MistaGuitah
Well-known member
Anyone owned an AX8 and an FM3? What's your assessment?
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Same. I had an FM3 for a couple days, just returned it to GC today. Way too much scrolling (slow) and not user friendly imo. I’d much rather play around with my synergy stuff and real amps. I wanted to give it a try with a FRFR speaker but decided this digital rig isn’t for me.I had one, and hated it. The sounds were good it was just way to complicated to use
That's a good point. My Strymon Timeline and Mobius can be pretty complicated to dial in with a much simpler interface. I don't think the AX3 is intimidating at all. I just hope it's easy to read at a glance when playing and recording.I dunno, I find the interface heads and shoulders above much of the coveted rack gear like Eventides, Lexicons, and such. It's not as nice as a Quad Cortex, but it delivers solid tones, has lots of flexibility, and can be had for a relatively affordable price, especially on the used market. Be sure to get the newer one with the headphone jack if you buy used.
The desktop app for the Fractal stuff is amazingly straightforward and easy to use if that's a viable route for use. No menu scrolling if you use that.
That's exactly what I wanted to know. I read a lot of talk about processing power and didn't think there was any issue with processing power on the AX8 so it made me wonder. But what's most important is tone and feel, and if those aspects have actually improved over the AX8 then that's pretty cool because I really liked my AX8.I've had both, and preferred the FM3. I will point out though, that I'm someone who would prefer to use the computer app rather than tweak from the front, when it comes to modelers. The FM3 has better tones and you'll get all of the accuracy improvements they've made since the AX8. The only reason I got rid of the FM3 is because I got an FM9. I wanted more switches.
I've got the Austin Buddy but really, I only use about 21 patches most of the time so I just have those sequential for easy footswitching unless it's live, but still I try to use the same rig for live stuff as much as possible unless it requires some extra effects or something. Most of the time, I can get away with a dirty amp and a clean amp. Even though it's modeling technology and has tons of options and sounds, I still treat it sort of like a multichannel amp most of the time. I've got a Bogner 3534 and hope to get an Engl Invader II sometime in the next few months so then I won't be using the FM3 as much except for travel and practice.The ax8 has been what FAS calls a 'Dead product' for going on close two 2 years. I've owned both and currently own and have gigged with the FM9. An FM6 would be ideal. 9 is way too many for what most gigging dudes need and the FM3 is way too little unless it's desktop jamming or you only need a couple of sounds. You can bank thru and add additional external switches which I've done
As for the Ax8 versus Fm3 tonally speaking is a no contest. The FM units have had dozens of FW updates and will be far better.
As for he 'way too complicated'
1) Use You tube and the FAS forum which can be frustrating because people will give you partial answers acting like you should know how to fill in the gaps they always leave. I just keep posting asking for clarification until someone fills in the gaps or gives complete steps to complete what I m trying to do
2) Factory pre sets in general suck, so buying a small pack from someone who builds them is a great place to start. Get a tone you like and look at the amp settings, signal chain, IR or speaker settings. Just chip away at learning how to use the editor. It's very simple once you spend a lot of time using the unit -editor is key. Don't lost tweaking tones on the small screen on top.
I finally broke down and got the Austin buddy too. The only thing he does that is cool is find the IR that works with the amp. I only use a few of the Marshall pre sets but they are good. I end of tweaking them all, but at least you start with a really good tone!That's exactly what I wanted to know. I read a lot of talk about processing power and didn't think there was any issue with processing power on the AX8 so it made me wonder. But what's most important is tone and feel, and if those aspects have actually improved over the AX8 then that's pretty cool because I really liked my AX8.
I've got the Austin Buddy but really, I only use about 21 patches most of the time so I just have those sequential for easy footswitching unless it's live, but still I try to use the same rig for live stuff as much as possible unless it requires some extra effects or something. Most of the time, I can get away with a dirty amp and a clean amp. Even though it's modeling technology and has tons of options and sounds, I still treat it sort of like a multichannel amp most of the time. I've got a Bogner 3534 and hope to get an Engl Invader II sometime in the next few months so then I won't be using the FM3 as much except for travel and practice.