My thoughts returning to FM3 from FM9

Fat Dad

Fat Dad

Inspired
Disclaimer: This is completely all just my opinion and reflects my personal needs.

I'm sharing this for some perspective for folks that may be in the same boat as me. Sometimes we come to these forums, not necessarily for information, but for a nudge in a gear direction. I hope my experience might help someone out there now or in the future.

After a few months with my FM9, I decided to return to the FM3. As glorious as the FM9 is, I found myself not using the features it has over the FM3. Mainly the dual amps and dual cabs. I was pretty well versed in commanding the FM3, but I found myself a little uncomfortable dialing in dual amps, etc. I just wasn't getting it. That's on me, not on the product. Thus my signal chain looked basically identical to my FM3 presets.

The extra muscle for reverbs and delays on the FM9 was something I did use for recording, but ultimately 9/10 presets didn't need the extra power. I'm pretty much a wah, amp, cab, delay, reverb, looper guy.

The biggest factor that lead me back to the FM3 was portability. I'm on call 24/7/365. Occasionally, I'll need to stay in a hotel for work. I recently found myself almost pulling the trigger on a HX Stomp just for an overnight trip because the FM9 was too large to be convenient. I pulled myself together and didn't purchase the HX Stomp at that time, but I knew that was going to bother me from then forward.

Another aspect is that I generally stay locked in to 2-3 presets. I love the Mr. Floyd factory preset for playing along to fusiony backing tracks. I love the Plexi 100 factory preset for just rocking out at home. And I built an amazing preset for myself that pretty much approximates what I used to gig with. None of these presets teeter over 72% CPU.

I thought I'd miss the FM9 with the ease of switching and extra fire power, but I find that, with using the FM3 Only OMG9 layout from this forum, that I'm more than happy with the 3 buttons and 2 expression pedals.

TL;DR: I learned the hard way that portability and simplicity is how I roll and that the FM3 is the right Fractal product for me and my situation.
 
Nice. You lived the experience that I imagined in my head when I considered buying the FM9. The size of the FM3 is far more valuable that the FM9's extra power and switches, particularly for gigging. If the HX Stomp had as good of sound and features as the FM3, I'd use that instead. I'm all about downsizing and convenience. Glad you found your way back home :)

My bassist also got the FM9 and returned it almost immediately. The problem is that it's nearly twice the cost with only a tiny fraction of added benefit UNLESS the extra switches, I/O, dual amps, added CPU power, etc. are that important to you. But even then, are they really worth nearly double the cost? Or could you maybe plan your preset a bit more carefully and get by? That's for each person to decide lol.
 
You have to do what works for you! That’s why the FM3 exists… because some folks need it. If it’s your perfect rig, there’s no reason to use anything else.

For me, the FM9 is downsizing. My normal rig is the Axe FX III and a big RJM controller. But now I can put the FM9, a speaker, pedal, and cables into the Studio Slips bag and I’m trip-ready. I wouldn’t need anything smaller than that one bag. The FM9 is also the perfect backup to the Axe Fx III. But that’s me.

Fractal Audio has really nailed it with the options range. No compromise on tones, and a great fit for almost any player among the three units.
 
100% with ya, dude.

As as studio dork I'd love to have the FX-III and a dedicated rackmount rig, but for one-off gigs and especially international tours, I've found that having the FM3 and small power amp in a Pelican is absolutely the way to go for me. The whole rig barely tops 38 pounds and I don't think twice about checking it.

I share your thoughts on the HX Stomp, too. It's an incredible piece of gear and my friends are often surprised when I say that I'd happily use it as a backup if anything ever happened to my FM. I've actually turned a couple of guys onto it that wanted to get into modeling but weren't quite ready for the complexity and learning curve of the FAS stuff. So many great options out there.

At any rate, glad you settled on something that works for you!
 
I like reading this if only for decreasing my sometimes lament that it seems the FM3 isn’t getting the love it did as time moves on. I admit that very likely my perceptions are probably based on emotion and not fact. FAS has not shown any decrease in attention. I suppose it seems like much of the vids on YouTube are using the Axe FXIII or FM9 as time passes. Also, I’ve noticed a decrease in activity on the FM3 section of the forum. None of which really proves anything by itself. I suppose the immediate frustration having the FM9 announced about a month after I purchased my FM3 still lingers sometimes. Even though at that time I reasoned all the same logic as the OP. Also, the fact that the FM9 wasn’t going to be available for much longer made it easy to see things clearly. Also as I said before in posts the price of the FM9 is really outside the reasonable range for this old, not playing out very much guitar player.😎 The FM3 is a perfect sweet spot.

If I was to do anything it would be getting a FC6. Maybe?? As said FAS has really designed a smart product line to cover many bases for all of us.👍
 
Fm3 packs a lot of power into a ti y package and at a great price. If you play simpler patches, just need to change between 2 or 3 scenes, it does all you need and no point to have double the size, double the cost etc if your not taking advantage of it. Fm3 is way more portable than the fm9 by a good margin.
 
Fat Dad said:
Disclaimer: This is completely all just my opinion and reflects my personal needs.

I'm sharing this for some perspective for folks that may be in the same boat as me. Sometimes we come to these forums, not necessarily for information, but for a nudge in a gear direction. I hope my experience might help someone out there now or in the future.

After a few months with my FM9, I decided to return to the FM3. As glorious as the FM9 is, I found myself not using the features it has over the FM3. Mainly the dual amps and dual cabs. I was pretty well versed in commanding the FM3, but I found myself a little uncomfortable dialing in dual amps, etc. I just wasn't getting it. That's on me, not on the product. Thus my signal chain looked basically identical to my FM3 presets.

The extra muscle for reverbs and delays on the FM9 was something I did use for recording, but ultimately 9/10 presets didn't need the extra power. I'm pretty much a wah, amp, cab, delay, reverb, looper guy.

The biggest factor that lead me back to the FM3 was portability. I'm on call 24/7/365. Occasionally, I'll need to stay in a hotel for work. I recently found myself almost pulling the trigger on a HX Stomp just for an overnight trip because the FM9 was too large to be convenient. I pulled myself together and didn't purchase the HX Stomp at that time, but I knew that was going to bother me from then forward.

Another aspect is that I generally stay locked in to 2-3 presets. I love the Mr. Floyd factory preset for playing along to fusiony backing tracks. I love the Plexi 100 factory preset for just rocking out at home. And I built an amazing preset for myself that pretty much approximates what I used to gig with. None of these presets teeter over 72% CPU.

I thought I'd miss the FM9 with the ease of switching and extra fire power, but I find that, with using the FM3 Only OMG9 layout from this forum, that I'm more than happy with the 3 buttons and 2 expression pedals.

TL;DR: I learned the hard way that portability and simplicity is how I roll and that the FM3 is the right Fractal product for me and my situation.
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I did the exact same thing. Only I kept an FM3 throughout. It's just too damn good, too damn convenient, and too
damn the exact right size. For me. :)
 
Once I realized I prefer delays to reverbs, the whole topic of "not enough CPU in FM3" is off the table for me.
I almost never hit reds lately, and I get all the ambient I need by mixing chorus and delay in a parallel row. You can have both drives, both comps and m-comp with two ultra-res cabs in a preset once you've removed reverb. I mean how much more do you need?
And reading in the Wiki that Cliff gone through the cycle of using short IRs-long IRs-short IRs again makes me question my choice of IR length, which will allow having Reverb back if I ever need it.
I use cheap external midi controller at home, but for live it is just not needed once you start using one of the smart layouts.
 
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I totally get it. I'm selling my Axe FX III rig because I'm only using the FM3 now. Takes up less space, sounds great, and I really only go with a basic Marshall-y preset. I liked all the switching with my FC-12, but I'm really just digging the FM3 basic setup**.

**(I've got an FC-6 tucked away if I really need it lol)
 
I love my fm3 for the same reason. Added an airstep to cycle layouts, views, presets up and down as well as tuner/tab tempo. Would be great to have just a notch more cpu though to be able to add the virtual capo or pitch detuve without bad sound. I need to try the plexverb instead of a reverb as well. 👍
 
The layout and functionality of the FM9 is perfect but I'm getting ready to switch back to the FM3 with ME TT2 and Exp Pedal as my main rig.

That is all I need...for now. Most of our song list require a clean, rhythm, and lead with the occasional effect. There really isn't any need for complex presets at this time.

The FM9 and AX8 (still use it for gigs) will be on standby.
 
joakim_suarez said:
I love my fm3 for the same reason. Added an airstep to cycle layouts, views, presets up and down as well as tuner/tab tempo. Would be great to have just a notch more cpu though to be able to add the virtual capo or pitch detuve without bad sound. I need to try the plexverb instead of a reverb as well. 👍
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Yes and the tone match block as well... The only thing I sorely wish my FM3 had the capability to do... I want those album accurate tones hahah
 
I would like to upgrade to the Axe FX III someday but right now, just as the OP, the FM3 does everything I need and does it well.
 
Fat Dad said:
I hope my experience might help someone out there now or in the future.
Click to expand...
I think your post will help a lot people. Really shows everyone has individual needs and circumstances. I started out FM3/FC6 because I wanted the extra switches and knew using the FC6 via FasLink with OMG9 was a quick way to get what I needed. I didn't think I needed anything more... but then the turbo was announced and I start realizing I was pushing 80% on my main presets... So I got on the waitlist, got my FM9T and sold my OMG9 combo. Works perfect for my needs but I can easily understand that for many people the FM3 by itself will do the trick.
 
I only recently sold my FM3 because I had been using it as a portable unit while leaving my Axe-Fx 3 home. I've got another rig built around a pedalboard that handles those duties now so I felt the FM3 could go.

But after fw 6.0 CPU usage reductions I felt it required less "block Tetris" to fit what I want in a preset and would work for most of the presets I would want to build.

I don't really care for floor units so FM9 is totally out for me.
 
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