FM3 VS Quad Cortex

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If you discount the paid YouTube product placement videos, it appears to me that the summary is -

Fractal modelling is still the best

Quad Cortex is good, but the effects need a lot of work

Quad Cortex has no computer editor

Quad Cortex has potential, that's what you're buying right now.

CPU speed/processing power - who the hell knows? I can easily write code to chew up all the processing power in the world and achieve nothing, the quality of the programming will dictate how the platform develops and only time will tell on that one. And there's a big difference between writing plugins and writing this (no disrespect intended)

Am I vaguely interested in the Quad? Yes, I love the form factor and the extra IO.

But as a AX8, III and now FM3 owner - happy where I am
 
peteri said:
If you discount the paid YouTube product placement videos, it appears to me that the summary is -

Fractal modelling is still the best

Quad Cortex is good, but the effects need a lot of work

Quad Cortex has no computer editor

Quad Cortex has potential, that's what you're buying right now.

CPU speed/processing power - who the hell knows? I can easily write code to chew up all the processing power in the world and achieve nothing, the quality of the programming will dictate how the platform develops and only time will tell on that one. And there's a big difference between writing plugins and writing this (no disrespect intended)

Am I vaguely interested in the Quad? Yes, I love the form factor and the extra IO.

But as a AX8, III and now FM3 owner - happy where I am
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Thank you so much for your input! Helps me out alot
 
FM3, because it is available now and with the latest firmware pretty stable. QC may be an option in a year or so, if the first kinks are put out.
Tone wise? I don’t know, I dig the FM3, but haven’t played a QC (obviously),
 
iamcaseydilla said:
Hey guys! I currently have an Axe FX III, but I am considering switching to something smaller so I can have a backpack/pedalboard style rig. I’m not sure what to do, I just want less bulk and great sound. I play prog metal.
Any suggestions?
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I’ve never been as happy with my sound as I have been with my FM3. I do have the QC on order but that happened long before I got the Fractal product. I think it will take a year before the QC will have its kinks worked out.
 
jetdriver1775 said:
I was tier 1 QC preorder and backed out. Maybe someday, but it’s gonna be a while. Fractal and the FM3 seem so much more mature, since they are building on over 10 years of development. Many probably think the touchscreen is cool, and it is to a point. I’ve had a Helix for almost 5 years. To me, now that I’m familiar with Fractal, the Helix and QC interface look almost dumbed down. Like duplo blocks compared to legos lol. I actually really prefer the AFX3/FM3 panel. As a pilot, I respect having dedicated buttons for things, and redundant ways to make things happen. Now I’m taking Cooper Carter’s master class and it becomes obvious how deeply thought out the Fractal product is. I’ve gotten very good at working from the FM3 front panel, and the FM3 Edit software is second to none.
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You can have a 12” touchscreen on the Axefx III and FM3. Just connect an iPad running the FracPad app. 😛
 
I love Neural's plugins, I've been using them for years, but they all have the same digital hiss in the 6k & above region. It can be a real hassle of smoothing it out in a mix. All of the videos I've watched of the QC also have that same digital hiss and that turns me off to the unit big time.

That's where I think the Fractal has a huge advantage.
 
When it comes down to the big 4 in amp modeling- eventually they are all gonna sound stellar in their own way.
People will end up using whatever one keeps them totally stoked year after year.
Every time you turn your rig on you should feel like a kid on Christmas morning.
These days there is no excuse for that not to be the case.
If the Quad Cortex or Kemper or even the HX Stomp seems like something that will do that for you- then you need to go for it.
 
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Rublalup said:
Fm3 is great. Amazing tones (amps and fx), great form factor, build like a tank, genius switch configuration, almost total control of parameter via modifiers, Astonishing depth for tweak the tone.... $600 less than a quad cortex.

I don’t think is posible for the quad to sound better than fm3. But if you want/need the captures, the increased cpu and more physical switches AND are willing to pay 60% more than and fm3 for it, I’m sure it will solve you’re need to amplify a guitar signal.
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Hi, the price comparison isn't correct. to make them comparable you would have to add the FC6 since the quad has more buttons and my impression is that most users have added buttons in some way to their fm3.
 
Harm said:
Hi, the price comparison isn't correct. to make them comparable you would have to add the FC6 since the quad has more buttons and my impression is that most users have added buttons in some way to their fm3.
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So if I’m comparing a quad to a Helix I will have to add the cost of 1 extra footswitch and an expression pedal?

IMO every product has a concept. I don’t want more switches for my fm3, but if I had a Quad Cortex I would use all the ones available. But it would cost me 60% more.

Off course that depending on your needs and situation you will have to adjust the equation of value... it’s just that you can’t generalize that to compare prices.

I believe a lot of fm3/qc actual/potential buyers are gonna use them as desktop units... what’s the value for the footswitches for them? In that case a boss core would be the better value?
 
peteri said:
If you discount the paid YouTube product placement videos, it appears to me that the summary is -

Fractal modelling is still the best

Quad Cortex is good, but the effects need a lot of work

Quad Cortex has no computer editor

Quad Cortex has potential, that's what you're buying right now.

CPU speed/processing power - who the hell knows? I can easily write code to chew up all the processing power in the world and achieve nothing, the quality of the programming will dictate how the platform develops and only time will tell on that one. And there's a big difference between writing plugins and writing this (no disrespect intended)

Am I vaguely interested in the Quad? Yes, I love the form factor and the extra IO.

But as a AX8, III and now FM3 owner - happy where I am
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This is spot on, I remember when I jumped on the Atomic Amplifire preorder and how excited I was because of the marketing. Only to be disappointed when I got the unit and it lacked a solid editor and limited effects. I jumped ship very quickly and went back to my Fractal gear, fortunately I didn't sell any of my gear to buy the Atomic but some don't have that option. Fool me once shame on you Fool me twice shame on me.

If you want a portable rig the Ax8 or FM3 is the way to go.
 
The concept and marketing of the QC seems to have shifted from being a modeler with additional profiling capability to an amp profiler with additional modeling capability. Not my cup of tea at all. But I guess it's much easier for them to add new amp models as profiles than as component level models. Also - and this is highly subjective and even a little bit silly - their ever growing horde of "playthrough video - look at my amazing studio setup (PC with Neural plug-ins) and skills (single string morse-code riffs)" fanboys kind of ruined the brand's reputation for me.

I ditched my QC Tier 1 preorder a couple of months ago (when they announced the second delay) and am very excited to finally get an FM3 this month.
 
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adamdevo said:
It comes down to tone. FM3 sounds more like a real amp than the Neural plugins. They sound way too polished and unnatural. Almost like a studio ready tone that has been post EQ'd
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Yeah what he said, QC is way more like a toy and the FM3 with the Austin Buddy Gold pack has been the Bomb for my metal tone and everything in-between. QC does sound big but in a fake way to me, and hard to get them to sit naturally in my mixes
 
Are the QC even out in the wild yet? Until they are I don't think anyone can answer that question for you.

I will say the UI looks awesome. Touch screen plus knobs is brilliant. There's loads of power. And there's 8 footswitches on board which is killer for that size. But who knows what it sounds like and what issues there may be if any?

If you have the cash, get on the wait list for the QC and buy an FM3, then sell what you don't like. If you don't have the cash, start with the FM3, and see if it does what you need as it's way cheaper.
 
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