Two week latter....

D

DavidTheMountain

Member
Two week now from the purchase of my fm3.
Night and dans to try to obtain à décent sound with headphone or thrue my Headrush FRFR 112.
Nothing to do.
All my preser sound thin, shrill, liveless.
My single note on my guitars ( strat or lespaul) sound buzzy, inégal...
My budy have an fxii, and he can make it sound realy good.

I am to sell this unit..

And return to a real amp....
 
Your experience is not the norm.

The FM3 is, at the very least, as good tonally as the Axe Fx II. Most find the FM3 to sound 'better' than the Axe Fx II. There's something in the FM3 setup that is likely causing your issue - Power Amp modeling set to "OFF" or the Cab Block Bypassed are the first culprits that come to mind.

Plenty of people here willing to help if you want it. If your only reason for posting is to complain without seeking advice on how to get it to work for you, more power to you.
 
Your buddy should be all over the FM3 — to try it out and immediately find your problem, if there is one.
 
DavidTheMountain said:
I have setup all power amp, pre amp, cab, output 1 EQ in the setup menu to compensate the curve of my frfr,.....
I dont know what to do.
Click to expand...
Why do you need "output 1 EQ"?
I don't need that with my FRFR.
Take your FM3 to your friends place where you say his FXII sounds good.
Yours should sound good thru his playback system too.
FM3 should sound great via studio monitors with minimal tweaks...also via high quality FRFR.
Headrush is not a high quality FRFR but still should sound good at low volume.
 
One cause of shrill tone is a wah block that turns on after you might have made a setup mistake. Please be sure to check your presets and even consider deleting the wah block during testing.

As for other config parameters, you can execute RESET SYSTEM PARAMETERS under SETUP: Utility: Reset

Did you buy the unit new or used? You can find the latest firmware, presets, and other files here:
https://www.fractalaudio.com/fm3-downloads/
 
Get together with your friend who's having an easier time. Both of you bring your speakers, try to figure out what's different, and what you can do about it.
 
DavidTheMountain said:
I have setup all power amp, pre amp, cab, output 1 EQ in the setup menu to compensate the curve of my frfr,.....
I dont know what to do.
Click to expand...
I'm currently testing my FM3 presets and can guarantee the unit sounds amazing, so it's not the capability of the unit itself that is the problem.

Conduct a simple test:
  1. Turn off the Output 1 EQ compensation.
  2. The Headrush 108 is an OK-sounding speaker, so confirm that the Contour button on the back is OUT, you don't want any EQ applied to the signal. Turn the 108's volume controls halfway up, to "noon".
  3. Switch to the first factory preset "59 Bassguy" on the FM3.
  4. Confirm your guitar is connected, and turn its volume to 0.
  5. OUT 1 on the FM3 should be connected to the 108, so turn the FM3's Out 1 knob halfway up, to "noon".
  6. Hit an A chord, and slowly roll the volume of the guitar up. It should be pretty loud, with a very full response.
  7. Repeat the above step for each scene. You should hear the amp's sound change, but none should be "thin, shrill, liveless".
When auditioning presets the volume needs to be at a reasonable stage volume, which is around 90-95 dB. This is to counter the Fletcher-Munson effect, which can cause the problem you're reporting. Setting EQ at low volumes usually results in very boomy and shrill-sounding output once the speaker is turned up. From the Wiki:

The Fletcher-Munson curve is the scientific name for the fact that human ears perceive sound at low volume levels differently than at higher levels. This is VERY important when dialing in tones.

When tweaking tone at low volume levels, a player often turns up treble and bass. This is what the "Loudness" switch on older home stereo systems did.

When the volume is turned up, those high and low frequencies get harsh and boomy. That guitar sound then competes with cymbals, and will lose. Also, the guitar competes with the bass guitar, and will lose.
Click to expand...

Your friend with the FX3 is an invaluable asset at this point. Have him visit and check your system or take your FM3 and plug it into his system, and in either case, compare the sound he gets with what you get and listen to his advice.

By default, the Fractal units with factory settings and factory presets sound very good. Sure, some tweaking is involved to make it sound exactly like you want, just like you'd have to do when auditioning an amplifier at the store, but you shouldn't have to make radical adjustments. If that's necessary then it's a sign that something isn't configured right. My presets have very little EQ compensation and my cabinets have none, they're pretty flat, and when I turn up the rig it sounds massive. So the capability is definitely there, we just need to figure out what is pushing the sound away from the factory defaults.
 
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