Just got my self a Fractal FM3...I didn't expect that.

    Hello guys,


    a couple of days ago the Fm3 was delivered to my door and...all the problems I've had with the Kemper suddenly dissapeared...


    My initial intention was to get the Fm3 as something more portable (I have the toaster), and maybe get some extra tones I can hear at some demos which I couldn't quite get with the Kemper. But it turned out much better than I expected.


    The noise gate is awesome, it doesn't kill your transient or sustain, the effects are much better (finally a great and musical reverb), the editor is super fast, light and works with win7 (which btw half the planet is still using).


    And the tones? Omg the tones! It's like having the best of the best profiles of every amp, but you can also tweak them as much as you like without getting unnatural results. There is no cocked wah effect anymore which I couldn't get rid of in half the profiles, the sound is much more 3d, amp-like and open, and the feel/response is as good as in the kemper.


    The stomps are doing what actual stomps are supposed to do and inside one preset I can basically dial in a whole lot of my favourite profiles but with better tone and more possibilities ☺️ I had been searching for years for the best Marshall, Fender, Boogie and Vox tones but there was always something missing.


    And of course, the icing on the cake, it's more affordable and more portable.


    Kemper has been a great and revolutionary machine, I've had great times with it (even though I spent it's price in profiles to find the best ones), I did lots of session work with it which I wouldn't be able to to with traditional amps and I'll always love it, but I think it's time to step up their game. New competition is constantly joining the business and the ones that don't evolve get left behind.

    Quote from Clanker

    some people go from fm3 to kemper, some the other way or back to analog, you never know with these things until you try yourself.

    Indeed! I was sceptical at first because many Kemper users are bashing Fractal (especially the ones that haven't tried both - some people take very personal their gear lol) but I am happy I finally pulled the trigger. Not planning to sell the Kemper for now though, I am emotionally attached to it. Just wanted to let people know of my personal experience

    I want to try fm3 myself, but they are not selling those officially yet in where i live, and i dont wanna pay 1.5x retail price from scalpers, i guess i will wait till it gonna hit second hand market and take a look then. My biggest gripe with fractal is that they update hardware too often, and even stop supporting repairs for previous versions.

    Quote from Clanker

    I want to try fm3 myself, but they are not selling those officially yet in where i live, and i dont wanna pay 1.5x retail price from scalpers, i guess i will wait till it gonna hit second hand market and take a look then. My biggest gripe with fractal is that they update hardware too often, and even stop supporting repairs for previous versions.

    Yes the upgrade thing is a bit of a pain but as Kemper guys usually say, if it sounds great and you get all the tones you want why upgrade to something different? Plus I did my research before buying the FM3, the older units hold their value pretty good so I believe selling it when a new unit comes out will not be a big of a problem. We'll see

    I think fractal team teased yesterday that they gonna update modeling soon for fx3 and fm3, sounds interesting. As for resale value, when they announced fm3 shipping dates ax8 dropped 400 bucks on the used market overnight, just saying.

    Edited once, last by Clanker ().

    Quote from Clanker

    I think fractal team teased yesterday that they gonna update modeling soon for fx3 and fm3, sounds interesting. As for resale value, when they announced fm3 shipping dates ax8 dropped 400 bucks on the used market overnight, just saying.

    You're probably right, but I would have sold the ax8 as soon as the 3 reached the market. These things are computers and as I can see now, with every new version the tone improves significantly. I don't expect to sell them at retail price when a new version comes out, but thee hold well for a few months as I have seen.


    But the most important thing is that now I have better tone with less money

    Hello JimmyK, thanks for your description of the Fm3. I just wrote a new thread about my quest for a portable unit and also about some disappointments. ("Kemper / Boss GT-100 / Hotone Ampero - Direct comparison" )


    What you write sounds very promising. I might try to get a Fm3 to try it out. Did you compare it A/B and also with power amp and speaker?

    never thought that I would like the Kemper that much...!

    generally speaking, if you get a friedman hbe profile up on the fm3 and run a york audio ir, would it sound the same as a di profile of the same amp (settings) and use same cab ir on the kemper.

    Reason i ask is i have some great di profiles with the amp settings i love. Aside from all the extra options the fractal stuff gives, is there a difference in feel/sound on the fm3.

    do i need to buy one?

    Quote from tooltool

    generally speaking, if you get a friedman hbe profile up on the fm3 and run a york audio ir, would it sound the same as a di profile of the same amp (settings) and use same cab ir on the kemper.

    Reason i ask is i have some great di profiles with the amp settings i love. Aside from all the extra options the fractal stuff gives, is there a difference in feel/sound on the fm3.

    do i need to buy one?

    I can't really answer your questions directly, but I can say that the tones are superior on the Fm3. Both pure amp tones and wet tones.


    The feel is identical, great in both devices.


    The problem with Kemper is that the majority of the profiles (even from well known vendors) are bad. But even the best ones don't compare to the models on the Fm3 imo. Plus - as I mentioned at my first post- you can tweak them without problems, no cocked wah -which btw I spoke about it before Rubea lol ? - no awful noise gate to destroy the tone, actually great stomps etc.


    Kemper is still great though. I could make a thousand records with it and noone would be able to tell the difference in a blind test in a mix. It's just that with the Fm3 the tones are more "real" outside the mix, more fun and without the problems I mentioned.


    Overall I would say that the Fm3 is 10-15% better for the things I want to do.

    Great that it works for. I tried the AX8 and it didn't work for me but many love their improved (fm3) version. Even the 3.0 Helix is a huge improvement, they say. Modeling becomes more and more precise.

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio

    Really helpful, thanks man

    Quote from Alienator

    Even the 3.0 Helix is a huge improvement, they say. Modeling becomes more and more precise.

    Yes that's one of my main points here.


    Another thing I noticed today, is when I reduce gain on my favourite profiles (let's say to get from a hard rock tone to a more classic rock oriented sound), I always lose punch and the tone becomes thin and compressed. I have to look for a different profile with less gain, and that's where the Kemper was always problematic to me: All the low/medium gain marshall-y profiles lack power, sustain and punch.


    With the fm3 I just went from a glorious hard rock tone to a classic rock tone with two or three tweaks, mostly reduced preamp gain and added poweramp gain. And literally I have played with it 3-4 hours in total, because I have been sick for almost a week now.


    I am pretty sure that Kemper was the king ? maybe three years ago. I actually believed it was still the king 10 days ago! But seems that all the other players kept evolving and reached the next level and maybe it's time for Kemper to do the same.