FM9 Scene switching lag time

Voxguy76

Member
Can anyone else confirm they notice scene switching lag in FW 2.0? I’m talking about a simple setup of scene 1 - overdrive, amp, cab, reverb, scene 2 - overdrive, amp, cab, DELAY, reverb. When toggling between the scenes that turns the delay on and off (no other changes) I notice a lag, or signal cutting out. I can post a preset in a bit. CPU is well under 70%. It’s a pretty obvious pause in signal. I have spillover set to ALL in global settings, and each preset is set for Mute FX In within the bypass section of the preset. I’m assuming this is FW issue that will be corrected but just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this. I A/B’d this with a Helix and it was very noticeable. Also when switching presets to another patch that has a delay in it, I’m hearing the delay time ramp back as if you were manually adjusting the delay time on a pedal.
 
Post the preset(s)... Otherwise we're all making guesses.

Do you have the editor running when making these scene changes?

What is your CPU level in the preset?

Also, are you sure only the delay block is changing? Even inactive blocks that change channels can potentially affect things.
 
Can anyone else confirm they notice scene switching lag in FW 2.0? I’m talking about a simple setup of scene 1 - overdrive, amp, cab, reverb, scene 2 - overdrive, amp, cab, DELAY, reverb. When toggling between the scenes that turns the delay on and off (no other changes) I notice a lag, or signal cutting out. I can post a preset in a bit. CPU is well under 70%. It’s a pretty obvious pause in signal. I have spillover set to ALL in global settings, and each preset is set for Mute FX In within the bypass section of the preset. I’m assuming this is FW issue that will be corrected but just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this. I A/B’d this with a Helix and it was very noticeable. Also when switching presets to another patch that has a delay in it, I’m hearing the delay time ramp back as if you were manually adjusting the delay time on a pedal.
is the Amp block changing channels?
 
As @unix-guy said, show us the preset. Without that we're required to imagine what you've done based on what you described, which isn't enough to have us all imagine the same thing.
 
Scene switching aside, how much lag are people experiencing between the preset switching? Note, these are stock presets.

Update I contacted support and the gap between preset change is normal behavior.
 
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I just got my FM9 and hearing this same lag in stock scenes, for example go to either of the friedmans (023/024) or Angle Sever (031), and try changing presets from (for example on 031, I am just changing Channel 1>>Channel 2) and this lag is massive enough to make this patch useless for live, btw I havent upgraded firmware but apparently latest firmware still has this issue.
And how is this "normal" for FM9, my headrush, helix (or even HD500) never did that ...I must be doing something horribly wrong , can someone please help? ... I am repeating, I have not edited anything, I am just using stock patches :cry:
 
I just got my FM9 and hearing this same lag in stock scenes, for example go to either of the friedmans (023/024) or Angle Sever (031), and try changing presets from (for example on 031, I am just changing Channel 1>>Channel 2) and this lag is massive enough to make this patch useless for live, btw I havent upgraded firmware but apparently latest firmware still has this issue.
And how is this "normal" for FM9, my headrush, helix (or even HD500) never did that ...I must be doing something horribly wrong , can someone please help? ... I am repeating, I have not edited anything, I am just using stock patches :cry:
Your FM9 is not a Helix or a Headrush... Things work differently.

You can avoid this gap by using 2 amp blocks instead of changing channels.

However, Amp block channel changes are really not any different length than most multi channel amps when they change channels.

Also, how are you changing channels? Switches with a Hold function will fire on the switch release so either remove the Hold function or press/release the switch quicker.
 
I just got my FM9 and hearing this same lag in stock scenes, for example go to either of the friedmans (023/024) or Angle Sever (031), and try changing presets from (for example on 031, I am just changing Channel 1>>Channel 2) and this lag is massive enough to make this patch useless for live, btw I havent upgraded firmware but apparently latest firmware still has this issue.
And how is this "normal" for FM9, my headrush, helix (or even HD500) never did that ...I must be doing something horribly wrong , can someone please help? ... I am repeating, I have not edited anything, I am just using stock patches :cry:
How massive is it?
 
The last thing I would need is to be shamed for using other products, my question was simple, I am hearing lag and I also mentioned that I am sure I am doing something horribly wrong.

I want to repeat one thing, I have not even updated firmware and using everything stock

This is my first fractal product and trying to understand workflow, I am requesting help and not trying to be a snob, so would appreciate to understand what am I doing wrong

here is what I am doing (using 023 Friedman as an example)
1. While in "scenes" mode, I am using bank up/down, to go to bank 004
2. then choosing "Friedman B" from the fourth green button
3. Now clicking "scenes" button to switch over to "presets", here I see whole bunch of friedmans (BE VI, BE VI Fat, BE V2, etc)
4. while clicking any of the switches to switch between these presets, I hear lag (quick sound fade out followed by fade in)
if this is not the right workflow, I would really appreciate someone telling me what is the right flow, all I need is to seamlessly go from a warm/crunch tone to lead tone, or from from warm to clean, etc
 
Sounds like you are changing presets, not scenes. Preset changes have an audio gap to prevent clicks and noise from many parameters changing immediately. Channel changes of Amp channels also have a short audio gap for the same reason (usually happening with scene changes).
 
Sounds like you are changing presets, not scenes. Preset changes have an audio gap to prevent clicks and noise from many parameters changing immediately. Channel changes of Amp channels also have a short audio gap for the same reason (usually happening with scene changes).
Thanks Chris,
so what is the best way to go from clean to dirty to lead for a song? can I acheive that without any lag?
 
The last thing I would need is to be shamed for using other products,
Please elaborate on how you were shamed. You mentioned other products as a comparison. I said the FM9 is not those products. These things are not interchangeable although they all have similarities.
This is my first fractal product and trying to understand workflow, I am requesting help and not trying to be a snob, so would appreciate to understand what am I doing wrong
I didn't read your post as asking for help... Maybe bad interpretation on my part.

I did however offer a couple tips on how to address the issue.
3. Now clicking "scenes" button to switch over to "presets", here I see whole bunch of friedmans (BE VI, BE VI Fat, BE V2, etc)
Those are scenes, not presets. That's why the switch is labeled "Scenes".

Factory presets are examples to demonstrates sounds. They aren't likely optimized for live performance.
 
so what is the best way to go from clean to dirty to lead for a song? can I acheive that without any lag?



This is an extremely common topic on the forum. Everybody wants to reduce the gap when switching channels in the amp block. Here is one of the many threads on this subject:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/dual-amps-no-gap.179376/

The bottom line is: you have two choices if you want to avoid the audio gap when changing amp block channels:

1) Use 2 amp blocks. Switching scenes turns one off and the other on. There are variations on this, for example using a mixer block to do the switching, either with scenes or with an expression pedal to cross-fade.
2) Use another block, for example a drive block front of the amp block, that gets turned on in your lead scene to change the tone. There are variations on this, for example using a scene controller to activate a boost in the amp block.

Here's a good video:
 
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A good way to approach your thought - more helix like...would be to use a scene controller to dial the amp gain up or down vs using two different channels. Check the manual - it is in there and can get pretty in depth. But essentially it automates your gain knob (or any other) when you switch scenes.

I use channels as well for different amps but mostly if I want to go from more "extreme" sounds that you could fool the ear to thinking they are more "real" amp channels = so a super clean to a high gain with delay (delay can fix a lot!).

You could also use two amp "blocks" and that has even less of a gap - but it is still there and not like the line 6/QC or other products and again you are limited to two amps.

It kind of is part of the workflow. It does still plague me at times, but I have worked on getting my presets closer to "gapless" and knowing them really well so I can stutter my taps live or in a studio situation.

If i get what you are saying - crunch, lead or a clean to "pushed" sound. The Friedman of course is great for the first and the Fenders are great for two using controllers or the drives or even the built in "input boost" in the amp block which a great way to get boost without causing a gap and getting more or less "push."

The last trick I use is to use an additional volume block at the end of my chain. It is a good way to get more or less volume and can even add or take off some gain.

But for sure - check out scene controllers. It took me a bit to get what and how it worked but I use them all over the place...

Shoot me a message if you need some help...
 
Please elaborate on how you were shamed. You mentioned other products as a comparison. I said the FM9 is not those products. These things are not interchangeable although they all have similarities.

I didn't read your post as asking for help... Maybe bad interpretation on my part.

I did however offer a couple tips on how to address the issue.

Those are scenes, not presets. That's why the switch is labeled "Scenes".

Factory presets are examples to demonstrates sounds. They aren't likely optimized for live performance.

Ok, I got off on wrong foot, frankly your comment to my numb brain sounded like it was a critcism on using products that dont compete with Fractal, I bought fractal because I was not getting what I wanted out of my current setp and believe that Fractal can avoid me buying and carrying two tube amps around for every gig/practice
I will definitely following your advice on "hold" feature of switches, dont know where to start unless I dive into manual, which will probably happen over the weekend
 
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