Please make an FX8 Mark 3 in the FM3 form factor. I'm begging you.

Yes. I really dig fractal effects. Don’t care about modeling. I like “I have one great clean sound and one great drive sound and I’ll stack drives and effects on top”. Which means the 1 million amps and cabs that are a significant part of a cost of the modeler I just bought are wasted. 4CM optimized FM9 please. I’ll wait…
 
I saw that Guthrie Govan is Using the FX8 series 1 this year and he said Nothing Else make more Sense for Touring
 
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this is why I'm selling my axefx 3 , it doesn't behave the same way with an amp as the fx8 does.

I have also noticed that the Axe-FX III is not quite as transparent as the FX8 when used with a tube amplifier. The FX8 is a unique product and is optimized for use with 4 cable method. The Axe-FX III is much more flexible, but I do hear a loss in high frequency when running it in front of an amp's input. I'm glad that I have both.

I would welcome a new FX only unit with the flexibility of the grid layout and improved processing power, but I don't think Fractal will make one.
 
I’d just like to see switching relays added to the FM3 for switching amp channels and pedals that support TR/TRS.
 
Interesting, @yek So the FM9 is not marketed as being 4cm optimized, but may in fact be on par with the FX8 given that it’s an offshoot of an offshoot of the FX8?

I’m on the waiting list, but falling back in love with FX8 at the moment.
 
Interesting, @yek So the FM9 is not marketed as being 4cm optimized, but may in fact be on par with the FX8 given that it’s an offshoot of an offshoot of the FX8?
The FX8 is wonderful gear. I still have mine. But compared to that, the FM9 ( (along with the FM3) has:

  • Better and cleaner I/O;
  • More and better effects;
  • Amp modeling, in case you want a really fancy Drive pedal. :cool:

And the FM3 has a lower price.
 
I have also noticed that the Axe-FX III is not quite as transparent as the FX8 when used with a tube amplifier. The FX8 is a unique product and is optimized for use with 4 cable method. The Axe-FX III is much more flexible, but I do hear a loss in high frequency when running it in front of an amp's input. I'm glad that I have both.

I would welcome a new FX only unit with the flexibility of the grid layout and improved processing power, but I don't think Fractal will make one.
The analog signal path in the Axe-Fx III is the same as the FX8.
 
I love my FX8.

I have one of the first runs of the FX8. I run it in front of a very modded DRRI. I use the/tweaked pre-set 'Deluxe Verb' for a Praise & Worship band. I have been told my tone sounds like angels singing. The reverbs in the FX8 are world class! & if you tweak around with the dives you can light a fire with a E.Johnson Strat or LesPaul C+++

It's dead silent, reliable & very flexible.

- I do want the FM3 for a USB/DR set up
 
So in terms of 4CM it seems Axe FX III, FM9 and FX8 all share essentially the same analog path, whereas the FM3 was not designed with 4CM in mind so may not have quite the same fidelity.

If I'm not interested in 4CM, and only running the FM3 for effects before my amp, does that change anything? Are they all on par in that case?
 
So in terms of 4CM it seems Axe FX III, FM9 and FX8 all share essentially the same analog path, whereas the FM3 was not designed with 4CM in mind so may not have quite the same fidelity.

If I'm not interested in 4CM, and only running the FM3 for effects before my amp, does that change anything? Are they all on par in that case?

Any confirmation on this @FractalAudio?
 
Any confirmation on this @FractalAudio?

Here is a direct copy+paste of an email I received from Fractal Audio Sales in June of this year:

Hi Daniel,

The Axe-Fx III is superb for a 4CM rig. In fact I think it is even be better than the FX8. It has two pairs of unity gain outputs optimized for unity gain applications and its effects have been upgraded considerably since you last used our products. In fact, I'd even suggest you give modeling a try again once you pick one up!

We currently have not announced any plans to release a new and improved version of the FX8. For about the same price, one can also get amp modeling and simply not use it. On that note, the FM3 and FM9 also have unity gain capabilities, but each has only one pair of outs for that capacity. 4CM is supported by both but I feel confident that the Axe-Fx is a better choice -- and also has the power to build presets of "dream rig" proportions.
 
I spent some time yesterday swapping between my FX8 and the FM3 with no blocks enabled (in the case of the FM3 just straight from Input 1 to Output 2.) The most obvious thing to me was the FM3 was a little noisier. I should say I was using passive single coils and basically sitting right in front of the amp (Carr Rambler), so noise levels were exaggerated a little. With the FX8, setting up the Intelligent Gate with settings of -60db threshold and ratio of 2.0, made it completely silent. With the FM3 I ended up having to drop the threshold to -55db and increase the ratio to 3.0 to get the same results. I was using the same cables (including a humbuster cable on the output) with both units.

The second, more questionable impression, was that I felt slightly more connected to my guitar when playing through the FX8. At times it seemed like a transient thing, whereby the FX8 was more immediate, at times I thought the FM3 sounded less bright. Wondering whether this was the impact of the FM3's noise gate settings I matched the FX8 gate settings again but it didn't seem to matter. There's every chance this was in my head though as I wasn't blind to which unit I was using. I also had to physically swap the cables around between comparisons so that didn't help. I don't think there should have been any volume difference between units as they had nothing in the signal chain, and the FM3 output 2 was maxed out.

I'd love to know if there is actually any reason why these two units would sound different in a basic setup placed before the amp. Typically the advantages of the FX8 over the FM3 are discussed in the context of 4CM - it's not clear to me whether their signal paths are otherwise the same. In saying that, aside from the noise, these were subtle, possibly imagined, differences.
 
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