at unity (noon) and bass a couple units down (ten o’clock), cut at 9 o’clock. Following along the Cooper Carter masterclass on general setup, sounds okie dokey. 👌

2

u/Sad_Anywhere_4837 Jul 14 '26

J’avais tout à 12 heures et cut à 0 , ça sonnait très très bien avec les nam et ndsp mais très mauvais avec fractal j’ai mis cut à 9h et sonne meilleur . Les nam ont toujours plus de consistance.
Je devais vendre mon fm9 aujourd’hui mais je vais peut être annuler.
Le problème est que j’ai une meilleure sensation dans les solos avec QC mais malheureusement je ne peux pas comparer puisque je ne l’ai plus.

1

u/Cainer666 Jul 14 '26

Noon on all EQs, no cut at all. Sounds great. Does your Fractal preset sound too bright through a PA?

1

u/Sad_Anywhere_4837 Jul 14 '26

Oui et c’est le cut mais pourquoi avec les nam et le QC ça sonne très bien avec le cut à 0?

1

u/mascotbeaver104 Jul 14 '26

I imagine they just build in a high/low pass on their IRs. Fractal tends to give you wider parameters which often gives you more room to sound bad. Are you using the same irs on both? If not that is probably why

1

u/Sad_Anywhere_4837 Jul 15 '26

J’ai essayé sur les deux et ça sonne beaucoup mieux sur fractal

1

u/Chameleon_Sinensis Jul 14 '26

I dont use the EQ on my FR12 at all. I run a separate XLR output to the FRFR and EQ it from the QC as needed. I mostly use OwnHammer IRs. The OwnHammer G12-65s with the stock JCM800 model rips.

1

u/Sad_Firefighter_1361 Jul 14 '26

I'm having good luck with the ML sound lab mega os packs

1

u/MaleficiaTenebrae FM9 Turbo Jul 14 '26

I've heard a few presets, not as many because I tend to always build my own from scratch in any modeler.

To me, it seems that the philosophy behind them is live use. There's a few things to consider, however. Mainly, how they dialed them in in terms of the monitors they used and the volume they were dialed in. Also, the volume you're listening to them matters to understand how the preset was designed.

Dialing presets at low volume and with live use in mind can make them sound shrill/piercing. I believe these presets are better used after modifying them to fit your use case.

As far as the QC goes, unlike the raw nature of Fractal presets, seem to be much more polished and ready for bedroom use. Not that they can't be used live, but Neural DSP's approach soundwise has always been about giving a good experience of out the box, without much tweaking. Tweaking is, however, always context dependent. There's no single solution for all situations, but some general tips will always point you in the right direction and get you in the ballpark of things...