FM3 Firmware Version 4.00 beta 1

As others have said, this is a game changing upgrade. Not because it sounds infinitely better, but because it feels better, thumps better, and is much easier to dial in. I had a kitchen sink preset with the Band Commander, Deluxe Reverb, D30 EF86, and SLO Lead models dialed up in no time and was able to create duplicate patches for 3 very different guitars making minor tweaks to main controls and swapping out a couple IRs. Sounds fantastic. As a bonus, I was able to add a rotary block to the preset that was overloading my CPU in Ares. This process would have taken considerably longer with past firmwares. Thanks as always, Fractal, for the best tone and customer service in the industry. This is an incredible free update!
 
Day 2

Sounds really really good through a 4x12 cabinet with the Ritter SHP.

Once the Out2 volume is sorted, I’m good to go.
 
badmagick said:
Let me know if you figure it out. My Out 2 is also much quieter than it used to be. I forget which FW that this started for me, but I had hoped it would be straightened out. I use out 2 for my frfr powered cabs and the xlr out 1 for FOH. I noticed needing to turn out 2 up more to hear myself during a gig. And now with this FW it’s even more quiet.

wondering if I’m missing something...

Edit:
I didn’t see Matt’s post that they are already working on a fix before posting. I’ll stand by for the fix. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yup. Definitely an issue for me last night playing with the band. Couldn't get enough
volume out of OUT 2 to even keep up with the drummer.
 
Just did a gig on 4.0! The tone is incredible , Friedman BE 2010 was full, rich and tight. Remarkable!
Possible bug:
Output 2 has dropped in volume as before, my output 2 knob has been at 12:00 , today it went to max and i had to use output 2 global eq gain up to get the volume where it was before.
 
BAKE said:
Just did a gig on 4.0! The tone is incredible , Friedman BE 2010 was full, rich and tight. Remarkable!
Possible bug:
Output 2 has dropped in volume as before, my output 2 knob has been at 12:00 , today it went to max and i had to use output 2 global eq gain up to get the volume where it was before.
Click to expand...
M@ had said they were aware and are already working on the Out2 issue. I imagine that fix will come pretty quick.
 
Deadpool_25 said:
Thinking about re-exploring the factory presets. Since the new factory presets aren’t out yet, should I just reset the amp channel(s) on each preset? Any other considerations to keep in mind?
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There's more that changed than just the amp block in the Cygnus factory presets. At a minimum the drive, amp, reverb and cab blocks changed between Ares and Cygnus so those should be accounted for.

My tactic is to import the updated Bank A presets for the AF3 that I'm interested in. Even for presets that don't fit the FM3 grid or CPU, I can still import them then copy the matching blocks and paste them into the original FM3 factory blocks. Cygnus is supposed to be more efficient so we should be able to copy in the equivalent blocks.

The editor mangles the AF3 layout because the AF3 versions have more columns, but I'm sure you're like me, and have run into it before and found that it's not hard to unwind or adjust if we want the whole preset. That's even faster than copying each block individually.

Some time later...

I did this with the Factory 000 and 001 presets, "59" and "65" Bassguy respectively. There's a little difference in the sound between the new hotness AF3 presets and the older, less-hotness FM3 presets. The AF3 versions have Flanger and PlexDelay blocks that aren't in the FM3 due to CPU requirements, and the AF3 versions use more columns so the Editor moved the blocks, but it was an easy tweak.

The scenes are different too so there are some where recreating the FM3 scenes might need to happen; This goes back to the often-repeated request to be able to copy scenes between presets; I know why we don't have it but I think it's within the Editor's ability. C'est la vie.
 
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Dirty145 said:
Due to the volume loss on out2, is it technically incorrect to run output 1L to FOH and output 1R to my FRFR?
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You can do that. The manual is your friend and has some recommendations for various output scenarios. Look at pages 28 and 32. Make sure you're using a mono output so both outputs are identical; see page 6.
 
BUG in GEQ Block - Block library - Channel BCD?

In GEQ block I have a couple of own settings, in Block Library.
I Choose between them in Channel A , the settings change as supposed.
Then in same preset / GEQ Block Channel BCD it remains flattened EQ when choosing from Block library
 
EMG81Sweden said:
BUG in GEQ Block - Block library - Channel BCD?

In GEQ block I have a couple of own settings, in Block Library.
I Choose between them in Channel A , the settings change as supposed.
Then in same preset / GEQ Block Channel BCD it remains flattened EQ when choosing from Block library
Click to expand...

All channels of the GEQ blocks are recalling correctly from the block library on my unit without issue. Note - recalling a block library preset applies to all channels of the block, not just the active channel. So perhaps in your saved block you've saved it with channel B, C, and D as flat?
 
May have found a bug that’s causing a warbling sound even with no effects or blocks on
I’m using the fm3 for delay and reverb in the effects loop of my be 50
 
So just got around to playing more. AB’s Marshall’s sound great as expected. Built a recto from scratch that I love, but going back and trying other ones, I didn’t feel the need to reset any amps. They all sound more vibrant in the best way possible.
 
pepsifan said:
[...]

View attachment 83679
Click to expand...
I was looking at this wondering what affect all the shunts and the Feedback blocks were having on the CPU usage. This preset runs somewhere around 68%-71.4%.

As an experiment I recreated the layout, then optimized twice.

By compressing the first and second rows and removing the Feedback blocks, the CPU dropped to 64-ish%...

Screen Shot 2021-05-23 at 3.17.56 PM.png

By breaking the connector between OUT2 and In 2 and removing the shunts it dropped to 63-ish%...

Screen Shot 2021-05-23 at 3.18.20 PM.png

I can't say whether the last form will do what is desired, but I think it will.

On the FX3 I don't care as much about CPU usage because I've never put it into the red, but on the FM3 I see it periodically, sometimes by just adding the Feedback blocks.

Back to the normally scheduled program....
 
philipacamaniac said:
All channels of the GEQ blocks are recalling correctly from the block library on my unit without issue. Note - recalling a block library preset applies to all channels of the block, not just the active channel. So perhaps in your saved block you've saved it with channel B, C, and D as flat?
Click to expand...
Thanks, had a misconception at all channels vs separate in the block.
 
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