FM3 Firmware Version 5.03

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JamesI75 said:
Looks like the FM9 crew are getting 3.0 beta - guessing they'll get that ship-shape and out the door before shifting back to those of us who can fit our modeller on the desk where God intended it to be. Looking at their beta features list looks promising.
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Those guys have had to be more patient, and it’s important for the FM9 not to lag too much. I’m sure this will trickle down to the FM3. Plus what’s wrong with stable firmware?
 
Well its not so stable... 1 of 10 or more when tuner is switched up hold 2 button lead to ---, ---, --- on buttons lcd. Reboot fix this stuff. Its a big problem when you playing gig.
 
arbeitsnlet said:
Well its not so stable
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Same for me, unfortunately. Like I just booted up a device (didn't open tuner or anything, just booted the device and that's it), and switch 1 is showing the "hold" function label like when you press and hold it. Pressing the switch changes nothing, the button is "dead".
Switch 3 display shows what I expect it to show, but also doesn't react to my actions. Nothing I can do, including changing presets, helps.
The switch 2 works as expected :)
This happens on time out of 10 or so. Reboot helps, of course.

Most frustrating thing now is that the connection between the device and FM3-Edit is incredibly slow. It takes more than a second or two to update the GUI once you've pressed any switch. Switching scenes via FM3-Edit seems to work faster, but also with a noticeable delay in the display (no sound delays or delays on the device screen, no issues there). It also lags more, and freezes often - like you open the Volume leveling tool and leave it open for a while, switch to a browser of DAW, get back to FM3-edit after a while and it is not reacting to your actions any more (I know, not the FW issue per se, but maybe there is some dependency). Saving a preset also take much longer time than previous FWs.

I have clean FW5.03 install with all "reset" functions activated after the install, and fresh factory pack updated for 5.03.
 
Chromatizm said:
Most frustrating thing now is that the connection between the device and FM3-Edit is incredibly slow. It takes more than a second or two to update the GUI once you've pressed any switch. Switching scenes via FM3-Edit seems to work faster, but also with a noticeable delay in the display (no sound delays or delays on the device screen, no issues there). It also lags more, and freezes often - like you open the Volume leveling tool and leave it open for a while, switch to a browser of DAW, get back to FM3-edit after a while and it is not reacting to your actions any more (I know, not the FW issue per se, but maybe there is some dependency). Saving a preset also take much longer time than previous FWs.
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In my experience the biggest contributing factor to slowness in updating, backups, on the FM3 is the CPU utilization. Once it hits 80% the system is having to decide between servicing sound generation or updating the interface, so it prioritizes sound, until the situation is so bad that the system will become unmanageable, then it mutes and switches to servicing the interface so we can adjust the preset to fix the problem.

I don’t let my presets get above 75-78% to avoid the problem.

Switch to an empty preset prior to backups or restores and they run a bit faster.
 
JamesI75 said:
Looks like the FM9 crew are getting 3.0 beta - guessing they'll get that ship-shape and out the door before shifting back to those of us who can fit our modeller on the desk where God intended it to be. Looking at their beta features list looks promising.
Click to expand...
Yes, Matt announced it last week.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
I don’t let my presets get above 75-78% to avoid the problem.
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Tested on the factory preset AC-20 Deluxe (~70% CPU usage because of "ultra-high" reverb, 60% with "eco"). Scene "Trem", engaging Drive using the switch. It takes 8 (eight) second for FM3-Edit to display that DRV is on. It's the longest I've seen so far :)
Any suggestions?...

UPD. Switched between scenes and views for some time, switched between Reverb quality settings - now the changes is displayed within a couple of seconds, as it was before :) BUT if I turn on amp boost and/or saturation switch, time to display the change in DRV takes 4 seconds!
BiodegradableSeriousLacewing-size_restricted.gif
 
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Chromatizm said:
Tested on the factory preset AC-20 Deluxe (~70% CPU usage because of "ultra-high" reverb, 60% with "eco"). Scene "Trem", engaging Drive using the switch. It takes 8 (eight) second for FM3-Edit to display that DRV is on. It's the longest I've seen so far :)
Any suggestions?...

UPD. Switched between scenes and views for some time, switched between Reverb quality settings - now the changes is displayed within a couple of seconds, as it was before :) BUT if I turn on amp boost and/or saturation switch, time to display the change in DRV takes 4 seconds!
Click to expand...
Have you updated your factory presets to the current version? Which version of FM3-Edit and the firmware are you using? Are you on Windows or macOS? If you're on Windows, what version of the USB driver are you using?

I can't duplicate the problem using the #17 AC-20 Deluxe from the preset archive for June 3, 2022, on my FM3 running v5.03. That preset runs at 62-64% CPU with Reverb Quality at Economy. Enabling/disabling the Drive block from the front panel with the Amp block results in an update of the editor in ~0.5 seconds. Using the built-in OMG9 layout with my FC6 seems to be as fast. Switching the saturation and amp boost on and changing to ultra-high quality in the Reverb raised CPU to 73-75% and switching on/off bypass for the Drive hasn't changed the editor update speed at all.

I never run my Reverb above Economy because in a live situation the difference is impossible for me to hear. Even at my desk with good headphones on it's really hard to hear, to the point that after trying a couple of times I decided it wasn't worth raising the quality. The same is true with the Cab block, which I leave at Standard. The differences aren't significant enough for me, or anyone in the audience, to notice in the thick of a song.

How long is your USB cable? The spec says it's 5 meters if I remember right. Anything beyond that can cause problems. Have you tried a different USB cable? Is there other software running that'd be listening to or intercepting the USB, like a DAW?
PS - Are you using a USB hub? Unpowered hubs are trouble. I use a dedicated Thunderbolt (USB-C) powered hub for my Fractal units.
 
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Chromatizm said:
Tested on the factory preset AC-20 Deluxe (~70% CPU usage because of "ultra-high" reverb, 60% with "eco"). Scene "Trem", engaging Drive using the switch. It takes 8 (eight) second for FM3-Edit to display that DRV is on. It's the longest I've seen so far :)
Any suggestions?...

UPD. Switched between scenes and views for some time, switched between Reverb quality settings - now the changes is displayed within a couple of seconds, as it was before :) BUT if I turn on amp boost and/or saturation switch, time to display the change in DRV takes 4 seconds!
Click to expand...

The lag is pretty much normal. I see it all the time, but 8 seconds? Anyhow, the unit itself switches quickly, so not worth worrying about in my opinion. If you're playing while tweaking in the editor that's one thing. But at a jam or a live situation, you won't be using the editor to run things.
 
Chromatizm said:
Tested on the factory preset AC-20 Deluxe (~70% CPU usage because of "ultra-high" reverb, 60% with "eco"). Scene "Trem", engaging Drive using the switch. It takes 8 (eight) second for FM3-Edit to display that DRV is on. It's the longest I've seen so far :)
Any suggestions?...

UPD. Switched between scenes and views for some time, switched between Reverb quality settings - now the changes is displayed within a couple of seconds, as it was before :) BUT if I turn on amp boost and/or saturation switch, time to display the change in DRV takes 4 seconds!
BiodegradableSeriousLacewing-size_restricted.gif
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this happens to me as well if using Win 11 and other apps are running. Try it without other apps running in the background and see if that doesn't fix the problem.
 
Cliff’s comments on Thump and how it’s a must for his personal FRFR use…..really have me jonesin’ now I”ll tell ya.
Are we a beta for this anytime ?
 
RobbyDeeMusic said:
Do you have a link to view Cliff's comments?
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Probably this:

FractalAudio said:
Speaker Thump was a revelation after analyzing the Volterra kernels of guitar speakers driven near their power limits. I can't really say much more than that without giving away proprietary information.

For me it's a must when using FRFR. It evokes that feeling of standing in front of a cranked 4x12.
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Greg Ferguson said:
In my experience the biggest contributing factor to slowness in updating, backups, on the FM3 is the CPU utilization. Once it hits 80% the system is having to decide between servicing sound generation or updating the interface, so it prioritizes sound, until the situation is so bad that the system will become unmanageable, then it mutes and switches to servicing the interface so we can adjust the preset to fix the problem.

I don’t let my presets get above 75-78% to avoid the problem.

Switch to an empty preset prior to backups or restores and they run a bit faster.
Click to expand...
that's what I do every time
switch to empty preset, doing backup, update firmware
same when managing presets or IRs
 
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