fractal · rack modeler

Axe-Fx III

Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III
start learningthe Axe-Fx III
not connected
plug in over usb
firmware
cygnus
reviewed
aug 29, 2026

real amps, each read from its schematic, ready to send to your Axe-Fx III.

edit buffer installbeta

If yours is a floorboard with nine switches it is an FM9. With three, it is an FM3. If it uses X and Y rather than channels A to D, it is an Axe-Fx II, a different generation running Ares rather than Cygnus.

the guide

7 chapters

your Axe-Fx III models → the real amp

01

6 of 89 real amps8 of 89 real ampsevery Axe-Fx III model

top for your Axe-Fx III

02

read this first

03

five things that explain almost every problem.

  1. 01

    the input to use is input 1, not the others.

    Input 1 is the instrument input and carries Fractal's “Secret Sauce” circuitry, tuned for guitar and bass pickups. The other inputs are line level and will take a guitar, but without that front end. Plug the guitar into Input 1.

  2. 02

    the cab block goes off when you feed a real amp.

    Cab block on into anything full-range: headphones, an FRFR speaker, the desk, your computer. Cab block off into anything that ends in a real guitar speaker. A cab block is a speaker simulation. Into a real cab it stacks two speakers. Left off into a full-range system, you hear a raw amp with no speaker at all.

  3. 03

    scenes and channels are two different axes.

    A scene stores which blocks are bypassed and which channel each block is on. A channel is a preset within a block: up to four per block, A to D, each with fully independent settings. One Drive block can be a clean boost on channel A, a screamer on B, a distortion on C and a fuzz on D, and a scene picks which one is live without loading anything.

  4. 04

    store, or you lose it.

    Any change lights an edited indicator. Press STORE before you change preset. Change preset with that lit and the edit is lost, with no confirmation and no undo.

  5. 05

    the cpu is the real limit, not the grid.

    Fractal publish a Preset CPU Limits chapter. Line 6 cap particular block types. Fractal let you build what fits and stop you when the processor is full, so watch the meter. A bypassed block still occupies its grid slot and still costs processing. Remove what you are not using instead of switching it off.

presets for your Axe-Fx III

04

89 with a factory model matchpresets for Axe-Fx III

learn · 8 lessons · 48 min

05
  1. 01what you actually bought4
  2. 02making a sound, correctly6
  3. 03scenes and channels8
  4. 04the controls you will use6
  5. 05plugging it into things6
  6. 06the grid, and what runs out7
  7. 07what the model names mean5
  8. 08playing live6

reference · 14 pages

06
  • controlsinteractive
  • inputs and outputsinteractive
  • specifications
  • levels
  • cabs and user IRs
  • rig setupinteractive

open the reference

which one to buy

07

which Fractal should you buy?

three current-generation Fractal devices and the previous one. Scenes and channels work the same on all of them. The grid, the amp count and the footswitches do not.

Axe-Fx III · FM9 · FM3 · Axe-Fx II

compare them

installing presets

08

presets load into the edit buffer. press store.

full steps

Fractal Audio · Axe-Fx III · Cygnus

A rackmount processor built around a 14x6 stereo grid, with two amp and cab pairs per preset, eight scenes, and four independent channels inside every block. It is driven from a front panel, not footswitches. Footswitches are a separate purchase.
questions and answers