Line 6 M5 delays not as good as I remember :/

gibsongretschfan

Had been putting together a "B" pedalboard with some left over scraps and was intending to use the Line 6 M5 for delay duties.

I remember distinctly rather liking the Anologue w/mod model and was quite prepared not to be blown away with the results of my new B board as long as it performed adiqutiley 

I'm afraid to say that it didn't even do that. The analogue w/mod is still the pick of the bunch but pretty much all the other delay models sound like plastic.

The Tape Echo model is an exceptional let down now I've returned to it. 

I still love the 63 Spring Reverb however and the M5 might manage to keep a place on the board for that alone

So am I missing something here or have my tastes just gotten more expensive? I think I can see an el Cap on my horizon...

TheMarlin

It'll takes up a lot of space on your board for one sound...
i felt it as a fun pedal for modulation, but didn't get on much with the drive tones or delays.  Is the firmware all up to date?

gibsongretschfan

TheMarlin said:

It'll takes up a lot of space on your board for one sound...
i felt it as a fun pedal for modulation, but didn't get on much with the drive tones or delays.  Is the firmware all up to date?

That's a good point about firmware. I'm not actually sure, will check it later 

I do REALLY like that Reverb though and it's only marginally bigger than a Holy Grail.... besides if I start making space on my board I'll have to fill it with expensive goodies!

hmmm maybe an el Cap and a Gral Neo would hit the spot better 

gibsongretschfan

Ahh apparently there are no updates

sgosden

In a weird way I always thought the delays sounded better on the M9. Same algorithms I'm sure, but I think it was something to do with the signal path. The M5 seemed to make the dry signal dull when it was engaged.

crunchman

TheMarlin said:

It'll takes up a lot of space on your board for one sound...
i felt it as a fun pedal for modulation, but didn't get on much with the drive tones or delays.  Is the firmware all up to date?

I've sold mine now, but when I had it I used to use the tuner on the M5 rather than have a separate tuner pedal.  Used that way it's quite good on space.

I did find I was only using 3 or 4 sounds though.

MattBanshee

I love the lo-fi delays on the M5, and some of the tremolo sounds too. The subdivision control is great, particularly for triplet delays and dotted note trem.

longi

TheMarlin said:

It'll takes up a lot of space on your board for one sound...
i felt it as a fun pedal for modulation, but didn't get on much with the drive tones or delays.  Is the firmware all up to date?

Annoyingly the firmware has never been updated by Line 6. The delays still give a slight volume boost which really annoys me.

monquixote

I got an m5 to use as a delay and didn't really like it compared to an obscura or flashback

gibsongretschfan

I ended up buying an El Capistan from a forum member and it arrived last night.

First impressions are pretty good. Sounded good as soon as I plugged it in. Spent time playing rather than time fiddling and feeling frustrated. 

EricTheWeary

One of my memories of my M9 was when using an expression pedal with the delays the result was quite stepped rather than a smooth transition. The other was the anger (well, high level annoyance) on their own forum that Line 6 had abandoned the M series so quickly in terms of offering any updates. I'd bought mine used but it doesnt make me feel positive about buying expensive tech from the company (not that I'm that likely to anyway, but if I was). 

gibsongretschfan

EricTheWeary said:

One of my memories of my M9 was when using an expression pedal with the delays the result was quite stepped rather than a smooth transition. The other was the anger (well, high level annoyance) on their own forum that Line 6 had abandoned the M series so quickly in terms of offering any updates. I'd bought mine used but it doesnt make me feel positive about buying expensive tech from the company (not that I'm that likely to anyway, but if I was). 

To be fair I own a Helix and the support from Line 6 has been nothing short of tremendous. Literally setting new benchmarks for product support

ThePrettyDamned

Weird, I loved the delays on mine - especially the lo res, analogue and digital ones. The low res was particularly excellent, and I've not found anything quite like it since. 

jeztone2

I guess it's all taste. I really like the M5. I've spent a lot of time with it & it
feels dialled in now. I have a flashback as a secondary delay too.

JCA2550

Who uses the M5 with an expression pedal and does it make it more usable?

Fez

The only thing I like about the M5 was the Wah emulation with my old Boss expression pedal. Otherwise it's a noisy piece of cack.