Quad Cortex or Fractal FM3?

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Would Kemper Profiler be an option here?

IIRC the effects are extremely basic.

I personally lean more towards the FM3, but I have heard one advantage the QC has is that it can also be used as an audio interface whereas the FM3 cannot. Is this true?

The QC has built in mic preamps and phantom power. Fractal units don't. Otherwise no, the Fractal units all work as USB interfaces.

 

[The Thing Upstairs]

4 channels per most effect blocks on fm3 means dsp is only a limitation if OP absolutely has to run a lot of blocks at once. What may be two delays and a reverb in the real world may be ch1 of a plex delay in the fm3.

and he could lower the quality setting on the reverbs. That will save CPU.

for the marketing on QC cpu I thought it would be a lot harder than it is to hit CPU limits. I guess I missed the for it’s size caveat. You split effects across the CPUs but it didn’t take more than a couple of reverbs, delays and chorus to get tight. You don’t have the channels on the FX blocks so needed more blocks

for gigging, I’d go FM3. For gigging and more, I’d spend the extra cash on the AF3 if I didn’t want portability.
or just buy both

 

[robotwithhumanhair22]

The QC has built in mic preamps and phantom power. Fractal units don't. Otherwise no, the Fractal units all work as USB interfaces.

Oh wow, that's huge. This is certainly not helping my GAS.

 

[Deadpool_25]

As others have said, I’d highly recommend FM9 but availability is tough unless you have a lot of patience or are willing to pay scalper prices. FM3 is much easier to get at all, let alone at a decent price, than the other two.

 

[budda]

Oh wow, that's huge. This is certainly not helping my GAS.

might be a good time to point out the preamp style parameters in the cab block of current fractal products.

 

[MatrixClaw]

The FM9 is still tough to get? Might have to sell my FM3 and buy the 9 then. I got my invite months ago

 

[Ross82]

The FM9 is still tough to get? Might have to sell my FM3 and buy the 9 then. I got my invite months ago

Uh oh, I think you’ll find that invite is expired now. I think there was a limit of a couple of weeks

 

[MatrixClaw]

Uh oh, I think you’ll find that invite is expired now. I think there was a limit of a couple of weeks

I don't think so, the email says:

"Your invitation link does not technically expire, but supplies are limited so please don't delay."

The link still works, too.

 

[budda]

I don't think so, the email says:

"Your invitation link does not technically expire, but supplies are limited so please don't delay."

The link still works, too.

Which means you’ll be in the que at the mercy of supply. Buy the fm9 and once it arrives sell the fm3 lol.

 

[tedtan]

IIRC the effects are extremely basic.

The QC has built in mic preamps and phantom power. Fractal units don't. Otherwise no, the Fractal units all work as USB interfaces.

Early on, the Kemper FX weren’t up to par, but they updated them a couple of years back. I haven’t compared them with the Axe FX, but I don’t hear anyone complaining about them anymore so they must be at least pretty good, if not equivalent to Axe FX.

 

[Ross82]

I don't think so, the email says:

"Your invitation link does not technically expire, but supplies are limited so please don't delay."

The link still works, too.

Well then I stand corrected, though I'm sure my invite said it had an expiry. Not that I even paused for thought. Seriously though, get it in the basket!!

 

[michael_bolton]

I was on the fence between the QC and FM3.
The only pro-QC bullet point I had was the fact that I was already familiar/happy with neural plugins but last I checked you can't use them on a QC anyway despite some verbiage from them initially indicating otherwise.
Bought FM3 few months back, zero complaints.

 

[Cheap]

I got a QC from Sweetwater a little over a month ago and preemptively listed my axe 3 thinking I'd like the capture function and that I could get close. No chance at all--I ended up sending the QC back for a refund in 2 days. The IR 'manager' (if you could call it that) is so far behind (we're talking like a basic understanding of end-user functionality) and the way they organize the effects.. The difference was like college and kindergarten and THEN with fractal you get a great forum with lots of asked and answered questions

Maybe in 5 or 6 years but WOW that QC is underdeveloped

 

[John]

Another vote in favor of the FM3 instead of the QC.

 

[laxu]

might be a good time to point out the preamp style parameters in the cab block of current fractal products.

These are not anywhere even close to the same thing. QC has actual mic preamps built in which allow you to plug in a mic an get appropriate levels with it. Fractal cab block preamp simulation just simulates the sound effect of a mic preamp.

 

[laxu]

I never tested the QC much in audio interface capacity but I'm not super happy about how the Fractal does in this regard. Adjusting e.g USB in/out levels is not convenient at all as there is no quick way to access those settings. With QC you can just swipe from the top to get the I/O page. On Fractal you basically just set them to something appropriate and do your volume management from your computer using your DAW or OS controls.

With the FM3 I preferred running FM3 -> SPDIF -> my Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 2nd gen because this was just easier to manage since the Focusrite has separate controls for headphone and monitor volume plus mic preamps.

One of the biggest blunders of Fractal's current gen products is not having a dedicated headphone volume control but headphones out is always tied to Output 1 which happens to also be the only XLR out on the FM3. With the FM9 and Axe-Fx 3 you can get around this by using Output 1 for headphones and Output 2 for studio monitors and enable the "copy Out1 -> Out 2" feature so your presets remain simple.

 

[budda]

These are not anywhere even close to the same thing. QC has actual mic preamps built in which allow you to plug in a mic an get appropriate levels with it. Fractal cab block preamp simulation just simulates the sound effect of a mic preamp.

Oh they arent the same, no. But no one ever seems to mention that feature

 

[4Eyes]

I just wonder, what's wrong with Helix hi-gain amp models? - you can get them sound pretty damn good with bit of tweaking and good IRs, on par with Neural plugins or compared to tube amp into load box with IRs

if it was the tweaking part, I doubt FM3 or QC will do the wonders instead of the user.

 

[broangiel]

I just wonder, what's wrong with Helix hi-gain amp models? - you can get them sound pretty damn good with bit of tweaking and good IRs, on par with Neural plugins or compared to tube amp into load box with IRs

if it was the tweaking part, I doubt FM3 or QC will do the wonders instead of the user.

Personally, I have never been able to get a Helix-family product sounding as good as a Fractal unit. I'd also add, I (again, personally) don't tweak much, if at all, on the Fractal units. I literally just slap my go-to IR in the cab block, pull up any amp, adjust the TMB to taste, and rip.

 

[DarthV]

I just wonder, what's wrong with Helix hi-gain amp models? - you can get them sound pretty damn good with bit of tweaking and good IRs, on par with Neural plugins or compared to tube amp into load box with IRs

if it was the tweaking part, I doubt FM3 or QC will do the wonders instead of the user.

I think part of it is the perceived need to tweak or to use 3rd party IRs? And people really think that today's Helix is the same as the release one. Same goes for the Kemper's effects. Both units have been vastly improved over time.

Cant speak for the out of the box experience on the Fractal stuff, but the QC is very easy to dial in.