FM3 DSP Help

Casimir

Inspired
Hello all,

I am way back on the FM9 wait list, so I was thinking of purchasing an FM3 and having it replace the amp/wet effects on my board. I am curious if the FM3 has enough DSP to do what I am wanting it to do.

Anyone that currently owns an FM3, can you let me know if it can handle the following?

1 AMP
1 CAB
2 Delays
1 Reverb (Ultra high quality?)
1 Plex Delay
1 Stereo effects loop

If it can do that, as icing on the cake, is there enough DSP for either a trem or a chorus?

Thanks,
- Nolan
 
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Just barely. (series effects loop doesn't substantially change it). Warnings start happening at 80%.

It'll also depend on which versions of each block...some take more DSP than others. This is just with dragging each one in with whatever each's defaults were apart from ultra-high reverb, so it would be very easy to go over the limit. No, I have no idea why it chose that amp model. This was 1 standard-res IR. I believe the delays were both digital mono.

So....I wouldn't count on it if that's going to be a deal breaker.
 
Thank you marsonic, that is really helpful for my purchasing decision!

Well....don't necessarily rule it out because of that. I'm kind of impressed with what it manages to put up with.

You could, possibly, replace the pair of delays with a multi-delay. The qualities of reverb may not be a big deal, depending on exactly how much of it you're going to use. If you're not going to use it all on at once, you might do better breaking things off into different presets if you can figure out where you don't need gapless switching. Etc..

It does seem a little light on DSP. I kind of bought it just because I didn't want to spend 3x as much on a rack and separate controller just to try out Fractal. I do kind of miss not being able to use 2 amps/cabs in parallel, and I don't like that it won't change input impedance, so there's no reason to use fuzz or a treble booster.....but at least for my meager needs...it works great apart from those 2 relatively small things.
 
The FM9 seems the perfect solution to me, but it might be a year until I can get one. I think the FM3 would be a good way to get my feet wet before I sell my entire board. Also, good point regarding the presets. I probably won’t need all those effects every song, so I could pick and choose as needed. I can probably also decrease the reverb quality as well if I want to throw in another effect or cab.

On a separate note, it would be kinda cool if there was a page that displayed the "cost" of each effect on default settings, so people could get a ballpark of what it can handle. It is kinda scary pulling the trigger on a unit if you don't know if it will replace all the pedals you are selling. So for that reason that you greatly for looking setting up that demo for me.
 
Ultra-High quality on the Reverb uses a LOT of CPU, and it may not be even worth the quality difference. many of us use Economy (the lowest setting) and it still sounds great. "Economy" is Fractal's lowest setting, not necessarily "the worst reverb you've ever heard."

On a separate note, it would be kinda cool if there was a page that displayed the "cost" of each effect on default settings, so people could get a ballpark of what it can handle. It is kinda scary pulling the trigger on a unit if you don't know if it will replace all the pedals you are selling. So for that reason that you greatly for looking setting up that demo for me.
i used to make a Spreadsheet like that for each firmware update, but only 5 people looked at it per month and it takes hours to update, so i stopped. :)
 
The FM9 seems the perfect solution to me, but it might be a year until I can get one. I think the FM3 would be a good way to get my feet wet before I sell my entire board. Also, good point regarding the presets. I probably won’t need all those effects every song, so I could pick and choose as needed. I can probably also decrease the reverb quality as well if I want to throw in another effect or cab.

On a separate note, it would be kinda cool if there was a page that displayed the "cost" of each effect on default settings, so people could get a ballpark of what it can handle. It is kinda scary pulling the trigger on a unit if you don't know if it will replace all the pedals you are selling. So for that reason that you greatly for looking setting up that demo for me.
That would be cool. I'm under the impression that they don't do that largely because it can be unpredictable based on settings.

I'm very much a "kitchen sink preset" kind of person....I have no desire for song-specific presets and literally just use one. But, it works out just fine because my "effects" needs are pretty meager. It sits around 70% with no real issues, and I just control the bypass states with control switches tied to the foot switches. I would do it differently if I were more into effects, but my desire to try fractal came 95%+ from wanting to play NMV amps at reasonable volumes plus realizing that I was considering spending quite a lot of money on pedals that are very, very situational. And...it worked out. The amps sound as good as anything I've used, at least once you take into account the volume I want to play at.

If I needed to use song-specific presets, I would. But, I haven't needed to yet. That's a rabbit hole I'm not quite ready to go down.

Also, yes....I use economy reverb and it sounds fine. But, take that with a grain of salt. I don't actually like reverb unless it literally comes from the room or a send in a DAW.
 
This with Reverb on economic mode, (it's a commercial Marco Fanton patch I optimised for my use; but not available, or check 122 - MF EURO patch in bank A), thereunder also the version I use myself with a looper.
CAB on UltraRes, comp on optical, delays 2290, plexdelay on Plex Verb, chorus 4 voice analog, boost pedals in the amp used instead of distortion block : so quite heavily optimized
It's running up to 86.2% of CPU but 'till now never blocked with Reverb density at 6 (lowering to 4 : 82.7%).
Taking into account future updates and if the bigger format doesn't bother you, IMHO you'd be better of with an FM9 if you want to add some compression, eq, a multiband compressor and some distortion pedals or other effects.

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Oops, didn't see you just ordered; howbeit, FM3 is fantastic (one year at home and lately with a band again now and totally satisfied). If somehow it's too short for your needs, you always can resell and get yourself an FM9 when it will be more readily available.
 
Ya, my plan is to use the FM3 until I get my FM9 invite, and then sell it with the rest of my pedals. I will sell my reverbs and delays, but I am keeping my drives, octave, and Morningstar controller for now, but I think the FM9 upgrade to double the DSP will be worth it for exactly those things you mentioned. I think for now, I might be able to get away with some of the EQ and subtle compression parameters in the amp like speaker compression if I don't have the DSP to add blocks for them. I'm sure there is software out there to imprint an EQ into an IR as well.

It seems like a pretty low risk buy, as FM3s are still selling at about the same price used as new currently, and if they ever run out of stock, they could sell for more. It will probably be good to test the FM3 out as well before I blow up my whole board to buy the FM9.
 
Yeah. There's also a dynamics tab on the amp block, which actually does things that the normal comp block can't. Plus the speaker compression, though it's apparently mostly there to simulate how speakers compress as the voice coils heat up.

Going the other way and building an EQ curve similar to a speaker impulse response might actually be lower DSP...I'm not sure. I haven't run into problems.
 
Here is one of my presets without using any external pedals and it runs at 75% of the CPU. I spend most of my time playing in church which has high demands on reverb and delay and this does everything I need. You can't go wrong with getting an FM3.

Compressor
Pitch
Drive (Covers stage 2 and lead Scenes)
Amp (Clean and Stage 1 using the preamp input boost which is a hidden gem) 1639574948301.png
Cab (two cabs in stereo)
Reverb (Economy)
Delay x2
Chorus

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Sounds like economy reverb may be the way to go. I asked about ultra-high quality mostly out of curiosity. I attached my current pedalbaord, and what I am planning with the FM3. Essentially, I would just sell the top row of my current board. When I get the FM9 I will then sell the rest. It sounds like if I wanted to only replace the pedals on the top row, I could theoretically do that in ultra-high quality and still run into my real amp. I love that now I will have the flexibility to show up without my amp now, and I could also add other effects that I currently don't have by using the economy reverb. I should have a lot of options.

I play at church as well, so that is why I have so many reverbs and delays haha. I am impressed Jeremiah was able to fit a pitch block in there with everything else. That is a lot of good stuff in one preset.

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Ya, my plan is to use the FM3 until I get my FM9 invite, and then sell it with the rest of my pedals. I will sell my reverbs and delays, but I am keeping my drives, octave, and Morningstar controller for now, but I think the FM9 upgrade to double the DSP will be worth it for exactly those things you mentioned. I think for now, I might be able to get away with some of the EQ and subtle compression parameters in the amp like speaker compression if I don't have the DSP to add blocks for them. I'm sure there is software out there to imprint an EQ into an IR as well.

It seems like a pretty low risk buy, as FM3s are still selling at about the same price used as new currently, and if they ever run out of stock, they could sell for more. It will probably be good to test the FM3 out as well before I blow up my whole board to buy the FM9.
History (12 years here) would seem to say that the resale value will always be OK for quite a while now. I agree with that. When I use to try and sell old gear I figured 60% of new as price. NOT so with the Fractal stuff. especially FM3 and newer stuff.
Good plan!
 
Just my two cents: Reverb on ultra high (at least for playing live) is really not necessary ..
Eco or normal is (for me) really enough! ...
I'm going a step further.
If need more CPU I remove reverb completely and do use Plex delay or other stuff.
Live I use barely reverb.
When recording, you can add reverb with plugins later.
Also better for more flexibility.
 
Ordered my1st Fractal unit, FM3
I am on the FM9 waitlist, but after todays email, who knows when next year it’ll come in, maybe 1st qtr, but who knows
But agree it’s a GREAT way to get feet wet into the Fractal universe….Im Excited !!!! By the time I get my invite I’ll decide then if I keep the 3 or sell to take on the 9
 
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