Bought an FM9. Here's my two cents...

J

JAD

New Member
Been playing consistently for a little over a year after a decade long lapse in six string slinging. Because I currently play at church only, I decided to forgo the amp and build a laptop system around Gig Performer and VST plugins. After a few months of farting around, I settled on a setup driven by Neural DSP's Morgan Amp Suite and multiple Valhalla delays and reverbs. Nice setup, but cumbersome with a laptop, audio interface, MIDI controller (the venerable Behringer FCB1010) and associated signal/power cables. In addition, trying to make sure all the different plugins were properly gain staged was becoming a nightmare (Google 'amp sim calibration' and be prepared to cry).

So I decided it was time to slim down to an all in one floor processor unit. The choice came down to a Helix or the FM9. If someone had held a gun to my head and said "you're getting the Helix", I would've been okay with doing so (I've used Helix Native, and it's perfectly fine). Thankfully, my wife didn't do that, so I got an FM9.

First impressions: this thing would be great for bludgeoning someone. Seriously, it feels weighty and solid, but in a nice "my fat ass won't break it when I step on a switch" kind of way (ditto for the EV-2 pedal). I wouldn't really call it 'pretty' (the Helix is more aesthetically pleasing IMHO) but it's still a looker with it's jet black "I'm here to work" vibe.

After turning it on, the switch LED rings really grabbed my attention with how bright and intense they were. Same with the main LCD.

Finally got my Fender Strat plugged in and found the Edge homage preset "Nameless Streets". Man, that sounds good. Tried some of the more offbeat presets, and they sounded good too. Maybe a bit too bass heavy in a few instances, but nothing an EQ tweak couldn't fix. Later on I found one of the Plexi presets and immediately tried to remember how to play "You Got Another Thing Coming". No video exists of the trainwreck that ended up being...

So after a few more weeks of poking around and playing, what is the verdict?

I'm glad I didn't settle with the Helix. I'm sure it would've been just fine, but I've heard an AXE-FX III and knew how good it was, so I knew I'd always be wondering what could've been if I had just dropped a bit more for that Fractal...

Plusses: It sounds great. I had my laptop rig in a pretty good place and was able to get some really nice tones out of the Morgan AC20 model in the Neural DSP suite. The AC20 in the FM9 sounds every bit as good, and even slightly more 'real'. I can't quite put a finger on it, but it has a little something extra compared to the NDSP plugin. The reverbs and delays in the Fractal are quite lauded, and deservedly so. They sound phenomenal. The flexibility of the footswitch assignment is great too, with almost too many configuration options. The FM-9 Edit program is very solid and well put together as well. I didn't find editing on the FM9 itself to be horrible (even though it is a bit unintuitive at times) but the Edit software is the better way to go.

So-So's: As I mentioned above, editing on the unit itself isn't the best experience. You can certainly do it, but it takes some getting used to, and even now I still have to consciously remind myself where certain settings are because they're not always where you'd expect them to be. Also, while powerful, the FM9 does not have as much computing grunt as a full blown laptop, and that's already forced me to simplify parts of my rig. In Gig Performer I could use an plugin as an octaver while still being able to do additional pitch shifting in the NDSP plugin ('cause changing keys on Sunday morning is an at-times necessary evil in church worship land). With the FM9 I'm limited to one pitch shift effect. I'm guessing I can find an alternate way to create an octaver effect (maybe using one of the pitch options in the delays?), but I haven't found it yet.

Overall though, none of my UI/horsepower nitpicks distract from what the FM9 does really well: giving you an almost limitless bounty of high quality amp and effects, the ability to string them together in ludicrous and impractical ways, and doing it all in one unit with everything properly gain matched to everything else (seriously, trying to gain match plugins from different manufacturers across different audio interfaces and different guitars SUUUUUCKS). I haven't even touched on all the crazy tweakability of the models 'cause I haven't been brave enough to venture in there yet...

This is a remarkable piece of engineering and I'm probably not worthy of owning it, but here we are...
 
Great review. My only gripe with the FAS stuff is editing on the unit. I have sat down with the unit, on a desk, and spent hours going through menus and settings, only to forget what to do in the heat of the moment days or weeks later.

Editing a layout on the unit is very painful to me. However, the overall power and sound of the unit trumps anything else!
 
sick pickle said:
Great review. My only gripe with the FAS stuff is editing on the unit. I have sat down with the unit, on a desk, and spent hours going through menus and settings, only to forget what to do in the heat of the moment days or weeks later.

Editing a layout on the unit is very painful to me. However, the overall power and sound of the unit trumps anything else!
Click to expand...
I intentionally didn't use the editor for a while when i first got my Axe, because i didn't want to be helpless on it without a computer. Editing there is fine, but some actions are definitely much easier with a clipboard and computer screen.
 
You can do a simulated virtual capo and octave down with one 2-voice chromatic shifter at 100% wet. Set the first voice as, say, a step down capo of -2 semitones. Set the second voice an octave below that: -14 semi in this example.
 
Admin M@ said:
You can do a simulated virtual capo and octave down with one 2-voice chromatic shifter at 100% wet. Set the first voice as, say, a step down capo of -2 semitones. Set the second voice an octave below that: -14 semi in this example.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. Or use the virtual capo on channel A and then a setup like the above on B, since I've never run into a P&W situation where an octaver effect is used when playing chords. Yet...

As far as editing on the unit itself, the biggest hurdles I run into is remembering when to use the 'nav' buttons vs the 'page' buttons, when to press a knob instead of twirl it, and the fact that the block parameters start one tab over from the leftmost one when you hit 'edit'. It's nothing insurmountable, it just takes some getting used to. Could it be improved? Sure, but it's not something I would pass the FM9 up over.
 
JAD said:
Been playing consistently for a little over a year after a decade long lapse in six string slinging. Because I currently play at church only, I decided to forgo the amp and build a laptop system around Gig Performer and VST plugins. After a few months of farting around, I settled on a setup driven by Neural DSP's Morgan Amp Suite and multiple Valhalla delays and reverbs. Nice setup, but cumbersome with a laptop, audio interface, MIDI controller (the venerable Behringer FCB1010) and associated signal/power cables. In addition, trying to make sure all the different plugins were properly gain staged was becoming a nightmare (Google 'amp sim calibration' and be prepared to cry).

So I decided it was time to slim down to an all in one floor processor unit. The choice came down to a Helix or the FM9. If someone had held a gun to my head and said "you're getting the Helix", I would've been okay with doing so (I've used Helix Native, and it's perfectly fine). Thankfully, my wife didn't do that, so I got an FM9.

First impressions: this thing would be great for bludgeoning someone. Seriously, it feels weighty and solid, but in a nice "my fat ass won't break it when I step on a switch" kind of way (ditto for the EV-2 pedal). I wouldn't really call it 'pretty' (the Helix is more aesthetically pleasing IMHO) but it's still a looker with it's jet black "I'm here to work" vibe.

After turning it on, the switch LED rings really grabbed my attention with how bright and intense they were. Same with the main LCD.

Finally got my Fender Strat plugged in and found the Edge homage preset "Nameless Streets". Man, that sounds good. Tried some of the more offbeat presets, and they sounded good too. Maybe a bit too bass heavy in a few instances, but nothing an EQ tweak couldn't fix. Later on I found one of the Plexi presets and immediately tried to remember how to play "You Got Another Thing Coming". No video exists of the trainwreck that ended up being...

So after a few more weeks of poking around and playing, what is the verdict?

I'm glad I didn't settle with the Helix. I'm sure it would've been just fine, but I've heard an AXE-FX III and knew how good it was, so I knew I'd always be wondering what could've been if I had just dropped a bit more for that Fractal...

Plusses: It sounds great. I had my laptop rig in a pretty good place and was able to get some really nice tones out of the Morgan AC20 model in the Neural DSP suite. The AC20 in the FM9 sounds every bit as good, and even slightly more 'real'. I can't quite put a finger on it, but it has a little something extra compared to the NDSP plugin. The reverbs and delays in the Fractal are quite lauded, and deservedly so. They sound phenomenal. The flexibility of the footswitch assignment is great too, with almost too many configuration options. The FM-9 Edit program is very solid and well put together as well. I didn't find editing on the FM9 itself to be horrible (even though it is a bit unintuitive at times) but the Edit software is the better way to go.

So-So's: As I mentioned above, editing on the unit itself isn't the best experience. You can certainly do it, but it takes some getting used to, and even now I still have to consciously remind myself where certain settings are because they're not always where you'd expect them to be. Also, while powerful, the FM9 does not have as much computing grunt as a full blown laptop, and that's already forced me to simplify parts of my rig. In Gig Performer I could use an plugin as an octaver while still being able to do additional pitch shifting in the NDSP plugin ('cause changing keys on Sunday morning is an at-times necessary evil in church worship land). With the FM9 I'm limited to one pitch shift effect. I'm guessing I can find an alternate way to create an octaver effect (maybe using one of the pitch options in the delays?), but I haven't found it yet.

Overall though, none of my UI/horsepower nitpicks distract from what the FM9 does really well: giving you an almost limitless bounty of high quality amp and effects, the ability to string them together in ludicrous and impractical ways, and doing it all in one unit with everything properly gain matched to everything else (seriously, trying to gain match plugins from different manufacturers across different audio interfaces and different guitars SUUUUUCKS). I haven't even touched on all the crazy tweakability of the models 'cause I haven't been brave enough to venture in there yet...

This is a remarkable piece of engineering and I'm probably not worthy of owning it, but here we are...
Click to expand...
I have both the Helix and FM9. FAS amp
Modeling is superior. I wish L6 was as good because the plugin is more convenient in a recording project for me.
 
Just use a Digitech Drop pedal for the Virtual Capo. It does a little bit better job than the built in Fractal Virtual Capo in my opinion (not enough difference that I don't just use the built in Virtual Capo on on my AXFX3 but a small one). If you need to be able to change your tuning via MIDI the Whammy DT pedal will do that (and a bunch more).
 
sick pickle said:
Great review. My only gripe with the FAS stuff is editing on the unit. I have sat down with the unit, on a desk, and spent hours going through menus and settings, only to forget what to do in the heat of the moment days or weeks later.

Editing a layout on the unit is very painful to me. However, the overall power and sound of the unit trumps anything else!
Click to expand...
Ir does get easier. I have been doing it with Fractal for over 16 years and 2nd nature at this point.
 
AXEMike said:
Just use a Digitech Drop pedal for the Virtual Capo. It does a little bit better job than the built in Fractal Virtual Capo in my opinion (not enough difference that I don't just use the built in Virtual Capo on on my AXFX3 but a small one). If you need to be able to change your tuning via MIDI the Whammy DT pedal will do that (and a bunch more).
Click to expand...
The virtual capo on the axe fx is dynamite and certainly useful. But I agree.... a dedicated pedal like digitech is the way to go if used a lot IMO.
 
I don't do it often enough to justify the Digitech. It's one of those things that happens when a singer all of a sudden can't make it and we have to switch keys on Sunday morning. If I was a better guitar player I could adapt better but here we are...
 
UPDATE: Finally used the FM9 in performance this morning and I'm completely happy. I had a vanilla 'swells' patch set up with an SD-1 drive into the AC20 (with a little bit of "Gain Enhancer" post compression) being controlled by an EV-2 linked volume block, and the responsiveness was great. I could go from a clean-ish chime to distorted growl entirely via pick attack and the volume knob on my Strat. It felt awesome to play.
 
@JAD ever post your stuff on socials? Would love to check them out!
I’m on IG and started using an FM9 almost a year ago, anyone feel free to add and tone critique away 🤣

IG Just_virge
 
virge8048 said:
@JAD ever post your stuff on socials? Would love to check them out!
I’m on IG and started using an FM9 almost a year ago, anyone feel free to add and tone critique away 🤣

IG Just_virge
Click to expand...
Only our church livestream, and depending on who's running FOH that week you may not even be able to hear it :grimacing:. You're not missing anything though, I think I'm barely literate at guitar.
 
JAD said:
Only our church livestream, and depending on who's running FOH that week you may not even be able to hear it :grimacing:. You're not missing anything though, I think I'm barely literate at guitar.
Click to expand...

I have the same issue with our service live stream. It rarely reflects anything close to the mix in the room and guitar is often so low in the mix that it can barely be heard. I also run sound on occasion, so I understand that it is a challenge to manage both the video feed mix and the mix in the room, but some people don't even try. Ideally we'd have a person dedicated to each mix, but that just is not feasible considering how few people we have as it is. Oh well.
 
As far as editing on the unit... I strongly recommend that everyone learn how to do this. It's not nearly as convenient as using the computer-based editor, but it's a guarantee that at some point you'll be at a gig / session and wish you could just make a little tweak to something. Practice getting to the block you want, digging into its settings, and doing a quick save. Future you will thank current you for being prepared.

I do all of my AxeFX III and FM3 programming using the editor. In the past ten years, I've probably needed to make an on-unit edit five times. But it's really worth having that arrow in the quiver just in case.
 
OrganicZed said:
I have the same issue with our service live stream. It rarely reflects anything close to the mix in the room and guitar is often so low in the mix that it can barely be heard. I also run sound on occasion, so I understand that it is a challenge to manage both the video feed mix and the mix in the room, but some people don't even try. Ideally we'd have a person dedicated to each mix, but that just is not feasible considering how few people we have as it is. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Our livestream is created in Reaper from a mix of busses and direct post preamp line feeds from our x32 mixer. I recorded all the inputs one weekend and then created a mix template that sounded good to me. So when someone mixes close to the way I do it sounds decent. When it's someone else it varies widely. We don't have the people for a dedicated mixer either. In any case it sounds better than a feed from the board mains, which wouldn't have any low end since we use a 'subwoofer on aux send' style setup.

But yeah the guy running it last weekend runs guitars lower than I do so you can't hear them online unless you really try and know what the part sounds like.
 
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