NAD: FM3 / Orange Pedal Baby

[desertdweller]

Yep, I bought fruit. This was on Leon 's recommendation and some of the ungodly amazing sound clips I've heard of him playing his XLII through his OPB. I've had a few solid state amps before, including recently the SD Powerstage 170, and I think this amp just sounds a bit better. I'd love to join a band and gig a bit next year, we'll see if it comes to pass, this allows me to throw my whole rig in a bag and go, and have a FOH line coming from the FM3 out the XLR output as well.

I'm not sure if I'm sticking with the FM3 or upgrading to the FM9, but I can say that with the right EQ on Output 2, the FM3/OPB competes with my tube amps. This little setup slays.




Desk setup:



Global Output 2 EQ to fix lower mids and upper mids, it's so great this is global and doesn't affect Output 1:



Travel bag:

[Chris]

Proper.

Are you gigging?

[Budda]

Hell yeah.

I have 1U in my rack, not sure if it will be a powered monitor or power amp and backline cab. I have a while before its actually an issue :/

[RevDrucifer]

Fuck yeah!!

That’s pretty much how I’m planning on running my FM9, but I’ve had my head set on the PowerStage 700 because it can do stereo and playing in stereo is too much fun not to have. FOH will get a mono signal. In what way do you find the Pedal Baby to be a bit better? I hear mixed reviews on the PowerStages.

And fuck yeah x2 for Fractal fam.

[Leon]

I'm so jealous of that bag. Going from my 8sp rack with huge pedalboard and goddamn 5 cable snake to a 4sp and smaller board was great... but damn, THAT bag is so tidy

[desertdweller]

Chris No not gigging right now. I have an 8 month old kid and am far too busy with work! I'm hoping next year. I've done a bit of networking with some local metal guys and might put a new project together, and the guys from my old old band The Asylum are talking about doing a reunion, so that's a possibility too. I'm definitely feeling the itch to play with other people, for sure.

RevDrucifer You would be happy with the Powerstage 700 as well. I liked the SD170, to me the OPB just feels and sounds just a little bit better. It's Class AB vs Class D in the SD170. I cranked up my Badlander earlier this afternoon, played it in the room for a bit, then hooked up the FM3 and Orange and worked on the output EQ in the FM3 until I felt it was performing with the 4x12 cab just like the tube amp. It was really really close, which is absolutely nuts IMO that it could even compare. Modern technology is amazing.

Leon I will need a new bag if I upgrade to the FM9 for sure. That bag came with the NUX board the FM3 is attached to. I don't necessarily NEED any additional power the FM9 would bring, and its a bit bulkier than the FM3, so I'm undecided if I'm getting it or not right now.

[beneharris]

I forgot to ask when we were texting, but are you running this through a cab? How do you guys feel about a power amp/cab setup VS the FRFR route?

[desertdweller]

I forgot to ask when we were texting, but are you running this through a cab? How do you guys feel about a power amp/cab setup VS the FRFR route?

Yeah I'm using both Output 1 and Output 2.

Output 1 has a cab block with a couple Ownhammer IRs and a Parametric eq block. This goes out the XLR in stereo to my PC for recording and monitoring. This is how I play the fm3 most of the time.

Output 2 is going out the 1/4" mono to the front of the pedal baby then out to my Mesa 4x12. In the FM3 routing this is after the effects but before the cab block, so it doesn't have the cab block on it.

This is how I'd run it live with a band too. Output 2 to the amp and 4x12, Output 1 to front of house.


As far as real cabs vs frfr, I havent tried FRFR cabs because for the price I'd pay for some of the nicer ones, I could buy a nice 4x12 or 2x12. I love studio monitors so I guess those are FRFR, but that's as far into that realm as I go.

[RevDrucifer]

I forgot to ask when we were texting, but are you running this through a cab? How do you guys feel about a power amp/cab setup VS the FRFR route?

While I play through studio monitors 95% of the time, I have no interest in the FRFR route for a rig. All I ever see are complaints or frustrated people trying to achieve the 'amp in the room' tone. Just plug into a fucking guitar cab and you've got an amp in the room. The AxeFX or FM into a cab and cranked up is legit AF.

[beneharris]

While I play through studio monitors 95% of the time, I have no interest in the FRFR route for a rig. All I ever see are complaints or frustrated people trying to achieve the 'amp in the room' tone. Just plug into a fucking guitar cab and you've got an amp in the room. The AxeFX or FM into a cab and cranked up is legit AF.

I usually run mine through my FRFR and like it a lot. I tried it with the mark 5 as the power amp through a cab again tonight and it was sooo good.

[Adam]

Great score vince! I'm curious about the pedal baby amps, bug I have a matrix that works fine for my needs. That looks like such a tidy and compact rig 👌

[Jeff]

[beneharris]

I've been messing around with Mark IV and Triaxis presets for the last hour or two, and boy, that modeler fatigue sets in quick. Sometimes I just want to plug into an amp and play

[Budda]

I've been messing around with Mark IV and Triaxis presets for the last hour or two, and boy, that modeler fatigue sets in quick. Sometimes I just want to plug into an amp and play

This is why I run my own presets 99% of the time . Change between 2 scenes and thats it.

Rev also mentioned amp in the room - if one doesnt miss it or chase it, FRFR speakers make much more sense. Future me will deal with that decision.

[desertdweller]

This is why I run my own presets 99% of the time . Change between 2 scenes and thats it.

Rev also mentioned amp in the room - if one doesnt miss it or chase it, FRFR speakers make much more sense. Future me will deal with that decision.

I agree 100%. Every stock patch either has far too much reverb on it, is far too complex, or has a legacy IR loaded. Also the amp models don't react exactly like the real amps, but they're close enough that you can make it work. The Mark amps for example, I learned from Leon Todd videos that setting the low mid and the high EQ sliders QUITE a bit lower than I would with the real amps pays dividends on the fractal gear. I love the IIC+, Mark IV, and JP2C models in the FM3 now that I realized that. Also setting the master volume to 2 or so on the Recto models makes it sound more like the real amp in it's sweet spot (which is more like 11 o'clock IMO on the real amp).

Learning these things I feel I've been able to create some presets around the IIC+, JP2C, Recto, and Friedman HBE amps that fits the sounds I'm looking for. The Triaxis, Lonestar, and Matchless are by far my favorites so far for cleans as well.

But yes, all of them have been from me messing around with my own presets, and I can get so deep into the tweaking sometimes that it gives me ear fatigue. I'll come back to it the next day and find a preset far too bright or too muddy or something. What's really worked well for me is recording the real amp through the Captor, then trying to get the amp model to sound like the real amp with the same IRs. I took the same approach when getting the sounds I want through the Orange power amp; run my sound through my tube amp then try to get the FM3/Orange to sound the same. This has been successful for me for sure.

[beneharris]

Dang, there is a Lonestar in the FM3? What is it called?

[Adam]

Dang, there is a Lonestar in the FM3? What is it called?

These days you're better off asking which amps are NOT in the fm3/9/axefx3 😅

[Chris]

I'm past the point of caring/knowing if any modeler sounds exactly like the real amp. I just like presets that sound good.

Eg: I've no idea if the FAS Archon sounds like the real thing because I don't have one to compare it to and I don't really give a shit anyway. I think the model sounds badass and that's really the only important thing at the end of the day.

deadhorse.jpg

[Budda]

Dang, there is a Lonestar in the FM3? What is it called?

Texas something I think? Yek's amp guide on the FAS wiki is a good read if you have a minute.

[Chris]

Dang, there is a Lonestar in the FM3? What is it called?

Texas Star.

[beneharris]

Texas something I think? Yek's amp guide on the FAS wiki is a good read if you have a minute.

I did read that, there is just so much

[beneharris]

Texas Star.

Sweet! I'm going to compare that to my real one.

That video sounds great.

[Jeff]

I'm past the point of caring/knowing if any modeler sounds exactly like the real amp. I just like presets that sound good.

Eg: I've no idea if the FAS Archon sounds like the real thing because I don't have one to compare it to and I don't really give a shit anyway. I think the model sounds badass and that's really the only important thing at the end of the day.

deadhorse.jpg

Most of the models (at least what I’ve actually played, of course) are pretty damn spot on anyway. The only one that was off, and kind of annoyingly so, was the Triple Crown. But that sounds a lot better in Cygnus.

[bigdave]

I'm past the point of caring/knowing if any modeler sounds exactly like the real amp. I just like presets that sound good.

Eg: I've no idea if the FAS Archon sounds like the real thing because I don't have one to compare it to and I don't really give a shit anyway. I think the model sounds badass and that's really the only important thing at the end of the day.

deadhorse.jpg

I've been that way for years, I never got hung up on how anything imitated something more than caring if I could find a sound that I could enjoy on its own.