Ok. So ive had the FM3 a few months now and damn do I love it. It just keeps getting better, but.... When I plug in my FRFRs I really dig the sound and its better than I knew it could be. The trouble is when I go direct or use headphones. It just sounds so transistery to me. Like its not even the same machine. I plan on using IEMs and its even worse with them. I know lots of you all go direct and love it. Am I doing something wrong?
what speakers specifically? do the tweeters work properly? are the speakers pointing your ears or are they pointing toward a wall or something away from your head?
transitioning from full range speakers to headphones or IEMs for me has basically the same sound.
another aspect is that i do EQ any speaker or IEM that i use. there is no way possible that sound reproduction devices sound "perfect" as-is without any sort of EQ'ing for the room or for your own ears.
for your IEMs, play your favorite recorded song through your speakers. then play the same song through your IEMs. do the same things you don't like about the FM3 happen to the music too?
as an example, here is the EQ i use for my IEM send, using Shure SE215 (the low end $99 ones):
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i need to take a bunch of low end out, boost some high end for clarity and notch out some irritating frequencies. without this, i almost can't hear anything. once i did this, all sounds - my FM3, my partners guitars, our vocals, tracks, etc. - all sounded like they should and how they sound on other speakers.
i'm just sharing this detail as a view on how it can be done and what can actually make it easier to hear and sound better. this approach does exist and really works well. just many people don't know about it, think to do it, or don't have the gear to make it happen. in professional circles, EQ'ing each send is absolutely commonplace.
i think this is something many people are overlooking when it comes to doing live sound in general, as well as with modelers or anything direct. a speaker - regardless of price - doesn't sound "how you want it to" automatically, and the sound changes from room to room as well. that's the nice thing about IEMs though - once you EQ it for your ears, your ears don't change as drastically as different rooms do.
this sort of thing happens with real amps and cabs too, but we don't have many tools to fix this unless you put an EQ pedal in the loop. we've all played real amps and have our perfect Bass Mid Treble settings, and at one gig it always sounds great, and another gig it sounds bad at the same settings. it's because the room changes how speakers sound.
i understand that in most cases, there isn't an EQ available for the speakers or IEMs, but that's simply because mixers and other gear just don't include them. look at any professional sound system, small or large, and there is an EQ on every bus/send. because you really kinda have to. that's why i prefer digital mixers with it built-in, rather than buying a 31-band or whatever per channel.
all this to say that it's probably not the IEM or speaker's "fault" that they sound different to you, but rather that they probably do sound different inherently, and switching between them without being able to EQ things to your liking could be causing the issue.
but you can solve this in most cases on the FM3 itself! you can use the Global Graphic EQs to adjust your Out 1 and Out 2 sends separately! there's no way to save and recall settings unfortunately, but it should be quick to jot down or take a quick picture and set the few sliders before different gigs.
also if your IEM send is coming from the band's mixer for the full mix, see if it has an EQ on the send. if not, it might be worth it to get even a boss EQ pedal and put it between the mixer and your IEM so you can do some basic EQ.
i know this reply went off track a bit, but not all speakers are "FRFR" which means Full range AND Flat response - that 2nd one is unique. not all Full Range speakers are also flat response. most IEMs are also not Flat Response. that means if you're used to the response/curve of one speaker, then suddenly change to another speaker or IEMs that have a different response/curve, it will sound... different
