New Fractal FM9 floor unit - looks good!

DavusPG

SKB iSeries 3614-6 and a Duo 34

To get enough clearance between the "value" knob on the FM9 and the top of the case I mounted the FM9 further back on the Temple, removed the rubber side panels on the FM9, and used a 10mm piece of foam on the bottom of the case with the thick foam cut snugly around the board. Holds it all in place nicely

Nerine

Another gig (have done a few now) with the FM9 last night. 

Sounded frigging epic. You can get such huge guitar sounds with this thing. 

I’ve also just updated to the new beta Cygnus X2 modelling. I think I can feel and hear a difference. Seems more “lively” than previously. Either way, the only thing this ever does is just further convince me that this is totally the way forward. 

Another shoutout for the Yamaha DXR10 MKII as a great monitor to pair with the FM9. It’s great. 

Like, at most points yesterday, my monitoring was too loud for me. It’s got some serious clout for the size and weight. I also think it’s really good value. 

mrkb

New firmware V4 released.

firepaulmusic

mrkb said:

New firmware V4 released.

Can’t see it on the Fractal website?

mrkb

firepaulmusic said:

mrkb said:

New firmware V4 released.

Can’t see it on the Fractal website?

They always release via forum first

Thread 'FM9 Firmware Version 4.00'
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm9-firmware-version-4-00.189514/

firepaulmusic

mrkb said:

firepaulmusic said:

mrkb said:

New firmware V4 released.

Can’t see it on the Fractal website?

They always release via forum first

Thread 'FM9 Firmware Version 4.00'
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm9-firmware-version-4-00.189514/

Got it now, cheers

Nerine

There is so much to learn and discover with this thing. 

I reworked my main gigging preset last week and tried it out at the weekend. 

I was happy before, but I’m even more happy now. It really does sound brilliant. 

I’ll list some stuff that I think is pretty useful or may help to cut down a bit of the learning curve:

1. Don’t expect your first rig build to be the best. You will change it and tweak it. And it will improve a lot in the first few iterations. 

2. Global/Post EQ. I have an EQ block just prior to my output blocks. I use it to low cut and make slight overall tweaks. I find cutting some 300-400Hz to be useful also on a lot of my patches. I’d advise using one of these to make adjustments to the overall preset. 

3. Learn the switching. It’s insanely flexible. Per Preset layouts are also totally killer. A guy on YouTube called Rosh does a good video series on the FM9. It’s covered there. 

4. Gapless switching. It’s possible. And easy. You need to use two amp blocks in parallel and toggle between them with either a mixer block or multiplexer block. 

5. Analogue drives in front of the FM9. Yes they work. Yes they sound ace (so do the modelled ones when A/B-ing). I have discovered this today. I was tearing down my analogue board and I have a Duke Of Tone sat in the cupboard that I bought last year that I’ve not even opened. Cracked it open and hooked it up. Wow. Brings things to life even more. Sooooo pleased with how the rig sounds boosted with an analogue pedal. Also, it doesn’t appear to futz with your input levels too much either. Voodoo shit, there. Definitely try implementing a hybrid setup. It’s very cool. 

6. IRs. They’re important but perhaps not as crucial as it seems. I think once you get to a venue and set your rig up it just kinda sounds natural anyway. Pick one you like and then work on the amps. Check the wiki as well as there’s lots of good info on the cabs there. Same with the amps to be fair. 

7. Monitoring. Crucial. I’ve got a Yamaha DXR10 MkII that I’m hugely impressed by. Loud as balls. Big low end. Never have an issue with stage volume. It’s got plenty of welly to spare. Easily audible over loud drums especially since it aims at your head. 

I’ve heard it sound less great through old shite Peavey PA speakers at rehearsal rooms and jams and stuff, but don’t let that dissuade you. 

8. Realise that it’s an ecosystem that is quite different to a regular guitar amp. It requires different thinking. The sounds are in there and they’re easily gotten if you spend some time getting to learn how to use it. 

9. Learn the utilities and quality of life features of the unit. Preset levelling, copying blocks, channels, moving presets around, etc. It’s all good stuff and some of it is just so “what a good idea”. 

10. Accept that it’s accurate. I think this is quite an important one. The accuracy of this thing is about as close to 100% as you’re gonna get. Chances are if you dial a sound and it’s not to your liking, the reality is if you did the same with the real gear, you’d end up at the same place if you were in a studio etc. Obviously you’re listening to a “recording” of the real rig, but that’s what it’d sound like if you mic’d it for FOH. 

11. It works great in a band mix. It doesn’t get lost. It plays well alongside regular guitar amps if another guitarist isn’t going direct. I’d say that I sound much more defined and present in my bands mixes nowadays.  

Still impressed. If not more so. Amazing piece of gear. Proper 10/10 for me. 

Nerine

To add to point 5 above. 

I currently have my FM9 setup as follows:

Guitar into input 1. 

That then is chained in FM9 edit to give me stomp boxes I would typically use before drive pedals. So Univibe, compressor, phaser, wah, virtual capo etc.

That chain terminates at output 3 on the edit grid. 

Physical Output 3 now feeds my analogue drives (an MXR Classic Fuzz and Duke Of Tone). They return to input 2. 

Input 2 in on a separate strip in the edit window. I then have the amp and cab blocks and all the post drive effects, such as reverb, delays etc. that then goes to a PEQ block which is last in the chain before splitting to outputs 1 and 2. To FOH and my monitor respectively. 

I have 9 gain sounds/levels between the two pedals and the two amp blocks. Here’s where the switching comes in and it’s so fucking cool. 

I press one switch to change between clean and crunch on an amp channel. I have another switch to change the mixer block after both amp blocks. 

Essentially: 

Switch 1: changes “channel” 1 of my amp. From clean to crunch. So channel one can either be clean or crunch. 

Switch 2: seamlessly changes between channel 1 and channel 2. Channel two being my high gain sound. 

It’s a nice way to do it. 

I could add more functionality to switch two by pressing and holding the switch but with the analogue drives/boosts patched in, it gives an insane amount of sounds on tap as is. I can then press and hold my Univibe switch to add a compressor in if I want. I can press to switch in the delay or reverb or press and hold either to change the channel of both of those blocks and hence engage completely different/wetter reverbs and delays and toggle those on and off. 

The switching is so well thought out on this thing. 

firepaulmusic

I’m finding I have the best results lately using a clean amp model then add two gain pedals in series. It sounds more natural to me than switching between amps. I’ve also got the same amp with different gain levels as my B and C…

exocet

firepaulmusic said:

I’m finding I have the best results lately using a clean amp model then add two gain pedals in series. It sounds more natural to me than switching between amps. I’ve also got the same amp with different gain levels as my B and C…

I think that's a good approach. The problem with having loads of flexibility is very much the temptation to mix "small fender amp" for clean and "hot rodded marshall" for lead.....whilst both sounds are great, when you flip between them in a single preset - it can sound very "wrong" or at least its easy to focus on the tonal palette differences.

Roland

Having spent a long time messing around with multiple amps, just because they were available, I’ve eventually come down to using one amp type with three different drive and tone settings, plus a drive block and a clean boost.

DavusPG

Yup after lots of tweaking after each gig, I've also gone from 4 amp types in a preset down to 1 and with less gain options than I thought I needed. 

Amp boost assigned to a control switch is probably my most used method for changing tone, along with the volume knob on the guitar, which is a new revelation having spent decades with it always at 10

Nerine

DavusPG said:

Yup after lots of tweaking after each gig, I've also gone from 4 amp types in a preset down to 1 and with less gain options than I thought I needed. 

Amp boost assigned to a control switch is probably my most used method for changing tone, along with the volume knob on the guitar, which is a new revelation having spent decades with it always at 10

When you say assigned to a control switch. I’ve not delved into those yet. 

Does that require a separate controller? Could I do similar on the FM9 so it’s not like a scene, but more a latching switch that toggles between two settings of the same rotary knob? 

Usually I toggle between amp channels, but that’s a bit overkill seeing as my main changes are mostly gain. 

Roland

Control Switches are on/off. Scene Controllers change value as you move from scene to scene. This means there’s less of an audible gap than you’d get with a channel change.

mrkb

Control switches are multipurpose on/off switches, that can be assigned to multiple parameters. I use one for a “Solo boost” when control switch1 is on it switches the “amp input boost” on in the Amp block as well as activating a Filter Block with a 3db output boost and also a delay block. So I can go into “Solo mode” from any scene.

DavusPG

Nerine said:

When you say assigned to a control switch. I’ve not delved into those yet. 

Does that require a separate controller? Could I do similar on the FM9 so it’s not like a scene, but more a latching switch that toggles between two settings of the same rotary knob? 

Yup, it's exactly that and you have them on your FM9. They can be assigned to any modifiable control including bypass states of blocks. I also use them attached to filter blocks for volume boosts. Control switches are very useful as they can be set to latching or momentary and to stay on or off across scene changes or to revert back to their saved state per scene.

So for example I have one attached to a filter block in every preset that adds a 2.5db boost across all scenes unless I turn it on/off. That's enough for my Tele to be the same volume as my Les Paul if I switch guitars, or just to give me a little volume boost if I feel I'm being overpowered by the rest of the band

These should get you going: 

Nerine

DavusPG said:

Nerine said:

When you say assigned to a control switch. I’ve not delved into those yet. 

Does that require a separate controller? Could I do similar on the FM9 so it’s not like a scene, but more a latching switch that toggles between two settings of the same rotary knob? 

Yup, it's exactly that and you have them on your FM9. They can be assigned to any modifiable control including bypass states of blocks. I also use them attached to filter blocks for volume boosts. Control switches are very useful as they can be set to latching or momentary and to stay on or off across scene changes or to revert back to their saved state per scene.

So for example I have one attached to a filter block in every preset that adds a 2.5db boost across all scenes unless I turn it on/off. That's enough for my Tele to be the same volume as my Les Paul if I switch guitars, or just to give me a little volume boost if I feel I'm being overpowered by the rest of the band

These should get you going: 

Thanks. Second one is just an image though. Watched the first one. Didn’t know you could assign stuff like that. 

The more I learn about the FM9, the more I appreciate how insanely well thought out it is. 

Thanks for sharing, man. 

mrkb

Nerine said:

DavusPG said:

Nerine said:

When you say assigned to a control switch. I’ve not delved into those yet. 

Does that require a separate controller? Could I do similar on the FM9 so it’s not like a scene, but more a latching switch that toggles between two settings of the same rotary knob? 

Yup, it's exactly that and you have them on your FM9. They can be assigned to any modifiable control including bypass states of blocks. I also use them attached to filter blocks for volume boosts. Control switches are very useful as they can be set to latching or momentary and to stay on or off across scene changes or to revert back to their saved state per scene.

So for example I have one attached to a filter block in every preset that adds a 2.5db boost across all scenes unless I turn it on/off. That's enough for my Tele to be the same volume as my Les Paul if I switch guitars, or just to give me a little volume boost if I feel I'm being overpowered by the rest of the band

These should get you going: 

Thanks. Second one is just an image though. Watched the first one. Didn’t know you could assign stuff like that. 

The more I learn about the FM9, the more I appreciate how insanely well thought out it is. 

Thanks for sharing, man. 

Its this one on Leon Todds excellent fractal biased channel - Leon is username "2112" on the fractal forum and is also employed by G66 to do Fractal tuition videos.

Nerine

Shot out the Klone Chiron drive block in the FM9 with a real silver Klon Centaur yesterday. 

This was running into a clean Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig (which happened to be setup next to a Z-Wreck head and cab which really was something special.) 

So the patch was literally input 1, drive block, output 3 to amp. 

A few people were in attendance. 

At the same settings it sounded basically identical. If there was any appreciable difference, you could easily get it closer with the additional editing parameters on the FM9 and being able to A/B immediately, which we couldn’t on the day. 

Hugely impressive. The models in the Fractal ecosystem are insanely accurate. 

I only ever find evidence that it’s the way forward.

firepaulmusic

Tried out my new patch based on a single amp (Shiva clean) plus modelled and analogue drive pedals at a gig last night. It was way more natural sounding without the jumps between amp types…