Hi everyone,
I am looking for a good 3d printer, and is interested in Ultimaker 3 Extended and BCN3D Sigma. Looks like they have similar features such as dual extruders. Can someone tell me which one is a better choice? Price is not a major concern here, just need to find a better one in terms of function / power. Thanks!
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Hi Sammy,
I currently bought a BCN3D Sigma and I’m pretty happy with it. I have no experience with the UM3 (I only own an UMoriginal and a UM2).
I think you might wanna consider what’s more important: print high or print wide. The prints I make are more often wider in stead of higher. Ok, I could of course consider printing things upright, but for most of the models the positioning will be better to have a big platform.
I’m pretty charmed of the construction of the Sigma, I like the 2 separate print heads. The price is good and the operation is easy.
There are cons of course: Sigma is pretty noisy. Another thing: it uses Cura for slicing. For the dual head BCN3D forked the ‘old’ Cura, while I love the new Cura. After some adoptions I am able to slice in the new Cura, but only for prints with 1 printhead. With an UM you’ll be more sure to have the right slicer for your machine 
Good luck with your decision!
Cheers,
Charlotte
Puzzle
3
Hands-down the Ultimaker 3 does everything better. The auto-nozzle lifting system and the availability of Ultimaker materials makes dual extrusion a seamless experience. PVA works surprisingly well too as its really easy to print with dedicated a printcore for it.
Never been contented on any 3D printer till the UM3 came along, its what we imagined a 3D printer “appliance” should be
Hi,
I have bought 3 Ultimaker 3, and I had many issues on each … if it works, it’s a very good printer.
Umake
5
It depends a bit where you’re gonna use it for, both have their own unique functionalities.
Bcn3d:
+ Cheaper (a lot)
+ Independent dual extruder = no contamination
+ Large build volume
- Requires a bit more experience to finetune
- You can’t use 2.2kg spools (in case you use that like me)
- Noisy
UM3:
+ Easy to use right out of the box
+ Auto material recognition
+ Great print quality
+ Auto leveling
+ Silent
- Extremely expensive ‘smart’ filament spools, you can use ‘dumb’ third party filament and lose the ‘smart’ functions.
- Dual nozzle contamination is more likely, altough this doens’t happen very often.
- A lot more expensive
My personal choice is the bcn3d, mainly because of the independent dual extruders which work exeptionally well. Also the larger build volume is very nice.
Also there are a lot of other pros and cons worth considering. I believe there are some youtube videos that show a comparison between the two.
1 Like
3LOBIT
6
Hi sammy,
I bought a UM3 a few months ago and I am very satisfied. I have no expirience with BCND so I can not compare it, but UM3 is very good for my needs. Is easy to use and all my prints are of good quality. Good things are printcores too. You can change core in few second without additional tools.
UM3 contains 3 cores, 2 x AA core for printing of (PLA, PETG,NYLON,ABS,PC etc.) and one BB core for PVA supports.
check my video with my work. http://youtu.be/3CtLQdUkmts
I just put the 2.2 kg spools outside the printer
1 Like
XTRUDR
9
Hi
I would go with the UM3, as it has specially developed printheads and print cores, which are optimised for printed dual materials.
hope this helps a little
brgds
I have both of them, the sigma is a nice printer, it needs more fine tuning, and is noisier. The build volume is nice. Dual printing works good.
The UM3 is also very good, works nicely out of the box, is quiet and has some nice features like wifi and camera. Print quality is awesome
If price isn’t a problem i would choose the UM3
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Thank you so much for all the replies. Some mentioned the print size, which I agree to be important. I was more into BCN3D which has a bigger build volume, but later I learned that Um3 has an extended version which has additional 10cm in build height up to 30cm, very attractive, although its width and length remains the same (< BCN3D). I would like to know if build height is as important as length and width or not (Yes = Um win, No = BCN3D win)?
Also what is the performance difference between the Um heads and the separate heads of BCN3D, maybe in printing speed or product quality ?
For my situation I care more about the product itself, the price or working noise level is not as important.
Wow impressive!! Found some info said its extruder mechanic design is revolutionary. Is it not easy to buy it outside Russia? Also this machine was out in 2014, is there a newer version recently?
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Hi Charlotte, Since you have both the sigma and a UMO; how would you compare the noise levels? I now have a UMO with heated bed and thinking of buying a sigma or an UM3. I am looking for a bigger print bed than I have right now, so than the sigma has a big plus, but I also print a lot at night, when I am sleeping and than the noise level could also be a differentiator, because the printer is in the room next to my bedroom.
roger78
15
PVA performs well because of the Ultimaker PVA that is compatible with the Sigma. I have been printing with it in the Sigma and has no comparison with other PVA that I have used before.
roger78
16
My choice is the Sigma. Cheaper, better construction and more versatile.
One thing you have to consider is what materials you want to print. The Sigma can print flexible and will be soon able to print also abrasive materials.
Moreover I think that will be quiter in a few days…
https://www.meetup.com/es-ES/MatterHackers-Open-House-3D-Printing-Meetup/events/237198214/?eventId=237198214&gj=co2&rv=co2&rv=co2
1 Like
Sigma makes more noise. I measured around 60db with my smartphone. Ultimakers are around 50db.
Its not like the difference is really big but it can be a bit annoying
Thanks. I have tried Ultimaker PVA, Formfutura Atlas support and esun PVA. What is better with the Ultimaker PVA ?
The Sigma is more noisy. Probably same mistake as Ultimaker once made: no isolation between the housing and the extruder motor (which is in my opinion the most noisy).
I know there is new fans on the latests Sigma, do you have the last one ?
