F'.em Has Been Released

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hurricane
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31 May 2021

$107.40 intro price until 6/2/21 ($179 reg price):

https://www.tracktion.com/products/f-em
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hurricane
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31 May 2021

Just have to say that after being teased with this for what seemed like years (in reality, a few months), my excitement un-bonered a long time ago. The patch demo on that page is weak, with patches that would have been great 10 years ago during the golden age of dubstep (lots of growls and wobbles):



There's a difference to me between "retro" and "outdated", and F'.em's patch demo sounds outdated to me. Like it would have been awesome 10 years ago, when that type of music was on fire. Of course these are just presets and you can do whatever you want with the synth, but I was just looking for more variety in the patch showcase demo. The demo sounds like the folks who worked on Traktion just discovered dubstep.

Looks like a powerhouse FM synth though.
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Catblack
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31 May 2021

This looks awesome in what it can do, but I'm not completely sold on the interface.

Also the more you pack into it the more swamped you are by the options. Of course everyone is wanting to sell you packs of patches, so I'm sure this was designed to give you plenty of those.

I mean, 32 stage tempo synch'd envelopes? Who wouldn't want that? I can't wait to spend a solid hour tweaking every stage on that envelope, another hour on the effects, an hour on the operators... and in the end of all that I'll have a whole patch done! Wheeeeee!
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Damn.

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challism
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31 May 2021

That's a great name. I don't like the GUI. I think I'm covered (and happy) with Algoritm, ES400, Zero and PX7 for my FM needs.
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DaveyG
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31 May 2021

It's fair to say I'm not very excited about that one.

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hurricane
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31 May 2021

The intro price window annoys me. It's an unecessary super-short artificial time constraint that's not going to psychologically trick me into buying it now. Traction usually have a 50% Black Friday sale. Should be around $90 in November. I can wait. It doesn't show me enough right now to make me want to purchase it. Maybe DX7 import will be added by then.
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Loque
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31 May 2021

I am interested. But not at full price and 100 is still a bit too much for me.
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hurricane
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31 May 2021

Changing my mind after playing with the demo.

Stay tuned for a better patch demo from yours truly.
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hurricane
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31 May 2021

F'.em crashed Logic on me as I was doing this and it is so laggy on my system that I gave up halfway. I tried it on another Mac and it was equally as laggy. Not worth it. The sound is average, the user interface issues ruins it. It's not a smooth experience and it just feels unstable to me. This thing needs more time in the shop.

Here's a short demo though. I'm glad I didn't impulse purchase this:

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eusti
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31 May 2021

Nice demo, Hurricane!

D.

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miscend
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31 May 2021

THE UI needs a bit more work. I think this synth is going to flop. Not getting much tracktion in the interwebs. I'll stick with FM8.

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eusti
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31 May 2021

miscend wrote:
31 May 2021
Not getting much tracktion in the interwebs.
Might be in part due to it being released on a US holiday...
Maybe give it a few days...

D.

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StephenHutchinson
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31 May 2021

challism wrote:
31 May 2021
That's a great name. I don't like the GUI. I think I'm covered (and happy) with Algoritm, ES400, Zero and PX7 for my FM needs.
Ditto.
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Enlightenspeed
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31 May 2021

11 operators?

7 minute abs?

:puf_bigsmile: :puf_bigsmile: :puf_bigsmile: :puf_bigsmile:

In fairness, it's pretty decent sonically, but it's a pass from me (an FM8 and Algoritm owner, admittedly).

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hurricane
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31 May 2021

It sounds like it can do ambient and the more light and airy patches really well, however the lagginess and slowdown in Logic for me is a deal-breaker. I just couldn't handle it anymore because it became super annoying. Haven't tried it in Reason yet. It's also been a long time that a plugin crashed Logic for me, so not sure what that was about. The CPU on most patches was working heavily, even with multicore ON. I read on another forum that bugs are normal for Traktion releases, but that they will also address them So it's a pass for me right now, but I am hoping it gets some attention, and I'll revisit it the next time it goes on sale because it does offer so much, and I appreciate that.
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teddymcw
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01 Jun 2021

Well, just wanted to say a massive thanks for the review and awesome demos. Wish RT had more of that fun exquisiteness as a regular thing.

Popey
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01 Jun 2021

I have waited patiently to see what this brings but first impressions from reading about it I am hearing a fair few bugs/issues. Gonna trial it as it appears to have lots of modulation options.

Tone2 nemesis has a free update coming in june so may wait to see what that brings as I still enjoy the original version before deciding on if I will get F'em (gives traktion to sort a few issues as well).

Edit: tried this for a short while last night and quite enjoyed it but still got to dig a lot deeper with the modulation. Not the most straight forward to use so had to download manual which I havent had to do for ages. Certainly not a instabuy but lots of potential for me to pick this up when next on offer during black friday etc.

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Loque
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01 Jul 2021

You can get it currently quite cheap at JRR with coupon GROUP for around $90
https://www.jrrshop.com/tracktion-f-em- ... ynthesizer
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Loque
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25 Nov 2023

Currently on sale for around 24
https://www.jrrshop.com/tracktion-f-em
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