OK guys, no way to find it in the market, so I did by myself.
I'm not a mechanical engineer (I'm an electronic one...
) , but I tried to invent something by myself.
TARGET:
lightest and as
much compact as possible with all the devices I needed in my
backup unit.
Here's a
rackmount TC-HELICON voice multieffect together with
floor FM9 in a lightweight and very robust aluminum frame:
View attachment 130489
Fan holes are kept free from any obstacle to let FM9 breathe.
All useful connections are replicated externally (Audio, MIDI, RF antennas, USB):
View attachment 130491
In WISH section in this forum someone
very ironically replied to me "
why don't you make your multieffects on your own?..." (like saying "
we're bored of your wishes!").
No way...
I prefer to spend my time playing, leaving these thing to good engineers like Fractal ones.
But sometimes, yes, I'm forced to build something myself for special features I cannot ask:
the foot controller you see in the middle is DIY with Arduino in a "U" aluminum frame, programmed in C++ by myself
(I already programmed it for a lot of domotics, automation and MIDI things
)
All this strange rig can be opened without screwdrivers for rapid cables check in case of problems:
View attachment 130490
Cables are placed to help them to survive multiple open/close operations...
And there's some space for additional things inside.
View attachment 130493
To save space and weight I used just 1 Harley Benton ISO-3AC to power supply all these:
- TC- ELECTRONIC Voice Live Rack (12V)
- Electro Harmonix Stomp Box (9V)
- LINE6 G55 Guitar RF Receiver (9V)
- an SPDIF-Analog converter (5V)
- internal foot controller with Arduino (9V)
- external MIDI foot controller 9V power, see last photo (I used 2 additional wires of 5p DIN MIDI connector to carry it)
On MIDI management point of view
FM9 does merge MIDI IN with MIDI OUT so I didn't need an external MIDI MERGE BOX for my MIDI
daisy chain.
NOTE: the big beast AXE FXIII MKII super mega turbo incredibly doesn't allow to merge MIDI IN and OUT.... (the very first wish I ever have posted here
) breaking de-facto the MIDI daisy chain and requiring an external MERGE BOX to merge two signals from itself.
Everything closes with a mm precision, saving all space possible to make it the as much compact as possible.
I did 3 different project designs variations to arrive to this one... It took a very long time to make it, crazy crazy crazy.
Overall weight is
17Kg, while my rack system with AXE FX3 MKII weights
30Kg...
Unfortunately it's impossible to keep everything withing carry-on bag for flights, for few centimeters and 7 Kgs too much
NOTE: there's a circuit I have designed and built to protect FM9 input from Phantom Power.
Theorically Phantom Power shouldn't affect any balanced input but I preferred to add that
Phantom Power Blocker all the same.
I designed it with a
double protection system to both stop any DC (48V) and any spike that may come when inserting connectors. I have tested it very accurately before using it in the rig. On some things I am ruthless.
I can publish my electrical scheme if anyone is interested.
This is my FRACTAL based family of rigs now !
View attachment 130496
- So in best venues I can use AF3 Rack + bigger pedalboard with beloved ROLAND FC-200,
- while in the other cases I can use FM9 rig with little external pedalboard (the one with cheap but wide FCB1010),
- or in the worst cases I can use just the FM9 rig with a couple of external pedals (not the ones in the photo, too little).
Here's a post to share hints to move AF3 presets to FM9.
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm9-as-backup-of-axe-fxiii-hints-after-having-done-it.199796/
Let's play !
