FM3 Firmware Version 12.0

[DLC86]

 

[fcs101]

...
2. You are not forced to upgrade, you can stay on FW1 or 11 as long as you wish
...

FAS sent armed men to my house and forced me to upgrade against my will.

 

[Chromatizm]

FAS sent armed men to my house and forced me to upgrade against my will.

Nah, don't blame them, it was me

 

[JohnDoeJersey]

You didn't lose half the storage capacity of the unit. You lost half the storage capacity for IRs. Granted, it's a hassle to migrate them. I get it. But...

When Dyna-Cabs came out, The FM3 community wanted in on that. In a big way. But the FM3 was already four years old, and there was no way to fit in Dyna-Cabs without removing something else. Fortunately, almost no one actually uses even 100 IRs in their presets, so the count was reduced to 512 to make room for Dyna-Cabs, in order to meet customer demand.

Why not let users decide to give up factory IR banks instead? Because that's a support nightmare. Having multiple FM3s out there with multiple configurations? Yuck. And imagine a new user being asked to choose a configuration they know nothing about, and not understanding the ramifications of that choice. Or that new user wondering why the factory presets aren't all there.

I'm glad they added Dyna-Cabs to the FM3. They're a real improvement in IR workflow.

You obviously don't get it as you're not impacted by it. All those arguments are on the side of the casual users. There was no need to add yet another X new Dyna-Cabs. Because when you market a product as a professional tool, with a professional tool price tag, you don't disrupt your users workflow or waste their time by limiting their gear after-the-fact. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Unfortunately Fractal is no stranger to breaking things like they did with firmware 10 pushing users (and probably even casuals) to rework their presets so they wouldn't overload the CPU.

 

[fcs101]

You obviously don't get it as you're not impacted by it. All those arguments are on the side of the casual users. There was no need to add yet another X new Dyna-Cabs. Because when you market a product as a professional tool, with a professional tool price tag, you don't disrupt your users workflow or waste their time by limiting their gear after-the-fact. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Unfortunately Fractal is no stranger to breaking things like they did with firmware 10 pushing users (and probably even casuals) to rework their presets so they wouldn't overload the CPU.

We do get it. You're obviously upset and we see why. People are even sympathetic in the comments above. You however, are assuming that your opinion is all that matters. What if the reverse were true? What if when you bought the FM3 it was in the current configuration, then FAS decided to abandon DCs and offer more IRs? Products change, it's part of progress. It has nothing to do with being "professional" or not.

In the end you have lost nothing. Just don't upgrade.

 

[JohnDoeJersey]

You can store all your IRs on your computer and swap them at will.
If you’re playing live and not connected, I can’t imagine any situation where someone needs more than 512 IRs at any one time. Must be a sound guy’s biggest nightmare.

There's no convenient ways to do that since the cab management within the unit (and outside as well) is poor at best. Each cab slot has to be manually changed or assigned to each presets/scenes. The problem is not inherently in the number of slots is how the whole thing is managed.

 

[Necr0lancer]

I understand building a library of IRs you've probably purchased or created over the years, and wanting to use them. And the managing of said user cabs being cumbersome. But I'm having trouble visualizing what a professional workflow would be where losing 512 user cabs would be detrimental to the workflow. Genuinely curious. For the record, I am not a professional

 

[boyedav]

You obviously don't get it as you're not impacted by it. All those arguments are on the side of the casual users. There was no need to add yet another X new Dyna-Cabs. Because when you market a product as a professional tool, with a professional tool price tag, you don't disrupt your users workflow or waste their time by limiting their gear after-the-fact. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Unfortunately Fractal is no stranger to breaking things like they did with firmware 10 pushing users (and probably even casuals) to rework their presets so they wouldn't overload the CPU.

No one is forcing up to update. No one is "pushing" you to rework your presets. The firmware threads in particular are littered with posts from people who talk about the timing of their updates in relation to their gigs/work, so they avoid disruption. People who don't want the impact of updates simply don't install updates. That's what "professionals" do. I know an engineer who works for a major studio, and their critical audio systems aren't even on the internet. They roll updates and configuration changes through secondary systems that only get switched into prod after testing.

You said you were previously an AX8 and FX-II owner, yet you're somehow completely oblivious to FAS' cadence with updates and improvements? Riiiiiight. Seems like you're conveniently forgetting this but then proceeding with optional updates so that you can position yourself as a victim. Ever heard of a "martyr complex"?

 

[vangrieg]

The problem is not inherently in the number of slots is how the whole thing is managed.

Well, yes, the way presets and cabs are managed in Fractal devices is, to put it mildly, outdated and cumbersome and a pain to deal with.

This has always been the case though. And I believe it has been the reason to defer some updates for Fractal like including more Dynacabs and such - a lot of storage was taken by those hundreds of IR slots.

Is it a reason to never buy Fractal products in the future? That's a strange conclusion. If anything, better hardware may make cab/preset management better because of more CPU and more storage available for system processes like this (although of course it's not a guarantee). But as much as I dislike a lot of these things in Fractal devices (lackluster MIDI capabilities are a much more of a pet peeve of mine), there's not much in the market that can do the sound part as well as Fractal. So I can rant all I want but at the end of the day sound is more important anyway.

 

[skolacki]

FAS sent armed men to my house and forced me to upgrade against my will.

Those dirty bastards!!!

 

[TheUser]

To be fair, all of the "you don't have to update the firmware" people are ignoring the bug fixes. What if you like the way 11 sounds, and want to keep your huge IR library, but also need the tuner on heel down to work? Then you're stuck between eliminating half of your IRs or eliminating that handy feature. It's ok for people to be disappointed in the direction Fractal took. And it's OK for them to voice it on the forum. And it's OK for you to read it and say "yeah, I can see that" and then move on instead of trying to sell him on why it's not a big deal.

 

[guitardoc]

In FM3 Edit, under the Settings tab, execute the "Refresh After New Firmware". That's what Rex is referring to above. Didn't see a response from you so wasn't sure you understood.

RANFing worked. Thank you for the help.

 

[skolacki]

To be fair, all of the "you don't have to update the firmware" people are ignoring the bug fixes. What if you like the way 11 sounds, and want to keep your huge IR library, but also need the tuner on heel down to work? Then you're stuck between eliminating half of your IRs or eliminating that handy feature. It's ok for people to be disappointed in the direction Fractal took. And it's OK for them to voice it on the forum. And it's OK for you to read it and say "yeah, I can see that" and then move on instead of trying to sell him on why it's not a big deal.

It’s a legimate beef with the cab slots. It is pain in the ass to move and reassign cabs but it can be done. This is more about the way that message was delivered.

 

[Rex]

You obviously don't get it as you're not impacted by it.

Who told you that? I was impacted by it.

All those arguments are on the side of the casual users.

?

There was no need to add yet another X new Dyna-Cabs.

Maybe there was no need for it, but there was a huge customer demand for it. Pros and amateurs alike.


You realize you don’t have to keep all your IRs on the FM3 just so you can audition them, right? Auditioning tools in the editor allow you to audition cabs directly from the luxurious vastness of your computer’s storage. Where you’re not limited to 1024 IRs.

 

[fcs101]

To be fair, all of the "you don't have to update the firmware" people are ignoring the bug fixes. What if you like the way 11 sounds, and want to keep your huge IR library, but also need the tuner on heel down to work? Then you're stuck between eliminating half of your IRs or eliminating that handy feature. It's ok for people to be disappointed in the direction Fractal took. And it's OK for them to voice it on the forum. And it's OK for you to read it and say "yeah, I can see that" and then move on instead of trying to sell him on why it's not a big deal.

That is a fair assessment. However, you can't "have your cake and eat it too." Ultimately FAS is responsible for product improvement and there is just no way around this (at least not a feasible method that doesn't entail supporting an exponentially increasing number of configurations).

From what I can tell this update is well received (I personally use less than 50 user IRs). I'm not seeing a big outcry on the board about this. I've only seen a few posts referencing it's inconvenient to move the IRs around and update presets.

I'm just thankful for a company that continues to innovate the current product lineup and not launch cash grabbing new platforms because the natives are restless.

 

[Smilzo]

To be fair, all of the "you don't have to update the firmware" people are ignoring the bug fixes. What if you like the way 11 sounds, and want to keep your huge IR library, but also need the tuner on heel down to work? Then you're stuck between eliminating half of your IRs or eliminating that handy feature. It's ok for people to be disappointed in the direction Fractal took. And it's OK for them to voice it on the forum. And it's OK for you to read it and say "yeah, I can see that" and then move on instead of trying to sell him on why it's not a big deal.

It's okay to voice our opinions, in a polite and constructive way. Respect.

 

[Sergius9]

TBH, both positions are kina strange

I guess that's fair.... But any company that provides the continuous support, enhancements and updates to their products??? I'll buy what they're selling

I mean, the complaining about reducing the amount of User IRs is just laughable at a minimum! When was the last time (before modelers) anyone brought 300+ amps, 512+ cabs and an assortment of studio mics to a gig??

What's more... Per gig, who here uses more than:
A) 5 IRs
B) 10 IRs
C) More than 20 IRs
D) I just use 1 IR all night.

 

[Sergius9]

You obviously don't get it as you're not impacted by it. All those arguments are on the side of the casual users. There was no need to add yet another X new Dyna-Cabs. Because when you market a product as a professional tool, with a professional tool price tag, you don't disrupt your users workflow or waste their time by limiting their gear after-the-fact. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Unfortunately Fractal is no stranger to breaking things like they did with firmware 10 pushing users (and probably even casuals) to rework their presets so they wouldn't overload the CPU.

Tell that to Avid/Pro Tools people

 

[vangrieg]

But any company that provides the continuous support, enhancements and updates to their products??? I'll buy what they're selling

Well yes if what they’re selling meets your needs, otherwise continuous support may be worthless

I mean, if reverbs were never updated, not even once, and some resources were instead spent on midi and better preset/setlist management this would be a much better device for me personally. So it really depends on what exactly is being updated and supported.

On balance, despite the shortcomings, sometimes rather sad, Fractal offers the best modelers based on what I care about. But assuming that it will always be the case is a bit far fetched, IMO. Cause there’s no guarantee that those updates will always go in the direction I need.

 

[overture1922]

There's no convenient ways to do that since the cab management within the unit (and outside as well) is poor at best. Each cab slot has to be manually changed or assigned to each presets/scenes. The problem is not inherently in the number of slots is how the whole thing is managed.

Okay, it’ll be a PITA to update everything and change all your presets, and the system could be more effective—but at the end of the day, it’s still possible, right?