First week with FM3 - What I hear on Youtube is just not true

Sure, but that's why you have some settings in the capture block to tweak it more to your liking. It might not be accurate after that but if it sounds good, who cares?
Well, I think it matters when evaluating a unit. For me, I'd say the unit's modeling algorithms are more important.
 
Hold on there, you don't think Leon's getting mountains of Rocktron Intellefex marketing dollars to make that video? :D

Haha! I stand corrected. :)

Does Rocktron even exist anymore??

My first time in a professional recording stuido back in 1988-89
the guy who owned it talked me out of using my amp and using
one of these

pro gap.jpg
.... direct into the board. To be honest I hated the tone at the time. Very transistor-ish.

But it was all the rage and he thought he had the latest and greatest guitar tones
available to mankind. Go figure.
 
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Late to the thread here. I'm about to cancel my QC order and order an FM3. I have an Axe II that i love and I was going to buy a second just so I don't have to remove it from the band rack after each practice/gig. I tried a Helix floor and was just bummed out by it. I spent so much time eq'ing to get close to a tone I liked but there was always something in the low-mids that drove me nuts. Some amp models were good and the interface is awesome. I still can't quickly navigate my Axe Fx without the axe edit app.
I took an honest look at some of the smaller youtubers that didn't sound like Neural shills and I think I'm gonna give the FM3 another look. I was initially scared off because I thought it might lack a lot of dsp power but you guys seem to be into it so I will do some more research.
 
Late to the thread here. I'm about to cancel my QC order and order an FM3. I have an Axe II that i love and I was going to buy a second just so I don't have to remove it from the band rack after each practice/gig. I tried a Helix floor and was just bummed out by it. I spent so much time eq'ing to get close to a tone I liked but there was always something in the low-mids that drove me nuts. Some amp models were good and the interface is awesome. I still can't quickly navigate my Axe Fx without the axe edit app.
I took an honest look at some of the smaller youtubers that didn't sound like Neural shills and I think I'm gonna give the FM3 another look. I was initially scared off because I thought it might lack a lot of dsp power but you guys seem to be into it so I will do some more research.
I've had no problems with the power of the FM3. Any unit can be pushed past a limit sure, but for most "normal" use I think you're fine. The effects and amp models are awesome and apparently about to get more awesomer :p!
 
Haha! I stand corrected. :)

Does Rocktron even exist anymore??

My first time in a professional recording stuido back in 1988-89
the guy who owned it talked me out of using my amp and using
one of these

View attachment 82401
.... direct into the board. To be honest I hated the tone at the time. Very transistor-ish.

But it was all the rage and he thought he had the latest and greatest guitar tones
available to mankind. Go figure.

I still have my Rocktron Voodoo Valve Online... haven't fired it up in years tho...
 
I took an honest look at some of the smaller youtubers that didn't sound like Neural shills and I think I'm gonna give the FM3 another look. I was initially scared off because I thought it might lack a lot of dsp power but you guys seem to be into it so I will do some more research.
I've had modelers off and on for many years, from well before the Helix, and was on the FM3 waiting list a long time before I got a purchase invitation. Soon after I got a nice bonus and bought the FX3 also because the FM3 sounded so good.

Fractal released the Ares 15.1 firmware for the FX3 shortly after I received it, and I thought it was a huge difference. Then they pushed it to the FM3, and I was really impressed with how that little box sounded. Then Cygnus came out for the FX3 and it was a major improvement in realism even though Ares was already a great sound. And now the Cygnus beta on the FM3 is equally as good sounding.

I was playing with my FM3 on a preset that uses one of the Fender amps that's pushed pretty hard last night, and it felt and sounded right. I think Cygnus is the firmware that is going to change SO many people's minds about modeling, and can't recommend the FM3 with Cygnus highly enough.
 
Hi all - I had them all incl Kemper, Helix, plugins and also the AX8. On Youtube I see a lot of "influencers" saying that Helix is on the same level in terms of tone quality. Also people comment that Fractal products are not easy to use. All this is not true at least from my perspective (I play blues, rock, jazz): the FM3 sounds in fact really so much better in terms of clarity, string separation, reverbs etc.. Also is feels more responsive than most other modelers. The editors makes it very easy to dial in what you want. I had the Kemper Head and Stage for many years. Although it sounds very good there was a always a level of unhappiness as you depend on the right profile and its quality. With the FM3 I can dial in the sound I have in my head (and much more) and pair this with absolutely stunning effects. Also the ability to record directly and re-amping works like a charme. Originally I wanted to buy also the Quad Cortex but I drop this for now. Could not be happier

I totally echo this guy. Helix people get so BENT when someone violates their mantra, "Helix can be dialed in just the same," which having owned several modelers up to the FM3 I find to be false. I'd experimented with them all to the limits. To say that all software, algorithms, etc is equal is to be incredibly numb of mind.

Fractal is a league above the Helix. Sure, you can get close, but Fractal starts you off with an authentic, great sound. For example I have a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. The Helix had that modeled, and it was not at all true to the real amp. Eventually I came to notice all Helix's high gain amps sounded so similar.

FM3's amp's have the diversity you'd expect and want, and on top of that I cannot find a difference between the FM3 and my real Recto. That meant everything to me.

Big youtuber's are the absolute scum of the internet. They're all in on it together, too, like a cartel. It's a shame. Seems companies realized people could get the truth on YouTube, and now they have flooded it with propaganda and paid "reviews." They claim transparency, but it's not genuine. They are still influencing the heck out of people, and putting them on a merrygoround of GAS. I don't look to YouTube regarding gear anymore. It's just not healthy for me.
 
When I was looking at getting a new modeler, I went to a guitar store and was considering the Boss GT-1000 because I saw one on Craigslist used. As soon as I hit a chord, I said, "Nope". It did not sound good at all. It was harsh and would require a ton of dialing in to get a good tone. Then I asked myself, "do I really want to buy another modeler in another year?". Then I asked myself, "what do the pros use?" They use Fractal. While I'm not on the same level of my guitar heroes, it definitely matters vs some YouTuber who is trying to get clicks. If Devin Townsend can use an FM3 on a solo gig, I shouldn't have an issue in my cover band. I took a leap of faith but I am glad I did. I feel so much more confident in my playing now that I can get the sounds that I actually am looking for.
 
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When I was looking at getting a new modeler, I went to a guitar store and was considering the Boss GT-1000 because I saw one on Craigslist used. As soon as I hit a chord, I said, "Nope". It did not sound good at all. It was harsh and would require a ton of dialing in to get a good tone. Then I asked myself, "do I really want to buy another modeler in another year?". Then I asked myself, "what do the pros use?" They use Fractal. While I'm not on the same level of my guitar heroes, it definitely matters vs some YouTuber who is trying to get clicks. If Devin Townsend can use an FM3 on a solo gig, I shouldn't have an issue in my cover band. I took a leap of faith but I am glad I did. I feel so much more confident in my playing now that I can get the sounds that I actually am looking for.
Same here! I sadly went through the lower rungs on the ladder thanks to those YouTube salesmen and forum dwellers that go around crusading to tell people they're all the same quality. I finally came out of the haze like, WTF am I doing? Let's see, the pro's are using this one? That's got to be the one. It was. I knew it immediately before I even bothered to see what amp I was playing in the first patch I tried. It just had the right stuff, and felt genuine! :)

It's the first one I could tolerate playing through studio headset / monitors, too. On other monitors that just revealed their flaws to me quickly. I was chasing other solutions and trying to make it work with guitar cabs. The FM3 on the other hand sounds GREAT no matter how I opt to use it--my 4x12, my headset, or my monitors.
 
Same here! I sadly went through the lower rungs on the ladder thanks to those YouTube salesmen and forum dwellers that go around crusading to tell people they're all the same quality. I finally came out of the haze like, WTF am I doing? Let's see, the pro's are using this one? That's got to be the one. It was. I knew it immediately before I even bothered to see what amp I was playing in the first patch I tried. It just had the right stuff, and felt genuine! :)

It's the first one I could tolerate playing through studio headset / monitors, too. On other monitors that just revealed their flaws to me quickly. I was chasing other solutions and trying to make it work with guitar cabs. The FM3 on the other hand sounds GREAT no matter how I opt to use it--my 4x12, my headset, or my monitors.
It seems like there was a giant backward motion in the first decade of the 2000s in some areas. I got one of the last Vox ToneLab SE units (the big blue one with two controller pedals) before they were no longer available. The newer, smaller ones had better A/D and D/A conversion bit depth, but were even more limiting than the SE was in terms of what you could do with it, and the SE was a compromise compared to my old rack rig, but it sounded good and helped eliminate some pain points with the rack rig (size, complexity, noise floor, and finicky cable connections). I played through the SE until about 5 years ago, when I got a Digitech RP360 to add to my pedal board. I liked that one well enough to upgrade to the RP1000. The RP1000 was a bit more user-friendly than the 360 was for switching sounds around, and could be made to sound decent, but was a far cry from the rack gear from the '90s in quality, IMHO. It still sits at a shop on consignment, unable to garner any attention from customers.

Fractal gear is soooooo much better than the old stuff....
 
My first Modeler was a Johnston JT50 I found at a music shop in my home-town at end of the 90s and then later I bought a used JM250.

I was really satisfied with the sound and feel.
As other companies released their new stuff I thought that the newer stuff must be better and sold the Johnson.
And because of that Johnson sadly was bought by Digitech and so no support or updates or new gear would come out.

It was "OK" what I got with Line6 , Vox, Eleven-Rack, Plugins and other gear, but never got the sounds and feel I had with the Johnson.

Then I heard about Fractal Audio but at this time I did not had a chance to spent the money for it only for "let's see if they go to the level of Johnson".

And I didn't know anybody who had a Fractal this time to check it out.

Then I met an old friend again at a gig we had together with his band and he was since ever a tube-guy and never wanted a modeler or solid-state amp and uses for years only his Mesa Boogie Rack and two 4x12 Mesa Cabs.
At this gig he had replaced his preamp with an Axe FX 2 and used it with his Mesa power amp and cabs and was really satisfied with it.

This lead me to buy a used FX Ultra and I got the feeling and sound back the first time since the Johnson amps I got.
This wants me to sell some of my stuff and the Ultra a year later to get the money for the FM3.

I was interested in the FX3 but wanted to get rid of the rack stuff to reduce equipment to carry around and because of the price of 2500€ in Germany it was too much for me.
I checked reviews and videos for weeks for the FM3, if it will fit my purpose and if it will really had the sound quality of the FX3.

I've also seen this videos comparing the FM3 with Helix , Headrush, Real Amps and Plugins and it was strange that the other gear can sound like the Fractal stuff as they say.
I didn’t trust them really because I had many other gear before Fractal and got my comparison in mind with the Johnson stuff and decided to get the money for the FM3 instead of saving a bit money to mak a compromise and got one from one of the other companies.

It was the best decision I made the last 20 years with guitar amps

Addition:
Many youtubers or reviewers say you can get a decent sound out of the non Fractal gear.
I was able too to get a decent sound out of Line6, Vox, Eleven-Rack ... but not with the response I have with the Fractal gear.
And I got only the "one" sound an never re-tweaked it after I had it.
Because every time I try to get something other, it was not usable anymore, latest in band context or didn't really sound good.

Now since I got the Fractals I have fun to tweak my sounds or creat new ones because they sound and feel all good.
You can experiment with sounds and settings where other gear only will get worse if you leave the "sweet-spot".
 
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Many youtubers or reviewers say you can get a decent sound out of the non Fractal gear.
I was able too to get a decent sound out of Line6, Vox, Eleven-Rack ... but not with the response I have with the Fractal gear.
I hear you! I got so sick of watching youtubers when I was investigating Fractal. I finally pulled the trigger and from the moment I plugged in it was immediately obvious that Fractal is in the next level.
 
I just wanted to add that I totally love the fm3 I’m 59 years old spend my time with all the modelers that have came out except the cortex not goin to try that one thanks to the fm3 !! I bought a fm3 loved it so much told my 40year old son and he had to have one so now he’s got that one and I just bought another now we both have one and we couldn’t be happier and yes we both had a axefx 3 and fc12 I prefer the fm3 my son well he’s very happy with the fm3 but he misses the axefx 3 lol but a shout out to the guys in fractal thank you for all you done you hit the ball out of the park on this one guys the fm3 will surely go down in history it already has for me it’s made the sounds in my head come true thank you and please keep up the awesome work !! Also please take Leon Todd out to dinner or something lol he’s awesome with the knowledge and tips and tricks !!
thank you !!!
 
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