I was all set to by Synergy Syn20 ir. Then I remembered how much the FM3 offers and couldn’t pull the trigger

[laxu]

The amount of features doesn't make a product better though. Android has more features and is more flexible than iOS. That hasn't stopped iOS from being the preferred phone OS by USians. It's all about what features you prefer/need, how you interact with the product and what political/security reasons you may have (might be more applicable to phones than amps, but nontheless).

A bit off topic, but the lack of any meaningful progress in iOS/iPadOS, with the increasing cost of the hardware that can't even make good use of the software drove me to go entirely Android for my mobile devices. Don't miss iOS one bit. My spouse uses an iPhone/iPad and struggles with some of its stupidity every now and then.

Android vs iOS is mostly a matter of "configure it to work it like you prefer" vs "use it like the manufacturer wants". Depending on the type of user you are you might prefer one over the other. For us EU folks, iMessage is a total nonconcern, most use Whatsapp instead. Which sucks too.

I would ask myself these questions:
- Why did you want to get the Synergy in the first place?
- Do you really need all the features a modeler offers? For instance, do you actually need 300 amp models?

All that said, if you're happy with the FM3, good for you. Keep it. Use whatever that brings you joy and gets the job done.

To me the Synergy's big selling point is a "build your own amp" system. The difference is that instead of telling a custom amp maker "I want a Fender clean channel, a Marshall crunch channel and Mesa lead channel" you can swap those channels after the amp is built if you find out you prefer a Soldano lead channel instead.

I think it doesn't do as well if you consider it an amp collection system. The poweramp, cabs etc will already be a limitation. The SYN20-IR reduced those a bit with the poweramp structures tho, but its low power introduces some limitations of its own.

Synergy is definitely hard to justify over a modeler that changes amp models at the press of a button, and there's tons of them, with a full suite of effects etc. The "real tubes, all analog, no menus" thing remains the main Synergy selling point in that scenario.

I tried running the Mesa JP2C preamp models of the Ampero 2 Stomp into my Mark V's power section some time ago, and honestly the Hotone didn't do a bad job compared to the real deal Mark V tube preamp. And it's not even a top tier modeler like Fractal.

When faced with this choice, I ended up buying a used Mesa Mark V 90 instead. It's kind of a fixed version of all that. Ch1 can do Fender Blackface or Tweed, ch2 is kinda-sorta Marshallish or Mesa Mark 1, ch2 does the Mesa Mark IIC/IV things, the power scaling and tube rectifier can alter the feel...that's already a lot, when the primary tone "limiter" will be the speakers/cab used.