Not a Bug New Firmware Input Clipping

A

AlexGuitar

Inspired
After updating my FM9 firmware last night, I am clipping the input when I pick hard. Does anyone know what is going on? A quick scroll through my settings doesn't show any obvious changes.
 
Ok.... so how do I prevent that from happening?

It's a relatively low output guitar - If I'm having it happen, others must be as well.
 
Turning down the input sensitivity before the AD converter seemed to fix it. Though I'm shocked I need it down at like 10% for a relatively low output guitar. Is the unit even usable for people with active pickups!?
 
AlexGuitar said:
Turning down the input sensitivity before the AD converter seemed to fix it. Though I'm shocked I need it down at like 10% for a relatively low output guitar. Is the unit even usable for people with active pickups!?
Click to expand...
This has likely been the case the whole time. Lots of others are also surprised about where their pickups are ending up, on both sides of the spectrum.

Did you initially adjust the 'Input 1/Instrument' A/D trim parameter to just barely 'Tickle the Reds' as instructed in the manual when you first got your unit?

When talking with clients, I am always surprised about the overwhelming percentage of Fractal users that had know idea about that parameter, or what it is for.

This update only added a clip indicator because of the constant confusion about this subject.

A couple of possibilities.
  • Are you going though anything before the FM9?
  • Your pickups are hotter than you think.
  • And/or.. Your pickups are really close to your strings.
  • And/or.. You play very hard.
B.T.W. My (passive) EBMM and EVH guitars required a setting of 7.5%. My (active) EMG equipped Kramer Pacer can handle a little over 10% before clipping the input.
 
Last edited:
Moke said:
This has likely been the case the whole time. Lots of others are also surprised about where their pickups are ending up, on both sides of the spectrum.

Did you initially adjust the 'Input 1/Instrument' A/D trim parameter to just barely 'Tickle the Reds' as instructed in the manual when you first got your unit?

When talking with clients, I am always surprised about the overwhelming percentage of Fractal users that had know idea about that parameter, or what it is for.

This update only added a clip indicator because of the constant confusion about this subject.

A couple of possibilities.
  • Are you going though anything before the FM9?
  • Your pickups are hotter than you think.
  • And/or.. Your pickups are really close to your strings.
  • And/or.. You play very hard.
B.T.W. My (passive) EBMM and EVH guitars required a setting of 7.5%. My (active) EMG equipped Kramer Pacer can handle a little over 10% before clipping the input.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for your reply:

1. No
2/3. I think they probably are a little hotter than I realized, because the pickups aren't particularly high.
4. True. I tend to play aggressively and the clipping only occurred when I played VERY hard.

I did adjust the setting as described - I must have just been hitting the red a little too much. Either way, it never clipped enough to provide audible problems and it has improved now by further turning down that input parameter.

That's interesting that some of your passive guitars required a lower setting than the actives. That reinforces the idea that my pickups might just be higher output than expected.
 
NattyBar said:
Dynamics people… different pickups have different dynamic ranges. It’s not just about output levels or how ‘hot’. Part of the reason people like low-output pickups is because of the wider dynamic range and the ability to vary attack transients
Click to expand...
I've never really thought about that - that's interesting...
 
NattyBar said:
Dynamics people… different pickups have different dynamic ranges. It’s not just about output levels or how ‘hot’. Part of the reason people like low-output pickups is because of the wider dynamic range and the ability to vary attack transients
Click to expand...
And I think that varies with pickup height as well, that's probably why I usually prefer to set them quite far from the strings
 
I had the same problem yesterday so i read all the forum discussion about that.. I reduced input sensitivy to 10% to not clipping on my 7 strings with dimarzio d activator in the bridge... Today i was curios about the different levels others reported but strangely i noticed that the clipping is vanished also at the standard 50%..so i returned on that value.
 
Fab8040 said:
I had the same problem yesterday so i read all the forum discussion about that.. I reduced input sensitivy to 10% to not clipping on my 7 strings with dimarzio d activator in the bridge... Today i was curios about the different levels others reported but strangely i noticed that the clipping is vanished also at the standard 50%..so i returned on that value.
Click to expand...
That’s interesting. I’ve been noticing some “gain” inconsistency with my FM9 lately. One day I’ll pull up a preset and it’ll be just what I want and the gain is set where I would normally set it. Then the next time I’m having to crank the gain, with the same guitar and still seems a bit “off”.
 
Fab8040 said:
I had the same problem yesterday so i read all the forum discussion about that.. I reduced input sensitivy to 10% to not clipping on my 7 strings with dimarzio d activator in the bridge... Today i was curios about the different levels others reported but strangely i noticed that the clipping is vanished also at the standard 50%..so i returned on that value.
Click to expand...
Same thing happened to me today. Normally run 65% input for my 6 string D Activator. When I turned it on today it was clipping bad and had to reduce it to 9%. I turned the power off and back a few times seeing if it would reset and now it seems to be normal again. Back up to 65% no clipping 🤷‍♂️
 
BFORDART said:
Same thing happened to me today. Normally run 65% input for my 6 string D Activator. When I turned it on today it was clipping bad and had to reduce it to 9%. I turned the power off and back a few times seeing if it would reset and now it seems to be normal again. Back up to 65% no clipping 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
Me too i have d activators... But the only variabile i could think about is a very climatice change day by day here in italy.. So neck change a little bit and i have to set up bridge action.
 
BFORDART said:
Same thing happened to me today. Normally run 65% input for my 6 string D Activator. When I turned it on today it was clipping bad and had to reduce it to 9%. I turned the power off and back a few times seeing if it would reset and now it seems to be normal again. Back up to 65% no clipping 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
A couple of days ago I started to get input clipping with my Les Paul with Antiquity pickups, I had to lower the input sensitivy down to 10%. Strange for such a low output pickups. Maybe next time I turn it on it would have changed? No really good thing.
 
After a couple posts about this, I finally checked my input sensitivity. It's at 10%, and has been set there since before the last two software updates. FWIW
 
Hi,
Where do I check the input sensitivity?, in the I/O menu?, is this screen what I should be looking at?, its 50% at present
 

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