FM3, the flawed but great sounding box

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laxu

Fractal Fanatic
For reference, I have used Axe-Fx units for more than a decade now, also own a Helix Floor and have owned the Quad Cortex (sold it due to not having as mature software as I'd like at the time of writing). I like the Helix a lot but bought a used FM3 because I wanted something smaller and more compact to use as a desktop/travel modeler and the HX Stomp is too limited for that. But lets get to the FM3.

I have always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Fractal because I love how they sound, I love all the things you can tweak, I love Axe-Edit/FM3-Edit but they are by far my least favorite hardware units out of all top tier modelers. While the 3rd gen units are better than the previous ones, they are still not great in this regard.

The display on the FM3 is not very good. It has bad black levels and bad off angle viewing, with significant color tints and IPS glow artifacts. By comparison Helix and QC are both better in this regard, with Helix having the overall best screen.

I don't like how limited the switching is. Sure, it's very configurable but I feel adding a FC controller or a MIDI controller makes all the difference for using it. The Quad Cortex has 10 switches in a unit that is smaller than this. Even ignoring the differences in how they implement things, the FM3 could fit 4 or 5 and would be a much better unit for it. I would like it better without a single footswitch than I do with this 3 button layout.

I would prefer if there were output LEDs as the input LEDs are useful. But you can just use the on screen level indicators for this but you can't see all your levels on one glance unless using the meters view. The "preset edited" light is practically useless because any change will cause it to light up.

Finally there is the button section. This is largely unchanged since the Axe-Fx Standard and has never been good. Putting buttons above and below the value wheel makes it easy to bump the wheel when reaching for Home or Edit. I find the nav buttons spaced a bit further apart than I'd like.

The user experience when used on the floor is not great due to the tiny fonts used everywhere. It's no wonder improving the Home view legibility is one of the more popular feature requests. I like the FM3 best when used as a desktop unit. The output volume control positions at the top are impossible to see when used in this position but are fine if a bit small when the FM3 is on the floor.

On the positive side, the headphone output is excellent, definitely best of all modelers I've used. I am not overly fond of the jack's placement as it's easy to forget which is guitar input and which is headphone output.

I also like the little handles on the FM3, makes it easy to lift and move around. I just wish they were slightly taller so you could loop a cable through there if needed.

Compared to my Axe-Fx 2 I have also rarely heard the fan in the FM3 which is nice.

User experience from the unit itself is clunky compared to both Helix and QC. It's a combination of a lot of small inconveniences and a couple of larger ones. To me the lack of a "go to previous block" feature is pretty annoying. Spamming Edit to cycle through them is just a crappy way to go if you want to move between say Amp and Cab blocks as you dial your tones. You have to make sure you are on the layout grid so you can use exit to go back and navigate to another block and the inconsistency of Enter making connections rather than opening a block for editing is a bit of a nuisance when every other view uses Enter to open an item.

I feel if Fractal took even a fraction of the effort they put into improving the modeling and invested that into improving the UI on the hardware they could make all kinds of small changes that would make it much more pleasant to use. The wish list forums for the 3rd gen units are full of good ideas that I hope they would implement. This is the area where Fractal is the most behind the competition and each generation brings the modeling and fx quality of the competitors closer.

Ultimately you will dodge most of the annoyances when using FM3-Edit which is just excellent but it's a real shame that the same company could produce an excellent computer editor and then this clunky hardware user experience. I would have disregarded Fractal years ago if they did not have Axe-Edit/FM3-Edit to fall back on.

This may seem like a very scathing review but it comes from a place of love. I still own Fractal units because they sound great, feel great to play and offer almost every feature a guitarist could ever want in a digital modeler. I can't fault them in that regard. I just hope that one day using them without the computer editor is a joy as well.
 
Higher priced Floor Modeler from Fractal is in the works.. Not exactly an Axe III on the floor with 12 switches, but it's obvious there are plenty of people willing to spend $1000+ --> $1500 range based on the line for the Quad Cortex. With the materials shortages in full effect from the global shutdown due to the pandemic, we might not see it materialize either way for awhile, but I can assure you the R&D has begun. I just don't see the FM3 keeping its users happy in trying to keep up with firmware ports over from the III- it just needs more power even if it was never designed to keep up with III. Probably won't have a touch screen, but a great dedicated app (designed by Fractal) available for our phones/tablet devices essentially like FracPad, but truly wireless.

"While the FM3 is still relatively early on in its product/development cycle and has been an overwhelming success; due to a global materials shortage we have begun work on it's successor to work around the general silicon shortages and to ensure a platform with the capabilities and functionalities our user base will embrace as the new standard in such a floor-based product niche. As such, we will continue to produce and offer the FM3 for purchase until our supply contracts have been fulfilled. As there are so many variables in play at the moment we will not comment on specific timelines."

- Armchair Speculator
 
I personally would not care if I had to reach into a deep bowl of cold oatmeal to adjust the knobs at the bottom of a modeler interface IF, AND ONLY IF it is the best sounding modeler on the planet. The sound, including playable articulation, is the ONLY thing that really matters to me.

But it does also make me happy (and thankful) that the Fractal product interfaces are quite a bit better than that. :cool:
 
No need to "fanboi" the OP. I thought he gave constructive criticism on the utilitarian user interface of the h/w itself. That is probably the most criticised aspect of Fractal devices by users who eventually chose a different modeler. It is very rare to read that someone thinks the Fractal devices sound worse. I think the sound superiority is pretty much decided and doesn't need much discussion.

I am personally also in the camp of users who rather have the best sounding device and live with user interface "shortcomings" or whatever you want to call it. That doesn't mean that I'm not hoping for future improvements in usability.
 
No need to "fanboi" the OP. I thought he gave constructive criticism on the utilitarian user interface of the h/w itself. That is probably the most criticised aspect of Fractal devices by users who eventually chose a different modeler. It is very rare to read that someone thinks the Fractal devices sound worse. I think the sound superiority is pretty much decided and doesn't need much discussion.

I am personally also in the camp of users who rather have the best sounding device and live with user interface "shortcomings" or whatever you want to call it. That doesn't mean that I'm not hoping for future improvements in usability.
Thanks! You got the gist of what I was trying to get across. I would not own Fractal units if I did not think they were good. In fact as I am typing this I am building another preset in FM3-Edit.

We all work around any shortcomings in our gear, I can think of something to complain about in every piece of gear I own but they are what they are and we live with it. With products that are software and hardware, the software part is something that can be updated and improved to not only sound better but also work better. Fractal has generally been very proactive at making their gear the best sounding thing on the market.

FM3's channels feature is awesome and makes building presets easier in some ways than on the Helix or QC. It's just that physically doing it from the hardware is more complicated and small tweaks here and there would go a long way in making that faster and easier.
 
"While the FM3 is still relatively early on in its product/development cycle and has been an overwhelming success; due to a global materials shortage we have begun work on it's successor to work around the general silicon shortages and to ensure a platform with the capabilities and functionalities our user base will embrace as the new standard in such a floor-based product niche. As such, we will continue to produce and offer the FM3 for purchase until our supply contracts have been fulfilled. As there are so many variables in play at the moment we will not comment on specific timelines."
Where is that quote from?
 
FM3's channels feature is awesome and makes building presets easier in some ways than on the Helix or QC. It's just that physically doing it from the hardware is more complicated and small tweaks here and there would go a long way in making that faster and easier.

This is the key for me. I would much rather build / edit using the editor. For me (both on AxeFX III and FM3), the workflow is (1) build the preset at home in my studio (2) at tech rehearsal, bring along the laptop and make tweaks as necessary (3) play the gig. I never have a spare moment at a show to make a change to my presets, so I just make quick notes after the set if there is something I want to adjust before the next gig. I use a dedicated preset for each song in our repertoire, so once I have played a few rehearsals and shows on them, they're dialed in.

It's all about the tone. A big high-res full color display might be interesting, but I don't need that at gigs. I just need to access the next song in the set list, and have control over the scenes / controllers for each preset.
 
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Ok... So you just made it up?

Careful with that because people will read it and take it at face value. ;)
I did! Yay me! ;)

Ain't that the truth! Sums up how news/current events are shared and often misconstrued these days... Like a game of telephone...
 
This is the key for me. I would much rather build / edit using the editor. For me (both on AxeFX III and FM3), the workflow is (1) build the preset at home in my studio (2) at tech rehearsal, bring along the laptop and make tweaks as necessary (3) play the gig. I never have a spare moment at a show to make a change to my presets, so I just make quick notes after the set if there is something I want to adjust before the next gig. I use a dedicated preset for each song in our repertoire, so once I have played a few rehearsals and shows on them, they're dialed in.

It's all about the tone. A big high-res full color display might be interesting, but I don't need that at gigs. I just need to access the next song in the set list, and have control over the scenes / controllers for each preset.
I do the same because that's most sensible way to go about it on Fractal units. While things like perform view make it easier to do quick adjustments from the device, I would love if the overall experience was great no matter what you use to edit your presets. Sometimes you don't have a computer to hook in and don't want to haul a laptop around for that so having good editing capability from the unit is something I would prefer.

For comparison, I have built all my Helix presets from the device itself and only connect it to my computer for firmware updates and IR uploads. I feel I am pretty quick at editing from the FM3 hardware but it does take more effort overall.
 
I feel if Fractal took even a fraction of the effort they put into improving the modeling and invested that into improving the UI on the hardware they could make all kinds of small changes that would make it much more pleasant to use. The wish list forums for the 3rd gen units are full of good ideas that I hope they would implement. This is the area where Fractal is the most behind the competition and each generation brings the modeling and fx quality of the competitors closer.
It is difficult for someone to put themselves out there, giving constructive criticism, so I applaud your willingness and efforts.
I own the AXE3 and FM3, and I'm a former AX8 owner and loyal customer.
The AXE3 and FM3 are the best sounding modelers in the world.
But Fractal seems, IMO, to give short shrift to usability improvements, compared to sound improvements.
The FM3 has sounded fantastic since it's introduction, and as a user and customer, I would rather see more effort placed on improving the usability (the interface, MIDI over USB, Virtual Capo, CPU usage, etc.) than on making the sound of the amps 2-3% better (the audience will never know) or introducing amps I'll never use. This goes for the AX3 as well. YMMV.
But I think Fractal has the opportunity to be BOTH the best sounding modeler AND the easiest/best to use.
If it wants to.
 
I agree with most of your constructive criticism. I hope after FM3 v4 is released and stable FA spends some time focusing on usability improvements. It’s a great sounding unit, but it would be nice to see some of the doable UI improvements be addressed. I’m definitely hoping for a better and more readable Home screen layout and a few other things mentioned!
 
First, I ALWAYS use S Axe edit\FM edit so most of the negatives do NOT apply for me. That said. Loved my Standard, Ultra, AxeFX1&2's etc. But when the FM3 came out, which I love and own, the first thing I thought was why make the LCDs so small?
I had a Liquid Foot Jr+ for a long time with my rack Fractal stuff and the LCDS were the perfect size-I mean the little ones under the switches.
That to me is a biggie-for me anyway. Old eyes I guess.
 
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