That’s really the closest recreation of the A3 effect I’ve ever heard. I own an A3 and the main difference with some presets I’v tested on other gears (Axe-Fx 2, 3..) was the feeling when playing (A3 is really « interactive »).
How do you compare it between your FM9 and the A3 ?
It is REALLY close. Especially tone matched. Listening to the recording when it is tone matched, I can't tell which is which and I made the recording.
If I'm judging feel, to me that is the way the auto wah engages based on the picking dynamics, and I think that is identical. I think as long as you have the envelope set properly for your guitar output (that is critical for this patch), it engages exactly as the korg does. I actually think the fractal disengage is more forgiving then the Korg A3. I Feel like I have to back off more with the Korg to get the wah to unwind.
The two differences when I'm playing the A3, when the auto wah engages and goes fully engaged, there is an ever so slight thump to the low end that seems dynamic. Like the low end actually increases slightly vs what the low end starts with. When I have the volumes matched and am comparing the two switching back and forth between the A3 and the Fractal with an ABY switch, if I listen hard for it I can pick it out. But it is so subtle. The other difference is there is a slightly more digital/lofi quality to the Korg that gives it an ever so slight ... robotic tone. Think Cylons or Optimus Prime. Really slight but it is there
This patch was actually made on the Axe FX. I should probably post it there.
When I made the patch I literally set the chain up exactly as it is on the Korg A3 preset 76
Distortion->Wah->(skipped the exciter as I don't use it on the A3)->Delay->Flanger->Reverb
Then block by block I tried to match exactly what that block did by bypassing all the other blocks on the korg and the Fractal and just trying to replicate it. I know I had read that the SDD Preamp is supposedly the drive off the Korg A3, but I sure couldn't get them to sound similar, which leads me to believe it is not a copy of that drive. At least not the drive in Preset 76.
The trick to the wah that had eluded me forever was that the mix just isn't 100%. That become obvious the first time I tried the Korg. There is no mix on the WAH2 parameter on the A3, but regardless, the mix is not 100%. The fractal doesn't have a mix level on the wah either but that is easy to get around with a mixer block. An auto wah with a 100% mix will always muffle beyond what you get on the Korg A3.
The Flanger took me a while to nail down as well, getting the right mix but more importantly getting the right min/max. For the longest time I could not get it to sweep exactly the same.I kept adjusting the rate, depth feedback and manual, but it wasn't till I nailed down the min/max that I felt I nailed the sweep.
It's not 100%, but its 95-97% IMO. Close enough that the A3 never leaves the house, and I actually slightly prefer the fractal patch over the A3. Thinking of selling it (the korg A3)
