The Fractal FM3 Sucks (Kind of)

[Whizzinby]

I just was going through a list of the amps and presets in the fractal. Is there even any sort of categorization happening in this thing? It doesn’t even look like fender amps are grouped together, just randomly mixed into the list with everything else in fuck all order?

 

[LP59]

I just was going through a list of the amps and presets in the fractal. Is there even any sort of categorization happening in this thing? It doesn’t even look like fender amps are grouped together, just randomly mixed into the list with everything else in fuck all order?

The names don't make much sense either. That's the Fractal way.

 

[la szum]

Modern humans, "I don't like it. Can someone not named me fix it with
no cost or effort to myself."

 

[JiveTurkey]

So many directions you can play Devil's Advocate in this discussion

 

[SKU]

So why am I considering spending a thousand more on an FM3?

A very good question!

 

[Achilles]

100%. It’s a common refrain. “Dumbed down” “Fischer price toy” “my first modeler” and all that bullshit. It’s a terrible UI, full stop. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used, but by any reasonable modern standard it’s a complete pain in the ass to use, and few give a shit that it may be easier to use than some other archaic piece of equipment from years past.

I know. Fractal is about to release their new and improved first foray into 21st century user interfaces. Before they do away with the scroll/arrow navigation once and for all they make an offer to all of the hard core, learned the unit backwards and forwards via the original UI users.

Prove your chops on the original UI and earn a free declarative chest tattoo acknowledging you as an OG UI Master!

Win, win. Everyone finally gets an updated UI and the old school Master Users still get to pound their chests now and then.

 

[duzie]

I know. Fractal is about to release their new and improved first foray into 21st century user interfaces. Before they do away with the scroll/arrow navigation once and for all they make an offer to all of the hard core, learned the unit backwards and forwards via the original UI users.

Prove your chops on the original UI and earn a free declarative chest tattoo acknowledging you as an OG UI Master!

View attachment 18858

Win, win. Everyone finally gets an update UI and the old school Master Users still get to pound their chests now and then.

Is this a screenshot of the new touchscreen version?

 

[JCW308]

I have never tried to say that things need to be simple. Things just need to be fast to operate, consistent and intuitive.

The developers can take care of various hurdles for the user. These could be things like the ability to look up what a parameter does right in Axe-Edit, or just making an UI so that it requires less button presses or touchscreen taps to perform a task.

A good example is Helix vs Fractal block movement. Helix is an intuitive "pick and place", Fractal is "select a function and execute it" aka "no user experience thought went into this, only how it was easiest to program". This is a common engineer mindset. Helix doesn’t dumb this down, just makes it more intuitive.

I have said many times that the number of parameters, fx etc is not what makes Fractal a chore to use. Axe-Edit handles this just fine. The onboard UI doesn't because of the way it works and how its controls are laid out. It won't be solved until next gen but could have been improved over the years. It just hasn't got much attention at all.

Never had a problem using my FM3 from the front panel. It's really not that hard. Now the AX8, that was a pain. FM3, easy.

 

[Whizzinby]

I know. Fractal is about to release their new and improved first foray into 21st century user interfaces. Before they do away with the scroll/arrow navigation once and for all they make an offer to all of the hard core, learned the unit backwards and forwards via the original UI users.

Prove your chops on the original UI and earn a free declarative chest tattoo acknowledging you as an OG UI Master!

View attachment 18858

Win, win. Everyone finally gets an update UI and the old school Master Users still get to pound their chests now and then.

May it forever live in our hearts…

 

[Achilles]

Is this a screenshot of the new touchscreen version?

BLASPHEMY! Burn him, burn him!

 

[Sascha Franck]

Is this a screenshot of the new touchscreen version?

Yes, and you will have to perform circular movements to operate the value knob.

 

[Achilles]

Pure Luxury. That screen had multiple lines and characters!

My first Multifx:

The purple wonder was preceded first by a ProGap and then an ART SGE.

 

[la szum]

The purple wonder was preceded first by a ProGap and then an ART SGE.

Recorded a 3 track demo for a band I was in with the Pro Gap in 1989. Tracked it
all in the control room and hated it.

 

[laxu]

Fascinating. You know this how? Did the developers tell you this?

Or is this just some BS you're making up?

It just seems like a cheap potshot with no basis in fact.

You can see it simply by looking at how it works. There is no way you would make this work like it does if you actually considered the user experience. Why would anyone want to toggle between "move left/right/up/down" when you could simply "pick up block, move it where you want" and the system does the actual functions of "move block left" etc behind the scenes as you click the nav buttons with a block "picked up".

This has been the way it is since the first Axe-Fx when it was probably just Cliff. So I have some sympathy for "getting things done" but that doesn't mean those bad solutions need to exist for a decade.

As a programmer it's easy to sometimes see the underlying logic from a programming perspective. I am probably not too far off if I say this is an enum of different block action IDs that you scroll through to select the action and then you execute the function attached to that action ID.

 

[laxu]

Never had a problem using my FM3 from the front panel. It's really not that hard. Now the AX8, that was a pain. FM3, easy.

It's not hard, but it is a chore compared to other units or using Axe-Edit.

AX8's Shift button was a terrible idea. But I wish they kept those dedicated LED ring controls and just expanded their use to edit whatever you want. Performance view isn't the same.

 

[TSJMajesty]

That isn't how all bands work.

No wonder everyone complains about their live tones. If you're never tweaking during a rehearsal, no small wonder your stuff isn't translating!!

I'm not good enough to know how to dial in a great 'in-the-mix' tone by myself. I needed to do it with the band.

 

[JCW308]

It's not hard, but it is a chore compared to other units or using Axe-Edit.

AX8's Shift button was a terrible idea. But I wish they kept those dedicated LED ring controls and just expanded their use to edit whatever you want. Performance view isn't the same.

Performance view is 100x better,

 

[laxu]

Performance view is 100x better,

IMo it's too limited. And physical knobs that are not super cramped is always nicer. The AX8 using those LED ring knobs only for amp controls was quite limited.

 

[JCW308]

IMo it's too limited. And physical knobs that are not super cramped is always nicer. The AX8 using those LED ring knobs only for amp controls was quite limited.

Yeah but with Performance mode you have two full pages of anything you want.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Yeah but with Performance mode you have two full pages of anything you want.

Fwiw, each and every programmable unit should have something like a performance mode, allowing you to map any parameter to any control, including multiple ones and "modulation style", so you could alter, say, your trebles just by a certain percentage - especially when tweaking a live setup, you almost never need 100% of the parameter range (unless you're using it as some sort of wild realtime performance tweaking).
It's only getting better along with global blocks...