Unsure which unit to go for

C

cheap

Member
I'm looking at jumping back into the Fractal camp and having trouble deciding which unit to go after. Traditionally I'd go after the rack unit, but I've always felt I don't take advantage of all that horsepower as I tend to just go for amp/cab/reverb/delay setups with the occasional tremolo or whammy in front, nothing too complicated.

For the past year, I've been using a Quad Cortex and recently set it up to use amp modeling from the QC into my Apollo interface then into Cab Lab 4 to utilize Dyna Cabs and have been absolutely loving that workflow and have been thinking that going back into a full Fractal set up just to have everything integrated feels like the smart move.

I put velcro pads on the QC and just stuck it to the bottom of my rack since the desktop editor came out and figure I'd do the same with an FM3, but would have to double check that the wider FM9 would fit in my gator side car since I think the gator is wider than 21" internally. I won't be taking it out of my studio often, but I think it'd be nice to have a 'throw it in a backpack' option instead of needing a separate rack to transport the full Axe 3 unit.

Has anyone here had an FM3 that they use fairly simply that has felt they should've gone FM9 or Axe 3 instead? Would I be shooting myself in the foot and maxing out horsepower too quickly with using DynaCabs in an FM3?

Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
 
lol feelin like an obvious choice with that yek! looking more into how i'd use it, i'm planning on running cab lab 4 with it the whole time so CPU power worries might be moot? gotta look into how it actually works when connecting Fractal hardware

Admin M@ said:
There's much more to the FM9 and Axe-Fx III than horsepower. The FM3 is great, but I also really using two amps.
We'll be getting the FM9 back in stock very soon, if that's one of your concerns.
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Am I understanding it right in that using DynaCabs via Cab Lab 4's computing power will not involve fractal CPU if I go for that option? Would I be able to have a dual amp set up and pan them hard left and right to independently have them cab'd with CabLab or are all 4 slots dedicated to a single LR input and don't become panable with a fractal unit connected? At the end of the day I could export the IRs and load them in the unit, but having the flexibility to make a tone brighter or darker with a mic position change is really what I'm after

In standalone mode I'm using a single input and sending to virtual inputs 3-4 on my Apollo so i can have them unlinked and utilize a mono channel to record into the DAW
 
cheap said:
lol feelin like an obvious choice with that yek! looking more into how i'd use it, i'm planning on running cab lab 4 with it the whole time so CPU power worries might be moot?
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Not really. Removing the cab block will help a little but there are no shortage of wonderful ways to "spend" CPU power ;-)

cheap said:
Would I be able to have a dual amp set up and pan them hard left and right to independently have them cab'd with CabLab
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The onboard cab blocks of the Axe-Fx III/FM9 can do this easily, but the Cab-Lab 4 software cannot process or output in stereo at this time.
 
Admin M@ said:
Not really. Removing the cab block will help a little but there are no shortage of wonderful ways to "spend" CPU power ;-)


The onboard cab blocks of the Axe-Fx III/FM9 can do this easily, but the Cab-Lab 4 software cannot process or output in stereo at this time.
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Ugh way to fuel the indecision Matt.. haha

Heard, chef. I think I'm leaning towards an FM3 for the footprint and the fact that I can essentially just chuck it at the bottom of my rack and use it plugged in with an editor all the same and don't have much need for extra footswitches. Sounds like it might be time to find some YT videos of people pushing the limit of the available CPU in the turbo unit and roughly compare to how I've used my fractal units in the past and if that'd be a realistic bottleneck for me

edit: hmm even looking at the screenshots on the product page for the FM3 that is certainly looking like it'd work for my situation
 
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Just buy the rack.

Ever used your whole speedometer?

Doesnt matter how many options you use, what matters is that it gets the sounds you want and or need.

Also you wont need to sweat waiting for the updates.
 
cheap said:
Has anyone here had an FM3 that they use fairly simply that has felt they should've gone FM9 or Axe 3 instead? Would I be shooting myself in the foot and maxing out horsepower too quickly with using DynaCabs in an FM3?
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When the FM9 was released, I went to the Axe-Fx 3 since a used one popped up at the right price. I had a FM3 back then and liked its portability. I sometimes miss that aspect because I could throw the FM3 in a luggage and take it with me whereas the Axe-Fx 3 needs to go in a rack case which is more of a chore to haul around without a car.

FM9 is the sweet spot product in the range and should provide you an experience a bit closer to what you get with the QC since the QC has a lot more footswitching onboard than the FM3.
 
cheap said:
I won't be taking it out of my studio often, but I think it'd be nice to have a 'throw it in a backpack' option instead of needing a separate rack to transport the full Axe 3 unit.
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The nice thing about the FM3 is it's so portable. If you ever feel the need to run it standalone it can do it with its internal switches, or add the FC-6 and run the OMG9 layout. It's plenty powerful.

cheap said:
Has anyone here had an FM3 that they use fairly simply that has felt they should've gone FM9 or Axe 3 instead? Would I be shooting myself in the foot and maxing out horsepower too quickly with using DynaCabs in an FM3?
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I have 'em all, and the FM3+FC6 are with me when I get out of town in the summer. Those and a Strat (because it can take a lickin') and some earphones and I'm good.

I take my FM9 when I'm playing here most often because it's mounted on a pedal board for protection, but that combination is a lot heavier and a bit unwieldy when I'm also carrying a gig bag and a speaker. It's nice knowing I could run complex presets, but I'm somewhat old-school, and built presets around a specific amp and pedals I'd combine with it for whatever sound I want, and switch between them. And, as a result, those presets fit into the FM3 as well.

PS - I recommend the 3M Dual Lock over velcro. It isn't as messy when you go to remove it, and, depending on which type you get it can hold MUCH better.
PPS - These are useful for rack mounting a unit to avoid stressing the USB-B connection.
Turn the chassis connector around so the USB-A is facing the modeler.
 
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I have had an FM3 no headphone version for about a year now with the FC6 it’s amazing. I wanted to run dual amp blocks and always wanted the AXE FX 3 so, when I saw the MARK V got added, my wallet was done for and I got one at the end of the year with plans to sell the FM3…. THEN I dug back into the FM3 while waiting on a shipping ‘delay’ and yeah…. I’m keeping th FM3 too. I’ll sell something else!
I do not envy your position right now….

Personally I would go for the AXE FX 3 though. As needs grow and more updates keep coming, there are no limits with that.

BUT the FM3 is just so damn cool and all that sound comes out of that little guy?!?!?!?!
 
Have both the FM3 and Axe FX3. Never touched everything the AFX3 can do but its nice to know the CPU is there for anything I'd throw at it.

I used to use the AFX3 live but I think going forward for shows I'd use the FM3/FC6 combo.
 
I got the FM3 cos that's the one I could afford. If I had the bucks I would have bought the III in a second. Btw "afford" means cash on hand.
 
With these responses it's easy to see why they've got a successful product range of options to choose from lol

I've been in and out of the Fractal ecosystem for about a decade and always think I'm going to end up running multi amp rigs with lots of effects, but always, always, always end up doing my recording work with a rig as simple as possible-essentially an amp into a cab with some room verb for 90% of what I'm playing.

The only true North Star for me is the quality of the amps and cabs and dynacabs take care of 50% of that equation in or outside of the Fractal line. Before the DynaCab capabilities I was pretty all in on the FullRes is the law thing (which I believe only the rack unit can handle at this time) so that could be something I find myself missing, but the more I use the new cabs that max out at UltraRes the less I seem to care.

What's frustrating with my QC is having a bunch of really nice captures that I made myself with and without cabs, but if I want to get a different sound with an amp from the ground up that I don't have the ability to capture there's really only one amp in the unit that I think comes close to the hundreds of amps already at that quality in the Fractal camp (and that's not counting the tweak-ability under the hood on the Axe 3, which I also think the FM's can't do?)

End of the day, this is a good kind of option paralysis to be experiencing
 
cheap said:
Would I be able to have a dual amp set up and pan them hard left and right to independently have them cab'd with CabLab or are all 4 slots dedicated to a single LR input and don't become panable with a fractal unit connected?
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FM3 doesn’t do dual amps.
 
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