FM3+ Could this be a thing?

frankencat

frankencat

Inspired
Based on the responses in the Beta 5 firmware thread it seems like there would be a market for something with a bit more horsepower in the same form factor. It may be something that has been discussed or thought about before but I was thinking we should have a discussion about the feasibility of such a product. Personally I am very happy with my FM3 and if I wanted more HO I would probably go for an AxeIII. The FM9 seems cool but I love the size and form of the FM3 so I am thinking the same unit with more grunt would be a good thing. What say you Fractalites?
 
It’s called the FM9 and I guaruntee that’ll be fractals response. I know it’s bigger and not the same formfactor exactly but I’d be of an assumption that other than the switches the case would be bigger for the added hardware as well even if it was still a 3 switch version. I’d say the demand so far seems to be 4-5 very vocal users and only 7 people on a actual wish list thread. Nothing globally stating for the market “let’s launch yet another project”
 
Or how about a switch out of the processors or an internal board upgrade inside the FM3 for more horsepower? Not sure what that would entail but sounds like a really good solution to me...:fearscream: Just unplug the existing board, bring in the new one, plug it in, load the firmware and Voila... done. $300 upgrade...I'm in.
 
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It's not cost effective to upgrade them because they were not designed or built to be upgradeable. The components are likely directly board mounted. The only way to change them is with a human technician experienced with reflowing surface mount stuff. It still takes effort and $time$ to do it that way. That's also assuming that newer faster hardware has come out that is pin compatible. It's also assuming the RAM and other supporting components wouldn't also need to be sped up.

Even if Fractal was able to swap out at the board level they'd probably need to be swapping out the entire mainboard which is probably 75% of the guts. Then what do they do with the old one?

It would have to be a net new design unless the DSP/CPU manufacturer released a fully identical processor that just clocked higher. And that net new design would have the same power and thermal limitations that the current packaging imposed on the current FM3.

This is a great deal more complicated than slapping together a PC from a newegg component order.
 
I don't know if that is true but to everything there is a solution. Anyway, let's consider this as such...if all things were possible what would this look like?
 
frankencat said:
Based on the responses in the Beta 5 firmware thread it seems like there would be a market for something with a bit more horsepower in the same form factor. It may be something that has been discussed or thought about before but I was thinking we should have a discussion about the feasibility of such a product. Personally I am very happy with my FM3 and if I wanted more HO I would probably go for an AxeIII. The FM9 seems cool but I love the size and form of the FM3 so I am thinking the same unit with more grunt would be a good thing. What say you Fractalites?
Click to expand...
+1
I love that idea. With me we are 8 in the wish list😄
 
I'm trying to recreate the sound of many guitarrists and I need more cpu power to insert more effects that they use,only in one presset (like in rral live). In the other hand, I found that is impossible to select a reverb High resolution o IR ultrares with a pitch block or other blocks that uses to much cpu, when you put other effects in one presset. And I love the dimensions of the FM3🙏
 
My wish: the FM3 with the power of the FX3. This would be the perfect product for me.

If that's not possible due hardware limitations, I would like an FM3 as powerful as it could be.
 
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Maybe an external solution with the USB output?. A little device with more RAM,CPU,..... to increase our FM3 limits?
 
You guys forget that they have a business to run, and periodic refreshes and upgrades keep the sales coming. They aren’t going to put all the eggs in one basket when they have multiple baskets to sell.

I’d bet almost anything there will be an FM3 Turbo or something equivalent that will come out in a year or so. Long enough to drag out as many sales on the current product as they can, and then it will be released. This is every successful manufacturer in the sales industry. If they came out with it now, FM9 sales could be affected. There are certain users for both, but distinct separation in the product capabilities help push someone into one or the other. As long as sales are steady they aren’t going to rush the next iteration. They know that a healthy majority of customers who brought previous products will then also buy the new one.
 
Or not, because when I bought my FM3 I read about it has the same CPU than the AX8, and people was complaining about
 
I keep seeing this same thing over and over... there are many who want the FM3 to be an AXEIII. Fractal has been VERY clear that this is not the case and will NOT be the case. The FM3 is a separate product built to a specific form and price point. For anyone to think that Fractal would create a $999 product that can do everything the flagship $2,300 product can do is foolish, ignorant and they simply don't understand business and product development. It's gotten old and the whining about the FM3 not being an AXEIII won't change anything.

Not calling anyone out specifically here, but many are guilty of this. :)
 
I started a wish thread about a quad-core FM3 PCB swap, and it was immediately shut-down LOL!

So many love the small form-factor but could use additional DSP (I think the FM9's CPU is a good compromise), so maybe Fractal will address this at some point with more likely a upgraded product, though for a small company just selling a replacement PCB and firmware along with a better fan would be an easy way to leverage the current hardware (ASSUMING that the additional heat would be able to be controlled in that small enclosure?).

Sign me up for either a FM3 Big Block Turbo or a PCB Upgrade...
 
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