New smaller Fractal FM3 announced

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · April 2019

I'm an HX Stomp owner, and am loving it thus far. I'm curious, what does this offer (aside from a load more connection options) over and above the Stomp to justify the likely >100% price differential between the two?

This isn't me hating on the product or anything like that by the way. I'm just genuinely curious, as I'm not very clued up about the wider world of modelling gadgets and what you can do with them. A second hand HX Stomp was the best thing I could afford with my strict £400max budget so that's what I bought.

There's seems to be a huge range of different prices for modellers from the Stomp through to the Fractal and Kemper type units. Aside from extra footswitching options, what do the big boys offer that the Stomp/Gigboard/Amplifire don't?

octatonic · April 2019

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'm an HX Stomp owner, and am loving it thus far. I'm curious, what does this offer (aside from a load more connection options) over and above the Stomp to justify the likely >100% price differential between the two?

This isn't me hating on the product or anything like that by the way. I'm just genuinely curious, as I'm not very clued up about the wider world of modelling gadgets and what you can do with them. A second hand HX Stomp was the best thing I could afford with my strict £400max budget so that's what I bought.

There's seems to be a huge range of different prices for modellers from the Stomp through to the Fractal and Kemper type units. Aside from extra footswitching options, what do the big boys offer that the Stomp/Gigboard/Amplifire don't?

Some would argue the modelling is better in the Fractals to the Helix, but many would acknowledge that the Kemper is the best of the lot.

You will get many more amp models with a Fractal- too many really if you need to make a quick decision.
Many more updates with the Fractal too- at one point they were weekly, adding in new models and cabs.
It has slowed down a bit.

I'd argue that the Fractal build quality is higher than Line 6 too.

I have no particular axe to grind here- I have a Helix, Kemper, Axe FX II, FX8 and use them all.

FarleyUK · May 2019

octatonic said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'm an HX Stomp owner, and am loving it thus far. I'm curious, what does this offer (aside from a load more connection options) over and above the Stomp to justify the likely >100% price differential between the two?

This isn't me hating on the product or anything like that by the way. I'm just genuinely curious, as I'm not very clued up about the wider world of modelling gadgets and what you can do with them. A second hand HX Stomp was the best thing I could afford with my strict £400max budget so that's what I bought.

There's seems to be a huge range of different prices for modellers from the Stomp through to the Fractal and Kemper type units. Aside from extra footswitching options, what do the big boys offer that the Stomp/Gigboard/Amplifire don't?
Some would argue the modelling is better in the Fractals to the Helix, but many would acknowledge that the Kemper is the best of the lot.

You will get many more amp models with a Fractal- too many really if you need to make a quick decision.
Many more updates with the Fractal too- at one point they were weekly, adding in new models and cabs.
It has slowed down a bit.

I'd argue that the Fractal build quality is higher than Line 6 too.

I have no particular axe to grind here- I have a Helix, Kemper, Axe FX II, FX8 and use them all.

One thing to add - the forums for Fractal are incredibly toxic and full of arse-kissing when compared to Kemper and Line6. I know that can put some people off (it certainly has done for me - I've owned Helix, AX8 and Kemper, and much prefer the Kemper instead of getting an Axe FXIII due to the idiocy on the forums and Cliff's attitudes towards customers).

meltedbuzzbox · May 2019

FarleyUK said:

octatonic said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'm an HX Stomp owner, and am loving it thus far. I'm curious, what does this offer (aside from a load more connection options) over and above the Stomp to justify the likely >100% price differential between the two?

This isn't me hating on the product or anything like that by the way. I'm just genuinely curious, as I'm not very clued up about the wider world of modelling gadgets and what you can do with them. A second hand HX Stomp was the best thing I could afford with my strict £400max budget so that's what I bought.

There's seems to be a huge range of different prices for modellers from the Stomp through to the Fractal and Kemper type units. Aside from extra footswitching options, what do the big boys offer that the Stomp/Gigboard/Amplifire don't?
Some would argue the modelling is better in the Fractals to the Helix, but many would acknowledge that the Kemper is the best of the lot.

You will get many more amp models with a Fractal- too many really if you need to make a quick decision.
Many more updates with the Fractal too- at one point they were weekly, adding in new models and cabs.
It has slowed down a bit.

I'd argue that the Fractal build quality is higher than Line 6 too.

I have no particular axe to grind here- I have a Helix, Kemper, Axe FX II, FX8 and use them all.

One thing to add - the forums for Fractal are incredibly toxic and full of arse-kissing when compared to Kemper and Line6. I know that can put some people off (it certainly has done for me - I've owned Helix, AX8 and Kemper, and much prefer the Kemper instead of getting an Axe FXIII due to the idiocy on the forums and Cliff's attitudes towards customers).

Have you ever spoken badly about a helix on here?

sweepy · May 2019

The Fractal forum is hilarious, pitchforks and a noose await anyone who criticises Cliff or the products. The usual response is “you don’t know how to use it” or “your ears are broken” bless their little pointy heads

kennedydream1980 · May 2019

I’ve just bought an AX8 but haven’t really dived to deep into the Fractal forum yet. From what’s been said I might just keep it that way.

For what it’s worth Leon Todd’s YouTube videos are superb. I’ve learnt everything I need to know about the unit and what it’s capable of, just by watching his videos. The guy should be paid handsomely from Fractal for the advice he shares.

John_P · May 2019

I’ve always found the fractal forum pretty friendly and helpful - certainly been lots of useful advice whenever I’ve had a query.

Same for the line 6 forums but I suspect if I went in the helix forum and started posting about how much I prefer the fractal products I’d get some hostility.

I’m really looking forward to the fm3. I need to investigate how the fc6 works as I’d like to put the fm3 in a case with a wireless on my amp and then run a cable to an fc6 and expression pedal at the front of the stage.

Roland · May 2019

kennedydream1980 said:

I’ve just bought an AX8 but haven’t really dived to deep into the Fractal forum yet. From what’s been said I might just keep it that way.

I wouldn’t let @sweepy put you off. I’ve been on the Fractal forum for ten years, and always found experienced players willing to share knowledge.

sweepy · May 2019

No intent of putting anyone off at all, the old timers there are an invaluable resource but there is a core of complete ass-hats on there that really are beyond all redemption

rmanman · June 2019

Has anyone heard more about UK release dates for FM3?

mrkb · June 2019

rmanman said:

Has anyone heard more about UK release dates for FM3?

No, but wouldn’t expect anything before the end of the year. It’s usually USA first, then a few into Europe.

Musicman20 · July 2019

It will be interesting to see whether this and the Kemper stage has any effect on the prices of the competition....

KrisGee · July 2019

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'm an HX Stomp owner, and am loving it thus far. I'm curious, what does this offer (aside from a load more connection options) over and above the Stomp to justify the likely >100% price differential between the two?

Maps!

Image: https://i.postimg.cc/W1tSZvf6/20190724-160317.jpg

digitalscream · July 2019

Musicman20 said:

It will be interesting to see whether this and the Kemper stage has any effect on the prices of the competition....

What competition? The Helix stuff is already way cheaper - hell, even the cut down LT has all the features of the full-fat version and costs about the same as the Fractal foot controller alone, and the Stomp is basically a third of the price of the FM3.

Line 6 prices will likely hold firm (GBP crashes notwithstanding), because there's no reason for them to change.

Musicman20 · July 2019

digitalscream said:

Musicman20 said:

It will be interesting to see whether this and the Kemper stage has any effect on the prices of the competition....

What competition? The Helix stuff is already way cheaper - hell, even the cut down LT has all the features of the full-fat version and costs about the same as the Fractal foot controller alone, and the Stomp is basically a third of the price of the FM3.

Line 6 prices will likely hold firm (GBP crashes notwithstanding), because there's no reason for them to change.

The Stomp and HX Effects have dropped in price a fair few times. I've seen the Stomp drop from £469 to £390. Similar with the HX Effects.

The Helix Floor seemed to jump from around £900 (when I bought one about 18 months back) up to £1200 or so. Now it's around that price. I'd buy another but I feel almost daft paying more for the same item. I'll just see if it drops.

mrkb · September 2019

Official announcement on the shipping delay. Looks like Feb/March 2020 for Europe, by which point the Euro to GBP will be parity.

Perhaps they'll have time for a final AX8 update before then.

Now where is that dude who was adamant he'd have one for £1000 by now

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm3-update-september-12-2019.153989/

mrkb · November 2019

Still not ready to ship, seems weird that the firmware isn’t ready - they’ve had over 6 months to work on it. I wonder if there’s been a hardware change that’s made earlier firmware work unusable.

gibsongretschfan · November 2019

I totally forgot this even existed.... well existed in Cliff’s mind at least.... I think Google Glass will come out before it at this rate

gibsongretschfan · January 2020

Are people still waiting on this?

WiresDreamDisasters · January 2020

Nah. Fractal UX/UI just doesn't appeal to me anymore. They need to do some serious work to attract me back to their platform.

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New smaller Fractal FM3 announced

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