FM3
A compact floor processor with a 12x4 stereo grid, one amp and cab pair per preset, eight scenes and four channels in every block. Three footswitches with switchable layouts, and Fractal's Secret Sauce IV instrument input.
If yours has nine footswitches it is an FM9, with a bigger grid and two amp and cab pairs. The Axe-Fx III is the rack version of that same larger engine.
The pages that exist nowhere else
Scenes and channels
The two axes — and on an FM3, channels are how you get variety out of one amp block.
The grid and CPU
12 by 4, one amp pair, and a CPU budget you manage rather than caps you hit.
What the effect names really are
Every model Fractal themselves describe — and an honest account of the ones they don't.
Troubleshooting
Symptom, cause, fix — including what is documented behaviour rather than a fault.
Controls and footswitches
Every control on an interactive top panel — three switches, and the layouts that multiply them.
Inputs and outputs
Every jack on an interactive rear panel, including the input that does two jobs and the output that is XLR only.
Specifications
The numbers that answer a question, with the FM9 comparison on every line that differs.
Scenes and channels
The two axes — and on an FM3, channels are how you get variety out of one amp block.
The grid and CPU
12 by 4, one amp pair, and a CPU budget you manage rather than caps you hit.
What the effect names really are
Every model Fractal themselves describe — and an honest account of the ones they don't.
Levels
Input trim, output level and preset level do three different jobs. The first one does not change your tone, however much it looks like it should.
Cabs and user IRs
What a User Cab is, how to get one onto the unit, and the file extension that looks right and does nothing.
Rig setup
FRFR, front of house, into a real amp, or four-cable.
MIDI
Why Fractal MIDI works differently from everyone else's, and the mapping that lets a one-message controller drive a scene-based rig.
Questions and answers
Straight answers to the things people actually ask.
Troubleshooting
Symptom, cause, fix — including what is documented behaviour rather than a fault.
Firmware and backups
Presets live in banks of 128, so backing up "your presets" usually backs up a quarter of them. Plus the version note that saves you later.
Glossary
Grid, scene, channel, shunt, Humbuster, FASLINK, layout, Cygnus.