The FM3 is too big

[la szum]

Waiting on the not enough and too small crowd to create their threads here.

 

[Mongillo19]

Waiting on the not enough and too small crowd to create their threads here.

It's both too small and too big. Checkmate

 

[la szum]

Yeah, but my personal preferences are the univsersals that everyone should adopt. They just don't know it yet.

 

[AJ Vargas]

I'd be totally on for a FM0. I've sold my FM3 in anticipation of the FM9 but since there's no sign of availability through my local distributor I was tinkering the idea of the ToneX paired with an HX FX...

Since, I've thought the FM3 would still be a better solution in a smaller footprint with more routing options and not as limited in snapshots as the HX FX. My time with the FM3 and some clever work on custom layouts really showed me how powerful the three onboard switches really are.

 

[Mongillo19]

I was tinkering the idea of the ToneX paired with an HX FX...

Been there. Tried it for a few weeks

 

[AJ Vargas]

Been there. Tried it for a few weeks

I'm honestly mostly interested because of the free Helix Native license. Maybe i'll try the HX Stomp...

 

[Mongillo19]

I'm honestly mostly interested because of the free Helix Native license. Maybe i'll try the HX Stomp...

Yeah I tried the stomp out and it was great (same with the tone X pedal). Got it for $500 from SW and then sold it for $450 but kept my license for native and metallurgy lol that wasn't my intent but hey it worked out

 

[laxu]

Of course it does. But don't you think a modeler should be fine with all more or less "normal" sizes? I've got german size 46 feet (like 12.5 US), these days almost common among adults. And even if it only was 45/12, the QC switches would still be too close to each other, especially when wearing sneakers, which typically are somewhat wider, too. Or do they advertise the QC as the "gentleman's modeler", hence for folks never wearing sneakers?

It's designed to be a desktop unit first, floor unit second. Which personally I find preferable because adding a MIDI controller for footswitching to your preference is way easier than trying to add more knob control.

Size 46 is pretty large, I certainly would not call it common. With my size 43 (I think 10 US) feet, I found the QC footswitches to be something that requires more looking and aiming but otherwise it worked well enough.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It's designed to be a desktop unit first, floor unit second. Which personally I find preferable because adding a MIDI controller for footswitching to your preference is way easier than trying to add more knob control.

Sure. But I'd rather wouldn't want to add anything. And fwiw, it wouldn't take away much of the desktop compatibility had they used the same distances between switches as on, say, the Helix.

Size 46 is pretty large, I certainly would not call it common.

Well, my son (12) has size 43-44 already, my nephew (17) is at 47 now and when you look around at shoe stores, you can find plenty of 46-47 these days whereas there was little choice just 20-30 years ago.
Maybe small sized feet are a finnish thing and the QC team didn't investigate on international feet sizes much?

 

[the swede]

Sure. But I'd rather wouldn't want to add anything. And fwiw, it wouldn't take away much of the desktop compatibility had they used the same distances between switches as on, say, the Helix.



Well, my son (12) has size 43-44 already, my nephew (17) is at 47 now and when you look around at shoe stores, you can find plenty of 46-47 these days whereas there was little choice just 20-30 years ago.
Maybe small sized feet are a finnish thing and the QC team didn't investigate on international feet sizes much?

Imagine Douglas Castro having 35’s

 

[the swede]

I mean.. that’s a good chunk of manly man right there… may still have Japanese ballet feet though.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

It's designed to be a desktop unit first, floor unit second. Which personally I find preferable because adding a MIDI controller for footswitching to your preference is way easier than trying to add more knob control.

Size 46 is pretty large, I certainly would not call it common. With my size 43 (I think 10 US) feet, I found the QC footswitches to be something that requires more looking and aiming but otherwise it worked well enough.

Jesus, and you wonder why you're not in product design. "Clearly a 46 is above average and need not be accommodated for!!! Our product shall be so perfect for the middle 25% of guitar players that we have no need for those 'edge cases'!!!"

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

It's designed to be a desktop unit first, floor unit second. Which personally I find preferable because adding a MIDI controller for footswitching to your preference is way easier than trying to add more knob control.

Size 46 is pretty large, I certainly would not call it common. With my size 43 (I think 10 US) feet, I found the QC footswitches to be something that requires more looking and aiming but otherwise it worked well enough.

If it were designed as a desktop they wouldn't put the knobs in a place that requires you to work so hard to figure out which parameter maps to which knob. Compromise on both directions = the worst kinda compromise, imo.

 

[Sascha Franck]

If it were designed as a desktop they wouldn't put the knobs in a place that requires you to work so hard to figure out which parameter maps to which knob. Compromise on both directions = the worst kinda compromise, imo.

Possibly would've worked nicely in case they'd added scribble strips automatically showing which parameter was controlled. Scribble strips perhaps would've forced them to add some more space between the switches, too. Win-win. But they went for lose-lose instead.

 

[laxu]

If it were designed as a desktop they wouldn't put the knobs in a place that requires you to work so hard to figure out which parameter maps to which knob. Compromise on both directions = the worst kinda compromise, imo.

Only the cab block was an issue for me and they seem to have made that more intuitive in an update. I feel the way its user interface is designed made it far more straightforward to work with than the competition. Tap a thing, turn knobs. Closest I have experienced to the pedal user experience. I'm happy to give up better footswitch spacing for better onboard UI and more compact form factor.

The more compact the unit, the more you need to compromise on the footswitches. It's not a mystery why so many units have exactly 3 because that what fits in small boxes like a HX Stomp or larger Strymons. NeuralDSP instead decided to maximize the amount of knob/switches in the form factor at the expense of tigher spacing.

Could they have gone for wider spacing with just 6 switches in a row? Sure, that might have been a better solution too. Fractal could have also fitted at least 4 switches into their unit.

 

[Orvillain]

Well, my son (12) has size 43-44 already, my nephew (17) is at 47 now and when you look around at shoe stores, you can find plenty of 46-47 these days whereas there was little choice just 20-30 years ago.
Maybe small sized feet are a finnish thing and the QC team didn't investigate on international feet sizes much?

Maybe you are German Shrek ?

 

[Sascha Franck]

Maybe you are German Shrek ?

I'll check later.

 

[mbenigni]

Compromise on both directions = the worst kinda compromise, imo.

Hold up. There's a different kind of compromise?

 

[mbenigni]

Only the cab block was an issue for me and they seem to have made that more intuitive in an update. I feel the way its user interface is designed made it far more straightforward to work with than the competition. Tap a thing, turn knobs. Closest I have experienced to the pedal user experience. I'm happy to give up better footswitch spacing for better onboard UI and more compact form factor.

The more compact the unit, the more you need to compromise on the footswitches. It's not a mystery why so many units have exactly 3 because that what fits in small boxes like a HX Stomp or larger Strymons. NeuralDSP instead decided to maximize the amount of knob/switches in the form factor at the expense of tigher spacing.

Could they have gone for wider spacing with just 6 switches in a row? Sure, that might have been a better solution too. Fractal could have also fitted at least 4 switches into their unit.

The really crazy thing is, if you compare QC with HX Stomp or any number of other products, the horizontal* footswitch spacing is narrower by, like, a couple of mm. If you compare QC to a conventional stompbox build - especially any board with mini pedals - the QC is luxuriously spacious in comparison. I kind of feel like people have a mental block/ hang up about the footswitches because of other, unrelated things they dislike about the QC. Same goes for the "OMFG - the knobs aren't directly underneath the corresponding GUI elements!!!" I have literally never once fallen out of my chair on account of this.

*Admittedly, vertical spacing is a whole different argument. I think the top row has to be treated as functionally different than the bottom row - use them as encoders, use them for Scene changes for use when you can be sufficiently attentive, whatever. However you use them, they do add value.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Hold up. There's a different kind of compromise?

As I always say, if you must compromise, at least choose the lesser of two evils: don't compromise

Worst of bothe worlds rather than best...