Fractal Audio is joining the multi-effects floor pedal race with the FX8, featuring the same effects modeling technology as their popular Axe-FX II guitar processor.
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This floor-based pedal is a departure from the company’s more popular rack mounted guitar processors, with amp modeling stripped off and instead focusing only on providing a variety of guitar effects.
The new FX8 is quite the gamble, because instead of carrying the amp-modeling technology that made Fractal Audio popular, this pedal is labeled as “effects-only”. Still, it does come with many of the features found on their popular guitar processor, and it can run up to eight effects simultaneously.
The pedal is housed inside a steel chassis with aircraft aluminum end-panels for reliable operation. It features 27 LEDs in three colors and a bright main display that provides realtime monitoring of settings. Five knobs allow for analog-like control and there are 11 quiet solid-state footswitches that has no mechanical contacts for longevity.
The Stompbox Mode lets you control the FX8 as you would traditional effect pedalboards. You can also utilize one of the eight “scenes” in each preset to engage pre-defined effect groups from a single switch. Many of the included effects provide XY switching, allowing for complex effects routing with two completely different sound settings. The official descriptions says, “Imagine dialing in a single drive pedal with both overdrive and fuzz channels, or a reverb with foot-selectable spring and hall sounds“.
Fractal Audio equipped the pedal with a flexible modifier system that lets you apply real-time sound changes. You can plug two expression pedals (like the new Fractal EV-1!) into the onboard jacks, and it will let you adjust parameters for the wah, whammy, volume, and other controllable settings. You can also utilize MIDI or controllers for automated dynamic effects. Aside from the above mentioned control features, the FX8 also comes with a built-in tuner, two global equalizers and a global 4-minute stereo Looper.
Being a feature packed multi-effect unit, Fractal Audio equipped the pedal with 128 different onboard presets, which represent various effects combination pedalboard. Parallel and series routing of effects are also available, and you can use the optional four-cable method so you can place each effect “Pre” or “Post” as you prefer.
For convenient preset editing, this multi-effect pedal comes with the FX8-Edit, a free software editor so you can create and modify your virtual rigs on your computer. Following other Fractal Audio products, the FX8 is compatible with Fractal-Bot for preset sharing, easy backup and restore. Downloading of firmware updates is also made simpler via the software.
Other features include Humbuster outputs for eliminating ground loop hums, dual TRS relays, two switch/expression pedal jacks, USB connectivity, MIDI interface and more. The company says that the FX8 feature true bypass and unity gain for less tone sucking.
According to the website, FX8 is expected to begin shipping within this quarter, with a Direct Price of $1349.95. For more information and other details, head over Fractal Audio.
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