New Fractal FM9 floor unit - looks good!

LastMantra

They've got you guys by the short and curlies 

wintoid

I’ve been thinking Quad Cortex looks perfect to me. What advantages would this have over QC?

TeleMaster

wintoid said:

I’ve been thinking Quad Cortex looks perfect to me. What advantages would this have over QC?

Well, if the QC looks perfect then get that. 

But, it looks like it’s been pushed back again, so you may not be able to get one for a while, but you could say the same for the FM9. 

To answer your question, I’ve had the QC and it does sound good, but the effects are extremely limited and some of the footswitch options are very limiting. 

The FM9 has the latest modelling software from Fractal. Hundreds of amps and effects, which are the same as the Axe, and it’s fully realised. But size may play a part for you so that’d something to consider. 

The FM9 has no tone match, but the QC has the capture feature, if that’s important to you. Also the QC has a touchscreen and is fairly simple to use. The Axe UI can be baffling at times. 

Essentially with the QC you are choosing a very early example of something that may or may not become fully realised in the future, whereas the FM9 will be a fully up to date modeller with a very similar experience to the Axe FC 3. 

wintoid

TeleMaster said:

wintoid said:

I’ve been thinking Quad Cortex looks perfect to me. What advantages would this have over QC?

Well, if the QC looks perfect then get that. 

But, it looks like it’s been pushed back again, so you may not be able to get one for a while, but you could say the same for the FM9. 

To answer your question, I’ve had the QC and it does sound good, but the effects are extremely limited and some of the footswitch options are very limiting. 

The FM9 has the latest modelling software from Fractal. Hundreds of amps and effects, which are the same as the Axe, and it’s fully realised. But size may play a part for you so that’d something to consider. 

The FM9 has no tone match, but the QC has the capture feature, if that’s important to you. Also the QC has a touchscreen and is fairly simple to use. The Axe UI can be baffling at times. 

Essentially with the QC you are choosing a very early example of something that may or may not become fully realised in the future, whereas the FM9 will be a fully up to date modeller with a very similar experience to the Axe FC 3. 

Thanks for a really useful reply 

TeleMaster

S’alright.

octatonic

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

DavusPG

sweepy said:

Still a shame  we can’t buy direct from Fractal, be nice to save a few £ and actually take advantage of deals which we never get here 

This has been discussed at length on the Fractal forum and on here I think. Although higher the G66 price includes a 3 year warranty and their feedback is spot on in terms of dealing with issues. I don't think the US price includes any warranty and in the event it needs repairing you'd need to send it to the US
G66 also sweeten the deal with a box of chocolates

tone1

Burgs lost me at twin turbo SPDIF….thingy 

Kebabkid

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

I like your thinking, James and as the FM3 should be enough for me, I may hang out for a while, looking for that type of deal.

The AX8's were going for as low as £600 recently but could still fetch £800 and I saw FX8's going for £400 after a while, so we'll see.

I still like the idea of the separates as if you had that set up, depending on the type of gig you were doing, you could just take the FM3 for smaller or less involved ones as you could still get a lot off those 3 footswitches and the scenes

Wazmeister

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

Hmmm, i think you are miles out on your pricing there… £600 - £700 ?!?!

I personally cant see that much of a drop happening for some years.

TeleMaster

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

Hmmm, i think you are miles out on your pricing there… £600 - £700 ?!?!

I personally cant see that much of a drop happening for some years.

I agree. They’ll still be £1K used for quite a while. 

octatonic

Based on what happened with the AX8 and FX8- they both cratered fairly quickly.
The FM3 has a major design flaw, too few buttons.
Also, not enough power.
I reckon loads of people will be selling to go to to the FM9.

We’ll see I guess.

mrkb

I sold my AX8 for £1000 way after the FM3 came out, so don’t see prices dropping quickly. Will also take a while for FM9 supplies to be freely available in Europe due to chip shortages, so I don’t see a price crash coming, unless they drop the FM3 selling price.

welshboyo

I think the AX/FX price drops came around due to the fact that they were already beginning to lag behind in updates vs the then flagship AFX2 - still very capable units IMO (especially the AX8).

The FM3 could become a little bit of a bargain if the prices do drop a little as even though it’s a little lighter in the horsepower dept it’s still a very good unit - for me, live use (with the FC6) it gives me all I need as dual reverbs and 4 delays will get lost at the dog and duck.

Saying that I’m on the waitlist :-)

@TeleMaster do you have a similar waitlist setup for your AX3 that I can join? ;-)

Heartfeltdawn

Having just bought Roland's Axe FX Ultra and eagerly awaiting it landing on Thursday, I anticipate that I shall soon be joining this thread and making soft drooling noises about the FM9 by Friday lunchtime

Wazmeister

I’m surprised how small it is, which is favourable.

 I must say I owned the FM3 and FC6, and I barely used the latter as I found the seemingly limited number of foot switches on the FM3 to work quite well in reality.

Still, that being said, I have placed my name on the list with Suzzie

TeleMaster

welshboyo said:

I think the AX/FX price drops came around due to the fact that they were already beginning to lag behind in updates vs the then flagship AFX2 - still very capable units IMO (especially the AX8).

The FM3 could become a little bit of a bargain if the prices do drop a little as even though it’s a little lighter in the horsepower dept it’s still a very good unit - for me, live use (with the FC6) it gives me all I need as dual reverbs and 4 delays will get lost at the dog and duck.

Saying that I’m on the waitlist :-)

@TeleMaster do you have a similar waitlist setup for your AX3 that I can join? ;-)

Lol I’ll put it all up for sale the day that I get the FM9 and have checked that it’s not broken.

CFH

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

Hmmm, i think you are miles out on your pricing there… £600 - £700 ?!?!

I personally cant see that much of a drop happening for some years.

I agree. The FM3 and FM9 are in different price brackets and the second hand prices will stay roughly the same. The FM3 isn't replaced by the FM9 - they are aimed at different user needs.

I have an FM3 and whilst the extra processing power of the FM9 is attractive I think I'll stick with the FM3 because I use it on a desk as a studio device really. The FM9 wouldn't work for me as well for that. I like the compact form factor of the FM3 and haven't encountered any limitations with the hardware or processing power. 

octatonic

CFH said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

Hmmm, i think you are miles out on your pricing there… £600 - £700 ?!?!

I personally cant see that much of a drop happening for some years.

I agree. The FM3 and FM9 are in different price brackets and the second hand prices will stay roughly the same. The FM3 isn't replaced by the FM9 - they are aimed at different user needs.

I have an FM3 and whilst the extra processing power of the FM9 is attractive I think I'll stick with the FM3 because I use it on a desk as a studio device really. The FM9 wouldn't work for me as well for that. I like the compact form factor of the FM3 and haven't encountered any limitations with the hardware or processing power. 

I am afraid I disagree.
I think 50-75% of the people who bought the FM3 wanted something like the FM9.
This is because they have said so on various forums and Facebook groups since it came out.

I predict a large number of people will unload the FM3 onto the used market over the coming months- it depends on supply of the FM9 of course.
There will be some people who stick with the FM3 of course, because they can't afford to move up or for other reasons.
I'll adjust what I said earlier- it might not be that the prices immediately crater but I think they will in the medium term for the reasons I've just stated.
If EU supply of FM9's is really slow then it might take a bit longer.

WiresDreamDisasters

octatonic said:

CFH said:

Wazmeister said:

octatonic said:

Going to be interesting to see the FM3 prices crater over the next few weeks.
I'd be extremely wary fo paying more than £600-700 for one, because I reckon that is what they are going to be worth really soon.

Here is the FM3+FC6 vs FM9 in terms of size.

Hmmm, i think you are miles out on your pricing there… £600 - £700 ?!?!

I personally cant see that much of a drop happening for some years.

I agree. The FM3 and FM9 are in different price brackets and the second hand prices will stay roughly the same. The FM3 isn't replaced by the FM9 - they are aimed at different user needs.

I have an FM3 and whilst the extra processing power of the FM9 is attractive I think I'll stick with the FM3 because I use it on a desk as a studio device really. The FM9 wouldn't work for me as well for that. I like the compact form factor of the FM3 and haven't encountered any limitations with the hardware or processing power. 

I am afraid I disagree.

Yeah but do you agree to disagree??