Just got the FM3 invite...

[viifox]

and was wondering how everyone was getting a long with theirs. Is it worth the price?

I currently use the Omega sim for all of my metal tones and am pretty happy with it, but would LOVE a recto/wall of sound tone.

Does the FM3 cover that territory?

 

[budda]

Can an FM3 do a recto tone? Yes, in spades.

 

[MSS]

The FM 3 recto red is awesome and my favorite amp in the Axe.

 

[sleewell]

Fractal should make something with a bigger screen and more foot switches to get me interested.


Seems like the fm3 rollout has been pretty rocky.

 

[viifox]

Seems like the fm3 rollout has been pretty rocky.

How so?

 

[sleewell]

I havent followed every detail, only heard that there have been minor issues. Check out tgp and the fractal forum. They probably have it sorted now.

 

[budda]

Fractal should make something with a bigger screen and more foot switches to get me interested.


Seems like the fm3 rollout has been pretty rocky.

They dont need to though. You can buy their fc6, fc12 or 3rd party midi controller to expand functionality.

 

[sleewell]

They dont need to though. You can buy their fc6, fc12 or 3rd party midi controller to expand functionality.

Sounds like an expensive hassle lol. I'm dumb and lazy. If it's a live unit give it all to me in one box instead of making me buy extra stuff and then have to use a board to house it all.

To be honest though that's not a huge gripe. I think the tiny screen and near impossible interface makes it almost impossible for a dumbass like me to adjust stuff on the fly at gigs.

Might be cool as a desktop unit but then why not get the full on rack unit with more dsp room?

 

[laxu]

Fractal should make something with a bigger screen and more foot switches to get me interested.
Seems like the fm3 rollout has been pretty rocky.

My beef is that they did nothing to improve the navigation part, it's the same as it was all the way back to the first Axe-Fx. The button layout is not great but you can live with it.

The lack of footswitches is a bad miss for the FM3. It has space to fit 5 switches staggered or 4 switches side by side and that would make it a lot easier to use. I get that the 3 switches have a bunch of functionality but I have always loathed "hold this for X amount of time to do Y" type behavior to make up for the lack of switches. Granted, you can always add a MIDI controller or even better one of the Fractal FC controllers. You need the FC if you want the same kind of effortless functionality as the FM3 switches afford but now you have spent a helluva lot more money as the FC units are way too expensive. For perspective, the FC12 costs about 130 euros less than a full blown Helix LT in Europe! Over 600 euros for the FC6 is also a big nope from me.

As for the rollout, the early units were missing a headphone jack (current ones have it) and recently they have had issues with the USB functionality. Apparently the lead dev of the FM3 left the company so now they have been scrambling to get the bugs fixed and updated to the new features that have been rolled into the Axe-Fx 3 firmwares during this time. In Europe you can't even buy the FM3 without joining a waitlist of who knows how long. That's not great for a product that has been released (on paper) over 1.5 years ago and started shipping 9 months ago in the US. While COVID and all that will have had an effect, it's still not good for anyone.

The FM3 is in a tight spot now where you can get a Line6 HX Stomp or POD Go for much less money and for more money you have the Helix Floor/LT and Kemper Stage. Those are larger but give you a ton more switching and possibly more simultaneous fx. The upcoming NeuralDSP Quad Cortex is in that same price bracket as a more compact unit. You might think the FM3 is a sweet spot in between but the lacking switching and some limitations like not allowing dual amp rigs make it a worse value proposition on top of having a somewhat worse UI. You would really have to love Fractal's amp modeling, tweaking and fx etc to pick the FM3 over the others. While those are great, Fractal is no longer in the category where it's significantly better than the competition. Axe-Fx 3 still reigns supreme if you need very complex patches.

Fractal is in a weird spot for me because I love how it sounds, working with Axe-Edit is great but I dislike the hardware itself. I hope for the day that I can just buy the Axe-Fx as a VST plugin and avoid Fractal's UI and control design blunders. Saying this as someone who used Axe-Fx Standard and 2 together for about 9-10 years before moving to Helix Floor/Native and now I have Quad Cortex on preorder.

 

[budda]

The controller gripe is weird to me because a used MC6 is gonna be $150usd give or take and the smaller footprint, same hold/doubletap/etc functionality of the fc6 - you just lose some fc6-specific options like layouts.

Just gotta decide what you need (tone, useability, features, budget) and go from there.

Contrary to sso belief, I dont die a little when people dont buy fractal stuff .

 

[viifox]

This will be exclusively for recording, so any potential hinders in a live situation don't really concern me.

Now i just need to figure out if i want the new recto more, lol!

 

[budda]

This will be exclusively for recording, so any potential hinders in a live situation don't really concern me.

Now i just need to figure out if i want the new recto more, lol!

Recto + uber + vh4 + friedman + slo + 5150/5153, or just a recto? Seems easy to me

 

[viifox]

Recto + uber + vh4 + friedman + slo + 5150/5153, or just a recto? Seems easy to me

Ain't nuttin like the real thing!

 

[budda]

Ain't nuttin like the real thing!

As someone who went from a jcm800/twin to the iii, i dont entirely agree .

 

[GunpointMetal]

Fractal should make something with a bigger screen and more foot switches to get me interested.

This pretty much sums up Fractal for me. All of the floor options are crippled in processing power compared to the rack counterparts, and I don't want a modular system for a floor pedal. I want all my switches and my expression all on-unit. Having a pedalboard for my pedalboard doesn't make any sense and mostly negates the point of having an AIO floor unit. Plus for the tones I like and use Fractal modeling is nowhere near worth the upcharge compared to the Helix.

 

[sirbuh]

Its a good amp, but I prefer the Kemper.

 

[budda]

This pretty much sums up Fractal for me. All of the floor options are crippled in processing power compared to the rack counterparts, and I don't want a modular system for a floor pedal. I want all my switches and my expression all on-unit. Having a pedalboard for my pedalboard doesn't make any sense and mostly negates the point of having an AIO floor unit. Plus for the tones I like and use Fractal modeling is nowhere near worth the upcharge compared to the Helix.

An fm3 and mc6 wouldnt be a full pt2 in size, but i understand what you're saying.

 

[laxu]

This pretty much sums up Fractal for me. All of the floor options are crippled in processing power compared to the rack counterparts, and I don't want a modular system for a floor pedal. I want all my switches and my expression all on-unit. Having a pedalboard for my pedalboard doesn't make any sense and mostly negates the point of having an AIO floor unit. Plus for the tones I like and use Fractal modeling is nowhere near worth the upcharge compared to the Helix.

"Line6 Helix lineup has a lot of products but none of them are the exact right thing, said Goldilocks. Goldilocks tried the HX Stomp but it was too small and allowed for too few fx at the same time. Then Goldilocks tried the POD Go but while it was the right size, it too had a bunch of limitations and that expression pedal really does not need to be built in. The Helix LT and Floor were way too big with I/O most folks never use. Those synth and Variax guys are some sort of heathens anyway, Goldilocks thought. The Helix Rack did not fit anywhere right and Goldilocks tripped over the cable of its floor controller. Finally she just said fuck it and bought Revv Generator MK III and played TRVE KVLT BLACK METAL until the bears came home and told her to turn it down or they'll call the cops. The end."

 

[SamSam]

Its great, bar the USB functions which are shit. If you want extra switchespretty much any trs dual switch will work (you can even make your own pretty cheap).

I love the tones, but it does not like my 2013 imac but it works fine on a newer mac book ive tried.

 

[sleewell]

agreed that the stomp, hx fx, and pod go are too small and are not for me. the LT is a perfect size for me. you would also still have a cable on the floor for the amp's footswitch plus whatever effects you would need might actually add more cables and take up space on the ground. but shit if that is your perfect rig than more power to you, go with it.