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FX8 Owner`s Manual - Fractal Audio Systems

1. Connect OUT PRE R to a second amp for stereo optional OUT PRE Humbuster cables are f recommended at FX8 Outputs SS SIGNAL FLOW Here signal flows out from the GUITAR to the IN PRE of the FX8 It is processed by the effects all designated as PRE and then routed to OUT PRE LEFT which is connected via Humbuster cable to the guitar INPUT of your amplifier You could easily connect OUT PRE Right to the input of a second amp for stereo A combo is shown but a head with a separate speaker cabinet is equally suitable for this setup Humbuster cables help reduce ground loop hum See Humbuster Cables on page 4 for details The FX8 is connected to a grounded AC outlet This is also a great way to connect the FX8 to an Axe Fx Use the FX8 for PRE effects and the Axe Fx for amp and cab sims and POST effects Add MIDI cable and the FX8 can even select Axe Fx presets 13 3 SETUP GUIDE SETUP FOR POST EFFECTS ONLY Here the FX8 is used in the effects loop of an amp with presets presumably configured so all effects are POST Find factory presets for this type of setup in Banks E and F Optionally connect 1 2 optional expression pedals such as Fractal Audio Systems EV 1 N PRE OUT TO AMP FX RTN OUT PRE TO AMP INPUT eee eq ees INSTR HUMBUSTER UNBAL ALANCED HU USTER UNBA RELAY PEDAL USB IN POST FROM AMP FX SEND Ec AUDIO SYS
2. 49 Delay 1 X Y 106 External Control 3 18 Drive 2 Bypass 50 Delay 2 X Y 107 External Control 4 19 Enhancer Bypass 51 Drive 1 X Y LLsse 108 External Control 5 20 Filter 1 Bypass 52 Drive 2 X Y Luese 109 External Control 6 21 Filter 2 Bypass 53 Filter 1 X Y NONE External Control 7 22 Flanger 1 Bypass 56 Filter 2 X Y uuu NONE External Control 8 23 Flanger 2 Bypass 57 Flanger 1 X Y 110 External Control 9 24 Formant 1 Bypass 58 Flanger 2 X Y 111 External Control 10 25 Gate Expander 1 Bypass 60 Gate Exp X Y NONE External Control 11 26 Graphic EQ 1 Bypass 62 Multitap X Y 0 00 cee External Control 12 27 Graphic EQ 2 Bypass 63 Phaser 1 XXY 112 Looper Record 28 Megatap Delay Bypass 66 Phaser 2 X Y a5 Seer deen 113 Looper Play 29 MIDI S sere rir NONE Itc D duco irata e Cmm ara 114 Looper Once 30 MIDI 2 Sitios vatis NONE Relay 1 X Y NONE Looper Dub 31 Multi Delay Bypass 69 Relay 2 X Y NONE Looper Rev 32 Parametric EO 1 Bypass 71 ROLY AV GENERE NDS 125 Lo
3. How do upgrade the firmware of my FX8 Use Fractal Bot available from www fractalaudio com Where can learn more about all these effect parameters We re currently working on a universal Effect Parameters Guide for all Fractal Audio Systems products Meanwhile the Axe Fx Il manual has most of the answers you might need Find it at www fractalaudio com support 75 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS Q Why should bother with PRE and POST A Sonically speaking the main reason to care about PRE vs POST is that a given effect will sound different when placed BEFORE or AFTER your amp s preamp the place where distortion occurs How does this difference sound If you ve ever switched the sequence of traditional DRIVE and WAH pedals you ve heard an excellent example In the case of wah before overdrive the resonant filter of the wah excites the overdrive in a cool way while still retaining a natural overall tone When the wah follows distortion you might hear a more dramatic filtered sweep with heavy distortion it can get almost synth like which might be considered less classic It s not surprising then that Wah would traditionally be a run as a PRE effect between guitar and amp The amp s distortion follows the wah effect Many other effects fall in this same category A different example is found in overdrive with reverb and delay In the natural world reverb and echo occur because of open spaces around your guitar amp li
4. Here is a comparison of how scene changes work in both modes SCENE REVERT OFF default SCENE REVERT ON 1 You load SCENE 1 DRIVE 1 is OFF Youload SCENE 1 DRIVE 1 is OFF You turn DRIVE 1 ON You turn DRIVE 1 ON You change to SCENE 2 You change to SCENE 2 You change BACK to SCENE 1 You change BACK to SCENE 1 Drive will be ON as you last left it Drive will be OFF as it was last saved TO ENABLE DISABLE SCENE REVERT 1 Press the SETUP button Press footswitch 2 to load the I O menu Turn to the MIDI page Use the NAV knob to select SCENE REVERT Use the VALUE knob to select OFF or ON Press the EXIT button twice to return to Stompbox Mode You do not need to STORE changes in SETUP Oy cU dx ae We 38 8 TRUE BYPASS 6 TRUE BYPASS OVERVIEW Relay based buffered True Bypass gives the FX8 a much sought after capability in the world of effects processors By physically switching A D and D A conversion out of the signal path True Bypass gives you the opportunity to make comparisons check gain settings or just enjoy your amp in its bare naked glory In True Bypass Mode signal is routed directly from the INPUTS to the OUTPUTS with no DSP conversion or processing of any kind Effect tails STOP Pad Headroom and Level settings on all inputs and outputs are bypassed NO control on the FX8 has any effect The relays are fast and quiet and True Bypass can be used on stage with no nast
5. 70 IB 71 J1 72 J2 73 J3 74 J4 75 J5 76 J6 77 J7 78 J8 79 64 I1 65 I2 66 13 67 l4 68 15 69 16 70 I7 Nae I8 pen ny 74 J3 75 J4 76 J5 77 J6 78 J7 79 J8 K1 80 K2 81 K3 82 KA 83 K5 84 K6 85 K7 86 K8 87 L1 88 L2 89 L3 90 L4 91 L5 92 L6 93 L7 94 L8 95 80 K1 81 K2 82 K3 83 K4 84 K5 85 K6 86 K7 87 K8 88 L1 89 L2 90 L3 91 L4 92 L5 93 L6 94 L7 95 L8 M5 100 M6 101 M7 102 M8 103 N1 104 N2 105 N3 106 N4 107 N5 108 N6 109 N7 110 N8 111 103 M8 104 N1 105 N2 106 N3 107 N4 108 N5 109 N6 110 N7 111 N8 O1 112 O2 113 O3 114 O4 115 O5 116 O6 117 O7 118 O8 119 P1 120 P2 121 P3 122 PA 123 P5 124 P6 125 P7 126 P8 127 112 O1 113 O2 114 O3 115 O4 116 O5 117 O6 118 O7 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS CC 34 TO SCENE By default MIDI continuous controller 34 selects SCENES The value sent determines the scene 0 1 16 1 32 1
6. 31 PC TO PRESET When the FX8 receives a Program Change message on its own MIDI Channel as set in the MIDI page of the I O menu under SETUP it loads the corresponding preset 0 Al ieee A2 je A3 Je A4 r E A5 A6 6 A7 Jit A8 8 B1 9 ae B2 10 B3 11 B4 12 B5 13 B6 4287 15 B8 16 C1 17 C2 18 C3 19 C4 20 C5 21 C6 22 C7 23 C8 24 D1 25 D2 26 D3 27 D4 28 D5 29 D6 30 D7 31 D8 E1 32 E2 33 E3 34 E4 35 E5 36 E6 37 E7 38 E8 39 F1 40 F2 41 F3 42 F4 43 F5 44 F6 45 F7 46 F8 47 32 E1 33 E2 34 E3 35 E4 36 E5 37 E6 38 E7 39 E8 40 F 1 41 F2 42 F3 43 F4 44 F5 45 F6 46 F7 47 F8 G1 48 G2 49 G3 50 G4 51 G5 52 G6 53 G7 54 G8 55 H1 56 H2 57 H3 58 H4 59 H5 60 H6 61 H7 62 H8 63 48 G1 49 G2 50 G3 51 G4 52 G5 53 G6 54 G7 55 G8 56 H1 57 H2 58 H3 59 H4 60 H5 61 H6 62 H7 63 H8 81 64 2 65 3 66 l4 67 5 68 l6 69 7
7. Connect your guitar or any instrument level source using a regular guitar cable here You can also connect the output of other guitar pedals or anything else that s designed to be used in front of an amp This jack feeds signal only to effects designated as PRE D OUT PRE L R 1 4 Tip Ring Sleeve Humbuster Jacks The output of effects designated as PRE appears at these jacks You ll typically connect to the MAIN GUITAR INPUT of an amp preamp or modeler using Humbuster cables A NOTE ABOUT PRE AND POST I O The various input and output jacks of the FX8 are labeled PRE and POST because the FX8 has two fully independent effect chains You place PRE effects between the guitar and amp like traditional stompboxes and POST effects in the amp s FX loop You can use either or both of these paths and the next section covers how to create the setup that works best for you Humbuster Technology on all QUT PRE and OUT POST jacks can significantly reduce ground hum common in guitar rigs It requires a special cable you can make or buy See p p 4 for details B IN POST L R Balanced 1 4 Tip Ring Sleeve Jacks Connect the FX LOOP SEND of your amplifier or the output of your separate preamp here to feed signal to any effects designated as POST D our POST L R 1 4 Tip Ring Sleeve Humbuster Jacks The signal from effects designated as POST appears at these jacks
8. If your rig uses only the PRE chain or only the POST chain set LOOPER LOCATION accordingly I m hearing click and pops Excessive CPU usage may be to blame Press UTILITY and change to the STATUS page Is the CPU meter in the mid 90s or higher If so you ve overloaded the current preset Try removing one block or reviewing Preset CPU Limits on page 29 for useful tips One of my effects is totally not working When tweaking effect parameters causes excessive CPU usage the FX8 will disable one effect block This block will be quickly blink in the Stompbox Mode display Reduce CPU load and the effect should automatically re enable itself My expression pedal isn t working What should do Expression pedals need to be calibrated mapped to a controller and assigned to a parameter See Connecting Pedals amp Switches on page 16 for a basic overview Are you using a TRS cable Is it connected to the right jack on the FX8 Is it actually an expression pedal Did you set up a modifier according to the information in Section 10 My FX8 won t start up correctly One problem that may cause this is a bad preset To get around this issue reboot the FX8 but as soon as the Splash Screen is displayed press and hold ENTER to load an empty initialized preset If this solves your trouble you ll need to find and overwrite the problem preset which may be as easy as pressing STORE ENTER ENTER after performing this special startup routine
9. Overview cece ccc teens 39 Preset Bypass Configuration 39 Automatic True Bypass 40 9 BLOCKS GUIDE cecees 41 The MIDI Block suse 42 The Relay Block 43 Mix Page Common Parameters 44 The Noise Gate 0 cece eee 45 The Output Section 45 10 MODIFIERS 47 Overview eeeeeee nnne 47 Creating a Modifier 47 Modifier Example Wah Pedal 48 Modifier Sources Overview 49 Modifier Tips And Tricks 49 Advanced Modifier Parameters 50 Internal Controllers 53 External Controllers 54 TISTEMPO e RE EREEEEUHEE TA Ct 55 Preset TEMpPO cc cee cee ees 56 Auto Delay c cece eens 56 The Metronome Lee 56 12 THELOOPER eee 57 Looper Parameters 58 Global Looper Location 59 Looper MIDI Control 60 13 THE TUNER ss 44 5292 2 ECCSA 61 Advanced Tuner Functions 61 14 SETUP MENUS 62 The Global Menu 62 The W O Menu caeci ESI roii 64 The Utility Menu 69 The Controllers Menu 71 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS 72 Global Volume Pedal Setup 72 Advanced Level Parameters 73 SDIIIOVBE i esee a M ROC Etna 74 Frequently Asked Questions 75 U
10. When ONDE is toggled on looper playback will stop automatically at the end of the loop If playback is already stopped ONCE will start playback play through the loop and then stop You cannot go directly from RECORD to ONCE DUB Press to overdub new material on top of an existing loop Pressing DUB again stops recording but playback continues so you can punch in and out at will Please note that with each pass through the loop existing layers will gradually fade To change this increase DUB MIX on the looper s MIX page to 10096 For a more rapidly decaying evolving loop set this to a lower value UNDO This removes the most recently recorded overdub You can only undo one layer and it needs to be an overdub To throw away and re do a first layer take just press RECORD again REV Reverses the direction of the looper Most other looper functions work while the direction is reversed so you can overdub to record forward and backward audio in the same loop HALF Slows the looper to half speed For double speed playback record at half speed and then switch to normal You can even overdub to record audio at different speeds in the same loop E AQ WHY IS IT CALLED A GLOBAL LOOPER Unlike other Fractal 9 Audio systems products the FX8 does not require you to insert a Looper Block into every preset The looper is in every preset so playback or recording can easily continue across preset changes Looper parameters such as Mix Lev
11. one for ALL PRESETS and one for SYSTEM dump the memory of the FX8 as System Exclusive data to the MIDI OUT port Connect the MIDI OUT of the FX8 to the MIDI IN of a computer running a MIDI Utility typically MIDI Ox or Snoize SysEx Librarian or connect to the MIDI IN port of another FX8 to use these utilities An on screen meter indicates the progress as the dump is transmitted It takes approximately 9 10 minutes for a bank dump to complete via MIDI so the meter moves very slowly USB is dramatically faster and we recommend using Fractal Bot whenever possible SYSTEM dumps area includes all GLOBAL and I O settings plus global options for the TUNER DUMP TO USB As above but the data appears at the virtual MIDI port which appears in your computer when the FX8 is connected via USB You d almost never use these options unless Fractal Bot were unavailable for some reason ERASE ALL PRESETS Does just what it says so handle with care Data erased in this way cannot be recovered unless you previously made a backup to your computer SENDING DUMPS TO THE FX8 We recommend using Fractal Bot to restore backups to the FX8 Find it at http www fractalaudio com fractal bot php In the event Fractal Bot is unavailable you can dump into the unit using a 3rd party MIDI utility or another FX8 It is not necessary to ready the FX8 in any way before transmitting a file to it When the FX8 receives an individual preset you must manually stor
12. 1 Pedal 2 amp TREM PAN 1 Tremolo BO EXAMPLE e GRAPHIC EQ 5 Band Passive BO MULTIDELAY Plex Shift EXAMPLE 3 RELAY 1 BO PARA EO 1 Used as a Boost BO WAH 1 Cry Babe e PHASER 1 Script 90 eO DRIVE 1 T808 Mod BO DELAY 1 Ping Pong e VOLUME PAN Envelope Swell BO CHORUS 1 Dimension e 22 DRIVE 1 Blues OD x DELAY 1 Mono Tape FLANGER 1 Zero Flanger REVERB 1 Rec Studio A DELAY 1 Digital Stereo n DELAY 2 Dual Delay DRIVE 2 Face Fuzz c3 REVERB 1 Medium Spring BO PITCH Int Harmony c3 ENHANCER Classic PITCH Detune oO REVERB 1 Deep Space HD 5 CREATING PRESETS STOMPBOX MODE While playing you will generally use the FX8 on the FX page of its main menu We call this Stompbox Mode because the footswitches turn effects on and off like traditional stompboxes In other modes footswitches select scenes presets and more The FX8 starts up in Stompbox Mode and returns to it when you leave any other mode Get to know the stompbox mode display This indicates that PRE POST tells us the CURRENT PRESET the current preset is Bank A Preset 1 has 4 PRE effects and 4 POST effects SCENE 1 of this The FX PAGE of this preset is loaded menu is currently selected F H1 3 1 3 3 Fs EF GTE OUT Way DRY
13. 1 PRE IN 2 POST GLOBAL OUT PRE OUT POST PAGES Two separate pages each provide a 10 band global graphic EQ plus a master GAIN adjustment control for OUT PRE and OUT POST Use these to make global adjustments to the tone or level of ALL presets This is convenient when you need to compensate for a different backline or if a particular performance space seems overly bright or boomy The master GAIN fader should be used with care as it impacts unity gain and signal to noise ratio and can cause clipping gt Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode GLOBAL CUSTOM SCALES PAGE The Custom Scales SCALES page of the GLOBAL menu is used to configure scales for the CUSTOM type found in the Pitch Shifter block cs Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER Description CUSTOM SCALE NUMBER Selects from among the 32 global custom scales available to edit using the 1 32 12 parameters which follow SHIFT 24 These 12 parameters are used to set the shift amount for each of the 12 steps of the chromatic scale Range is 24 semitones two octaves To set up a custom scale select its number in the field above and then set each of the 12 pitch values as desired Changes take effect immediately with no need to STORE 63 THE I O MENU 14 SETUP MENUS The I O menu is accessed by tapping the SETUP button and th
14. 2 then back to scene 1 your tweaks will still be intact ON Scene edits are lost when you change the scene without saving If you tweak scene 1 switch to Scene 2 then back to Scene 1 Scene 1 will have reverted to its previously saved state This makes scene changes feel more like traditional preset changes For more on Scene Revert see page 38 Specifies a value for each of the 12 External controllers when the FX8 is powered on The Initial value is applied until anything is received from the external controller an expression pedal switch or MIDI message This feature has an important use Let s say you find yourself without the expression pedal you normally use as EXTERNAL 1 Now imagine that EXT1 is used to control a VOLUME block Without the pedal connected the FX8 assumes it is at 096 Setting the EXT 1 INITIAL VALUE to 10096 ensures that the volume defaults to all the way up instead of all the way down 66 14 SETUP MENUS 1 0 CONTROLLERS PAGE CTRL The CTRL page of the I O menu allows you to map PEDALS or MIDI CC messages to various FX8 functions CC messages can be sent by a MIDI controller or computer connected to the FX8 MIDI In jack or via the USB connection of the FX8 Each of these settings is global In every case the method for mapping a controller to one of these functions is the same 1 Use the NAV knob to select the desired function 2 Use the VALUE knob to assign a controller to the functio
15. 4 This menu contains pages of parameters for each of the Internal Controllers each of which can be used as the SOURCE of a Modifier to create real time sound change or automation See Internal Controllers on page 53 for more on using these parameters 71 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS GLOBAL VOLUME PEDAL SETUP The FX8 makes it easy to set up a global volume pedal WITHOUT inserting a VOLUME block in your presets 1 Connect and calibrate an expression pedal such as the Fractal EV 1 gt CONNECT Using a TRS cable connect to either the PEDAL1 or PEDAL 2 jack of the FX8 gt Open the PEDAL page of the I O menu Press SETUP press Footswitch 2 press PAGE to get to PEDAL gt Select PEDAL 1 CAL or PEDAL 2 CAL depending on where your pedal is connected gt Press the ENTER button and follow the on screen instructions to calibrate o Select the volume function of your choice gt Open the CTRL page of the I O menu Press SETUP press Footswitch 2 press PAGE to get to CTRL gt Atthe top of the CTRL menu NAV to the entry for the volume you want to control IN 1PREVOLUME This is like adjusting your guitar s volume The level to all effects and your amp will be affected when you make changes OUT 1PREVOLUME This places volume at the end of the PRE effects chain The signal level into any PRE effects like DRIVE or COMPRESSOR is not affected but the level into your preamp is affected N2
16. In case you re curious there s also a STICKY SCENE SELECT MODE see page 38 D The TEMPO TUNER BANK DOWN footswitch has three functions TEMPO Tap this footswitch to set the global tempo The LED flashes to show the tempo For more on Tempo see Section 11 on p 55 TUNER Press and hold the TEMPO footswitch to enter Tuner Mode The LED will remain lit Press the TUNER footswitch again to exit For more on using the tuner see Section 13 on p 61 BANK DOWN When the FX8 is in Preset Bank Select mode see 8 on p 7 this footswitch steps DOWN through the lettered banks THE REAR PANEL OUT PRE IN POST OUT POST IN PRE TO AMP INPUT FROM AMP FX SEND TO AMP FX RTN eee INSTR HUMBUSTER UNBAL BALANCED HUMBUSTER UNBAL RELAY PEDAL Hi MI 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW 9 ER cTAL SER SYSTEMS IT OPEN WARNING SHOCK HAZARD AVIS RISQUE DE CHOC LECTRIQUE DO NOT EXPOSE TO RAIN OR ee un ed REMOVE pss NO USER SERVICEA RTS INS SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL TH Wise COMPLIES WITH lid OF FCC RULES OPERATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TWO Ix m co i TIONS 1 DEVICE MUST NOT CAUSE HARMFUL INTERFERENCE AND 2 DEVICE MUST ACCEPT INTERFERENCE RECEIVED INCLUDING A UNDESIRED OPERATION MIDI IN OUT THRU A WARNING Do NOT connect anything to the RELAY jacks until you read the WARNINGS in Section 4 IN PRE INSTRUMENT IN Unbalanced 1 4 Jack
17. O menu and set your choice of 4 different volume controls to your choice of sources Don t forget to re assign EXT1 or EXT to NONE if you assign PEDAL 1 or PEDAL 2 to a volume control 49 10 MODIFIERS ADVANCED MODIFIER PARAMETERS The default modifier is perfectly linear and direct You change the source and the parameter follows precisely But you can also tweak the relationship between source and target Maybe you want to tune the taper of a wah Maybe you want a volume pedal which gets quieter instead of louder as you rock it forward Maybe you want an external footswitch to glide the rate of your chorus between slow and fast Fortunately a full complement of additional controls allow you to dial in all of this and more Here is an overview of the additional parameters you can use to create advanced modifiers MIN and MAX determine the range of sound changes These can be very important parameters EXAMPLE The modifier for a pedal controlling DELAY MIX has MIN at 20 and MAX at 40 The mix change will be limited to this range as we move the pedal even though the parameter might normally go from 096 to 10096 The GRAPH shows the relationship between the source x axis and the parameter y axis The dot on the graph shows changes in the source in real time The default modifier graph first graph below shows the direct red line relationship between the SOURCE and the target parameter As the source increases so
18. SPECIFICATIONS G DEFAULTS INPUT PRE Connector 1 4 phone jack unbalanced Impedance 1 Megohm less if Input Impedance is active Max Input Level 16 dBu conditioned for guitar use INPUT POST Connector 1 4 phone jack balanced Impedance 1 Megohm Max Input Level 20 dBu A NVERSION Bit Depth 24 bits Sample Rate 48 kHz Dynamic Range gt 110dB Frequency Response Crosstalk ANAL TPUT Connectors Impedance Max Output Level Dynamic Range Frequency Response Crosstalk MIDLINTERFACE Connectors in and out thru 20 20kHz 0 1 dB lt 60 dB over full bandwidth 1 4 phone jack unbalanced Humbuster hum canceling type 600 ohm 20 dBu gt 110dB 20 20kHz 0 1 dB 60 dB over full bandwidth 5 pin DIN PEDAL INTERFACE Connector Format 2 x 1 4 TRS phone jacks Switch Momentary or Latching Pedal 10 100kO max linear taper expression type RELAY INTERFACE Connector Type 2 x 1 4 TRS phone jacks Short tip to sleeve ring to sleeve tip AND ring to sleeve USB INTERFACE Connector GENERAL Finish Display Dimensions Weight Input Voltage Power Consumption ENVIRONMENTAL Operating Temperature Storage Temperature Humidity USB 2 0 Type B Powder coated steel chassis with anodized aluminum faceplate 160x80 dot matrix graphic LCD 16 35 x 3 96 x 10 00 415 29mm x 100 6mm x 254mm 11 5 Ibs 5 2 kg 100 240 VAC 47
19. Select Mode see page 38 Enables or disables Sticky Preset Bank Select Mode see page 8 Sets the duration that you need to continue holding for all Press and Hold functions Y 62 14 SETUP MENUS PARAMETER TEMPO EXIT COUNT 1 6 LOOPER MODE TRUE Description Determines how long it takes to return to Stompbox Mode after you tap the tempo footswitch 1 is the shortest 6 the longest Selects between one of the two following options BYPASS TAP HOLD Tap the footswitch to activate Looper Mode TAP HOLD HOLD TAP PRESS amp HOLD it to activate True Bypass Tap again to exit True Bypass HOLD TAP PRESS amp HOLD the footswitch to activate Looper Mode TAP it on or off to activate True Bypass LOOPER LOCATION NOISEGATE OFFSET 40 00 dB Determines the global default looper location see page 59 Globally raises or lower the THRESHOLD of the Noise Gate Note that if the THRESHOLD for a given preset is set to OFF the Global Offset will have no effect See page 45 for more on the Noise Gate Sets whether IN 1 PRE or IN 2 POST is used as the global detector for pitch and level functions tuner envelope ADSR Harmonizer etc If your rig is POST ONLY set this to IN 2 POST Otherwise don t make changes DEFAULT SCENE Sets the default scene for ALL presets and is provided for those players who 1 8 want SCENE 5 bottom row far left to be selected by default GLOBAL DETECTOR IN
20. an Envelope Follower and two Scene Controllers Every preset has its own settings for each internal controller found in the CONTROLLERS menu under SETUP See page 53 for details EXTERNAL CONTROLLERS External controllers allow you to use a MIDI message CC 0 127 or the onboard PEDAL 1 or PEDAL 2 jacks as the SOURCE in a modifier For example EXTERNAL CONTROLLER 1 is assigned by default to the PEDAL 1 jack Assignments for the external controllers are made on the CTRL page of the I O menu under SETUP Sequencer Pitch Detector Envelope Follower i O00000 ooeec e 1 MODIFIER TIPS AND TRICKS Here are some modifier tips and tricks You can add up to 24 modifiers in any preset The same modifier SOURCE can be used to control multiple parameters at once All modifiers in a block will be shared across both the X and Y states On the MODIFIER screen with the graph Try Auto Engage AUTOENG set to SLOW SPD to have your WAH or other effect turn on automatically when you push it forward and bypass again when you pull it back No need for a toe switch Try alittle DAMPING if you want sound changes to be slower or smoother Modifiers do use some CPU power so be careful not to overload your preset You don t need a VOLUME block or a modifier to control global volume with a pedal Just open the CTRL page of the I
21. and parameter of the FX8 can be conveniently operated from the front panel of the unit Another way to edit presets and parameters is to use FX8 Edit If you are at all accustomed to working with audio software or plug ins you will probably enjoy FX8 Edit Here s a quick look at some of its features Open presets directly Edit names with Enjoy extra scene Save presets to from the FX8 in your computer features like the FX8 or to just a few clicks keyboard COPY PASTE your computer amp FX8 DIT Import Presets c ACTAL Dedicated tabs for FX Looper Controllers MIDI and more X x i x E i lt Reverb Drive 1 106 0 Hz 14999 Hz v he 1 Si Diode Rat Dist 636 0 Hz 0 00 dB 0 00 dB 48000 Hz Dedicated area for block MIX and LEVEL parameters Block Library stores and recalls View and edit dozens of effect settings parameters on a single screen FX8 Edit also includes a manager which allows you to reorganize presets in the unit Find FX8 Edit at http www fractalaudio com 30 6 PRESET CONFIGURATION b PRESET CONFIGURATION P H1 S 1 C474 OVE RVI EW DIET d Fu cFa TE Dur The Configuration or Config page contains controls to set up the current preset or scene Press PAGE once from stompbox mode to show the CFG tab Fn B SE BYPASS ALL Some options on the Config Page affect the entire preset gt How the eight effects are divided into PRE and POST chains gt Whether each effe
22. and returns to it when you press EXIT Other modes allow you to edit effects tune your guitar or set up system parameters A NOTE ON MONO amp STEREO If you are NOT planning on connecting the FX8 in stereo there are a few things you should know The FX8 comes pre configured for stereo rigs but you can connect it to any mono rig with no issues If you are NOT running in stereo you may find that certain settings produce slightly unexpected sounds For example panners become tremolos when one channel is missing Stereo enhancers or certain types of modulation may not be apparent at all Later you ll learn to dial in mono or stereo effects as desired For now just keep in mind the possibility that if something doesn t sound as expected you may be playing a stereo effect into a mono rig You might be tempted to poke around on the SETUP I O AUDIO menu and start changing things We would suggest you read up on these parameters first The I O Menu p 64 Meanwhile please don t be surprised or think that something is wrong if your stereo ping pong delay sounds more like a ping with no pong delay when connected to a mono rig HUMBUSTER CABLES Standard 1 4 guitar cables are fine for all audio connections to and from the FX8 but there is a better option for connecting its outputs to your amp modeler or other device Humbuster technology on all FX8 outputs can significantly reduce unwanted noise due to the common problem of a gro
23. dB to 12 0 dB EDITED Be aware that as you increase this PAD setting you also increase the noise floor so set it as low as possible gt IfINT still clips you ll need to adjust levels at your guitar or somewhere else before the FX8 IF INPUT 2 OR EITHER OUTPUT CLIPS See Advanced Level Parameters on page 73 covering the various controls and settings used to solve clipping problems 15 3 SETUP GUIDE CONNECTING PEDALS amp SWITCHES Each of the two onboard PEDAL jacks of the FX8 allows you to connect one expression pedal or one external footswitch You can use a connected pedal or switch to change effect parameters or to operate any of a long list of global functions and many factory presets are ready for one or even two pedals Learn to assign pedals and switches to sound parameters in Section 10 Modifiers Learn to assign pedals and switches to global functions in Section 14 Setup Menus IN IN oy VOLUME FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS The Fractal Audio Systems EV 1 Expression Volume Pedal sold separately is ideal for the FX8 TO CONNECT amp CALIBRATE AN EXPRESSION PEDAL Your expression pedal s should have a linear resistance taper a max resistance of 10kO to 100kO and must be used with Tip Ring Sleeve TRS cables If you are not familiar with TRS cables see the FAQ on the next page Calibration is required for the FX8 to recognize the full range
24. echo matches the tempo 1 1 Use the musical value of 1 4 one quarter note for this gt Navigate to the delay block and press EDIT to show its edit menu gt Navigate to the TEMPO parameter on PG2 and set it to 1 4 Feel free to choose explore other options The 1 8th dot setting is also very useful and popular gt Save the preset if desired Note that once TEMPO has been set you will be unable to adjust TIME manually or with a modifier TO SYNCHRONIZE A TREMOLO OR OTHER RATE TO THE TEMPO Every RATE parameter in the FX8 can synchronize to the tempo A typical value here might be 1 8th or 1 16th Feel free to choose explore other options gt Navigate to the effect and press EDIT to show its edit menu gt Find the TEMPO parameter and set it to 1 8 n the PAN TREM block TEMPO is on the BASIC page For CHORUS PHASER FLANGER and other modulation effects ind TEMPO on the ADVANCED page gt Save the preset if desired Note that the rate you hear may be out of alignment with the tempo LED but still be correct 55 11 TEMPO PRESET TEMPO Normally the system tempo is global which means it stays the same as you change presets but in fact any preset can have its own tempo which takes over the system tempo while that preset is loaded To give a preset its own built in tempo 1 Load the preset 2 Tap once on the TEMPO footswitch 3 Change TEMPO TO USE to PRESET 4 Setthe tempo as desire
25. en pu Effects in the current preset fill eight SLOTS in the same positions as the footswitches The currently SELECTED effects EMPTY effect slot is shown NMa have a SOLID outline BYPASSED effects have a DASHED outline LOADING PRESETS The Stompbox Mode display indicates the current Preset by bank and number ex A1 A2 B1 B2 gt The PRESET A knob can be used to change presets gt You can also press and hold the PRESET BANK footswitch to open the RECALL PRESET screen shown at right Use BANK UP and BANK DN to select the desired bank and footswitches 1 8 to load the desired preset Tap PRESET BANK again to cancel and return to the current preset in Stompbox Mode RECALL FRESET EFFECT CURRENT FRESET RECALL FROM A1 BankA CURRENT FRESET MAHE Want to stay in Preset Select mode so you can switch from preset to preset with single footswitch taps Check out STICKY PRESET BANK SELECT MODE on page 8 23 5 CREATING PRESETS WORKING WITH BLOCKS Here s what you ve wanted to know since page 1 how to add EFFECT BLOCKS to a preset TO INSERT OR CHANGE A BLOCK gt From the Stompbox Mode screen turn the NAV knob to select the desired slot Remember the selected slot is shown in NYAS You can also just tap a slot s footswitch but this also toggles its effect ON or OFF gt Turn the VALUE knob until the desired effect block is shown then press
26. for mono rigs but you ll hear only half of the stereo image SUML R Collapses the entire signal to mono Copy L gt R Replicates the left channel to the right discarding the usual right channel signal 65 PARAMETER OUTPUT 1 PRE PHASE NORMAL INVERT I 0 MIDI PAGE 14 SETUP MENUS Description Determines whether signals at OUT POST will be normal or phase inverted relative to its state at the output of the last POST effect This lets you compensate for unwanted inversions elsewhere in the downstream signal chain This inverts BOTH the Left and Right channels The MIDI page of the I O menu contains parameters that affect MIDI processing c Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER MIDI CHANNEL 1 16 OMNI MIDI THRU OFF ON PROG CHANGE ON OFF SCENE REVERT EXT CTRL INIT VAL 096 OR 10096 Description Sets the channel on which the FX8 will receive MIDI messages OMNI causes the unit to respond to incoming messages on ANY channel Turning this ON forwards MIDI data received at the MIDI IN port to the MIDI OUT port where it is soft merged with regular outbound MIDI Determines whether the FX8 will process or ignore MIDI program change commands Selects between one of two behaviors for scene recall via MIDI OFF Default Scene edits are retained across scene changes until a preset is loaded If you tweak Scene 1 switch to Scene
27. gain POST LEVEL Setup I O Levels SETUP I O POST LEVEL can be set to 4dbu or 10dbV This setting affects BOTH IN2 POST and OUT 2 POST 4dbu is professional standard This setting gives you greater headroom which is why this control is mentioned at all in a discussion about clipping The increased voltage is also better for long cable runs between the FX8 and other equipment 10dbV is the home standard but may also be used for music equipment If your connected amplifier operates at 10dbV choose this setting OUT 3 GLOBAL EQ Setup Global Out 3 The Global EQ has the potential to boost signals to the point of clipping Conversely this can also be a quick fix until you can adjust blocks or scenes as described above No other controls or settings on the FX8 address IN1 OUT1 clipping 73 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS SPILLOVER Spillover allows delay and reverb tails to ring out when an effect is bypassed or when you change scxenes or presets This section covers how to set up spillover in different scenarios WHEN MANUALLY BYPASSING OR CHANGING SCENES This is easy and requires only one setting change For tails to ring when an individual effect is bypassed by a scene change simply change its BYPASS MODE to MUTE FX IN If an effect is set to parallel use MUTE IN instead WHEN CHANGING PRESETS Setting up spillover that works across different presets is a bit more involved The first step is to set
28. only at the Fractal Audio Systems factory or a Fractal Audio Systems authorized service center Fractal Audio Systems may require advanced authorization of repairs to authorized service centers Unauthorized service repair or modification will void this warranty DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF WARRANTY THE FOREGOING WARRANTY IS THE ONLY WARRANTY GIVEN BY FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS AND IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE EXCEEDING THE SPECIFIC PROVISIONS OF THIS WARRANTY ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED FROM THIS WARRANTY UPON EXPIRATION OF THE APPLICABLE EXPRESS WARRANTY PERIOD 1 YEAR FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS SHALL HAVE NO FURTHER WARRANTY OBLIGATION OF ANY KIND EXPRESS OR IMPLIED FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SUFFERED BY THE PURCHASER OR ANY THIRD PARTY INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS OR BUSINESS OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY EXPENSES CLAIMS OR SUITS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY OF THE FOREGOING Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties so some of the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from
29. select RELAY 1 or RELAY 2 4 Use VALUE to select TIP to sleeve RING to sleeve or BOTH tip and ring to sleeve NOTE When a RELAY block is in your preset that relay will be controlled ONLY by the block Any relay settings on the Config page will be ignored However the scene itself can control the RELAY block in the same way a scene controls ON OFF and X Y for every block TO SET THE OUTPUT LEVELS FOR A SCENE The main output level for QUT PRE and QUT POST can be programmed into every scene 1 Press PAGE from Stompbox Mode to turn to the OUT page 2 Select the desired scene 3 OUTPUT LEVEL PRE and OUTPUT LEVEL POST can be set per scene Note Changing scene output levels impacts unity gain TO SET THE MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE MESSAGE FOR A SCENE The FX8 can send one MIDI Program Change Message PC per scene TYou can set a different message on a different channel for each scene Use this feature to change the channel of a MIDI controlled amp select presets on a connected Axe FX or switch any other MIDI device 1 Load the desired preset and select the desired scene 2 Press PAGE from Stompbox Mode to turn to the Configuration screen CFG tab 3 NAV to MIDI PC and use VALUE to select the desired MIDI PC by its number 0 127 4 NAV to MIDI CH and use VALUE to select the desired channel for your MIDI PC by its number 1 16 Note The MIDI block can be used to send additional MIDI data from a footswitch and the
30. sent when the block is turned ON or OFF MIDI CHANNEL Selects a MIDI Channel 1 16 for both the ON and OFF Program Change messages ON VALUE Sets the data value for the CC message sent when the block is turned ON OFF VALUE Sets the data value for the CC message sent when the block is turned OFF 42 9 BLOCKS GUIDE THE RELAY BLOCK AN WARNING Do NOT connect anything to the RELAY jacks until you read the WARNINGS in Section 4 As detailed in Section 4 two onboard TRS relays allow the FX8 to control switchable functions of a connected amp or other device The Relay block lets you use a footswitch to manually pedally operate a relay The RELAY 1 block RL1 operates relay 1 and the RELAY 2 block RL2 operates relay 2 RELAY BLOCK PARAMETERS The relay block is simple When the footswitch is off the relay is off Nothing is connected The LED is off A single parameter RELAY ON allows you to specify the state of the relay when the block is switched on When the footswitch is ON you can select whether the TIP RING or BOTH are shorted to the sleeve With X Y that s a total of three settings accessible from one footswitch OFF ON X and ON Y Setting What s Connected TIP Tip to Sleeve RING Ring to Sleeve BOTH Tip AND Ring to Sleeve for that relay in that preset You can still program the relay per scene however in exactly the same way you would program any other effect per scene Change to the desired scene
31. set the relay block as desired using your foot and store the preset NOTE When a Relay block is added to your preset the FX8 ignores CONFIG page programming 43 MIX PAGE COMMON PARAMETERS Almost every block in the FX8 has a MIX page with parameters that determine how that block contributes to the preset All mix pages use one or more of the following standard parameters Different blocks have different mix page parameters because they require different approaches You may need to change more than one parameter setting to achieve a desired result MIX This self explanatory knob sets the balance of wet between dry and wet LEVEL As you would expect this controls set the overall level of the block e If you re concerned about UNITY GAIN see page 77 for key info about adjusting MIX and LEVEL BALANCE Every block outputs both left and right signals BALANCE works like a PAN control so as you adjust to the left or right the opposite channel gets quieter Both the wet and the dry are affected BYPASS MODE Determines what happens when the block is bypassed The different options are detailed below Not every option is available in every block MUTE IN When the block is bypassed its inputs are muted silencing the both wet and dry but allowing effect tails to ring out or spill over Use this for time based effects in parallel MUTE OUT When the block is bypassed all audio is totally silenced at the outputs Effect
32. setting of MUTE FX OUT will prevent the tails from being heard Switching to a preset where the block is bypassed with a setting of MUTE FX IN however will cleverly allow the tails to ring while material you play after the preset change will be heard without the effect See page ask for more on BYPASS MODE For a simple spillover preset experiment create a preset then save an exact copy to a new location and test spillover Then begin making changes as needed to settings outside of the blocks you want to spill over 74 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about the FX8 Fractal Audio Systems also offers help at support fractalaudio com You can also find answers and meet others who use the FX8 at forum fractalaudio com Q A Many factors affect levels and clipping in the FX8 See Advanced Level Parameters on page 73 Q A You PRE POST set up may be incorrect Please refer to the basic overview on page 2 Q z o FD One or more CLIP LEDs are lighting up can t hear some of the effects the setup diagrams in Section 3 and Confiqure PRE And POST on page 31 can t hear the Looper Check the LOOPER LOCATION on Page 2 of the Looper menu It must not be set to NO LOOPER If it is set to GLOBAL check the GLOBAL LOOPER LOCATION in the SETUP GLOBAL menu to ensure that it is not set to NO LOOPER This may also be due to PRE POST settings
33. state to state This warranty only applies to products sold and used in the USA and Canada Fractal Audio Systems shall not be liable for damages or loss resulting from the negligent or intentional acts of the shipper or its contracted affiliates You should contact the shipper for proper claims procedures in the event of damage or loss resulting from shipment 83 EULA EULA BY ACCEPTING INSTALLING OR USING ANY PART OF THIS PRODUCT YOU ARE CONSENTING TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS ENTIRE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT EULA IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS ENTIRE AGREEMENT ARE UNABLE OR UNWILLING COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS YOU MUST DISCONTINUE USE OF THE PRODUCT IMMEDIATELY AS YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY OR LICENSE TO USE THE PRODUCT TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1 GRANT OF LICENSE FOR PRE INSTALLED OR USER UPGRADED FIRMWARE THE SOFTWARE Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein Fractal Audio Systems FAS grants you an individual personal non sub licensable nonexclusive license to use this product in accordance with the applicable end user documentation if any the License The user will not directly or indirectly reverse engineer decompile disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code or underlying ideas or algorithms of the Software modify translate or create derivative works based on the Software or copy except for archival purposes rent lease
34. which is inserted like an effect assigned to a footswitch see The MIDI Block on page 42 or programmed to be sent automatically when you select a Scene see Section 7 Scenes Main Power Input and switch Insert the supplied power cable and connect the other end to a grounded AC power receptacle The FX8 has a universal power supply which means it can be connected to power around the globe simply by changing the cable The main power switch is built in to the receptacle We recommend switching the FX8 off when it will not be in use for an extended period of time 10 3 SETUP GUIDE 3 SETUP GUIDE This section covers the basics of setting up your FX8 N WARNING Before making connections switch off ALL power and reduce volume on your amp to minimum N WARNING Take extreme care NEVER to connect the SPEAKER outputs ofany amplifier to the FX8 as this will seriously damage one or both units N WARNING Do NOT connect anything to the RELAY jacks until you read and heed the WARNINGS in Section 4 3 SETUP GUIDE SETUP FOR BOTH PRE AND POST EFFECTS This is the most flexible FX8 setup taking full advantage of the unit s capability for separate PRE and POST effect chains Connecting in this manner is also known as the Four Cable Method or 4CM Find factory presets for this type of setup in Banks C and D plus other banks as well Optionally connect 1 2 optional expression pedals such as Fract
35. while using only one block Sixteen block types support X Y Switching They are Chorus Compressor Delay Drive Filter Flanger Gate Expander MIDI Multitap Delay Phaser Pitch Shifter Tremolo Panner Relay Reverb Rotary and Wah X or Y is indicated at the top of the block s EDIT menu as shown below DRIWE 1 RAT DIT TAN VAL H E RAT DIT DAN VAL A E Iliad DEIVE TORNE LEVEL T p E aad DEIVE TONE LEVEL i pam alo 42r RAT DIT RAT DI T TO SWITCH X Y b d To switch between X and Y Press and hold the effect s footswitch WD The amber Y LED lights when the Y state is selected X Y can also be switched via MIDI CC CC assignments appear on the CTRL page of the I O menu see page 67 TO SETUP AN X Y BLOCK Open the desired block for editing All blocks start with the X state selected Dial in all parameters for X Press and hold the effect s footswitch to switch to Y Dial in all parameters for Y Save the preset by pressing STORE ENTER ENTER X Y IS PER SCENE The X Y state of every X Y block is saved in the current scene See Section 7 for more information on Scenes ww v v ce cw gt X AND Y SHARE THE SAME MODIFIERS Modifiers allow you to control sound parameters in real time with an expression pedal or LFO for example It is important to understand that any modifier you place on X will also apply to Y Blocks have only one set of modifiers shared ac
36. you ll need to make a global change for the tuner to work ADVANCED TUNER FUNCTIONS The actual tuner is on the first page of the tuner menu The CONFIG and OFFSETS page provide options for advanced tuner functions CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS CAL Calibrates the tuner by setting the frequency of A4 in the 8va above middle C 430 0 450 0 Hz MUTE Determines how the tuner mute works OFF INPUT OUTPUT OFF No mute All signal is passed as usual when the tuner is engaged OUTPUT The signal is muted at the output Tails for PRE FX are silenced INPUT The signal is muted at the noise gate Tails for PRE FX ring out USE OFFSETS Determines whether the OFFSET settings see below are applied or ignored OFF ON OFFSET PARAMETERS E1 B2 G3 D4 A5 E6 Offsets allow the tuner to be calibrated so individual notes diverge from standard 4 127 Hz concert tuning by a defined amount Use this for example for Buzz Feiten tuning 61 14 SETUP MENUS 14 SETUP MENUS Access Setup Menus by pressing the SETUP button and making a choice with the footswitches Changes take effect immediately without needing to be STORED The settings for all Setup parameters are included in a backup of the FX8 SYSTEM see Utility Preset Page on page 69 THE GLOBAL MENU The GLOBAL menu is accessed by tapping the SETUP button and then pressing footswitch 1 GLOBAL SETTINGS PAGE gt Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the
37. 0 7 126 7 15 8 31 8 47 8 63 8 79 8 95 8 111 8 127 8 82 WARRANTY WARRANI Y Fractal Audio Systems warrants that your new Fractal Audio Systems product shall be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one 1 year from the original date of purchase During the warranty period Fractal Audio Systems shall at its sole option either repair or replace any product that proves to be defective upon inspection by Fractal Audio Systems Fractal Audio Systems reserves the right to update any unit returned for repair and to change or improve the design of the product at any time without notice Fractal Audio Systems reserves the right to use reconditioned parts and assemblies as warranty replacements for authorized repairs This warranty is extended to the original retail purchaser for units purchased directly from Fractal Audio Systems or one of its authorized distributors or resellers This is your sole warranty Fractal Audio Systems does not authorize any third party including any dealer or sales representative to assume any liability on behalf of Fractal Audio Systems or to make any warranty for Fractal Audio Systems Fractal Audio Systems may at its option require proof of original purchase date in the form of a dated copy of original authorized dealer s invoice or sales receipt Service and repairs of Fractal Audio Systems products are to be performed
38. 48 1 64 1 80 1 96 1 112 4 2 Wa 2 33 2 49 2 65 2 81 2 97 2 113 2 Der 3 Ben 3 34 3 50 3 66 3 82 3 98 3 114 3 3 4 19 4 35 A 5 4 67 4 83 4 99 4 115 4 4 5 20 5 36 5 52 5 68 5 gm 5 100 5 116 5 on 6 21 E 37 6 53 6 69 6 85 6 101 6 117 6 6 7 22 7 38 l 54 7 Jop 7 gomes 7 102 7 118 7 Teras 8 23 8 39 B55 8 Zier 8 87 8 103 8 119 8 8 1 24 1 40 1 56 oe 1 88 1 104 1 To Q 2 25 2 41 200 57 200 73 2 89 2 105 2 121 2 10 3 26 3 42 3 58 3 74 3 90 3 106 3 122 3 11 4 27 4 43 4 59 A 75 g 9 4 107 4 123 4 a 5 28 5 44 5 60 5 76 5 92 5 108 5 124 5 13 6 29 6 45 6 61 600 77 6 93 6 109 6 125 6 14 7 30 7 46 7 62 7 78 7 94 7 11
39. 63 Hz universal input lt 40 W 32 to 122 F 0 to 50 C 22 to 167 F 30 to 70 C Max 90 non condensing SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE 78 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS MIDI IMPLEMENTATION Every function of the FX8 Looper plus a hidden BYPASS feature can be controlled by MIDI CC messages or an external footswitch Find the complete list of controllable functions in a table on the next page Basic Function euangre 1 16 1 16 NoteNumber TrueVoice X X mm i Note OFF After Touch Keys m ERE Pitch Bend Lo xfx Control Change The MIDI block See RT ae eer Perea the FX8 can transmit CC and PC messages No other CCs are transmitted Receivable CCs are globally soft assigned to functions via the I O CTRL menu These include master volumes True Bypass Tap Tempo Tuner 12 EXTERNAL control nodes assignable as modifiers to one or more parameters on a per preset basis all LOOPER functions the BYPASS switch of every block instance DRIVE1 DRIVE2 CHORUS1 CHORUS2 etc and the X Y switches of the block types that support this function DRIVE 1 XY DRIVE 2 XY etc Program Change True Number The MIDI block of the FX8 can transmit CC and PC Bank Select messages With 128 presets onboard the FX8 does not transmit or respond to bank select Selecting a preset with a footswitch also transmits the corresponding MIDI PC X lt lt xxi xe HE gt lt
40. A head is shown in the above diagram A combo with an effects loop is equally suitable for this type of setup NOTE For this setup you ll probably want to make one global change Open the GLOBAL menu press SETUP followed by Footswitch 1 and find the SETTINGS page NAV to GLOBAL LOOPER LOCATION and then use VALUE to select OUT POST Press EXIT twice to save and return to Stompbox Mode 12 3 SETUP GUIDE SETUP FOR PRE EFFECTS ONLY Here the FX8 is used in a simple setup with PRE effects only between guitar and amp with presets presumably configured so all effects are PRE This is exactly like using traditional guitar pedals with the exception that there are no batteries or short cables to fail Find factory presets for this type of setup in Banks A and B Optionally connect 1 2 optional expression pedals such as Fractal Audio Systems EV 1 M foori mir ibori niIinneri 3 niTIBneT gt 1 1 ow IN PRE OUT PRE IN POST OUT POST TO AMP INPUT FROM AMP FX SEND TO AMP FX RTN F RA C TA L a L MONO R L R L R N el AUDIO SYSTEMS 2 2 Lj TO RAIN OR MOISTURE DO NOT REMOVE COVER lle aW Je eM du ERN ll fA NO USER DE REFER ph DE S ee eee E c dpa ACCEPT INTERFERENCE RECEIVED INCLUDING INSTR HUM TER UNBAL BALANCED HUMBUSTER UNBAL RELAY PEDAL USB MIDI IN OUT THRU RoHS THAT WHICH MAY CAUSE UNDESIRED OPERATION A MA x
41. CE for one of its modifiers triggers the effect It is based on two parameters found on the MODIFIER screen AUTOENG Determines whether or not the block containing a modifier will automatically engage or bypass based on the level of a modifier source FAST MEDIUM and SLOW determine how quickly the effect turns ON or OFF once auto engage is triggered Use SLOW settings to relax Auto Engage so your effect doesn t snap on or off unexpectedly The three POSITION POS options engage the effect when the controller value approaches the OFF VALUE The three SPEED SPD options engage the effect when the controller is moved quickly Set to OFF to disable Auto Engage OFF VAL Sets the threshold that SOURCE must approach for auto engage to occur When OFF VALUE is set below 50 the effect is bypassed when the controller goes below the OFF VALUE If OFF VALUE is set to 50 or higher the effect is bypassed when the controller goes above than the OFF VALUE For heel down bypassed set to 5 For toe down bypassed set to 95 52 INTERNAL CONTROLLERS 10 MODIFIERS Each of the Internal controllers can be programmed per preset for use as modifier sources To access pages and parameters for these controllers press SETUP followed by the footswitch for the Controllers menu Notice that some parameters of these controllers can be modified themselves for truly interactive dynamics LFO1 LFO An LFO or Low Frequency Os
42. Humbuster Cables 4 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW 5 The Top Panel rib Eia s 5 The Rear Panel 9 3 SETUP GUIDE is vr e xps 11 Setup For Both PRE And POST Effects12 Setup For PRE Effects Only 13 Setup For POST Effects Only 14 Checking Levels Luue 15 Connecting Pedals amp Switches 16 Connecting a Computer 18 4 THE RELAYS avos eor SER 19 5 CREATING PRESETS 21 What Is a Preset L 21 What lS a BIOCK vo dares tae Eos 21 Preset Examples 22 Stompbox Mode 23 Loading Presets LsLuuuu 23 Working With Blocks 24 Block Inventory ss 25 Editing Effect Blocks 26 Saving Changes 00008 27 X Y Switching suuuus 28 Preset CPU Limits 29 PAGE IG m 30 6 PRESET CONFIGURATION 31 Overview essere 31 Configure PRE And POST 31 Configure Series amp Parallel 32 Intelligent Parallel Fx 33 Configure True Bypass 34 Per Scene Relay States 34 Z S5CENES i5 dr RERECIES 35 Overview ccc cece teens 35 Selecting Scenes 36 Setting Up Scenes 36 Sticky Scene Select 38 Scene Revert ccc cece eee 38 8 TRUE BYPASS eere 39
43. IER HRHHRH et 3 ENTER 3 CONTROL SLOPE Paa 3 SCALE Wah control can be ENTER opens the The SOURCE is set to assigned a MODIFIER MODIFIER screen EXTERNAL 1 FEDRL InFUT VOLUME DUTI VOLUME DUT DLLUME EYFASS TEMFO TAF EST CTRL gt o EXTERNAL 1 in the I O menu is set to PEDAL 1 O PEDAL 1 now controls the WAH In this example a wah is controlled by an expression pedal A pedal can be used to control other parameters like whammy control rotary speed delay feedback and many more There are also many different sources we could use instead of EXT1 Try an LFO for a modulating auto wah or an envelope for some funky Mu Tron action You could even use an external MIDI device like an iPad or a GuitarWing If you re intrigued dig deeper into the pages which follow 48 10 MODIFIERS MODIFIER SOURCES OVERVIEW Our previous example used EXT 1 assigned to the PEDAL 1 jack but there are in fact over 20 different sources to use in your modifiers We refer to these as CONTROLLERS because they are used to control a parameter Some like the built in LFOs and Envelope Follower are internal to the FX8 while others like a connected expression pedal or MIDI message from some other device are referred to as external controllers INTERNAL CONTROLLERS Internal controllers are built in to the FX8 There are two LFOs low frequency oscillators two ADSRs envelope generators a Sequencer a Pitch Detector
44. MULTI EFFECTS PEDALBOARD OWNER MANUAL NM c A SETUP AUDIO SYSTEMS 7 ee 2 aa j PRESS amp HOLD MULTI EFFECTS PEDALBOARD A i EL f an 9 Y d caasen excu b TRUE BYPASS L NE 3 DE E 7 LAE c LOERT DIT TUNER VERSION 1 02 ee FRACTAL 90 AUDIO SYSTEMS Inside Front Cover Certificate of Conformity Fractal Audio Systems USA hereby declares on its own responsibility that the following product FX8 Digital Multi effects Pedalboard Processor covered by this certificate and marked with CE label conforms to following standards EN60065 Safety requirement for mains operated electronic and related apparatus for IEC 60065 household and similar use EN 55103 1 Product family standard for audio video audio visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use Part 1 Emission EN 55103 2 Product family standard for audio video audio visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use Part 2 Immunity with reference to regulations in following directives 73 23 EEC 89 336 EEC December 2014 Clifford Chase President Fractal Audio Systems EMC EMI This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B Digital device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful inter ference in residential installations T
45. POST VOLUME Here the volume pedal presumably has no effect on any drive pedals or preamp gain and since it comes before POST effects their tails ring out when you pull the pedal back OUT2POST VOLUME This controls the level of EVERYTHING you hear Effects amp tails etc Change the value for the desired entry to PEDAL 1 or PEDAL 2 depending on which jack you re using YOU ARE FINISHED Press EXIT to return to Stompbox Mode and test the pedal The Fractal Audio Systems EV 1 expression volume pedal is ideally suited for the FX8 72 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS ADVANCED LEVEL PARAMETERS Setting levels on the FX8 is easy but to get the most from your unit you need to know what the various settings do and how they work If you encounter clipping or want to ensure that you re getting the best signal to noise ratio you should understand the various ways to set levels pads and headroom IF YOU ARE CLIPPING THE PRE CHAIN IN PRE PAD Setup I O LEVELS This should be set as low as possible to keep the noise floor low but if you clip IN 1 you ll need to increase the pad If the input still clips with a 12dB pad you ll need to lower the level of your guitar or other upstream effects device s LEVEL of your PRE effects If the LEVEL is too hot on one or more PRE effect blocks OUT 1 will clip Don t forget that the Noise Gate also has a LEVEL control OUTPUT LEVEL PRE OUT page of the preset
46. S AND ITS LICENSORS AGAINST ANY CLAIM OR ACTION THAT ARISES FROM YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE IN AN UNLAWFUL MANNER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY CLAIM OR ACTION ALLEGING INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PATENT COPYRIGHT TRADEMARK TRADE SECRET OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY UNFAIR COMPETITION VIOLATION OF GENERAL BUSINESS LAWS OR VIOLATION OF ANY OTHER LAWS OR RIGHTS OR ANY OTHER USE OF THE SOFTWARE NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED PURSUANT TO THIS AGREEMENT 3 IMPULSE RESPONSE EXPORT FOR COMMERCIAL USE Hi Offering for sale any Impulse Response data e g Tone Match Export Save Dump User Cab Export Save Dump created converted or modified using Fractal Audio Systems hardware and or software requires a commercial use license Recording studios consultants and other commercial entities may use these features in conjunction with work performed for their commercial customers but the resulting data files created may not be offered for sale or gifted to their commercial customers or other third parties without a commercial license from FAS and its licensors where applicable Contact sales fractalaudio com to obtain a commercial license 4 IMPULSE RESPONSE DATA EXPORT FOR NON COMMERCIAL USE You are free to export Impulse Response data for non commercial use This includes producing converting or modifying Impulse Response data for yourself or offering distributing such data at no charge to third parties Files created without a commercial license cannot
47. SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER REVERB MIX 50 EFFECTS MIX 50 SPILLOVER OFF DELAY REVERB BOTH AUTO TRUE BYPASS ON OFF STICKY SCENE SELECT STICKY PRESET BANK SELECT PRESS amp HOLD INTERVAL 0 25 2 00 seconds Description Boosts or cuts the MIX for all REVERB blocks in all presets at once Note that this offset is NOT reflected in the value shown for the actual reverb block MIX parameter This feature is provided because certain performance Spaces may require more or less reverb across the board Boosts or cuts the MIX of all blocks for which the GLOBAL MIX parameter is set to ON This switch must be enabled on a per block per preset basis and is available on the MIX page of the edit menu for these block types Chorus Megatap Delay Quad Chorus Rotary Delay Multi Delay Resonator Vocoder Flanger Phaser Reverb Formant Pitch Ring Mod This feature is provided because certain performance spaces may require more or less of certain effects across the board Allows delay and reverb tails to ring out or spill over across preset changes You can select whether DELAY REVERB or BOTH effects will spill over Setting to OFF causes effect tails to be cleared upon preset change See Spillover on page 74 for details on how to set presets scenes blocks for spillover Enables or disables Automatic True Bypass see page 40 Enables or disables Sticky Scene
48. SR The two ADSR sources are envelope N generators with ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN and RELEASE parameters thus ADSR The ADSR is triggered whenever the signal level exceeds its THRESHOLD measured at the input of the Global Detector p xx The envelope has three self explanatory MODES and can optionally be set to RETIGGER every time the threshold is exceeded ENVELOPE FOLLOWER The Evelope Follower converts input levels to control signals responding variably to your playing dynamics The classic example is a touch wah where the frequency of the wah varies based on how hard you play In comparison the ADSR envelope generator always creates the same control signal but only triggers when you play hard enough Envelope Follower f PITCH DETECTOR Pitch Detector The pitch detector analyze the pitch of your playing and outputs a low value for low notes and a high value for high notes yr SELECTING A DETECTOR INPUT ADSR Envelope and Pitch controllers plus the tuner and several other functions monitor only IN PRE by default If your rig is POST ONLY where input 1 is not used please change the location of the GLOBAL DETECTOR to IN POST Find it on the SETTINGS page o the GLOBAL menu under SETUP 10 MODIFIERS EXTERNAL CONTROLLERS External Controllers are modifier sources which are operated by MIDI or a connected expression pedal Each External Controller has its own global source
49. TEMS MIDI IN OUT THRU RoHS Al VAC 50 60 Hz 20 Connect OUT POST R to a IN OUT POST POST second amp for stereo optional oe Humbuster Equally well suited FX FX cables are for bass acoustic etc SEND RETURN recommended SPKR at FX8 Outputs OUT Amplifier n DRIVE BASS MID TREBLE PRESENCE SIGNAL FLOW Here signal flows out from the GUITAR to the Guitar INPUT of your amplifier Your amp s preamp outputs to its rear panel FX SEND jack This is connected to IN POST on the FX8 The signal is processed by the POST effects of the FX8 and routed to QUT POST LEFT which is connected to your amplifier s FX RETURN You could easily connect OUT POST RIGHT to the FX RETURN of a second amp for stereo or connect QUT POST LEFT and RIGHT to the dual inputs of a stereo power amp The amplifier s SPEAKER output is connected to a speaker cabinet as it normally would be If your amp is a combo it has a built in speaker MASTER INPUT Humbuster cables help reduce ground loop hum See Humbuster Cables on page 4 for details If you re interested in this setup you should also know that the PRE POST setup on page 12 offers the ability to use True Bypass on the PRE chain only This gives you the flexibility to have a POST ONLY setup and still switch in any desired PRE effec
50. The table at right shows all options 31 6 PRESET CONFIGURATION CONFIGURE SERIES amp PARALLEL The effects of the FX8 can be run in either series or parallel To edit the series parallel configuration for the current preset press PAGE from Stompbox Mode to turn to the Configuration CFG page E Eight FX parameters are provided one for each numbered slot Select SER Series or PAR Parallel as desired for each Note that the first effect and the first POST effect are always series and cannot be changed A diagram shows the current layout The A block shows the position of your AMP between PRE and POST effects The A moves as you change the number of PRE POST effects Make changes while watching the layout diagram and you ll quickly learn how this works Several common examples appear below PRE Effects Only 8 0 All Fx Series PRE and POST 4 4 Effect 8 in Parallel Effect 1 First Effect Effect 5 SERIES Effect 1 First Effect Effect 5 auto series Effect 2 SERIES Effect 6 SERIES Effect 2 SERIES Effect 6 SERIES Effect 3 SERIES Effect 7 SERIES Effect 3 SERIES Effect 7 SERIES Effect 4 SERIES Effect 8 SERIES Effect 4 SERIES Effect 8 PARALLEL PRE and POST 4 4 FX 6 7 8 in Parallel POST Effects Only 0 8 All FX Parallel FX1 always series Effect 2 PARALLEL H AHHH Effect 3 PARALLEL FI Effect 4 PARALLEL m Effect 1 First Effect Effect 5 firs
51. WITH RESPECT TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT UNDER ANY CONTRACT NEGLIGENCE STRICT LIABILITY INFRINGEMENT OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL CONSEQUENTIAL EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU 9 EXPORT RESTRICTIONS You acknowledge that the Software or any part thereof or any process or service that is the direct product of the Software the foregoing collectively referred to as the Restricted Components are of U S origin You agree to comply with all applicable international and national laws that apply to these products including the U S Export Administration Regulations as well as end user end use and destination restrictions issued by U S and other governments 10 MISCELLANEOUS The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein will not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder of FAS and or its licensors If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or invalid that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement will otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of New Hampshire without regard to the conflict of laws provisions thereof You agree that this Agreement is t
52. You ll typically connect to the EFFECTS LOOP RETURN of an amp or the input s of a separate power amp using Humbuster cables See p p 4 for details 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW 15 RELAY 1 RELAY 2 1 4 Tip Ring Sleeve Jacks Two fully independent TRS relays allow the FX8 to switch the channels or other functions of a connected amplifier or other device The state of each relay can be changed manually via a footswitch or by a pre programmed setting in a SCENE See p Section 4 The Relays for more PEDAL 1 PEDAL 2 1 4 Tip Ring Sleeve Jacks These jacks are used to connect up to two external expression pedals or switches to control various functions of the FX8 Use the PEDAL page in the I O menu under SETUP to calibrate each connected pedal For more on using these jacks see Connecting Pedals amp Switches p 16 17 USB This provides the FX8 with two way MIDI over USB capabilities 18 The MIDI IN port of the FX8 allows you to control various MIDI functions of the FX8 including preset and scene selection effect bypass X Y changes parameter changes and more The MIDI page of the I O menu under SETUP is used to configure MIDI Channel and other options see I O MIDI Page p 66 The MIDI OUT THRU jack transmits Program Change Control Change and other MIDI data to connected devices such as an Axe Fx Il or an amplifier with MIDI channel switching capabilities MIDI data can be sent manually using the MIDI Block
53. ad or keep on your computer or memory stick gt Install FX8 Edit for a graphical way to work with FX8 presets gt Find both programs at http www fractalaudio com DY Mac Minimum Requirements OS X 10 6 8 or newer CPU Intel Processor Memory 512MB minimum USB 2 0 Support required FXB8 EDIT Import Presets 4 4 Vol Pan X X Y 2 z Delay g 700 0 Hz 880 0 Hz 1 by SI Diode 0 00dB 636 0Hz 0 00 dB 0 00 dB 0 48000 Hz bj FX8 EDIT Mac or PC meeting minimum requirements USB Cable Not Included Computer Windows Minimum Requirements OS WinXP SP3 Vista SP2 Win7 SP1 Win8 x86 or x64 version are supported for all CPU Intel Core 2 1 6 GHz or better or AMD equivalent Memory 1GB minimum USB 2 0 support required FRACTAL AUDIO SYSTEMS FRACTAL BOT MIDI UTILITY OE ET SS LLL EET IES SS Lf AN 2 NEED HELP Read this document or watch this video STILL STUCK lt Contact sup Jort e Fractal Audio FX 8 MIDI v v try our forum z peor ve O9 SET MIDI Buffer Delay Om Find the latest firmware at www fractalaudio com support 2009 2014 Fractal Audio Systems All rights reserved FRACTAL BOT Fractal Bot MIDI Utility Version 2 0 5 18 4 THE RELAYS 4 HE RELAYS IMPORTANT The relays of the FX8 are designed for use ONLY with amplifiers tha
54. al Audio Systems EV 1 Th INIPRE OUTIPRE INIPOST OUT POST Im 1 e 100 240 VAC 50 60 Hz 20W il NC i ere sneer FRACTAL epepeeemn l INSTR BUSTER UNBAL ALANCED HU USTER UNBA RELAY PEDAL USB MIDI IN OUT THRU Connect OUT POST Rtoa PN d 2 gt oot second amp for stereo post optional PRE PRE POST POST l F Humbuster Hnmbuster EX 7 cables are l cables are i SEND RETURN fe OEE zum 0 0 recommended EAR uid at FX8 Outputs 0 0 INPUT SIGNAL FLOW The GUITAR is connected to IN PRE on the FX8 Signal is processed by effects designated as PRE and then routed to QUT PRE LEFT which is connected to the guitar INPUT of your amplifier Your amp outputs signal to its rear panel FX SEND jack This is connected to IN POST LEFT on the FX8 The signal is now processed by effects designated as POST and routed to QUT POST LEFT which is connected to your amplifier s FX RETURN jack You could easily connect QUT POST RIGHT to the FX RETURN of a second amp for stereo or connect QUT POST LEFT and RIGHT to the dual inputs of a stereo power amp The amplifiers SPEAKER output is connected as usual to its speaker cabinet Humbuster cables help reduce ground loop hum See Humbuster Cables on page 4 for details
55. amp ii Power REER ET a Section 7 i Section ST PAKER CAB AMPLIFIER Here s the same type of setup on the FX8 which plays the role of both PRE EFFECTS POST EFFECTS PRE and POST effects Scccccccccccccccccces n eccc0c000000000000000000 Ki Notice that aside from the z speaker cable this setup uses 3 four different patch cables O d pm That s why we call it E n The Four Cable Method f FX8 Pe Em gone um v 7 sens Creative right Whatever you epe OL ees call it we think this is the best and most flexible way to set up 4 the FX8 Send Peon od iia AMPLIFIER Preamp Section 1 INTRODUCTION QUICK CONNECT GUIDE Here is a simple overview of what cables you ll need to connect your FX8 in three different scenarios You can find fully detailed diagrams and descriptions for this subject in Section 3 Setup Guide Humbuster cables should ideally be used between FX8 OUTPUTS and your amplifier see page 4 A Important Do NOT connect anything to the FX8 relays until you read Section 4 TO USE THE FX8 LIKE TRADITIONAL PEDALS BETWEEN GUITAR AND AMP Connect as follows Guitar Output Jack FX8 IN PRE LEFT FX8 OUT PRE LEFT mm Humbuster gt Front input of your amp modeler Presets A1 through B8 with eight PRE effects are perfect for this type of setup TO USE THE FX8 IN YOUR AMP S SEND RETURN LOOP Connect as follows gt Guitar O
56. ass A message will flash in the main display During True Bypass signals at IN PRE and IN POST are shunted via high quality analog relays to OUT PRE and OUT POST respectively With True Bypass engaged there is no digital conversion of any kind Tap the footswitch again to disengage True Bypass For more on True Bypass see Section 8 BANK UP When the FX8 is in Preset Bank Select mode see 8 above this footswitch steps UP through the lettered banks You can reverse these functions so True Bypass activates immediately on a tap and the Looper requires Press amp Hold Find LOOPER MODE TRUE BYPASS in the GLOBAL menu under setup see p 63 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW TO USE STICKY PRESET BANK SELECT MODE The FX8 returns to Stompbox Mode immediately after you select a Preset If you want the unit to remain indefinitely in Preset Bank Select Mode so you can change from Preset to Preset with single foot taps please enable STICKY PRESET BANK SELECT MODE in the GLOBAL menu under SETUP Press the SETUP button Press footswitch 1 to select the GLOBAL menu Page to SETTINGS Use NAV and VALUE to set STICKY PRESET BANK SELECT to ON Press EXIT 2x Now whenever you press and hold the PRESET BANK footswitch the FX8 will remain in preset bank select mode until you tap that same footswitch again The LED for the currently selected preset will flash with the PRESET BANK LED to remind you that you are in STICKY mode prio Se
57. be included for free with another product or package that is offered for sale Contact salesefractalaudio com to obtain a commercial license 5 SUPPORT Subject to the terms hereof FAS will provide you with e mail support services for the Software Under no circumstances will FAS have any obligation to provide you with hard copy documentation upgrades enhancements modifications or telephone support for the Software 6 TERMINATION This Agreement is effective until terminated Either party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other party FAS may also terminate this Agreement immediately without prior notice or liability if you breach any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement All sections of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination will survive termination including without limitation warranty disclaimers and limitations of liability and limitations of use and transfer of the Software 7 WARRANTY DISCLAIMER The software is provided as is without warranty of any kind FAS disclaim all warranties expressed or implied including but not limited to implied warranties fitness for a particular purpose and non infringement Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts so the above limitation may not apply to you 8 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT OR OTHERWISE YOU AGREE THAT FAS AND ITS LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE
58. blocks See The Relay Block on page 43 gt You can also program any Scene to control the relays See To Set Relay States For a Scene on page 37 Regardless of how an FX8 relay is controlled it can be switched to any of the following states Setting What s Connected OFF Nothing TIP Tip to Sleeve RING Ring to Sleeve BOTH Tip AND Ring to Sleeve FAQ WHAT IS A RELAY A relay is an electrically operated switch It is activated O or deactivated by a circuit the FX8 in this case to make or break a connection in a different circuit your amp The FX8 uses fast quiet high quality relays Each one contains two discrete switches and is able to make all of the connections shown in the table above 19 4 THE RELAYS This page intentionally left blank 20 5 CREATING PRESETS 9 CREATING PRESETS WHAT IS A PRESET The FX8 has 128 memory slots for PRESETS arranged as sixteen BANKS lettered A P with eight presets each Think of each preset as a fully independent pedalboard with its own effects settings configuration controllers and more You create and store presets using the FX8 front panel or the optional FX8 Edit software Every memory is a USER preset which can be edited or overwritten Some players will use a lot of presets perhaps one for each band gig guitar or even song Some players will use very few presets maybe just one However you use presets understanding them is key to understand
59. cillator ANN generates control signals in the form of a variety of familiar wave shapes or random signals Familiar examples of LFOs in action include the pulsing of a tremolo the steady back and forth sweep of a phaser TYPE sets the waveform or shape You can set a RATE or lock the LFO to the current TEMPO You can vary the overall DEPTH and DUTY or symmetry Each LFO outputs two signals A and B and so appears twice in the list of sources You can change the OUT B PHASE The RUN parameter starts and stops the LFO This can be used to keep it from drifting over time QUANTIZE changes smooth waveforms into segmented ones Try it on the TRI waveform for a stepped effect SEQUENCER The FX8 step sequencer generates control patterns by looping through 2 32 stages You set the VALUE for each stage the NUMBER of stages and the RATE or TEMPO The RUN switch allows you to start or stop the sequence Sequencer O00000 OOOOGQQ SCENE CONTROLLERS Scene controllers provide a uniquely powerful way to change certain sound settings from one scene to another These two virtual knobs can be programmed individually for each SCENE in each preset For example you might assign SCENE CONTROLLER 1 to delay feedback with a value of 10 in SCENE 1 30 in SCENE 2 5 in SCENE 3 and so on SCENE CTRL 2 could meanwhile be used for something completely different For more on Scenes see Section 7 ADSR1 ADSR AD
60. ct is in SERIES or PARALLEL with the effect before it gt Whether True Bypass works on PRE POST or ALL ins and outs Other options on the Config Page affect only the current scene gt The state of Relay 1 TIP to sleeve RING to sleeve or BOTH tip and ring to sleeve gt The state of Relay 2 TIP to sleeve RING to sleeve or BOTH tip and ring to sleeve gt A MIDI Program Change message number and channel sent to MIDI OUT when the scene is loaded CONFIGURE PRE AND POST If you are not familiar with the concept of PRE and POST effects see the diagrams on page 2 or look for the relevant answers under Frequently Asked Questions on page 75 If you re using only PRE effects set this to 8 0 If you re using only POST effects set this to 0 8 The FX8 has independent PRE and POST effect chains This makes PRE POST OPTIONS it possible for the unit to work simultaneously between your a guitar and your amp and in your amp s effects loop 8 Pre 0 Post 7 Pre 1 Post TO EDIT THE PRE POST CONFIGURATION 6 Pre 2 Post gt Press PAGE once from Stompbox Mode 5 Pre 3 Post to display the Config page 4Pre 4 Post gt The PRE POST setting for the current preset is shown as Supe p08 two numbers separated by a slash Make changes with the 2Pre 6 Post VALUE knob A setting of 8 0 positions all effects as PRE 1Pre 7 Post 0 8 positions all effects as post 4 4 provides 4 PRE effects OPre 8 Post and 4 POST effects
61. d using any method 5 Savethe preset Your new Preset Tempo will automatically take effect when the preset is loaded The global tempo remains in the background and will be used again when you load a new preset with TEMPO TO USE set to GLOBAL AUTO DELAY When you set this parameter to ON any DELAY blocks that are bypassed will become active whenever a new tempo is tapped in This allows you to set the tempo and engage your delay block s from a single footswitch IHE METRONOME The FX8 features a built in metronome whose signal is mixed in at Output 1 METRONOME Turns the metronome on or off METRO LEVEL Sets the level of the metronome from 20dB to 20dB 56 12 THE LOOPER 12 THE LOOPER The FX8 has a global LOOPER with a maximum loop time of eight minutes in mono and four minutes in stereo half that if optional UNDO is enabled Press the LOOPER footswitch to enter Looper Mode Seven footswitches have dedicated looper functions as indicated on the top panel UNDO HALF SPEED REVERSE 0 eco 80 20 RECORD PLAY ONCE DUB eo eo eo RECORD When you press RECORD the looper starts recording Here s a tip that is not quite as obvious you can press record again to stop recording and start playback This makes it easy to set up a loop without looking at your feet to change switches If the looper reaches its time limit playback will start automatically PLAY Starts and stops looper playback ONCE
62. distribute assign or otherwise transfer rights to the Software except as expressly authorized by this Agreement remove any proprietary notices comments terms and conditions and or labels on or in the Software As between the parties you acknowledge that FAS and its licensors retain their respective ownership of the Software any portions or copies thereof and all rights therein throughout the world Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason the License and all rights granted to you under this Agreement will terminate and you will cease to use the Software You may permanently transfer the limited rights of use of the Software granted to you under this Agreement only as part of a permanent sale or transfer of the hardware device containing the software and only if the recipient agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement You acknowledge that you have no rights in or to and may not transfer or otherwise authorize the use of any beta or preview software of FAS and its licensors THIS LIMITED LICENSE TO USE AND TRANSFER THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS AND IS SUBJECT TO THE RESTRICTIONS INDEMNITY AND WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY SET FORTH BELOW 2 RESTRICTIONS WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS AND INDEMNITY OBLIGATION AGREED TO BY YOU IN EXCHANGE FOR LIMITED GRANT OF LICENSE YOU WILL ONLY USE THE SOFTWARE FOR LAWFUL PURPOSES AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS YOU HEREBY AGREE TO DEFEND AND INDEMNIFY FA
63. does the value of the parameter START MID END SLOPE SCALE and OFFSET are used to create custom curves re mapping the relationship between the source and the target The second two graphs below show examples of the kinds of curves you can create The pages which follow contain more on using these parameters TARGET gt SOURCE gt DAMPING causes parameter changes to be smoother and slower At low settings it adds just a little smoothing Try a setting of 4 12 ms to relax a pedal or to ease the edges of a square LFO to eliminate clicks and pops Higher settings cause sound changes to glide like honey AUTO ENGAGE works with OFF VALUE to create effects which turn ON or OFF automatically whenever the source controller is moved This is typically used with a WAH pedal so you don t need a toe switch Follow the example on page 48 and set AUTO ENGAGE to SLOW POS to try it out Find additional information on AUTO ENGAGE on page 52 PC RESET determines the value of a modifier s external source when a preset first loads This allows you to override the actual position of an external controller until it is moved updated Here s how it works even with a modifier applied parameters always show a value which can be edited as usual If PC RST is ON this value will be used for the parameter until the source is updated 50 10 MODIFIERS UNDERSTANDING MODIFIER MIN AND MAX MIN and MAX set the range of a modifier This lets fine tune
64. e effects list for the current slot In knob screens it changes the value of the second on screen knob In menu screens it changes the highlighted parameter A PRESET In Stompbox mode this steps through PRESETS BANKS see Section 5 In knob screens it changes the value of the third on screen knob In menu screens it changes the parameter labeled A B SCENE In Stompbox mode this selects a SCENE see Section 7 within the current preset In knob screens it changes the value of the fourth on screen knob if any In menu screens it changes the parameter labeled B C In knob screens it changes the value of the fifth on screen knob if any In menu screens it changes the parameter labeled C Q The HANDLE also serves as a GUARD to protect the knobs of the FX8 from being kicked and broken 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW 9 There are eight main FOOTSWITCHES corresponding to the eights effect slots Each has three LEDs a FOOTSWITCH Step on it Footswitches are used to toggle Q 3 effects select scenes etc The FX8 utilizes our proprietary Solid State Switches SSS with no mechanical contacts to break or fail Switching is fast and quiet l l S Yx b BYPASS LED The LED above the footswitch shows whether the corresponding effect is ON or OFF O c Y LED Many effects on the FX8 offer X Y switching for two different sound settings from a single block Press and hold the footswitch to
65. e it When the FX8 receives ALL PRESETS or a SYSTEM file it overwrites local data and settings without warning Be certain you are sending the correct files and consider making a fresh backup of current settings before transmitting anything to your FX8 IMPORTANT You must always REBOOT the FX8 immediately after it receives a SYSTEM bank 69 14 SETUP MENUS UTILITY STATUS PAGE Displays realtime audio meters for IN 1 PRE IN 2 POST left and right OUT 2 PRE left and right OUT 2 POST left and right The scale is 80 to 0 db The clip LED will light at 6 dB To the right CPU Utilization CPU is shown on its own meter The total CPU usage should not exceed about 9096 For more on this topic see Preset CPU Limits on page 29 UTILITY RESET PAGE The RESET page provides a single function which sets all SYSTEM parameters GLOBAL I O back to their factory default values RESET SYSTEM PARAMETERS is one of the first steps of troubleshooting It never deletes or modifies your presets UTILITY FIRMWARE PAGE The FIRMWARE page indicates what firmware version the FX8 is running Over time you ll likely upgrade the firmware of your FX8 to add new features and maybe even bug fixes This is done using our free companion software Fractal Bot which provides step by step instructions 70 14 SETUP MENUS THE CONTROLLERS MENU The CONTROLLERS menu is accessed by tapping the SETUP button and then pressing footswitch
66. el Mode Location and others are NOT global so you can set these as desired per preset 57 12 THE LOOPER LOOPER PARAMETERS The following Looper parameters can be configured as desired for every FX8 Preset MODE Selects the Looper mode whether mono or stereo and with or without undo Whenever you change the mode the looper memory will be entirely cleared MONO Recording playback are in mono Maximum loop length is 8 minutes Undo is not possible STEREO Recording playback are in stereo Maximum loop length is 4 minutes Undo is not possible MONO UNDO Recording playback are in mono Maximum loop length is 4 minutes Undo works STEREO UNDO Recording playback are in stereo Maximum loop length is 2 minutes Undo works QUANTIZE With QUANTIZE set to any value except OFF loop QUANTIZE forces loop length to precise units 1 4 1 8th or 1 16th length is forced to some number of beats or subdivisions 1 4 notes 1 8th notes or 1 16th MO M notes with respect to the tempo A IA of the FX8 If you stop recording oops oops early or late loop length is The loop begins precisely Loop length is quantized even if adjusted automatically to the when you hit RECORD you stop recording early or late nearest quantize tick mark RECORD BEATS This sets the loop length to some number of RECORD BEATS stops recording and starts playback after the QUANTIZE beats subdivisions designated
67. electric shock do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture CAUTION To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock do not remove screws There are no user serviceable parts inside Refer servicing to qualified service personnel 1 Obey all warnings on the FX8 and in this User Guide 2 Keep away from sources of heat such as ducts registers or appliances that produce heat 3 Connect only to a standard grounded AC outlet of 100 240V 47 63 Hz 4 Keepthe power cord in good condition Do not kink bend or pinch 5 fthe cord becomes damaged discard and replace it 6 If not using your FX8 for extended periods of time disconnect from AC power 7 Protect the unit from rain and excessive moisture 8 Refer servicing to qualified personnel only 9 Stopoperation of the unit and obtain service if 10 Liquids or excessive moisture enter the unit 11 The unit operates incorrectly or performance is inconsistent or erratic 12 The unit has been dropped and or the enclosure damaged 13 Prolonged exposure to high volume levels can cause hearing damage and or loss The use of hearing protection in high volume situations is recommended TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Quick Overview c cece e eee 1 Pre Post The Old Way 2 Pre Post The FX8 Way 2 Quick Connect Guide 3 Stompbox Mode 4 A Note On Mono amp Stereo 4
68. en pressing footswitch 2 1 0 LEVELS PAGE The LEVELS page of the I O menu contains parameters that affect levels cg Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER INPUT 1 PRE PAD 0 db 6dB 12dB OUTPUT 1 PRE HEADROOM 0 db 6dB 12dB POST LEVEL 4 0 dBu 10 0 dBV Description Pads the signal from IN PRE INSTRUMENT input before it reaches the A D converter The pad is offset by a corresponding but opposite boost at the output of the converter so what you hear remains the same at all settings Run this at the lowest possible setting for your guitar increasing padding if IN1 clipping occurs Sets the headroom on OUT PRE to 6 12 or 18 dB If the signal from your PRE fx gets too loud unpleasant clipping will occur The greater the headroom allows louder signals but also increases the noise floor meaning you will hear more hiss The default setting for this parameter is 6 dB This gives you the least headroom and the lowest noise floor If you can t reduce the output of your PRE effects to eliminate clipping at OUT 1 increase the headroom The increased headroom is offset by a corresponding but opposite adjustment internally so what you hear remains the same at all settings POST LEVEL affects both IN 2 and OUT2 4 dBu is the default It is designed for use with professional audio equipment It is unlikely you will ever need to change t
69. equivalent to 2596 mix when you switch effects to parallel MIX and LEVEL change back to default settings when you switch from parallel to series The next concern is the BYPASS MODE parameter which determines how signal is passed when an effect is switched off If a parallel effect passes dry signal when bypassed we have the same problem as if the MIX were set incorrectly dry signals stack up and levels change e When you switch them to parallel effects on the FX8 automatically change BYPASS MODE so dry signal is MUTED when the effect is switched off BYPASS MODE changes to its default setting when you switch an effect from parallel to series Parallel routing is essential if your amp s effects loop works ONLY in parallel Such amps have a direct connection from the preamp to the power amp for DRY plus a second path through the send return jacks for WET If any dry passes through the FX8 you will have phase problems Therefore you will need to manually set MIX LEVEL and BYPASS mode parameters so no dry signal passes through when the effect is engaged or bypassed The converters and signal path on the FX8 are of such high quality that a separate discrete analog path is not needed If your amp has a switchable loop set it to SERIES and enjoy the flexibility that the FX8 provides with no tone suck TOME SICK 33 6 PRESET CONFIGURATION CONFIGURE TRUE BYPASS The Config page BYPASS parameter configures the current prese
70. first and foremost for the best possible sound quality with converters that deliver pristine audio ultra low noise levels and no tone suck It uses a powerful processor to run the same high quality effect algorithms that have made our Axe Fx processor so successful Its Humbuster outputs help defeat ground hum when used with Humbuster Cables It also features upgradeable firmware so we can deliver updates with exciting new features We hope you find the FX8 easy to use and this manual easy to read The most important sections are those which introduce the concepts behind how the unit works If nothing else be sure to review this section plus Section 2 Hardware Overview Section 3 Setup Guide 5 Creating Presets QUICK OVERVIEW The FX8 contains 128 different presets arranged in 16 lettered banks Fach preset is like a whole new pedalboard with up to eight effect blocks Wah Drive or Phaser for instance Most blocks offer X Y switching for twice as many sounds from the same eight blocks Fach preset also contains eight scenes Think of a scene as a preset within a preset Scenes eliminate tap dancing by turning multiple effects on or off at a single tap and much more Two TRS relays can switch your amplifier and can be controlled by the onboard footswitches or programmed per scene gt The FX8 features buffered true bypass with analog relays to switch all processing completely out
71. go deeper with optional advanced parameters Use the onboard relays to control your amp s switchable functions and attach expression pedals or footswitches You can control the FX8 with traditional tap dance foot switching or via Fractal s widely acclaimed Scene technology Save the result to any of the 128 built in pedalboard memory locations each of which can be completely different And that s only the beginning Most importantly we want to stress that the FX8 was designed from the beginning with uncompromising quality and performance as the end goal The signal path produces pristine quality audio so there s no tone suck when you connect it between your cherished guitar and amp And why should there be The entire point is that when you take a no compromises approach high powered digital equipment delivers exactly what musicians want and expect So thank you again for choosing the FX8 We can t wait to hear what you will do with it Fractal Audio Systems January 2015 1 INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION The FX8 is an advanced multi effects pedalboard processor perfect for guitar bass and other instruments It is built like a tank with a steel chassis and aircraft aluminum end panels The unit features eleven quiet durable solid state footswitches with no mechanical contacts to fail plus 27 LEDs in three colors The easy to use interface includes a bright display six buttons and five knobs The FX8 was designed
72. he complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding of the parties and supersedes and cancels all previous written and oral agreements communications and other understandings relating to the subject matter of this Agreement and that all modifications to this EULA or any commercial license that you may have obtained from FAS and or its licensors must be in a writing signed by you FAS and or its licensors where applicable except as otherwise provided herein No agency partnership joint venture or employment is created as a result of this Agreement and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind FAS and or its licensors in any respect whatsoever In any action or proceeding to enforce rights under this Agreement the prevailing party will be entitled to recover costs and attorneys fees All notices under this Agreement will be in writing and will be deemed to have been duly given when received if personally delivered when receipt is electronically confirmed if transmitted by facsimile or e mail the day after it is sent if sent for next day delivery by recognized overnight delivery service and upon receipt if sent by certified or registered mail return receipt requested 84
73. his equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications There is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected vo wv v WW Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help Legal Notices Fractal Audio Systems FX8 Owner s Manual Contents Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Fractal Audio Systems Fractal Audio Systems FX8 Humbuster are trademarks of Fractal Audio Systems Manufactur er names and product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners which are in no way associated with or affiliated with Fractal Audio Systems The names are used only to illustrate sonic and performance characteristics Important Safety Instructions WARNING To reduce the risk of fire or
74. his setting Use the 10 dBV setting if your downstream equipment cannot handle the hotter output of the 4 dBu setting Your amp manufacturer or the product manual should indicate whether it operates at 4 dBu or 10 dBV Some amps may be switchable 64 14 SETUP MENUS 1 0 AUDIO PAGE The AUDIO page of the I O menu contains parameters that affect audio routing cs Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER OUTPUT 1 PRE MODE STEREO SUM L R COPY L gt R OUTPUT 1 PRE PHASE NORMAL INVERT INPUT 2 POST MODE LEFT ONLY L R SUM STEREO OUTPUT 2 POST MODE STEREO SUM L R COPY L gt R Description Determines how signals appear at the QUT PRE jacks STEREO DUT1 PRE outputs in stereo Choose this option if you are connecting to two different amplifiers The stereo setting also works for mono rigs but you ll hear only half of the stereo image SUML R Collapses the entire signal to mono Copy L gt R Replicates the left channel to the right discarding the usual right channel signal NOTE To get the best results from any mono or stereo rig you ll need to understand what happens inside of each effect block You may hear unexpected results for instance if you SUM a phase inverted signal pair such as that created by some DELAY CHORUS ENHANCER settings etc Discarding the right signal of a PANNER or PING PONG will li
75. ing value for an external controller to 100 Now when the FX8 is powered on any parameters assigned to the missing controller will be all the way up instead of down To change the initial value for an external controller gt Press SETUP gt Press footswitch 2 to select I O gt Press PAGE to select the MIDI page gt Use NAV to select to whichever controller you want to change ex EXT CTRL 1 INIT VAL gt Use VALUE to change the setting gt Press EXIT two times to return to Stompbox Mode 54 11 TEMPO 11 TEMPO Tempo on the FX8 is used to synchronize effects or controllers to the beat of the music Many effects have TEMPO parameters to set times or rates to rhythmic values The FX8 flashes its current tempo on the LED above the TEMPO footswitch You can change the tempo in several ways 1 Tap the dedicated TEMPO footswitch three or more times Tap the TEMPO footswitch once and use the NAV knob to set the tempo on screen as desired Load a preset with its own tempo see Preset Tempo below Use an external MIDI device to transmit MIDI Clock to the MIDI IN of the FX8 px aeg d9 5 Use an external MIDI Device to transmit CC pulses the default is CC 14 The tempo can be any whole number from 30 BPM grave to 250 BPM prestissimo The FX8 does not transmit MIDI Clock TO SYNCHRONIZE A DELAY TO THE TEMPO The time of every delay in the FX8 can synchronize to the tempo The most typical setting is that where the
76. ing the FX8 WHAT IS A BLOCK A block is a virtual effect Each preset has eight slots enabling you to insert up to eight blocks Some blocks have a single specific function e g RELAY 1 but most represent a general effect category such as DRIVE with the ability to select a specific TYPE Such as Face Fuzz Fat Rat Treble Boost etc Every preset has its own complete inventory of blocks one or two of each type the complete list appears on page 25 In the example below a Compressor Block a Drive Block and a Chorus Block have been inserted into the slots of a sample preset You ll learn to insert effects on page 24 A NN EH NH NENNEN E oo A a Q r LI LI 5 LI man LI LI l re a z a E m n Q LI LI LI deg 00 00 EN m UNE O 00006 Bad Joooc 9090098 e l T DISTORT o oJ llle oo Many blocks also offer X Y switching which gives them two independent switchable sounds For example the Blues OD above might double as a Shred Distortion when you press and hold its footswitch For more information see X Y Switching on page 28 21 5 CREATING PRESETS PRESET EXAMPLES These examples show how blocks can be arranged in a preset to build a pedalboard And remember that many blocks also offer X Y switching for two different sound settings from a single footswitch EXAMPLE 1 COMPRESSOR
77. is simulates the way an Aux Send would normally feed an effect routed in parallel GLOBAL MIX This switch determines whether or not the MIX setting of the selected effect will be subject to an offset 50 applied using the global EFFECTS MIX parameter found in the SETUP GLOBAL menu This feature is provided so you can design presets with the built in ability for one touch mix compensation in playing environments that require more or less wet mix It is offered on the following effect block types Delay Chorus Feedback Return Flanger Formant Megatap Delay Multi Delay Phaser Pitch Quad Chorus Resonator Reverb Ring Mod Rotary Vocoder and Rotary 44 THE NOISE GATE Every FX8 preset includes a Noise Gate connected directly to INPUT 1 PRE If you re running POST ONLY you ll need to use a GATE block instead To edit noise gate parameters turn to the GTE page from the FX page of the main menu aka Stompbox Mode PARAMETERS TYPE The noisegate features a CLASSIC gate and a variable INTELLIGENT type THRESH The threshold control determines how quiet the signal must be for the gate to close The threshold can also be adjusted globally using the NOISEGATE OFFSET parameter found on the SETTINGS page of the GLOBAL menu under SETUP See page 62 RATIO Ratio determines much quieter the signal will sound when the gate is closed The ratio acts as a multiplier to reduce signals below the threshold by a factor of x A
78. ke a club or concert hall These effects would therefore NOT be heard before a distorted amp but after it Recording studios often add these kinds of effects at the console after the mic has picked up the distorted sound from the guitar amp If you wanted to simulate this natural sounding reverb or delay these effects would likely be run POST This is not to say that delay or reverb before distortion is a no no Many legendary tones came from echo units in front of an amp but this effect is very different from POST delay not only tonally but also in terms of dynamics The good news is that the FX8 allows you to experiment easily and ind what combinations of pre and post effects work best for you Creativity begins where tradition ends Q My FX8 stopped working during or after a firmware update How can recover it A The FX8 has a built in recovery routine Power the unit off Hold down the SETUP button and then power the unit on Hold the button for about 1 second beyond the power up and then release The unit will now allow you to install firmware using Fractal Bot Q Why dol hear a pop when changing X Y on some DRIVE block types A When you change X Y on the FX8 the block may need to be completely reprogrammed for its new function In some cases this is sonically transparent In other cases this may mean changes inside the block which cause a small pop When connected to a loud amplier that has a lot of gain this s
79. kewise create strange effects but not in a good way In short learn which effects and parameters create a wide stereo image and avoid these if your rig is mono Determines whether signal at OUT PRE will be normal or phase inverted relative to its state at the output of the last PRE effect This lets you compensate for unwanted inversions elsewhere in the downstream signal chain This inverts BOTH the Left and Right channels This determines whether signal at IN POST typically that from your amp s FX Send is processed in stereo or mono LEFT ONLY This is the usual setting for a mono rig and also for the many rigs which are Mono Pre Stereo Post With this setting the FX Send of your amp is connected to the IN POST L jack only L RSUM Here the signals at both IN PRE L R jacks are summed to mono and then passed on to any POST effects in the FX8 STEREO This is the setting to use when inputting different left and right signals to the POST effects of the FX8 One such scenario might be using two different heads for left and right Another would be using another stereo effects processor in front of the FX8 This determines whether signal at OUT POST typically the signal to your amp s FX Return or power amp is processed in stereo or mono STEREO OUTZ POST outputs in stereo Choose this option if you are connecting to a stereo power amp or the FX Return of two different amplifiers The stereo setting also works
80. left and right OUTPUT BALANCE PRE This controls the left right balance for OUT PRE OUTPUT LEVEL PRE This controls the overall level of OUT PRE left and right OUTPUT BALANCE POST This controls the left right balance for QUT POST 45 9 BLOCKS GUIDE 46 10 MODIFIERS 10 MODIFIERS OVERVIEW Modifiers allow sound parameters to be remote controlled or automated in real time For example you might use an expression pedal to operate a wah whammy or volume or use an LFO controller Low Frequency Oscillator to sweep a filter MIDI can also control sound changes as in the example of using a Control Change message CC to toggle the HOLD switch of a delay Modifiers are easy to use but also provide incredible depth of power for those who like to push limits CREATING A MODIFIER The process of creating a modifier begins at the parameter you want to control Parameters that can be controlled are marked with a special symbol below left Look for it beneath a knob or to the right of a text parameter If a modifier is already present the symbol will have a line through it below right 477r 42e me i i This symbol indicates a This symbol indicates a parameter which can have a parameter with a modifier modifier attached to it already attached to it TO CREATE A MODIFIER gt Select any controllable parameter AZ F Just wiggle its knob or use the NAV knob to select it gt Press the ENTER button
81. main menu page over from Stompbox Mode Each Scene of every preset has its own master volume setting for OUT 1 PRE Adjust this to normalize scenes but watch out for clipping at out 1 and be aware that this also affects unity gain OUTPUT 1 PRE HEADROOM Setup I O Levels This increases headroom on the output converter Use this control only if you can t address clipping by adjusting the settings above The default is 6dB Try 12 dB before using 18 dB as a last resort since higher settings also increase the noise floor OUT 1 GLOBAL EQ Setup Global Out 1 The Global EQ has the potential to boost signals to the point of clipping Conversely this can also be a quick fix until you can adjust blocks or scenes as described above No other controls or settings on the FX8 address IN1 OUT1 clipping IF YOU ARE CLIPPING THE POST CHAIN SEND LEVEL of your amp s FX loop Some amps have a knob or switch to vary send levels Be sure to select the loudest channel on your amp when checking to see if this solves a possible problem of clipping at IN 2 LEVEL of your POST effects If the LEVEL is too hot on one or more POST effect blocks OUT 2 will clip OUTPUT LEVEL POST OUT page of the preset main menu page over from Stompbox Mode Each Scene of every preset has its own master volume setting for OUT 2 POST Adjust this to normalize scenes but watch out for clipping at Out 2 and be aware that this also affects unity
82. mall pop will naturally be even louder One possibility that makes this completely avoidable is to use two different drive blocks instead of one drive block with X Y Switching 76 15 ADDITIONAL TOPICS UNITY GAIN FAQ Q A Q What does unity gain mean Unity gain means that the level at a device s output is the same as the level at its input with no change in gain Why dol care that the FX8 is designed for unity gain The FX8 makes it EASY to achieve unity gain This can be important because amplifier tone distortion amount dynamics and noise are level dependent With unity gain The level of the signal from your guitar output can reach your amp input without being altered Therefore your guitar amp interaction sounds and feels the same offering a transparent playing experience while using the FX8 The level of your FX SEND can reach your FX return without being altered The entire system can therefore perform optimally without unpredictable changes to level dynamics or noise when you engage True Bypass or bypass all post effects How do I set up the FX8 for unity gain You don t need to Just set up according the basic instructions in Section 3 A default empty preset should sound have the same level as True Bypass Mode What might do to inadvertently upset unity gain Many SETUP and EFFECT parameters change the gain level Some of these are intended to change gain levels how else is a boost supposed t
83. matic True Bypass of the PRE chain does not also affect the POST chain and vice versa This feature is either ON or OFF you can t enable it for PRE and have it disabled on POST and vice versa Automatic True Bypass defeats ALL DSP effects Effect tails STOP Pad Headroom and Level settings are bypassed The buffered signal is routed directly from the INs to the OUTs All effects are also considered removed if the PRE POST configuration shows a 0 WHEN AUTOMATIC TRUE BYPASS IS ON 1 When all PRE effects are removed or bypassed either manually or by a SCENE AUTO TRUE BYPASS will engage for the PRE chain 2 When all POST effects are removed or bypassed either manually or by a SCENE AUTO TRUE BYPASS will engage for the POST chain TO ENABLE DISABLE AUTO TRUE BYPASS 1 Pressthe SETUP button 2 Press 3 to enter the GLOBAL menu 3 Use the NAV and VALUE knobs to change AUTO TRUE BYPASS to ON or OFF 40 9 BLOCKS GUIDE J BLOCKS GUIDE UNDER CONSTRUCTION The FX8 has over 20 different effect blocks with over 100 different types We re currently working on a universal Effect Parameters Guide for all Fractal Audio Systems products which will detail every parameter of every type for every block Until this is released the Axe Fx Il manual has all of the information you will need to understand effect parameters in the FX8 Find it at www fractalaudio com support The pages which follow cover se
84. mentary switch or you will end up with double time Provides a way to enter or exit the TUNER function remotely This is where you specify which incoming MIDI CC should be assigned to each of the 12 External Controllers available as Modifier sources Most of the functions of the Looper block can also be remote controlled 67 14 SETUP MENUS PARAMETER Description SCENE SELECT SCENE INCR These options allow selecting SCENES via MIDI CC SCENE DECR For SCENE SELECT the value of the Control Change message determines which scene is loaded The easy rule is Scene number 1 CC Data Value Ex Scene 1 Value 0 However values greater than 7 continue to select scenes in order To determine the scene for values gt 7 add 1 and divide by 8 The REMAINDER is the scene that will be selected Ex 62 1 63 63 8 7 remainder 7 so 63 loads scene 7 SCENE INCR and DECR are triggered by CC data values greater than 63 OUT POST VOL INCR These two options provide a convenient way to increase or decrease the OUT POST VOL DECR OUT 2 POST VOLUME volume of the currently loaded scene in the current NONE PEDAL 0 127 preset Each time VOL INCR is triggered by a CC value greater than 63 the level is increased by 1 0 dB and the preset is instantly saved VOLUME DECR works the same way decreasing volume IMPORTANT Any other unsaved changes such as altered effects will also be stored if either VOLUME INCR or VOLUME DECR is
85. modifiers in musical way In the example below we re imagining a volume pedal whose range goes from zero to ten MID 50 0 96 END 100 0 96 4 3 MAX 10 00 l l l l l START 0 0 s MIN 0 00 MID 50 0 96 END 100 0 96 a 3 7 MAX 10 00 l l l l START 0 0 3 MIN 8 00 MID 50 0 96 END 100 0 96 Ne P MAX 0 00 l l l l START 0 0 96 3 MIN 10 00 USE MID TO CREATE BASIC CURVES Here is your basic default vanilla volume pedal Our pedal s start heel down position has the volume at 0 00 or silent and the pedal stop toe down position has the volume at 10 0 or all the way up Here s something different with MIN increased to 8 00 the volume never goes below 8 00 in the heel position then up to full on for toe down Maybe this could be used to bring the rhythm parts down and then up to full volume for the leads Here MIN is at 10 0 the loudest setting while MAX is at 0 0 or silent This is a reverse volume pedal Let s imagine a modifier on the FEEDBACK of a delay to demonstrate changes to the mapping of the response By now you should be familiar with the default curve so let s skip right to the tweaked one MID 25 0 END 100 0 MAX 100 START 0 0 As we adjust MID the line becomes a curve At 25 we find a taper which means when the pedal is halfway forward the MIX will be only 25 between MIN and MAX For this example that means fine
86. n PEDAL1 PEDAL 2 MIDI CC 1 127 or NONE c Reminder You do not need to STORE settings in the SETUP menu EXIT returns to Stompbox Mode PARAMETER IN 1 PRE VOLUME NONE PEDAL 0 127 OUT 1 PRE VOLUME NONE PEDAL 0 127 IN 2 POST VOLUME NONE PEDAL 0 127 OUT 2 POST VOLUME NONE PEDAL 0 127 TRUE BYPASS NONE PEDAL 0 127 TEMPO TAP NONE PEDAL 0 127 TUNER NONE PEDAL 0 127 EXT CTRL 1 12 NONE PEDAL 0 127 LOOPER REC PLAY ONCE DUB REV BYPASS HALF UNDO Description Controls the volume at the IN PRE jack Map a PEDAL here for instance if you want a global volume between the guitar and the first PRE effect Controls the volume at the OUT PRE jack Map a PEDAL here for instance if you want a global volume between your PRE fx and input of your amp Controls the volume at the IN POST jack This is perhaps the best and most common placement of a global volume pedal in a PRE POST rig Volume changes will not affect the amount of preamp gain distortion and when you pull the pedal back the tails of any post effects will ring out Controls the volume at the QUT POST jack Map a PEDAL here if you want a global MASTER volume which controls the final level of everything you hear Operates the True Bypass function remotely Provides the ability to set tap the Tempo with an external controller IMPORTANT ANY value for the designated controller counts as a tap so do not use a mo
87. nity Galhi FAQ aces ett trece 77 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS 78 MIDI Implementation 79 Factory Default MIDI CC Settings 80 MIDI Program Change Numbers 81 WARRANTY 522 99 rrr hes Rs 83 Thank You Thank you for purchasing the FX8 Like every Fractal Audio product it was created to be what we would want and expect as guitar players ourselves While even extremely critical musicians agree that our amp modeling technology stands shoulder to shoulder with the almighty tube amp we still love that tube amps are ubiquitous We rely on innovation and tradition The legacy of tube amps is completely intertwined with music history And the simple fact remains that digital amp modeling may not be for everyone yet In effects processing however digital technology has a greater foothold having been in widespread use for decades Our own effects have been vetted and championed for years by some of the world s most demanding and discriminating players celebrities and unsung heroes alike Now with the FX8 we ve taken this technology out of the rack and onto the floor with a unit specifically designed to work with traditional guitar amps The FX8 offers over 130 different Fractal Quality effects You can build a virtual pedalboard with up to eight simultaneous effects from an inventory of classic and cutting edge stompboxes and studio processors arranged in virtually any configuration Dial in with basic controls or
88. number of quantize units 4 in this case causing recording to end and _ _ playback to begin automatically after a certain time For example if 1 2 3 4 your QUANTIZE unit is set to 1 4 ER and record beats is set to 4 the loop length is automatically set to four quarter notes PLAY IMMEDIATELY Turning this OFF disables automatic playback upon completion of recording THRESHOLD The FX8 Looper can start recording automatically when the input exceeds a given level THRESH LEVEL Sets the level that must be exceeded at the input of the LOOPER for recording to begin LOOPER TRIM PARAMETERS The START and END controls on the TRIM page allow you to manually trim the length of the loop This would most typically be used for extremely precise fine tuning or creative effects Hidden feature press ENTER with either trim control selected to add a modifier for realtime trim controls LOOPER MIX PARAMETERS The Looper has a MIX page with LEVEL BALANCE and BYPASS MODE parameters See Mix Page Common Parameters on page 44 DUB MIX Determines how existing layers fade when you DUB new layers If you want old layers to NOT decay set this to 10096 but be aware that adding additional layers in this way might cause clipping 58 12 THE LOOPER GLOBAL LOOPER LOCATION In terms of signal flow the Looper can be positioned in several different locations It defaul
89. o work after all Here is a short list of things to consider The LEVEL parameter of every effect increases or decreases the overall level Changing MIX on certain effects changes both dry and wet levels This is to prevent signals from stacking up and causing clipping You can compensate with your ears by turning effects on and off and comparing the level with True Bypass engaged fyou re going to change a block s BYPASS MODE from the default setting of THRU it is best to check its levels when you engage disengage the effect BEFORE you switch to something like MUTE FX IN The level parameters on the OUTPUT page of the main mode menu increase or decrease overall levels Incorrect settings on the I O AUDIO page can result in gain changes The NOISE GATE has a level control If your rig is MONO every BALANCE or PAN control can affect levels The Global Graphic EQs affect overall level Thel O LEVEL page settings DO NOT affect unity gain Each setting is compensated internally See also Advanced Level Parameters on page 73 which contains several tips about levels and gain Any last words of advice Use the TRUE BYPASS switch as a way to make sure your presets and scenes are on track In general it is better to be in control of your levels than to be fixated on the concept of unity gain Do what sounds best to you and learn as much as you can about your gear 77 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS 15
90. of the signal path Section 4 The Relays and Section Setting levels is easy with soft switches to increase headroom and automatic unity gain Onboard jacks for two external footswitches or expression pedals make it easy to control sound functions The FX8 has built in looper a tuner and a dedicated tap tempo footswitch MIDI and USB also provide powerful options for control editing and more FX8 EDIT a free software editor makes it possible to edit presets effects and more when connected to a Mac or PC And much more Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this manual Should you need any assistance with the FX8 please visit http www fractalaudio com 1 INTRODUCTION KEY CONCEPTS Musicians are not exactly famous for RTFM Reading Their Fancy Manuals but in the name of instant gratification here are a few key concepts so that you play now read later types can jump right in PRE POST THE OLD WAY Look over this diagram of a traditional rig showing how some effects are PRE between o 88 5 un UOU c a the guitar and the amp and some effects are Ex Em as O Boo Hoo P o Ere POST in the amps FX loop 1 POST EFFECTS b d A Send Return w t OO i gia eR ool TO zx Pre
91. of your particular expression pedal Connect your expression pedal to the PEDAL 1 or PEDAL 2 jack with a TRS cable then follow these instructions to calibrate Press the SETUP button followed by the 2 footswitch to select the I O menu Press the PAGE button until you reach the PEDAL page Ensure that the pedal TYPE is set to CONTINUOUS Navigate to the PEDAL CAL function and press the ENTER button v v v Uv Ww Follow the on screen instructions to perform calibration 70 During calibration you should see the slider move on screen as you move the HOVE FEDAL THROUGH RANGE OF MOTION pedatdtidoesmutneeditateach wa FREES ENTER HHEN FINISHED CEn LT TO Cancels a D nim InFUT YALU but a good quality pedal should demon strate a wide range of motion 0 99 Hh 16 3 SETUP GUIDE TO CONNECT amp SET UP AN EXTERNAL FOOTSWITCH Footswitches are less versatile but sometimes all you need is an on off stomp Any type of external switch may be used momentary or latching make or break as long as its contacts make and break the connection between tip and sleeve on a regular 1 4 guitar cable You do not need a TRS for a foot switch Calibration is not necessary but you do need to set the TYPE as desired gt Press the SETUP button followed by the 2 footswitch to select the I O menu gt Press the PAGE button until you reach the PEDAL page gt Set your the pedal TYPE When a latching aka t
92. oggle switch is connected set TYPE to LATCHING When a momentary switch such as a sustain pedal is connected you have two options Set TYPE to MOMENTARY and the FX8 will recognize alternate stomps as ON and OFF creating a virtual latching footswitch Set TYPE to CONTINUOUS if you want the switch to turn on when you press and off when you release it e WHAT IS TRS TRS stands for TIP RING SLEEVE and describes the FAQ o configuration of a 1 4 endplug or jack with three connectors Normal guitar cables are TS Tip Sleeve since they lack the ring required for a third TIP SLEEVE connection Switching some amps requires only a tip sleeve cable and the FX8 works just fine in these cases but as always contact your amp manufacturer to be sure that the amp s switching is based on shorting the tip to the sleeve RING 17 3 SETUP GUIDE CONNECTING A COMPUTER Connecting the FX8 to a computer via USB is completely optional but it does provide some great benefits Our free utilities provide a great platform for those who want to take their experience to the next level USB is also the best way to install firmware updates and make or restore backups ww The first step is to connect your FX8 and computer with a USB cable not provided gt No driver is required The FX8 is plug and play gt Install Fractal Bot for firmware updates backups and installing presets or banks you downlo
93. ons as the global LOOPER LOCATION parameter above One additional option GLOBAL causes the preset to use the GLOBAL setting for LOOPER LOCATION Setting a particular preset to NO LOOPER leave slightly more CPU power for other effects 59 12 THE LOOPER LOOPER MIDI CONTROL Every function of the FX8 Looper plus a hidden BYPASS feature can be remote controlled by MIDI CC messages or an external footswitch Here is the full list of functions and default controllers These settings can be changed on the CTRL page of the I O menu under SETTINGS Looper Record 28 Looper Play 29 Looper Once 30 Looper Dub 31 Looper Rev 32 Looper Bypass 33 Looper Half 120 Looper Undo 121 Metronome ON OFF 122 60 13 THETUNER 13 THE TUNER The FX8 has a built in TUNER an essential tool for the performing or recording musician The tuner is easy to use and SIONAL has high resolution automatic pitch detection a calibration B0 control offsets for modified tuning schemes and the option to mute audio while tuning Press and hold the TUNER footswitch to show or hide the tuner menu Open the GLOBAL menu press SETUP followed by Footswitch 1 and find the SETTINGS page NAV to GLOBAL DETECTOR and then use VALUE to select IN 2 POST Press EXIT twice to save and return to Stompbox Mode IMPORTANT For a POST ONLY setup
94. oper Bypass 33 Parametric EQ 2 Bypass 72 Reverb 1 X Y 116 Looper Half 120 Phaser 1 Bypass 75 Reverb 2 X Y 117 Looper Undo 121 Phaser 2 Bypass 76 Trem Pan X Y NONE Metronome 122 Pitch Bypass 77 Wahwah 1 X Y 118 Scene Select 34 Relay ll amp oosxvevied exa ee 125 Wahwah 2 X Y 119 Scene Increment 123 Relay 2 ossto p dames es 126 Scene Decrement 124 Reverb 1 Bypass 83 Out Post Vol Incr 35 Reverb 2 Bypass 84 Out Post Vol Decr 36 Ring Modulator Bypass 85 80 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE NUMBERS The following table lists MIDI Program Change message associated with each of the presets in the FX8 PRESET TO PC Each time you select a preset the FX8 transmits a MIDI Program Change message on its own MIDI Channel as set in the MIDI page of the I O menu under SETUP Aje 0 A2 1 A3 2 A4 e 3 A5 4 A6 5 A7 6 A8 7 B1 8 B2 9 B3 10 B4 11 B5 12 B6 13 B7 14 B8 15 C1 16 REEL C3 18 C4 19 C5 20 C6 21 7020 C8 23 D1 24 D2 25 D3 26 D4 27 D5 28 D6 29 D7 30 D8
95. ou will undoubtedly want to save the results Every preset in the FX8 can be modified There are no permanent factory presets TO STORE A PRESET gt Press STORE to show the STORE screen gt Press ENTER to display OVERWRITE PRESET gt Press ENTER again to confirm or EXIT to cancel gt Themessage PRESET SAVED is shown when saving is complete TO CHANGE THE PRESET NAME OR LOCATION The FX8 has 128 preset memory locations grouped in sixteen lettered banks A P Each bank contains eight presets You can save any preset to any location at any time You can edit the name of any preset while storing gt Press STORE to show the STORE screen gt Use the NAV knob to select LOCATION or NAME Turn the VALUE knob to move the cursor The A knob selects upper case letters The B knob selects lower case letters The C knob selects numbers and symbols The NAV knob moves the cursor position You can use up to 24 characters in a preset name gt Press ENTER to Store then press ENTER again to confirm gt The message PRESET SAVED is displayed and the new location if any is loaded PRESET SAVED Hr 27 5 CREATING PRESETS X Y SWITCHING In the same way that many amplifiers have two fully independent channels so do many effects on the FX8 Each block with X Y switching stores two sets of settings an X set and a Y set This makes it possible to switch between two different effect sounds
96. parameters can also help Here are a few of the common block parameters whose settings have a measurable effect on CPU usage Reverb QUALITY and ECHO DENSITY Lower less CPU Phaser STAGES Lower less CPU Filter ORDER and Q Lower less CPU Multi Delay TYPE Different types have different requirements Setting LOOPER POSITION to NO LOOPER Modifiers also affect CPU usage AUTOMATIC BLOCK DISABLING As a second safeguard the FX8 may disable one or more blocks if load gets too high due to changes after a block has been inserted Changing Reverb to HIGH QUALITY for example pushes CPU Usage up considerably If the preset can t handle this you will see an error message DISABLED When this happens you ll need to take steps to get WEnTHA ERHHM 7 back below the limit The most likely solution will be DISRELED REVERE 4 to change back whatever setting you had just made a je but it is also possible to remove or edit other blocks to INSUFFICIENT CPU l address the issue d Disabled blocks blink on the Stompbox Mode display and show DISABLED upper left in the EDIT menu CPU amp USB The FX8 dedicates a small percentage of CPU resources to USB processing Large presets may run fine while USB is disconnected but a USB connection may push them over the limit In this case try to reduce CPU load or avoid using these presets while USB is connected 29 5 CREATING PRESETS FX8 EDIT Every function
97. r control of feedback in the low end of the range and then a more rapid increase at the top 51 10 MODIFIERS ADVANCED MODIFIER CURVES AND SHAPES You can also adjust START END and SLOPE which introduces an S or backwards S shape The numbers below each example show the settings for START MID END and SLOPE With a bit of practice you will learn to achieve desired modifier effects quickly Try dialing in the shapes below e Uu 0 755 100 50 100 500 50 0 00 50 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 25 100 SCALE and OFFSET also re map modifier response SCALE adds vertical exaggeration or compression while SHIFT moves the entire curve up or down on the Y axis Areas outside the graph boundaries will be clipped and replaced by line segments The examples below show some interesting possible applications Here curves are shown in red because they overlap graph boundaries START 0 0 START 0 0 START 47 296 MID 5090 MID 50906 MID 0 END 100 END 100 END 60 6 SCALE 2 0 SCALE 10 0 SCALE 10 0 OFFSET 100 OFFSET 0 OFFSET 100 AUTO ENGAGE TURNS EFFECTS ON OFF AUTOMATICALLY Ever heard of a wah pedal with no toe switch It turns on automatically when you use it and then bypasses when you pull it all the way back That s the concept of Auto Engage Try it You ll quickly find that Auto Engage comfortably eliminates the need for expression pedal toe switches AUTO ENGAGE brings a block out of bypass when the SOUR
98. refore a scene It even supports XY for twice the MIDI messaging See The MIDI Block on page 42 TO SAVE CHANGES TO ONE OR MORE SCENES gt Press STORE ENTER ENTER to save any and all changes to one or more scenes Always test ALL scenes in your preset even those you think you might not use Ensure that there are no unpleasant volume jumps or other surprises in case of an accidental mis step later 37 7 SCENES STICKY SCENE SELECT The FX8 normally goes back to Stompbox Mode once you select a scene with the footswitches Sticky Scene Select Mode keeps the FX8 in Scene Select mode so you can change from scene to scene using single footswitch taps In Sticky Scene Select Mode the SGENE footswitch LED stays lit and the FX8 remains in Scene Select Mode until you manually exit by pressing the SCENE footswitch again TO ENABLE DISABLE STICKY SCENE SELECT MODE 1 Pressthe SETUP button Press the 3 footswitch to open the GLOBAL menu Use the NAV knob to select STICKY SCENE SELECT Use the VALUE knob to select OFF or ON wi aes ups TS Press the EXIT button twice to return to Stompbox Mode You do not need to STORE changes in SETUP BONUS You can still change X Y for any effect using Press amp Hold while in Scene Select Mode SCENE REVERT Scene changes are normally retained until you change the preset With SCENE REVERT turned on scene changes are discarded as soon as you change to a new scene
99. reme psycho acoustic effects Parametric EQ PEQ The 5 band Parametric Equalizer allows precise control of tone Phaser PHA Avariety of vintage and cutting edge phaser effects including vibe Pitch Shifter PIT Includes detune harmonizer intelligent custom whammy and more Relay 1 RL1 Controls FX8 RELAY 1 Relay 2 RL2 Controls FX8 RELAY 2 Reverb REV World class recreations of vintage springs rooms halls and more Ring Modulator RNG The extremely flexible ring modulator provides for a range of cool effects N N NO Nae MN NY NY KF BPFNN MRF NN BN NN NI Rotary ROT Simulates a classic rotary speaker with multiple microphones Volume Pan VOL Simple volume block also offers channel input output tools Wahwah WAH The classic wah with multiple types based on classic originals In addition to the blocks listed above each preset also includes an Input Noise Gate an Output Mixer and a set of Controllers for parameter automation 25 5 CREATING PRESETS EDITING EFFECT BLOCKS Blocks are fully programmable allowing you to dial in every setting or parameter as desired A block s edit menu contains one or more pages each with multiple parameters to control sound functions Here s a quick guide covering how to access and work with the different types of edit menu pages OPENING THE EDIT MENU gt First make sure you re at the main Stompbox Mode display If not press EXIT until you arrive there gt Use the NAV knob
100. reset NAME per scene Scenes do not have names E AQ WHY NOT JUST CHANGE PRESETS Preset changes give you total 9 flexibility You can change anything and everything in every preset but there are also drawbacks Synchronizing multiple presets is tedious it takes care to get levels and spillover just right and while preset changes are fast scene changes are even faster and can be seamless 35 7 SCENES SELECTING SCENES There are three ways to select a scene on the FX8 1 USETHEFOOTSWITCHES Tap SGENE once to enter Scene Select Mode The red LED will remain lit The next press of any footswitch 1 8 will select a scene within the current preset For example to select Scene 4 press SCENE and then 4 2 USETHE SCENE KNOB The dedicated SGENE knob changes the scene in Stompbox Mode and its sub pages CFG GATE and OUT 3 USE MIDI Incoming MIDI messages can be used to select scenes By default CC 34 is mapped to the SCENE SELECT function Value of CC 34 determines which scene is loaded 0 Scene 1 1 Scene 2 2 Scene 3 etc The best way to tell which scene is loaded is to look at the scene LEDs The number of the current scene is also shown in the Stompbox Mode display as highlighted below Phi S 3 4 Fu CFG GTE BUT It Pre Mod Post PN Sei 4 4 Int Pre Had Fost SETTING UP SCENES Remember that you don t need to do anything special to create or enable scenes Every preset has eigh
101. ross X and Y FAQ WHY WOULD I USE X Y ror a feature with just two letters in its name the benefits of X Y are immense When you ve already placed both DRIVE blocks but need a 3rd drive sound use X Y When you have space for only one DELAY but want both wobbly TAPE ECHO and pristine STEREO DIGITAL DELAY use X Y To go from a touch of reverb on rhythms to spacious during a solo use X Y To access three settings instead of two for RELAY and MIDI blocks use X Y When you consider that scenes can make the X Y switch for you it is even better 28 5 CREATING PRESETS PRESET CPU LIMITS Each block you place in a preset contributes to the total CPU load You can check the current load at any time by pressing UTILITY and switching to the STATUS page A thermometer like meter on the right side of the screen shows the CPU 96 usage and provides a specific numeric readout above Load is also displayed in the upper right corner of FX8 Edit As the load enters the high 90s the FX8 can become unstable or unresponsive so there are safeguards to prevent this First you are stopped from inserting any block which might cause an overload by the message INSUFFICIENT CPU The FX8 assumes that a block will be used to its limits when making this determination If you are prevented from inserting an effect you can make changes to reduce the current CPU load and try again You might remove an effect that is less important Adjusting certain
102. s LED is lit when the signal at In Pre approaches clipping IN 2 CLIP This LED is lit when the signal at In Post approaches clipping OUT 1 CLIP This LED is lit when the signal sent to Out Pre approaches clipping OUT 2 CLIP This LED is lit when the signal sent to Output Post approaches clipping EDITED This LED is lit when any unsaved change has been made to the current preset The 160 x 80 pixel LCD is where all menu screens are displayed 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW o Six Buttons provide access to various functions and menus SETUP Provides access to the four SETUP menus which you then select using footswitches ENTER Executes commands commits changes accesses sub menus and more PAGE Steps through menu pages shown as tabs TIP Double click to go back one page EXIT Works as cancel escape and more EDIT Opens the EDIT MENU for the currently selected effect STORE Used to store the current preset to memory so it can be recalled in the future o Five KNOBS aka Rotary Encoders for you pocket protector types offer different functions depending on which screen is shown in the display Most screens show five or fewer knobs for easy 1 1 operation NAV In Stompbox Mode this navigates between the eight effect slots In knob screens it changes the value of the first on screen knob In menu screens it scrolls up and down through the menu VALUE In Stompbox Mode this steps through th
103. s happens a warning message prevents you from adding more blocks until you reduce the load by removing blocks or otherwise reducing the load You may also find that edits which increase the CPU load will cause some blocks to become disabled For more on CPU limits see page 29 24 5 CREATING PRESETS BLOCK INVENTORY Here is an overview of every effect available to every preset Effect Description Chorus CHO Create classic mono and stereo modulation effects including vibrato Compressor CMP Control dynamics and add sustain Delay DIY Upto 8000 ms of delay with types for analog digital tape and more Drive DRV 25 types including boost overdrive distortion fuzz and many more Enhancer ENH Classic and Modern modes to create and control spatialization Filter FLT Includes Low Pass High Pass Band Pass and many other types Flanger FLG Various types cover everything from subtle modulation to extreme jet Formant FOR Create dynamic vowel sounds with this multi mode formant filter Gate Expander GTE Useful for everything from subtle control to extreme effects Graphic EQ GEQ Avariety of modes allow easy flexible tone sculpting Megatap Delay MGT A special delay effect with group controls for time pan and level MIDI MID Sends MIDI messages when the block is turned ON or OFF Multidelay MTD A variety of special delays including plex diffusor quad tap and more Tremolo Panner TRM Creates classic trem plus auto pan or ext
104. scene allows you to recall with one tap what would otherwise require tap dancing on the footswitches Scenes load instantly they can easily be gapless seamless and they offer the easiest way to ensure perfect spillover of delay and reverb That s just the beginning Scenes are incredibly powerful and may become one of your favorite aspects of the FX8 WHAT SCENES INCLUDE Each scene stores all of the following 1 The ON OFF state of every effect in the current preset The X Y state of every effect in the current preset 2 3 The state of each relay unless it has been assigned to a footswitch 4 The settings for OUTPUT LEVEL PRE and OUTPUT LEVEL POST This is useful for creating a BOOST or to normalize the level across scenes 5 The setting for two virtual Scene Controller knobs which can in turn be assigned to control sound parameters See Internal Controllers on page 53 6 One MIDI Program Change message on any channel sent to the MIDI OUT port of the FX8 when the scene is loaded WHAT SCENES DO NOT INCLUDE In short Everything else A scene ONLY contain the items listed above If you change anything that is not part of the scene the change will affect ALL scenes in the preset You cannot change which effects are placed in which slots or tweak effect parameters per scene You cannot change the pre post setting series parallel settings or noise gate settings per scene You cannot change the p
105. t scenes built in and ready to use Even if you don t plan on switching scenes during a performance you ll always be using Scene 1 which is selected automatically when you load any new preset You cannot set a preset to load a different scene initially Programming scenes is easy Select the desired scene and use the footswitches as you normally would to turn effects ON OFF or select X Y states Set any per scene parameters such as RELAY LEVELS or MIDI Repeat this for each scene in the preset and then STORE your changes Here are some step by step instructions for setting up scenes TO TURN EFFECTS ON OR OFF IN A SCENE The on off state of every block in your preset can be programmed per scene as follows 1 Load the desired preset and select the desired scene 2 Usethe footswitches to turn each effect on or off NOTE All blocks in scenes 2 8 will be ON until you turn them off Careful this can make things loud 36 7 SCENES TO SET EFFECT X Y STATES IN A SCENE The X Y state of every block in your preset can be programmed per scene as follows 1 Load the desired preset and select the desired scene 2 Press and hold each footswitch to select X or Y as desired TO SET RELAY STATES FOR A SCENE The state of each relay can be programmed per scene as follows 1 Load the desired preset and select the desired scene 2 Press PAGE from Stompbox Mode to turn to the Configuration screen CFG tab 3 Use NAV to
106. t POST Effect 5 PARALLEL s Effect 2 SERIES Effect 6 PARALLEL Effect 6 PARALLEL IBI Effect 3 SERIES Effect 7 PARALLEL Effect 7 PARALLEL Hu Effect 4 SERIES Effect 8 PARALLEL Effect 8 PARALLEL E FA e WHY RUN FX IN PARALLEL If you like most guitarists have always strung pedals together in a straight line you ll ind the FX8 replicates this setup easily But the freedom to route in parallel opens new options both traditional and creative How does it sound An easy example to understand is Reverb and Delay in series and in parallel In series the dry sound and the delay sound BOTH pass through the reverb In parallel only the direct signal passes through the reverb so the delay echoes are heard dry no reverb DELAY DELAY REVERB Effects in Series REVERB Wd Effects in Parallel 32 6 PRESET CONFIGURATION INTELLIGENT PARALLEL FX On most devices running effects in parallel means making changes to their settings for best results but the FX8 handles this automatically with intelligent parallel effects The first concern is the MIX parameter which determines the blend of dry and wet For parallel effects MIX should be 100 wet so the dry signals don t stack up sound louder and upset the dry wet ratio When you switch them to parallel effects on the FX8 automatically change MIX to 10096 WET To change how much of a parallel effect you hear use the effect s LEVEL parameter LEVEL changes to 12 dB
107. t higher settings the gate is like a hard clamp completely silencing noise At lower settings noise level is reduced but not cut off ATTACK determines how long it takes for the gate to open You ll typically want this set very low so the attack of your first notes can punch through naturally RELEASE determines how long it takes for the gate to close Higher values will make the noise gradually fade down when you stop playing LEVEL Controls level at the output of the noise gate Can be used to boost the overall preset input level INPUT IMPEDANCE The INPUT IMP parameter appears on the GTE page but is not part of the Noise Gate Instead it changes the analog circuitry of the IN PRE INSTR input jack to alter the way the FX8 interacts with your guitar This recreates the way that some classic effects e g Vibe load down the pickups causing a change in frequency response The FX8 recreates this effect by switching various real resistors and a capacitor in and out of the signal path Normally you will want to leave this on AUTO but you may also select any of the available values manually This setting is saved with the preset THE OUTPUT SECTION Find these parameters on the OUT page of the main menu LEVEL controls can be set differently in every scene of every preset offering a great way to normalize or boost scenes PARAMETERS EY Ss LP EE BERE OUTPUT LEVEL POST This controls the overall level of OUT POST
108. t use short to sleeve type switching Do NOT connect the FX8 relays to the switch jacks of an amp that uses voltage differential switching or any other type of switching aside from short to sleeve or serious damage can occur to both units If you are not 10096 sure contact your amp manufacturer to determine whether your amp is compatible with short to sleeve switching The FX8 relay jacks are compatible with TRS cables TS cables or TRS to dual TS split cables The relays are also fully isolated from the electrical ground of the FX8 The FX8 features two TRS Tip Ring Sleeve relays that can be used to switch the channel or other functions of a connected amplifier or device If the warning above seems stern that s because the last thing we want is for anyone to damage their amp or FX8 In fact short to sleeve relay switched amps are quite common and your amp may well be perfectly compatible We need to trust and require you however to understand how your amp works and make the right choices about connecting it to the FX8 relay jacks Your amp manufacturer should be able to help if you read them the warning above An answer to the Frequently Asked Question What is TRS appears on page 17 CONTROLLING THE RELAYS You can control each relay with your choice of a footswitch or per scene programming gt To control a relay with a Footswitch you must insert a RELAY BLOCK into your preset The next section covers building presets with
109. t with one of three types of True Bypass You can bypass PRE only POST only or ALL both PRE and POST See Section 8 for more on this PER SCENE RELAY STATES faz The Config page contains parameters to set up RELAYS and MIDI per scene Every scene can set the state of both relays to switch the channels of a connected amplifier for instance For more on using scenes to operate a RELAY see To Set Relay States For a Scene on page 37 PER SCENE MIDI MESSAGES fz Every scene of every preset can trigger the transmission of a different MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE MESSAGE on its own MIDI CHANNEL MIDI Program changes are transmitted at the MIDI OUT port of the FX8 Use this feature to have the FX8 operate the functions of a MIDI switched amplifier another processor or a connected Fractal Audio Systems Axe FX For more on how to program a scene to send MIDI messages please see To Set The MIDI Program Change Message For a Scene on page 37 34 7 SCENES SCENES OVERVIEW Each of the 128 presets of the FX8 preset contains eight scenes You don t need to create them they re already there ready and waiting to be used We like to think of a scene as something like a preset within a preset Scenes aren t full presets though they only control which effects are on which effects are off whether each effect is set to X or Y and a few other settings The benefits of scenes are enormous Selecting a
110. tails are silenced immediately but the input is still listening so tails may be heard when you engage the effect MUTE FX IN When the block is bypassed the inputs of its internal processor are muted but the dry is unaffected This allows effect tails to ring LEVEL and BALANCE controls continue to operate when the block is bypassed Use this for time based effects in series when you want spillover MUTE FX OUT When the block is bypassed the outputs of its internal processor are pulled but dry signal is totally unaffected With this setting signals can enter a reverb or delay before it is engaged MUTE When the block is bypassed both wet and dry are totally silenced THRU When bypassed the block is completely disengaged None of its parameters have any effect on the sound it behaves exactly as if it were never there in the first place The observant FX8 owner will notice that the BYPASS MODE parameter allows you to attach a e MODIFIER This modifier does not actually connect to the BYPASS MODE parameter Instead it controls the block s BYPASS SWITCH When a modifier is attached to this switch it becomes the ONLY way that you can bypass or engage the effect The footswitch will no longer work INPUT GAIN This parameter available on reverb pitch shift and all three types of delay blocks determines the amount of signal fed to the effect portion of the block It has no effect on the dry signal Within the block th
111. the SPILLOVER setting on the SETTINGS page of the GLOBAL menu page 62 to determine whether Delays Reverbs or BOTH will spill over when you change presets Delay does not include Multi Delay or Megatap blocks When you want spillover to happen between presets you also need to ensure that the same delay or reverb blocks exist in each of them These need to be the same block and the same INSTANCE i e Delay 1 spills only through Delay 1 and Delay 2 spills only through Delay 2 Ideally the corresponding blocks in each preset should have the same settings as well This is because the moment you change to a new preset the parameter settings for its blocks take over processing the tails If you change from a preset where delay has a time of 500 ms to one where the time is 100 ms the tails will be inserted into the new effect and be heard as 100 ms echoes with possible glitches if certain settings change For spillover to work perfectly then the pair s of blocks in both starting and landing presets must have essentially identical settings and be placed in similar routing architectures You would hear quite a sudden difference in the tail for instance if a delay was placed after a clean amp in the first preset and in front of a heavily overdriven amp in the second Bypass states and BYPASS MODE settings must also be considered Switching from a preset where delay or reverb is engaged to one where it is bypassed with a BYPASS MODE
112. the ENTER button TO REMOVE A BLOCK gt From the Stompbox Mode screen turn the NAV knob to select the desired slot gt Turn the VALUE knob until EMPTY is shown then press ENTER to confirm EMPTY is the only entry NOT listed alphabetically it is at the beginning of the list gt OR just use this shortcut NAV to the slot press EXIT then press ENTER TO MOVE A BLOCK gt Use the NAV knob to select the slot of the effect you want to move gt Press ENTER The MOVE MODE pop up appears gt Turn the NAV knob to select the desired destination slot gt Press ENTER to move the effect or press EXIT to cancel Please be aware that moving an effect leaves an empty slot behind TO SWAP TWO BLOCKS Swapping blocks requires you to use our optional FX8 Edit software In FX8 Edit simply drag and drop one block onto another to swap them You can also copy paste blocks within a preset or between presets save favorite blocks to a library and much more TO RESET ANY BLOCK To reset an entire block to default settings open its EDIT menu and then double tap the ENTER button A confirmation screen will appear Press the SCENE footswitch to reset or EXIT to cancel E AQ WHY AM I GETTING A CPU LOAD WARNING the FX has a O very powerful processor which is needed to run its high quality effects As you add more blocks or blocks that require more power you may ultimately reach the limit of the CPU When thi
113. to select the desired block You can also tap the block s footswitch but this will also toggle the effect ON or OFF gt Press EDIT to display the edit menu USING VIRTUAL KNOBS VAL H E gt Most edit menu pages show five virtual knobs To make changes use the five physical knobs of the FX8 kida DRIVE TONE LEVEL HIH gt Above each on screen knob is an indicator showing which of the five knobs to use NAV VAL A B or C gt You can hear all sound changes in real time O O NAV VALUE PRESET A SCENE B C TURNING PAGES gt Most effect block edit menus have multiple pages gt Use the PAGE button to page forward gt Double Click PAGE to step back URL E e gt The last page wraps to the first H3 DRIVE TONE LEVEL HIH CF x xo lt gt USING TEXT MENUS gt Use the NAV knob to move up and down and the VALUE knob to edit the highlighted parameter gt A B and C knobs are mapped dynamically as indicated on screen gt Press EXIT at any time to leave editing and LFO TARGET return to the Stompbox Mode screen LFOz RATE gt Press EDIT repeatedly to step in sequence through the EDIT menus of every block in your preset gt Press EXIT at any time to leave editing and return to the Stompbox Mode screen gt Press EDIT repeatedly to step in sequence through the menus of every block in your preset 26 5 CREATING PRESETS SAVING CHANGES After editing a preset y
114. to show the MODIFIER screen gt Select a SOURCE to control the parameter EXT1 is PEDAL1 by default We ll cover other SOURCES later gt Set MIN and MAX to the lowest and highest values you want to hear gt STORE the preset TO REMOVE A MODIFIER To remove a modifier just change its SOURCE to NONE and store the preset 47 10 MODIFIERS MODIFIER EXAMPLE WAH PEDAL Below you will find a basic step by step tutorial on setting up the modifier for a wah pedal For this example we assume A Wahwah block is in your preset see page 24 for details on how to insert blocks An expression pedal is connected to the PEDAL 1 jack see page 16 for more on pedals You have performed the pedal calibration routine see page 16 Here are the steps 1 In Stompbox Mode NAV to your WAH block then press the EDIT button to show its edit menu On PAGE 1 select the CONTROL parameter by slightly turning the G knob beneath the display Notice the Modifier symbol beneath the on screen knob 2 Oncethe CONTROL parameter is selected press ENTER to show the MODIFIER screen 3 Onthe MODIFIER screen use VALUE to change the SOURCE to External Controller 1 EXT 1 Note EXT 1 defaults to PEDAL 1 It can be remapped see Externa Controllers on page 54 4 Test The wah should work when you move the pedal You ll also see the dot move on the graph 5 Store the preset by pressing STORE ENTER ENTER HODIF
115. toggle the X Y state of the corresponding effect Note that many footswitches also have special functions indicated for Looper Mode REC PLAY UNDO etc See Section 12 for more on using the Looper The amber LED indicates that an effect has been switched to its Y UNDO setting See d SCENE LED Eight LEDs labeled S1 S2 etc indicate which Scene is loaded within the current preset See Section 7 for more on Scenes Q The SCENE PRESET BANK footswitch has two different functions SCENE Tap this footswitch once to enter Scene Select Mode The red LED will remain lit The next press of footswitch 1 8 will select a Scene within the current preset For example to select Scene 4 press SCENE and then 4 For more on Scenes see Section 7 PRESET BANK Press and hold this footswitch to enter Preset Bank Select Mode Press the flashing BANK UP or BANK DN footswitches to change Banks and use footswitches 1 8 to select a Preset within the bank shown or tap PRESET BANK again to cancel and return to Stompbox Mode The LOOPER TRUE BYPASS BANK UP footswitch has three functions LOOPER Tap this footswitch once to enter Looper Mode The LED will remain lit In Looper Mode the main footswitches operate the Looper functions shown to the right of each footswitch To exit Looper Mode press this footswitch again For more on the Looper see Section 12 TRUE BYPASS Press and hold the TRUE BYPASS footswitch to engage True Byp
116. triggered WARNING These functions are designed for use with momentary footswitches set up to send a CC value of 127 for ON and 0 for OFF Do not use an expression pedal or you may change levels 20 dB with a single sweep CHORUS 1 BYP The BYPASS switch for every block in the FX8 can be remote controlled The list of MIDI CC defaults can be found on page 80 Some blocks may not through i have a default assignment but you can change any block at any time VOLUME PAN BYP CHORUS 1 XY Like the BYPASS switch above the XY toggle switch for every block can be through remote controlled The list of defaults is on page 80 WAHWAH 2 XY 1 0 PEDAL PAGES The functions of the PEDAL page are detailed in Connecting Pedals amp Switches on page 16 68 14 SETUP MENUS THE UTILITY MENU The UTILITY menu is accessed by tapping the SETUP button and then pressing footswitch 3 UTILITY LCD PAGE Provides a slider to adjust contrast viewing angle for the built in LCD display Adjust using VALUE UTILITY PRESET PAGE The PRESET page contains utilities to manually dump the memory of the FX8 to a computer or to another FX8 connected via MIDI plus a tool to ERASE ALL PRESETS You will generally NOT need to use these options for backups to a computer because Fractal Bot our free MIDI UTILITY handles backup and restore dumps automatically PARAMETER Description DUMP __TO MIDI Three options one for PRESET current
117. ts such as wah whammy or volume as needed Learn more about True Bypass in section Section 8 A IMPORTANT For this setup you ll need to make two global changes Open the GLOBAL menu press SETUP followed by Footswitch 1 and find the SETTINGS page First NAV to GLOBAL DETECTOR and then use VALUE to select IN 2 POST Next NAV to GLOBAL LOOPER LOCATION and then use VALUE to select OUT POST Press EXIT twice to return to Stompbox Mode 14 3 SETUP GUIDE CHECKING LEVELS Setting proper levels through your entire signal path is critical Four front panel LEDs alert you when clipping occurs The FX8 comes ready to use for the typical guitar and amp Chances are you won t need to adjust levels The most common issue will probably be a hot guitar clipping the instrument input IN1 You can check this by performing the following test Wire up your rig as desired gt Play your instrument Choose your loudest pickup and set all the guitar controls to wide open Play hard Big open chords and low chugs will help push the levels gt Ifnone of the CLIP LEDs on the FX8 top panel light you re all set IF IN 1 CLIPS IN 1 CLIP This means your incoming guitar signal is too hot Adjusting is simple IN 2 CLIP gt Press SETUP press footswitch 2 for the I O menu and make sure you are on the LEVELS page OUT 1 CLIP gt Increase the setting for INPUT 1 PRE PAD from the default setting of 6 0 OUT 2 CLIP
118. ts to IN PRE before any PRE effects You can move the looper per preset or globally TO CHANGE THE GLOBAL LOOPER LOCATION gt Press the SETUP button Press Footswitch 1 to open the GLOBAL menu gt Navigate to LOOPER LOCATION Use the VALUE knob to select the desired setting IN PRE Default The looper is positioned just after the IN PRE jack before any PRE effects No effects are recorded but any effects you turn on will be heard to process the looper OUT PRE The looper is positioned after PRE effects just before the OUT PRE jack PRE effects are recorded into the looper OUT POST The looper is positioned after POST effects just before the OUT POST jack PRE and POST effects are recorded into the looper NO LOOPER The looper is disabled resulting in a slight CPU usage decrease Note that any individual preset can override the global setting for LOOPER LOCATION see below gt Ifyou disable the looper globally you may wish to change the behavior of the LOOPER TRUE BYPASS footswitch so a single quick tap engages or disengages True Bypass Press SETUP Press Footswitch 1 to show the GLOBAL menu Navigate to SHOW LOOPER ENGAGE BYPASS Use the VALUE knob to change TAP HOLD to HOLD TAP TO CHANGE THE LOOPER LOCATION FOR A SINGLE PRESET The Looper location can also be changed per preset overriding the global setting The LOCATION parameter is on PAGE2 of the Looper edit menu It offers the same opti
119. und loop For this to work you need to use a special Humbuster cable you can buy or make yourself A Humbuster cable has one TRS end like a balanced cable and one TS end like a guitar cable The TRS end connects to the FX8 The TS end connects to your amp Humbuster cables are available from http www fractalaudio com cables or you can make your own by following the diagram below Be sure to use high quality connectors and shielded cable TIP SLEEVE TR T SLEEVE TIP XX cereo oe tette 00 00 KX SRO S 2S 9 9 xo S 0505 OO xX WIM 929 0 SS XS NS 2 HARDWARE OVERVIEW o HARDWARE OVERVIEW Understanding the FX8 hardware will help you use it to full effect pun intended Here s a guide THE TOP PANEL e Nu AUDIO SYSTEMS Lc MULTI EFFECTS PEDALBOARD IN 1 CLIP IN 2 CLIP OUT 1 CLIP OUT 2 CLIP EDITED NAV VALUE PRESET A SCENE B OOO O OsQ E SETUP ENTER C C J PAGE EXIT LJ O EDIT STORE O O O gue BESS RNOLD i Q PRESET BANK 8 sO Oy se Qvs sO Qv e O O eo B80 BQ Cra D sac ue 1 ss Qvs se Ove S7 Qvs ss Qvs O O O 5 Q REC O 6 EAE ONCE 8 Q DUB AN EDO 1 0 Q The FX8 is housed in a powder coated steel chassis with an aircraft aluminum bezel and end caps o STATUS LEDs communicate important information IN 1 CLIP Thi
120. utput Jack Amp s main Guitar Input AmpsFXLoopSEND J FX8IN POST LEFT FX8 OUT POST LEFT mm Humbuster gt Amp s FX Loop RETURN Presets C1 through D8 with eight POST effects are perfect for this type of setup PRE TO USE BOTH PRE AND POST IN ONE RIG POST This is also known as the FOUR CABLE METHOD or 4CM Connect as follows gt Guitar Output Jack FX8 IN PRE LEFT gt FX8 OUT PRE LEFT _ m Humbuster gt Front input of your amp modeler gt Amp s FX Loop SEND FX8 IN POST LEFT FX8 OUT POST LEFT mm Humbuster gt Amp s FX Loop RETURN Presets E1 through G8 with eight POST effects are perfect for this type of setup TO INSERT CHANGE or EDIT AN EFFECT and STORE the preset gt Press the desired FOOTSWITCH or turn NAV to select the desired slot 1 8 gt Turn VALUE until the desired effect is shown gt Press ENTER to insert the effect Press EDIT to access its parameters gt To save any and all changes press STORE ENTER ENTER 1 INTRODUCTION STOMPBOX MODE Throughout this manual we will refer to the main operating FrHl 35 1 4 3 Fu cra uTE mode of the FX8 as Stompbox Mode so called because Fes Eight New Reasons you typically use this mode to turn effects on or off with the footswitches during a performance The FX8 powers up into Stompbox Mode
121. veral blocks which are unique to the FX8 the MIDI block and the RELAY block plus a short section on Common Parameters found on the MIX page of every effect the Noise Gate and the Output Section of every preset 41 THE MIDI BLOCK The MIDI block enables you to use the onboard footswitches to send MIDI data to the MIDI Out Port of the FX8 It sends your choice of any Program Change PC message and or any Control Change CC message when turned ON and your choice of messages when turned OFF The MIDI Block offers X Y capability The X and Y states can each have completely different settings MIDI BLOCK PARAMETERS PROGRAM CHANGE ENABLE DISABLE determines whether a Program Change message will be sent PC ON Selects a program change number 0 127 to be sent when the block is turned ON PC OFF Selects a program change number 0 127 to be sent when the block is turned OFF MIDI CHANNEL Selects a MIDI Channel 1 16 for both the ON and OFF Program Change messages IMPORTANT When you load a preset the FX8 also sends a corresponding MIDI Program Change message on its own MIDI Channel See the table on page 81 To control a connected amplifier or effect processor independently please set that unit to a different MIDI channel according to the instructions provided by its manufacturer CONTROL CHANGE ENABLE DISABLE determines whether a Control Change message will be sent CC Selects a control change number 0 127 to be
122. which you set on the CONTROLLERS page of the I O menu You can set any external controller to any MIDI CC or to either of the onboard PEDAL jacks So for example External 1 is set by default to PEDAL1 but if you wanted a computer sequencer to operate your wah instead you could change External 1 to MIDI CC 16 or any MIDI CC To assign a MIDI CC or pedal to an external controller gt Press SETUP gt Press footswitch 2 to select I O gt Press PAGE to select the Controllers page CTRL gt Use NAV to select to whichever external controller you want to change ex EXTERNAL 1 gt Use VALUE to change the assignment You can also select NONE to disable the selected controller gt Press EXIT two times to return to Stompbox Mode EXTERNAL CONTROLLER INITIAL VALUES Help My volume pedal is missing and my presets are all silent When the FX8 is powered on it checks all connected pedals to set the value for any assigned external controllers But what if a pedal is missing The default for each controller is zero equivalent to heel down External Controllers assigned to MIDI are likewise set to 0 until some MIDI data is received to change them You can imagine how a missing or broken pedal or MIDI cable could therefore be a problem if for example your presets use a VOLUME block assigned to the missing controller Never fear the EXTERNAL CONTROLLER INITIAL VALUE parameters can be used to change the start
123. x System Exclusive Fractal Audio SysEx is used extensively for FX8 Edit Real Time Non Real Time System Common Song Position Song Select Tune Request System Real Time Clock FX8 Global Tempo syncs automatically to MIDI Commands Beat Clock FX8 does not transmit MIDI clock Auxiliary Messages Local ON OFF All Notes OFF Active Sense Reset 79 X X x O X X X x X X X X 16 SPECIFICATIONS amp DEFAULTS FACTORY DEFAULT MIDI CC SETTINGS The following text table lists the default MIDI CC assignments for each of the available functions in the FX8 In addition to a MIDI CC any item can be set to NONE PEDAL 1 or PEDAL2 All such assignments are global In 1 PreVolume 10 Chorus 1 Bypass 41 Rotary Bypass 86 Out 1 Pre Volume 11 Chorus 2 Bypass 42 Trem Pan Bypass 90 In 2 Post Volume 9 Compressor 1 Bypass 43 Tremolo 2 Bypass 91 Out 2 Post Volume 12 Compressor 2 Bypass 44 Volume Pan Bypass 93 Bypasscccosspotudcce iUis 13 Crossover 1 Bypass 45 Wahwah 1 Bypass 97 TEMDO riser dtes dts 14 Crossover 2 Bypass 46 Wahwah 2 Bypass 98 jn 15 Delay 1 Bypass 47 Chorus TOX Y oes eot 104 External Control 1 16 Delay 2 Bypass 48 Chorus 2 X Y sess viue gu 105 External Control 2 17 Drive 1 Bypass
124. y pop or thump TO ENGAGE TRUE BYPASS To engage True Bypass press and hold the TRUE BYPASS footswitch also the b d LOOPER BANK UP footswitch The display will flash TRUE BYPASS ACTIVATED To disengage True Bypass tap the TRUE BYPASS switch You don t need to press and hold E PRESET BYPASS CONFIGURATION The FX8 has independent signal paths for PRE and POST effects so there are independent PRE and POST options for the True Bypass function As explained in Configure True Bypass on page 34 you can set the True Bypass function individually for every preset to affect the inputs and outputs of the PRE chain the POST chain or both PRE and POST ALL inputs and outputs To edit the True Bypass configuration for the current preset press PAGE from Stompbox Mode to turn to the Configuration CFG page then use the NAV and VALUE knobs to change the setting for BYPASS WHY WOULD I BYPASS ONLY PRE OR ONLY POST There are many possible valid answers to this question Some players are just intent FAQ on having NOTHING between their guitar and their amp when it isn t necessary Others might just want to test the signal path or make other comparisons 39 8 TRUE BYPASS AUTOMATIC TRUE BYPASS Automatic True Bypass provides the option to engage True Bypass automatically when all effects in the PRE or POST chain have been bypassed or removed It works individually on each chain so an Auto

FX8 Owner`s Manual - Fractal Audio Systems

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