Want to put a practice amp combo together using an FM3 and?

SteveW

SteveW

Experienced
Hi all,

Looking for some help here. Long time AXE user, I'm currently using the FX3.

What I'm trying to do now, is put together a small little practice amp combo if I can use for traveling. I bought a Yamaha THR30ii I was hoping I could use that without anything else, but I'm so used to the AXE FX, that I couldn't live with that choice, so I returned it, and I decided to go another route. Even with adding a few effects pedals to that Yamaha, I couldn't get anything close to the same place in terms of amp sound quality. My favorite patches are the Brown Sound on the FX, and Yamaha does have both the amp and the cab on the THR series, but it still sounds too solid state... Doesn't have that tube sustain or sound. And it drove me crazy...lol

So now I've decided I'm going to go with an FM3, and I want to add a small stereo, active FRFR, like an all-in-one... If such a thing exists. If there is nothing in a small, compact all in one stereo, I would consider just going for a single, powered FRFR. I want something small enough that I can stick into a suitcase. As I said, it's really more for practice when I travel, I won't be doing any gigging or anything like that with it.

Any suggestions are welcome!
 
SteveW said:
Hi all,
I want something small enough that I can stick into a suitcase. As I said, it's really more for practice when I travel, I won't be doing any gigging or anything like that with it.

Any suggestions are welcome!
Click to expand...

Have you thought about using headphones?
I have the III and FM3 and they sound great over phones.
 
look into those portable bluetooth speakers, but it has to have the 1/8" input. i did this in the past and it's not too loud, but works well and should be stereo.

larger stereo pa speakers don't exist as far as i know.
 
Yes, problem is that headphones are very colored and not flat... I've tried several high-end pairs and I don't get the desired tone; not even close.

I use the Yamaha HS8's and they're as close to an FRFR as you can get. The tone is so close to the original it's scary, and that's what I'm after.
 
I bought a pair of IK Multimedia iLoud micro monitors for a trip to Paris this summer. Worked really nicely with the FM3, they're stereo, obviously, but also made for great speakers for my laptop. Very compact and with the carrying case they're smaller than the FM3. Great for hotel practice. I even used them for a small solo performance in a recital hall at a school. The 'iLoud' moniker is accurate.
 
I saw those coming up in a search earlier...I guess you used an XLR >> 1/8th adapter with them? Are they close to FRFR?

I see them at GC down the street from me...I may go try them there tomorrow.
 
Ain’t cheap, ain’t that small but it’ll sound good, it’s stereo, and it’s Mission Engineering, so it’s not going to be a piece of shit. And (and I’m always adding this ”and”) it’ll suit the need you didn’t anticipate down the road I.e. you do find yourself playing out at some point.
 
I just looked at the Mission stuff... Way too large. Thanks for the heads up, but what I need is more along the lines of the IK Media above.
 
USMC_Trev said:
Ain’t cheap, ain’t that small but it’ll sound good, it’s stereo, and it’s Mission Engineering, so it’s not going to be a piece of shit. And (and I’m always adding this ”and”) it’ll suit the need you didn’t anticipate down the road I.e. you do find yourself playing out at some point.
Click to expand...
He's gonna need a bigger suitcase ;)

SteveW said:
I want something small enough that I can stick into a suitcase.
Click to expand...
 
OK... I'm gonna speak some blasphemy here I'm sure but what I have been doing that works great for me is using my laptop speakers. I have an M1 Macbook pro and the speakers sound great for all sorts of other audio and to my ear are totally acceptable for an "on the go" amplified practice amp. They get loud enough for chilling out and having fun. Definitely not an FRFR situation but still sound good enough for me to fiddle around with and not worry about even eq'ing additionally. I did just purchase a UMIK-1 measurement mic and I am going to see how close to flat response I can dial in the speakers for when I'm using my laptop for my "practice amp" or when mixing on the go. I just fire up my DAW with the fractal as my input device, computer internal sound as output device, and I'm planning to add an eq to the master bus to "flatten" things out. I'll duck out of the way as the virtual stones fly my way ;)
 
ectoplasm88 said:
OK... I'm gonna speak some blasphemy here I'm sure but what I have been doing that works great for me is using my laptop speakers. I have an M1 Macbook pro and the speakers sound great for all sorts of other audio and to my ear are totally acceptable for an "on the go" amplified practice amp. They get loud enough for chilling out and having fun. Definitely not an FRFR situation but still sound good enough for me to fiddle around with and not worry about even eq'ing additionally. I did just purchase a UMIK-1 measurement mic and I am going to see how close to flat response I can dial in the speakers for when I'm using my laptop for my "practice amp" or when mixing on the go. I just fire up my DAW with the fractal as my input device, computer internal sound as output device, and I'm planning to add an eq to the master bus to "flatten" things out. I'll duck out of the way as the virtual stones fly my way ;)
Click to expand...
Does that not incur latency from processing thru the DAW?
 
So I finally decided on this solution:

FM3 with a pair of JBL Professional 305P MkII.
Speakers are a little bit bigger than I wanted, but will definitely fit into a suitcase for me to travel with and the reviews were outstanding. I wanted to go with the iloud, but their garbage 90-day warranty was a real turn off for me.

The JBL's were a few dollars cheaper and the company has a stellar reputation, as they've been around forever, and their specialty had always been studio monitors... (I remember the 4311's from a thousand years ago being the industry standard for an FRFR studio monitor)

They practically invented the term.

Reviews on the product were outstanding, and I think it's a far superior built product to the Iloud, which I saw yesterday at Guitar Center.



 
unix-guy said:
Does that not incur latency from processing thru the DAW
Click to expand...
It does for sure. I have my buffer size at 64 samples which Ableton says is overall 5.67ms of latency. I honestly don't notice it at all. At least no more than if I had an amp across the room from me. I also have the added benefit of getting a great recording of all my noodling which is where I tend to have my best ideas pop up. Often by the time It takes me to grab my phone to capture it I've forgotten or lost the nuance that made me react to what I played.
 
SteveW said:
I saw those coming up in a search earlier...I guess you used an XLR >> 1/8th adapter with them? Are they close to FRFR?

I see them at GC down the street from me...I may go try them there tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you were replying to me, but in case you were: I actually just used the headphone out on the FM3 since the iLouds have both a L/R RCA input and a 3.5mm aux input. They're not quite FRFR (they're lacking a little bass and have a little bit of a mid bump) but for the purposes of guitar they work just fine and I never felt myself wishing they were more FRFR.
 
So I ordered the JBL's on Amazon and got them today. I didn't order my FM3 yet, but it's pretty much the same tones as the FXIII, of which I have 2.

I have two identical systems in two different homes, which are the FXIII, and HS8's with subs, and a rack with a Furman power supply.

The FM3 is to be used for travel, like when I head out on vacation for a few weeks at a time. I connected one JBL in place of one HS8 and I set the volumes equal.

In a side-by-side comparison, turning one off and the other one on etc... or playing them side by side, I must say, they're close. I really haven't found anything that beats by HS8's as far as accuracy goes, and these JBL's are pretty damn close. Obviously they're not identical, and they may need a bit of eqing to smooth out one or two rough spots, but they certainly fit the bill, and build quality is of course, typical JBL, outstanding! $330.00, shipped my door, from Amazon. Probably in the same ballpark as the HS5, but the cabs come in just a bit smaller, which was perfect for me.

Just waiting to see the black Friday deal on the FM3, then I'll pick it up, and I have my travel kit! The monitors are a bit bigger than I would have liked for this particular application, but they still fit in a suitcase with plenty of room and now I get exactly what I want, without compromise!

Can't wait to get my hands on the FM3! I'm sure it'll fit my application perfectly! Thanks for the help people!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom