FM3 Tone issue

[RubenSilva]

Hi Fractal community!

I'm am a fractal user for 3 years now, I had an Axe FX II, and last year I upgraded to an FM3.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to transfer all of my patches, and even the ones that I could are quite different from the Axe FX II. Different unit, different sound.
When I imported the patches I had to reset almost all the blocks, so every tweak was gone. (Maybe I did it wrong?)

I'm still convinced that I am doing something wrong and that the FM3 can achieve what I am looking for, so I'm asking for help!

I really find that my FM3 general sound is more aggressive and boxier than the AF2's.

My real problem is: I really think that it has something wrong. Even after setting up the unit to default settings and creating a new patch from scratch. The highs are very aggressive which is great for some aggressive songs from my band, but for the more ERRA-Drift/Polaris-like ones, it just doesn't work and I miss my AF2 for them.
I tried a lot of tweaks, and some ideas from G66, but I just can't achieve a smooth high-end. It's always aggressive.
I like having a lot of highs but I need them to be smooth.
Here is a playthrough from Polaris. I am using almost exactly the same guitar. Mayones Regius 7, 25,4", with BKP Ragnarok bridge and Juggernaut Neck exactly like Ryan Siew in this album, so I can't understand how I am not being able to get the same type of high-end.

Here are some clips, patches & photos of my settings. I apologise in advance by the poor tracking, but I played this thing like 500 times in two days and I am tired of it hahaha.
My old preset from AF2:
Double guitars
Single guitar

Transfered to FM3 preset:
Double guitars
Single guitar

Stock preset Brit JVM OD1 :
Double guitars
Single guitar

As we can hear, FM3 is more full, but way more aggressive too. The AF2 patch is quite bright, but sits well in the mix, and all my FM3 tries aren't quite satisfying. In the mix it sounds very agressive and the AF2 sounds right like I wanted to.
I find it to sound all over the place, not focused and controlled.

Maybe FM3 sounds much more like a real amp than AF2 and this is just how a real amp should sound...?
I remember that my old JVM410 had something in common with the FM3.

The problem also could come from the fact that in AF2, it was 2 separate cabs, and in the FM3 is 2 IR in the same cab. How could I emulate the old sound, which is not perfect I know, but is much more on the side that I am aiming for?

Could you please give me some advice, not to get the exact same sound but just to get this kind of high that I am looking for?
Sorry about being a noob! Learning how to dial this beast!

Thanks in advance! Have a nice day!

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to transfer all of my patches, and even the ones that I could are quite different from the Axe FX II. Different unit, different sound.
When I imported the patches I had to reset almost all the blocks, so every tweak was gone. (Maybe I did it wrong?)

Presets from the Axe-FX II are not compatible with the current generation modelers. While FracTool can "convert" them, it can't adjust the parameters so they generate the same sound. The parameter ranges have changed in many cases, and the "knobs" don't necessarily line up with where they'd be on the AF2, so ignore where the knob is turned to and, as Cliff says, use your ears to find the sound you want. In general, we don't even bother trying to transfer presets, we recreate them from scratch because so much has changed.

The FM3 lacks blocks that the AF2 had so they'll be silently discarded. In addition, some parameters have been dropped, combined, or split into multiple parameters as the firmware has been upgraded.

You don't say what you're using to monitor the sound. Is there any special EQ set there? I find my FM* and FX3 sound great with my FRFR cabs without any EQ adjustment besides the normal tone controls on the amp block. Some rooms affect the sound of the cabs so I will cut lows if the stage rattles.

Could you please give me some advice, not to get the exact same sound but just to get this kind of high that I am looking for?

I'd recommend starting at the beginning of the factory presets and auditioning their scenes at a loud volume; Typically it should be about 90 dB. Save the ones you like to a different preset slot, and continue listening. Once you've hit the end, switch to the first one you liked, click on the Amp block and examine the settings. Do the same with the Cab block and see what IRs they used as the cab block makes a huge difference. You can save blocks using the Block Library if you want to recall just the block for reuse later.

Resetting a block puts the controls back to their defaults, but again, those might not be the best sound so tweaking might be needed.

All in all, the current firmware on the FM3 is the best I've heard since it was introduced. Amps sound so much like their originals it is scary, so if the sound doesn't … uh … sound right something is configured incorrectly somewhere because the unit definitely has the potential to sound like a monster and be indistinguishable from the original.

 

[skolacki]

Try other IRs. Something more dark. The IR in Mikko’s GOT is excellent. Not really dark but nicely balanced. Increase proximity in the cab block. Lower the high freq in the amp block speaker curve. Adjust with your ears not values. If treble is low and sounds good who cares? Try the SV20 or Studio 20. Whatever it called, it’s a warm amp. Turn off the bright cap and re-gain highs elsewhere. Best luck!

 

[Randalljax]

Where are you setting your low cut
And high cut in the cab block ?

Are the just stock 0 20khz
Try low cut 75. High cut 10,000
See if that darkens and smoothes it out, if not go lower on the High cut
7000 or 8000

Next pick different model try a Feidman BE for instance

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Your FM3 preset is using cabs in your user space so we can't make any sort of valid judgement on its sound. I'd recommend finding suitable factory cabs and resave the preset.

 

[rite]

Check this video, may be helpful

 

[Fractur3d]

Check this video, may be helpful

I reference this guys videos.
helped me tremendously.

 

[Moke]

Just looking at them, there are some pretty important differences between the two presets. I would need the IR(s) to really see what's going on here. If I were being commissioned to work on this, I would do a Tone Match after tweaking by ear, to get it really close (if needed?)

• Axe-Fx II - Scene 1.. Two parallel Cab blocks with the same User Cab. One bypassed with it's bypass state set to 'Thru'. This will allow the un-cabbed signal through along with the cabbed tone. What scene(s) were you using?
• FM3 - One stereo cab block with two different IRs? The PEQ block is setup different (I assume to block some highs and lows?) Added GEQ block. no Delay or Reverb blocks

As these are, there is no way that they would sound similar.