Best practices for vocal chain through the FM9?

bigswifty

bigswifty

Inspired
Just discovered that I can run a mic for vocals through the FM9 simultaneously with a guitar/another mic for an acoustic guitar. MIND BLOWN!
Now I'd love to make use of this for future solo performances.

Does anyone else do this? Are there any recommendations for tidy, sensical vocal chains?

Using the volume block to boost the mic (dynamic) before going into a compressor worked really well so far.
Then as for FX, I've messed with Drive, Rotary, Delay and Reverb (mostly in that order) after the Compressor block so far.

Any do's/dont's I should be aware of?

Cheers!
 
bigswifty said:
Just discovered that I can run a mic for vocals through the FM9 simultaneously with a guitar/another mic for an acoustic guitar. MIND BLOWN!
Now I'd love to make use of this for future solo performances.

Does anyone else do this? Are there any recommendations for tidy, sensical vocal chains?

Using the volume block to boost the mic (dynamic) before going into a compressor worked really well so far.
Then as for FX, I've messed with Drive, Rotary, Delay and Reverb (mostly in that order) after the Compressor block so far.

Any do's/dont's I should be aware of?

Cheers!
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I would love to do that but...... wish their was tutorial for Dummies,,,,,,
 
How are you connecting the mic to the FM9? Are you using an adaptor to get it to a 1/4" connection? I see the 1/4 connections are balanced so as long as you are going to a TRS it should stay noiseless.
 
JasonE said:
How are you connecting the mic to the FM9? Are you using an adaptor to get it to a 1/4" connection? I see the 1/4 connections are balanced so as long as you are going to a TRS it should stay noiseless.
Click to expand...

Just a regular XLR to 1/4" TRS cable, plugged into input 2!
 
Bumping this because I might buy 1 or 2 Atomic CLRs soon and want to know if anyone else has some input on the vocals/guitar riff set up with the FM9!

I will likely run a few configurations, whether it's electric guitar and vocals for rock/metal stuff, or acoustic guitar and vocals for folky stuff, etc.

Is there a way to run two signals through one block? For instance, vocal signal and acoustic signal (from pickup) through the same reverb block without cross pollinating signals?

Is it advised to run vox and guitar through the same PA speaker live?

Thanks for the input! 🤟
 
bigswifty said:
Bumping this because I might buy 1 or 2 Atomic CLRs soon and want to know if anyone else has some input on the vocals/guitar riff set up with the FM9!

I will likely run a few configurations, whether it's electric guitar and vocals for rock/metal stuff, or acoustic guitar and vocals for folky stuff, etc.

Is there a way to run two signals through one block? For instance, vocal signal and acoustic signal (from pickup) through the same reverb block without cross pollinating signals?

Is it advised to run vox and guitar through the same PA speaker live?

Thanks for the input! 🤟
Click to expand...
If you mean sending two signals to one block but still to 2 different outputs no... on the same output yes. But reverb and delay blocks on the fm9 are almost "free" cpu-wise, so why not run one for each signal?

PS: if you're looking for used atomic CLRs I have a pair for sale listed on this forum

PPS: this is my standard vocal chain

VocalChain.jpg
 
DLC86 said:
If you mean sending two signals to one block but still to 2 different outputs no... on the same output yes. But reverb and delay blocks on the fm9 are almost "free" cpu-wise, so why not run one for each signal?

PS: if you're looking for used atomic CLRs I have a pair for sale listed on this forum

PPS: this is my standard vocal chain

View attachment 132605
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Thanks for the reply! Why are you selling the CLRs? Did you use them with the vocal/guitar setup and how were they?

I suppose since the Reverb and Delays are so light it won't be any issue. Just thinking out loud 😁
 
Personally I would use a hardware mic preamp to optimize your noise floor, especially if you're adding compression which will also increase the noise floor if you turn up the makeup gain.

I also always use the mic preamp models in the cab block, particularly with anything mic'd or "analog." There is a factory IR called "TOTALLY FLAT." Select that, then enable a mic preamp model and crank up the drive. Tons of juicy vintage mic preamp character. If you use a hardware mic pre with some character then this isn't necessary but for "direct" sounding things it's very useful especially when recording.
 
bigswifty said:
Thanks for the reply! Why are you selling the CLRs?
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Mainly cuz I don't play out anymore for now and I need some cash for other stuff
bigswifty said:
Did you use them with the vocal/guitar setup and how were they?
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Yes, I basically ran them as our mini-PA with guitars, vocals and (sometimes) keyboards, they're exceptional and I'm sure I'll regret selling them, but they've been sitting there almost unused for a couple years so it's time for them to go.
 
Hey all, this is the reason I registered here - just to ask this question. Our vocalist has an FM9 Turbo and I was looking here to see how to best connect everything so he can run the FM9 as just a vocal processor when we play live.

He has the XLR to 1/4" converter - to provide the best S/N ratio and get th proper output level, a few questions as I don't have the unit in hand to test/validate anything:
  1. Which input should we go into? I see from the manual that input 1 is unbalanced and 2 & are balanced, so I'm assuming 1?
  2. @strabes - you mention a "mic preamp model in the cab block" - can screenshot what that looks like?
  3. He wants to use stereo effects, so I'm setting up two channels on the mixer (A&H Qu-24) - which Output would provide the best S/N ratio and provide the right line level for the mixer connections? Any special configs I would need to do?
That's all I can think of for you - thanks all in advance for any help!
 
DaveNJ said:
He has the XLR to 1/4" converter - to provide the best S/N ratio and get th proper output level
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You will really want a hardware mic preamp to get the best SNR. Using an XLR to TRS straight from the mic will be better than XLR to TS unbalanced, but still will probably have a high noise floor especially with a low output dynamic mic.
DaveNJ said:
Which input should we go into? I see from the manual that input 1 is unbalanced and 2 & are balanced, so I'm assuming 1?
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Balanced into input 2 or 3.
DaveNJ said:
@strabes - you mention a "mic preamp model in the cab block" - can screenshot what that looks like?
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I don't have a screenshot but it's in the preamp section of the cab block. You can read about it here: https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cab_block#Mic_preamp_and_channel_strip_modeling. With a vocal or other mic'd instrument you'll want to use the "TOTALLY FLAT" factory IR in the cab block, so you're just getting the sound of the other processing in the cab block and not a guitar cabinet IR.

DaveNJ said:
He wants to use stereo effects, so I'm setting up two channels on the mixer (A&H Qu-24) - which Output would provide the best S/N ratio and provide the right line level for the mixer connections? Any special configs I would need to do?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't bother running two channels, just run mono dry to the console and use stereo wet fx from FOH. That way everyone can have different amounts of verb in their mix. Either way just use the balanced output 2 for the vocal straight into the stage box. You can set it to +4 or -10dB, either one will work, just use the FOH console's gain to ensure it's peaking at the same level as the other channels.
 
He wants to use the fractal to get very specific effects for different tunes for his lead vocals - the rest of us just use the standard effects in the mixer for backup Vox - maybe a little verb for the drum mics.

Thanks for the other info - I'm going to see if he'll let let me work with it for a few days before the next rehearsal...

Also, unrelated but I bought some of your patches for another modeler a few years ago!
 
Also, @strabes - to get that preamp and its options, would I put a cab block right after the input block? Sorry for my lack of edu on this, but I've really only used a Helix in the past... Thanks again!
 
DaveNJ said:
Also, @strabes - to get that preamp and its options, would I put a cab block right after the input block? Sorry for my lack of edu on this, but I've really only used a Helix in the past... Thanks again!
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There’s no rules, but yes, that is where I would put it.
 
Any of the following methods are intended to leverage the microphone preamp(s) on your mixer and the FM9's effects. Use a separate path on the FM9 for the microphone effects signal chain.

Connect the FM9 to an insert on the mixer using an insert cable (https://www.sweetwater.com/c780--In...077271198260&utm_content=Accessories - Cables) on the mixer's channel used by the lead singer as you might with any other outboard rackmount effect. This method will only allow that single mic to use the FM9's processing.

Or, you could just cable your FM9 using line level out as you would any other outboard rackmount effect to an Aux/buss and a channel on your mixer. Any of you who run sound may be familiar with setting up external effects this way. Then use that Aux control on any mic channel you want effects on to route to the buss you set up the FM9 on. Make absolutely sure you do not run any signal after a power amp or powered mixer into the Fractal or you could damage it.

Or this twisted route. You could tap that channel pre-fader (fader at zero) and send it to the Fractal, process it however you want, and then come back out of the Fractal into a line input (NO mic preamp) on the mixer. The fader for your line input would control mic level in the mix. Make absolutely sure you do not run any signal after a power amp or powered mixer into the Fractal or you could damage it.

Don't know if this last method would introduce too much latency or too hot a signal, but it might not be any worse than running a standalone mic preamp before the Fractal. If I attempted this, I would start with levels extremely low on the mixer and the FM9's input in case I had created a feedback loop or overlooked something. Anyone tried this approach? I haven't! Seems a little fraught, but doable. No legal or financial liability stated or implied. Do so at your own risk. Good luck and may you hear nothing popping nor smell anything frying.

These methods don't require an additional standalone mic preamp, instead using your mixers mic pre's and delivering a lower noise floor than running something like a dynamic mic directly into the FM9.

Might be simpler/safer just to go with a standalone mic preamp but not near as edgy :grin:
 
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DLC86 said:
If you mean sending two signals to one block but still to 2 different outputs no... on the same output yes. But reverb and delay blocks on the fm9 are almost "free" cpu-wise, so why not run one for each signal?

PS: if you're looking for used atomic CLRs I have a pair for sale listed on this forum

PPS: this is my standard vocal chain

View attachment 132605
Click to expand...
What, no de-esser, no notch down filter for the sibilant sound? :D
 
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