One Amp Block or Two? - Fm3 or Fm9?

M

MauroDave

Member
Hi everyone,
I have a question to see if you can help me/give me advice.
I'm extremely undecided between fm3 and fm9 (only from a sound quality point of view, not for live use, I'll only need it in the studio).
I'll explain the doubt to you: I saw that on fm9 there is the possibility of a double amp block to use two amplifiers in parallel while on fm3 clearly not.
so this allows you to put effects only on the right amp for example.
Is there a big difference in signal quality? I used amplitube and line 6 systems and I must say that the presets undergo a notable change in quality and "fatter sound", useful for Gilmour, using two amplifiers or effects on just one amp.
is that so? or it's not a problem since there are two speakers in the cab block anyway in fm3?
thanks for the help
 
I'll explain the doubt to you: I saw that on fm9 there is the possibility of a double amp block to use two amplifiers in parallel while on fm3 clearly not. so this allows you to put effects only on the right amp for example.
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The FM9 allows dual amps, FM3 doesn't. But the FM3 up to 4 parallel effects paths so you can split the signal before or after an amp to have wet/dry situations if you want.

Is there a big difference in signal quality?
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No. Now...the FM9 includes an analog impedance circuit which can match the load of the first effect in your virtual chain. If you're a fuzz player, it's pretty critical. The FM9 also can run multiple reverbs and a few other things you can't in the FM3. But the raw amp/effect tones are the same from the FM3 up to the AxeIII.
 
Using two amps at once is a matter of personal preference. It's nice to have the option. That's how I played real amps for years, with stereo pedals in front of two identical amps. Many other players as you note use two simultaneous amps with different tonal or dynamic qualities to create rich blended tones. Metallica and Dweezil Zappa are two artists who use our products live in this way. Many others play just a single amp model into stereo effects, or multiple effect paths. This is also quite nice. These differences sum up the situation: the FM9 is more flexible, but the FM3 meets a lot of needs.
 
If you are using it for recording exclusively, you could always record your direct signal and re-amp it as many times as you want to create multiple amp tones from the same performance, although this would seem to me to be a bit of a pain in the butt - once you got your workflow and routing set up maybe it wouldn't be that bad.
 
If cost is no concern, get the FM9 for the flexibility. Heck, if cost is truly no concern, get the AXE III, especially if it's never leaving the studio.

With that said, the inverse is also true -- if you're worried about budget, you'll be able to do everything you need with an FM3. As Cainer mentioned above, you can set things up to record your direct signal, then re-amp as many times as you want to blend multiple amps.

I would also say that if you're doing this in a home studio environment and you're the one tracking the guitar parts, don't even worry about re-amping, just fully re-record the parts with a different amp to get that true double-tracked sound.
 
BigBabyBurrito said:
If cost is no concern, get the FM9 for the flexibility. Heck, if cost is truly no concern, get the AXE III, especially if it's never leaving the studio.

With that said, the inverse is also true -- if you're worried about budget, you'll be able to do everything you need with an FM3. As Cainer mentioned above, you can set things up to record your direct signal, then re-amp as many times as you want to blend multiple amps.

I would also say that if you're doing this in a home studio environment and you're the one tracking the guitar parts, don't even worry about re-amping, just fully re-record the parts with a different amp to get that true double-tracked sound.
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usually the cost isn't a problem but at 3k it starts to become one with ax fx 3 haha
I didn't explain myself well, it's true that he will always remain in the studio but I'm still a guitarist more than a recording studio so I won't take Cainer's intelligent solution into consideration.
I'm very undecided, fm3 is certainly already very powerful but as I was saying, experience with other digital systems makes me lean enormously towards the double amp. but perhaps fm3 is much more powerful and therefore sufficient....
or there is the saying that right is in the middle...so fm3 -fm9-axe fx 3.....lol
 
MauroDave said:
but I'm still a guitarist more than a recording studio so I won't take Cainer's intelligent solution into consideration.
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Yeah in that case, if you're trying to keep it as simple as possible from a recording perspective while still getting a dual-amp tone, then the FM9 is the best choice.
 
one other consideration might be if you are planning on using the reverbs in the unit or adding them in your DAW - the reverbs in the Axe stuff are great, but for maximum mixing flexibility sometimes you don't want reverb (or delay) baked into the recording. If you are planning on using the unit's reverbs, then maybe the extra processing power of the FM9 is a factor.

I don't think you can go wrong with either - plenty of great tones come out of just one amp!
 
I'm currently faced with the same decision. I have the FM3 with the FC-6 and a pedal... I love the form factor of the FM3 but the limitations really annoy me... I would love to have the Golden Plate, for example, or a second amp every now and then, but the Axe FX is just too big for me to take with me all the time... the FM9 is also huge. It would be okay on stage, but I'm more often at home in my small studio than on stage and I just don't know what to do with the huge things. The size of the FM3 is just more than perfect. I'm just curious, is the difference really clearly audible between the FM3 and the FM9 when used exclusively in the home studio with studio monitors? Is an upgrade worth it or is that actually nonsense
 
This is just me, but I've yet to find any dual amp tones that flip my beanie. (Dual amp meaning two amp blocks on at the same time, with different settings.)

However, pretty much all my presets have two amp blocks, so completely independent amp settings for each of 8 scenes, 4 channels from each amp block.

Love it.
 
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