To FM3 or not to??

  • Thread starter Thread starter ob1clyde
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There are good points being made about the processor limit on fm3. I'm used to running multiple amps for a blended sound, with the fm3 you are limited to one amp block which kinda makes me want an axe 3, but that's more cheese than needed to have a lot of fun.
 
WBellman said:
Also, it's only a big price difference because
Fractal recently slashed the FM3 price by almost 25%. I find that curious for a product that's only
a year old. That and there's currently 18 of them on Reverb.
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??? It’s always been $995. I got my invite last May and it was that price. Before that I got one for about 70$ cheaper for the no headphone model. It hasn’t been recently slashed at all. It would seem to me like you are finding everything wrong with the Fractal. That is fine. You don’t like the product. I used to be a big hater of it as well but now that I have had the III for 2.5 years now, I realize that was a mistake on my part.

I’ve not had any processor limit issues on my FM3 at this point. I’m running an amp, 2 cab IRs, wah, flanger, phaser, chorus, delay and 1 instance of pitch and I’m only at 60% use. For me, that is more then enough for live work and rehearsals. If I need more, I got to my III. I like carrying less and having an easy setup.

Enjoy your new Quad Cortex. It looks a nice product. The more great products that come out the more quality and choice we get.
 
PBGas said:
Enjoy your new Quad Cortex.
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I'm back to amps at least for the foreseeable future.
Still like keeping tabs on all new stuff.

My mistake on the Fractal price. I'm not trying to find everything wrong, just commenting based on what I've read
from users and my own observations.
 
WBellman said:
I'm back to amps at least for the foreseeable future.
Still like keeping tabs on all new stuff.

My mistake on the Fractal price. I'm not trying to find everything wrong, just commenting based on what I've read
from users and my own observations.
Click to expand...

There is nothing that can replace a great amp and a 412. You have the right idea there, no question! I would use that always if my back would allow me to. However, I wanted to go to a lighter solution so instead of carrying a 100lb 4x12 and a 60lb head and 40lb pedalboard, I now have a 15lb pedalboard and a 30lb monitor. Do I get the amp in the room tone? Nope. But I get the mic’d amp in a monitor and that is what I need to hear as it is what is coming out of the PA.

There is a lot of positive with these units.
 
Whether it's silly or not is up to the buyer. Also, it's only a big price difference because
Fractal recently slashed the FM3 price by almost 25%. I find that curious for a product that's only
a year old. That and there's currently 18 of them on Reverb.
[/QUOTE]

Pretty much this right here is how I feel about all Modelers/processors. Why the Gmajor worked for me so well for so long.. quality yet affordable, and they didnt flip a new model every year.

Im glad we can have these discussions, as both models im sure they are great at what they do.

Alot of the time if I play digital gear it sounds great by myself with headphones or briefly thru monitors. But inevitably what i do is pan the input and then jam to a Drum track. Stereo is cool, but i never played with a band in stereo. It was usually just me and my amp. So that to me is what a guitar sounds like (not in a recorded mix). And why I was on an amp tone search for a long time. All I found was theres good and Bad in all things.. YOU just have to decide which ones you can live with and which ones you cant.

Im interested in both.. FM3 has the price point,but if we are looking at the latest technology then the Quad is leading the pack.
 
The other thing as well is that with several of these new amps having built in reactive load boxes (Suhr PT 15, Revv Generator, Mesa Badlander) it may be a case that you can have your cake and eat it too.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that new Mesa amp is something I would be interested in.
 
If Neural had better sounding plugins, I'd be all aboard for the Quad Cortex. Great for high gain and no gain, not much in between. They are a fledgling company developing a rather advanced product. I think I'll wait for the dust to settle and the bugs to be worked out before I get into that ship. The FM3 sounds fantastic and I didn't experience of of those initial issue with the interface. The only reason I passed it on was because some guy in a Facebook group offered $600 above sticker and I couldn't resist. I'd really prefer the full rack III for my setup anyway.
 
Spaceboy said:
If Neural had better sounding plugins, I'd be all aboard for the Quad Cortex. Great for high gain and no gain, not much in between.
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Have you tried the Cory Wong? Great cleans and edge of breakup. That one changed my entire opinion of Neural.
 
anybody just plug their fm3 or Ax8 into a PA and jam? I’ve got a decent pair of celestion equipped wedge monitors left from the practice pad days.. I run a line out and superior drummer to get that band feel when I get new Amps to rest or family is gone.. did that not long ago with my ezmix plug-ins as well.
 
WBellman said:
Have you checked out the Quad Cortex? Early user reviews are that it's a game changer.
Click to expand...

Here we go! Another game changer. The games been changed soo many times I forgot what sport were playing!
 
PBGas said:
There is nothing that can replace a great amp and a 412.
Click to expand...
Maybe not 100% but I’m running an FM3 into a Mesa 2:90 into a pair of 4x12’s. Technically it’s still an amp on a 4x12! A bonus I like is 1 cable to the FM3, 1 cable to a 4x12. No 4CM bs, no patch cables all over the place, no need for a huge pedaltrain board with a power supply, no worrying about what goes into the FX loop and what doesn’t. I haven’t gigged with this setup yet thanks to this fucking virus, but when the gigs come back I’m going with the FM3, 2:90, and 1 4x12. My setup and tear down will be a piece of cake! And for me, the FM3 and 2:90.......replaced my Mark IV. Never thought I’d say that but it happened for me.

Now, next thing I want to try is a Friedman ASM or ASC.
 
That does sound nice. But at that point I think I would just run into an fx loop of an amp,just incase.. that way I could just pull one cable and we are back to basics. I’m glad your happy with the setup though, it would really be nice to have the best of bot worlds.
 
danyeo said:
Here we go! Another game changer. The games been changed soo many times I forgot what sport were playing!
Click to expand...

Well, units that can model + profile and have combo footswitch/potentiometer controls don't count?

danyeo said:
Technically it’s still an amp on a 4x12!
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Of course it is. Who would say otherwise.
I think the distinction being made was between a digital and tube pre-amp.


SIDE NOTE: Just checked out your FB page. Love the unplugged song!
 
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The Quad sounds interesting but Fractal is soo damm close to tube tone I’m going to stick with the FM3 for the foreseeable future. Plus the $999 is a welcome price point.
 
I got my fm3 2 weeks ago and it's a keeper. I'm using a headrush 112 and it sounds good. down the road I'm going to buy a power station and a mesa oversized 1x12 or 2x12 to have that speaker feel.
 
Im going to gush for a moment,and not about an FM# or QC MY freaking MESA F50 just slayed me once again. This is the ONLY amp Ive kept for 15years, and was my main club gigging amp. I thought about selling it numerous times, so to prevent that I actually gave it to my daughter and her husband as a wedding present (they dont play, but someday maybe my future grandkids will i figure)

Anyways.. I borrowed it back and God Damn.. Its magic! I think I will keep my 4x12 and go on the hunt now for an F30 Head which i will pair with the an FM3. That way If I ever get the urge to have another amp head I will just use the Fractal in the loop, otherwise i will just run the effects. About to post a new thread.. TUBES NOT DEAD!! lol

But seriously, this lil amp really does BOOGIE.. but it needs to be loud, at 3 oclock everyone is slamming doors and shaking their heads!! lol

So, an FM3 in the loop when I want to tone chase and use the unit as a volume control should work just fine, or the headphones.. Damn if you cant tell, I AM Pretty pumped after playing through my old amp again.. that brought the heat! Way better than most others Ive hand my hands on in the past few years.
 
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