FM3 Firmware Version 4.01

ben ifin said:
Just curious ..... re: a non-discontinued product ..... has there ever been a 10+ week gap between FW's in the last 4 or 5 years (?)

Its a quiet slow thread so just curious :)

Ben
Click to expand...
You can easily see the history here:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm3-firmware-updates.159952/

Two notable periods are from 1.06 to 2.00 and from 3.00 to 3.02.

I'm not sure what most people here are used to, but for most modelers I've had in the past there were only one or two FW updates in the entire lifecycle. I'm really impressed with how Fractal refines the product.

IMO, the FM3 has a lot of life left. I wouldn't worry regardless because there is always a healthy market for used Fractal gear and I highly doubt this reduced form factor will be abandoned, so any eventual replacement will be a knockout.

When it comes time to upgrade, I'll just sell mine to @la noise!!! :p
 
unix-guy said:
It has a lot in common, but there are differences: Output knobs in completely different places, different pedal jacks, different displays.

Not that I disagree about the future lifespan of the FM3 - it's going to be around for some time!
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Yeah there are some differences, but they're superficial and don't require changes in how the firmware is written (or the changes are trivial at best like with the pedal jacks).

The FM9 basically just has more of the things that are in the FM3.
 
rossipedia said:
Yeah there are some differences, but they're superficial and don't require changes in how the firmware is written (or the changes are trivial at best like with the pedal jacks).

The FM9 basically just has more of the things that are in the FM3.
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Sorry, but I still don't totally agree with that.

A key difference is the way different effects have different dedicated cores (or not).

This may be trivial or it may not, but we do not know as we don't have access to the code.

I didn't mention this before because your comment was about the physical architecture, but when we start talking about how that affects the firmware its a bigger thing.
 
unix-guy said:
Sorry, but I still don't totally agree with that.

A key difference is the way different effects have different dedicated cores (or not).

This may be trivial or it may not, but we do not know as we don't have access to the code.

I didn't mention this before because your comment was about the physical architecture, but when we start talking about how that affects the firmware its a bigger thing.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I’ll have to re-read up on the physical differences between the FM3 and the FM9.
 
rossipedia said:
Interesting. I’ll have to re-read up on the physical differences between the FM3 and the FM9.
Click to expand...
In regards to the cores:

Axe Fx III:
  • Dedicated CPU for Amp modeling
  • All other effects run on the other CPU
FM3:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling and Delays
  • All other effects run on the other core
FM9:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling
  • Dedicated core for Reverbs
  • Dedicated core for Delays
  • All other effects run on remaining core
 
unix-guy said:
In regards to the cores:

Axe Fx III:
  • Dedicated CPU for Amp modeling
  • All other effects run on the other CPU
FM3:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling and Delays
  • All other effects run on the other core
FM9:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling
  • Dedicated core for Reverbs
  • Dedicated core for Delays
  • All other effects run on remaining core
Click to expand...
Hmmm. I still maintain that those differences shouldn't (in theory) necessitate large differences in firmware, although there's a lot of unknowns here and only Fractal knows for sure.

Regardless, I'm still of the opinion that the FM3 won't be left behind. We're seeing a large gap because of:

  • FM9 just came out
  • Some decently large changes to the FX3 firmware that have to be ported.

We'll probably see new FM3 and FM9 firmwares drop close together. But who knows? Anticipation is half the fun (playing guitar being the other 90%).
 
fcs101 said:
You can easily see the history here:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm3-firmware-updates.159952/

Two notable periods are from 1.06 to 2.00 and from 3.00 to 3.02.

I'm not sure what most people here are used to, but for most modelers I've had in the past there were only one or two FW updates in the entire lifecycle. I'm really impressed with how Fractal refines the product.

IMO, the FM3 has a lot of life left. I wouldn't worry regardless because there is always a healthy market for used Fractal gear and I highly doubt this reduced form factor will be abandoned, so any eventual replacement will be a knockout.

When it comes time to upgrade, I'll just sell mine to @la noise!!! :p
Click to expand...

Haha! Soomeone could do a superb wet/dry/wet setup with 3 FM3s. :)
 
unix-guy said:
In regards to the cores:

Axe Fx III:
  • Dedicated CPU for Amp modeling
  • All other effects run on the other CPU
FM3:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling and Delays
  • All other effects run on the other core
FM9:
  • Dedicated core for Amp modeling
  • Dedicated core for Reverbs
  • Dedicated core for Delays
  • All other effects run on remaining core
Click to expand...
this is good outline Mr Unix, my guess is we'll see a FM3 mk-II that has similar core architecture to the FM9.
 
Chips constantly get smaller and cooler. While we'll eventually have the technology to do a much more powerful FM3, I'm not sure it'll happen during the FM3's lifetime (especially given the current worldwide silicon issues)
 
I definitely agree with a lot of the things said by everyone in regards to the FM3’s lifespan. I most definitely feel that it really hasn’t been that long since the last release considering the other things on FAS plate. They put a lot of effort into getting a big upgrade to the FM3 (Cygnus, etc.) stable prior to FM9. I too am blown away at the attention FAS pays to their products. Back in the day with high end gear and smaller companies it was unavailability of vital parts that determined EOL. Basically there are so many things that will determine the EOL. Market demand being the biggest thing. I’m pretty sure as long as the FM3 is still profitable for FAS they will adore it.😉 I know I will go on adoring it.

If nothing more once the newness of the FM9 dies down, the FM3 price point is still a big selling point. Especially if they could get it down to $999 again. I could afford the FM9, but at this point in my playing life I’m not looking to spend as much money on single pieces of gear anymore. Then with younger people where money might just be tighter the FM3 is a huge bang for the buck.
 
Holy cow! The answer's been right in front of us the whole time and we just didn't see it:

Cygnus = Swan
Add to that the fact that you make music or Songs on your FM3 and Fractal is telling us this is the Swan Song for the FM3!!!!

WARNING: There may be humor contained in this post (on the other hand...)
 
Hi, I'm a bit late on this, but a couple days ago I updated the firmware to 4.01 and I experienced two issues:

1.After I updated, the amp type changed on some of my presets. Specifically I had 3 presets that used Friedman BE C45 and in those presets, the type of the amp in the amp block changed to the Friedman BE V1 Fat. I think the BE C45 was in Type position 140 and has now been moved to 138 and now the Friedman BE V1 Fat is in position 140. Did anyone else notice this?

2. I'm pretty sure the unit's output levels are now much lower than before, something like 5 dB lower. I see this when looking at levels in Logic projects...when recording the same part using the same original FM3 preset (with the exception that I had to restore the original type of amp in the amp block). Did the global output levels of the FM3 change?

Thanks, Tim
 
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