Worst Nightmare

skipneumann

skipneumann

New Member
Pressing the preset button and nothing happens. The unit stayed on the existing preset and the sound was "browned out" - very low volume and fuzzy sound. Stuck right there with no way to continue playing.Pressing presets would not let me go to a different one. How do I trouble shoot this scenario so it never happens again? FM9 Turbo newbie and luckily it was my first band rehearsal that I used the FM9 instead of my pedalboard and not the first gig. I had to power down and re-start the unit which immediately sent the rest of the band into questioning my use of my new spaceship thing and is this ever going to happen at a gig? This morning it works perfect again... Scenes/Effects/Presets and my gigging presets in the first 5 preset spots - all systems go. Hey thanks for your ideas.
 
That’s definitely an unusual and unfortunate experience. Great that it happened at a rehearsal and you could troubleshoot it.

What firmware version are you running? Are there other devices connected to the unit?

Like any IT support will recommend with a computer if there are glitches - remove any connected devices that may cause conflicts and then do a power cycle. If that solves the issue you’re golden - if not then you can further narrow down the potential causes.
 
My initial thoughts in most situations are always connectivity and power. Cable (ie Mains into back of unit and a/c source), line voltage variance, etc. A loose cable, voltage, "dirty" power perhaps. I think of these devices similar to computers, and sometimes they require a reboot. My personal FM9 experience has been solid. With over 13 years playing Fractal products, this is an exception for me rather than a norm. Sounds like cycling the FM9 cleared it for you, so I recommend continuing to watch the environmentals to see if it happens again. Would not hurt to reload the latest production release firmware.
 
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musicman77 said:
My initial thoughts in most situations are always connectivity and power. Cable (ie Mains into back of unit and a/c source), line voltage variance, etc. A loose cable, voltage, "dirty" power perhaps. I think of these devices similar to computers, and sometimes they require a reboot. My personal FM9 experience has been solid. With over 13 years playing Fractal products, this is an exception for me rather than a norm. Sounds like cycling the FM9 cleared it for you, so I recommend continuing to watch the environmentals to see if it happens again. Would not hurt to reload the latest production release firmware.
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Not meaning to hijack the thread but I’ve had only one instance where my fm9 on the latest firmware release acted funky and I assumed it was the power supply on stage. Basically upon powering on my fm9, it got
Stuck loading up and froze so I rebooted and it was fine. If the OPs problem was a dirty power supply, what is the solution if a venue just has “dirty power supply” in all of They’re provided outlets? What exactly does dirty power even mean? Lol
 
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As long as the units don't collect any data there's no way to tell if these one-off type problems were caused by a power surge, drop, hardware error, or firmware bug.
 
In my old rack units I always had a Furman power conditioner to ensure clean power... But have not implemented anything with the FM9 yet... Still thinking on a more portable solution for the FM9 rig.
 
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bertwarbutton said:
In my old rack units I always had a Furman power conditioner to ensure clean power... But have not implemented anything with the FM9 yet... Still thinking on a more portable solution for the FM9 rig.
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How exactly does a power conditioner ensure clean power? What is clean vs dirty power?
 
No issues so far, knock on wood.

I have been using protected strip for many years, most frequently a Furman SS-6B protected outlet strip.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SS6Block--furman-ss-6b-6-outlet-power-strip

Kinda bare bones for EMI & RFI protection and noise and ripple, but it seems to work pretty well so far.

I also have and use on occasion an old Monster Pro 2000 power strip which is really good, it has heavy duty filtering and noise suppression, for locations that are electrically very noisy (like Soundwave Studios in Oakland), it also monitors and displays line voltage and current draw as well, but it is pretty big and heavy. Discontinued years ago.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PRO2000--monster-power-powercenter-pro-2000
 
I myself would definitely like to find a portable small fiorm factor power supply/conditioner to use with my setup. Right now it looks like my live rig will be FM9, Digitech Whammy, Digitech Drop, (possibly Mythic Overdrive), Line 6 wireless and Quilter Labs Tone Block if I need to power a cab. Everything but the Tone Block I plan to keep on the pedal board. I'd like to find something that could also keep me from needing something like MXR Power Brick.
 
Moral of the story, that's why you need a backup rig. Even if it had been a tube-based amp, things do go wrong. I hope you find the issue and I'm glad a reboot got you back up and running quickly.



As for the power suggestions, I would add that adding a regulator/conditioner is only a part fix and won't help if the power goes really brown or out. I think power conditioners without UPS functionality are sometimes like snake oil.
However, I rely on an APC UPS that also conditions or if you are really fancy then number 2 below. They both offer sine-wave power generation with a large battery reserve to give you time to power down your gear gracefully if needed. You can't plug tube amps into them though which is where conditioners are your only means.

1. https://www.apc.com/ca/en/product/S...-120v-8x-nema-515r-outlets-smartslot-avr-lcd/
2. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/F1500UPS--furman-f1500-ups
 
Seems like a lot recommend using a power conditioner without any evidence for what the reason behind the failure is. I understand this was a very basic safety measure in the 80s/90s when guitarists were using fridge sized 19" racks, but since then most power supplies have evolved from old transformer based iron horses (using huge capacitor batteries go stabilize) to digital switching supplies with entirely different specs, most of them being designed to accept anything between 110 and 240V and and a wide frequency range. I wouldn't want to throw money at anything I'm not sure it's going to improve my situation.
 
ChristThePhone said:
Seems like a lot recommend using a power conditioner without any evidence for what the reason behind the failure is. I understand this was a very basic safety measure in the 80s/90s when guitarists were using fridge sized 19" racks, but since then most power supplies have evolved from old transformer based iron horses (using huge capacitor batteries go stabilize) to digital switching supplies with entirely different specs, most of them being designed to accept anything between 110 and 240V and and a wide frequency range. I wouldn't want to throw money at anything I'm not sure it's going to improve my situation.
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If the FM9 uses a switching power supply, you are most certainly correct (though it is not actually specified to take a range of input voltages). Not sure if it does, though.
 
elvis said:
If the FM9 uses a switching power supply, you are most certainly correct (though it is not actually specified to take a range of input voltages). Not sure if it does, though.
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Take a look at the power connector on your FM9. Right above the connector, it says "120-240 VAC."
 
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