Seeking advice from those who've switched from the full Axe-Fx III to the FM3 (or use both)

Ugly Bunny

Ugly Bunny

Power User
I finally got my invite the other day and pulled the trigger.

It's hard to know exactly how this will be incorporated in my gigging/rehearsal life until I know how powerful it is/isn't. I use a kitchen sink preset that takes about 75% CPU on the III. I'm curious how that will translate to the FM3. I was initially reluctant to order the FM3 because of the comparative power downgrade, but I went for it anyway.

Making multiple presets isn't beyond the realm of possibilities, though, but I'd prefer to keep it all in one and just use scenes. I could arrange them just as I do with scenes, I suppose. I'm not too worried about gaps between presets.

Maybe this could be my chance to get my toes wet making a new preset for each song! I've always wanted to, but I'm reluctant because of the potential tone/volume disparities.


Anyway, I'd just like to pick the brains of anyone who has both and how you're incorporating the FM3 into your rig (replacing your rig?) and how you're coping with/adjusting to the lesser power. I do periodically use my HX Stomp at rehearsals, so I'm not a total stranger to the reduced power and minimal footswitches, but it's still a concern.

Thanks!
 
Haven't got one yet, but I'd say don't go selling your III until you know the FM3 will work for you..... Did that with my II for the AX8, and then had to go and rebuy the II, so all said and done it cost me a lot of time and money to end up right where I was at LOL
 
lqdsnddist said:
Haven't got one yet, but I'd say don't go selling your III until you know the FM3 will work for you..... Did that with my II for the AX8, and then had to go and rebuy the II, so all said and done it cost me a lot of time and money to end up right where I was at LOL
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Haha yeah, I don't plan on selling my III anytime soon. Just really trying have a smaller rig to carry around but with the tone of my current rig. I'm also the keyboardist so I've got too much gear to lug around already lol!
 
I've got both. No worries with the III.

Just my experience so far with the FM3; FW1.03 was good as far as CPU. Kitchen sink preset? I don't know, probably not but for a grab and go meat & potatoes rig it'll be more than adequate. FW 1.04 beta 07 is not ready yet. Tuner has a few hiccups regarding the display and many of the factory presets are currently overloading the processor.

When I first received it I had issues right away with white screen and USB not working so 4 days in it had to go back. I must admit, I'm having some doubts about this unit. So much so I purchased the extended warranty.
 
I just sold my AxeFX III. But I definitely cannot make a kitchen sink preset on the FM3. A maxed out preset (84%) on the FM3 uses about 50% cpu on the AxeFX III. If you are at 75% on the AxeFX III you are going to have to make some choices.

I don’t need both so I decided to sell the III and will use multiple presets. I tend to make per-song presets anyway so the FM3 works for me as long as I only put what I need in the preset.
 
Has anyone checked the CPU improvements referred to in the release notes for the most recent beta? Wondering how significant they are percentage-wise.
 
I think the III has made me lazy in terms of block usage. I cut a couple blocks out of my kitchen sink preset the other day just by utilizing scenes and channels more efficiently.

I think I could maybe have 2 main presets that wouldn't overtax the CPU. A lot of it is one scene that, in itself (and rarely used, BTW) uses an extra drive block and TWO delays. I think I could tighten that up significantly.

I appreciate people's input here - keep it coming!
 
decreebass said:
I think the III has made me lazy in terms of block usage. I cut a couple blocks out of my kitchen sink preset the other day just by utilizing scenes and channels more efficiently.
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Bingo. Exactly my experience. I was putting blocks into the chain in the III because I could.

The only time I really have to be careful is when I'm switching from a long, ambient reverb to something shorter. In the III, I'd use two reverb blocks for that so the tails don't get cut off. In the FM3, I just try to plan the switch better. Usually it's when I'm between parts anyway.
 
I had fewer presets on my III because I used 5 scenes per preset (FCB1010), and used two amps and a mixer to morph between clean and crunch, and the second pedal on the FCB for adding a solo boost. No gaps at all and very smooth. I normally did not have to switch scenes within a song. The scenes varied mostly on how the clean path sounded.

Now I only use two scenes for most presets (clean and crunch on foot switch 1 and 2) and use foot switch 3 to add solo boost to scene 2 amp. Still quite a lag between scene switches, so I opted for no scene switch when doing a lead.

So now I need more presets, mostly for when the clean channel has to sound differently (different effects or acoustic sim).
 
decreebass said:
I think the III has made me lazy in terms of block usage. I cut a couple blocks out of my kitchen sink preset the other day just by utilizing scenes and channels more efficiently.
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I went through that going from my II to AX8. (Many of us did! ;-) Now that I'm used to the 8 it won't be much of an issue.
 
brianv4 said:
I've got both. No worries with the III.

Just my experience so far with the FM3; FW1.03 was good as far as CPU. Kitchen sink preset? I don't know, probably not but for a grab and go meat & potatoes rig it'll be more than adequate. FW 1.04 beta 07 is not ready yet. Tuner has a few hiccups regarding the display and many of the factory presets are currently overloading the processor.

When I first received it I had issues right away with white screen and USB not working so 4 days in it had to go back. I must admit, I'm having some doubts about this unit. So much so I purchased the extended warranty.
Click to expand...

How much is the extended warranty?
 
You’ll probably have to rework your FM3 preset if it’s at 50+ % CPU on the Axe III. Most of my Axe III presets are around 50% but in the FM3 they are around 70%.
 
jefferski said:
Has anyone checked the CPU improvements referred to in the release notes for the most recent beta? Wondering how significant they are percentage-wise.
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Some factory presets are pegging the cpu limit. I feel you should be able to string blocks across one row but you can't unless you switch reverb type to spring
 
I do the same thing...I tend to use a "kitchen sink" preset, although mine are usually below 60% on the Axe 3. FM3 is incoming and will likely replace my Axe 3.

Honestly though, most of my patches look like this:

CMP > DRV > AMP > CAB > PTCH > DLY > REV

99% of the time when I add something like a Plex Delay or Phaser or whatever, it rarely gets used. So I won't bother in the kitchen sink, I'll just make a separate Ambient patch or something like that.

Some other things that can save CPU...replace the Comp block with compression in the amp section, replace the Drive with a Filter or EQ for boosts (or use the input boost on the amp block), use a single Cab slot rather than multiple, try different Reverbs to see what is lower CPU use (or reduce the quality).
 
Jarick said:
Honestly though, most of my patches look like this:

CMP > DRV > AMP > CAB > PTCH > DLY > REV

...

Some other things that can save CPU...replace the Comp block with compression in the amp section, replace the Drive with a Filter or EQ for boosts (or use the input boost on the amp block), use a single Cab slot rather than multiple, try different Reverbs to see what is lower CPU use (or reduce the quality).
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Same for me. Most of my AX8 presets have one drive (and a filter if I want another boost), I use either input boost or a CS bumping the gain knob, and the Comp in the amp block... then something like Wah / Phaser / Delay / Verb / Rotary. Maybe a Multidelay for some songs, maybe add something else when I need it like Ring Mod for funky stuff, or pitch for harmonies.

Coming from the II it was just a matter of deciding what I actually needed in a preset instead of what would be nice to have just in case. Once I realized this, it was pretty simple to set up for my rock/funk band with straightforward songs. It was still harder to do for my jamband at the time because then I wanted to have more options because jamband ;-)
 
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