I have an original Axe FX, an AX8, and just received an FM9 on Thursday. Opened the box up on Friday and replaced the AX8 with the FM9 using all of the cords and cables that were in place.
The unit came with FW 3.0 and USB 1.01 firmware. When I tried it out by hooking it up to some monitors I wasn't getting any sound but I remembered from videos that there were some adjustments to be made so I didn't think twice, I had downloaded the latest Fractal-Bot and FM9-Edit software from the site (no beta versions) and installed the FW 4.0. The FM9 works fine with the new software and is recognized by the Mac running OS X 11.7.3. The USB is plugged directly into the Mac Pro (late 2013) and the S/PDIF goes from the FM9 out to the UAD Apollo 8 S/PDIF in. All hooked up exactly like the AX8 was. The FM9's Output 1 XLR l/r go into the Mackie HR824 monitors that I used with the AX8 when I don't use the computer.
Once the updating was done on Friday I turned off the computer and set the FM9 Input 1 input levels to "tickle the red", final setting at 94%. I then set Outputs 2 and 3 at 90%. I turned the monitors on and chose the first factory preset. No sound out but the meters on the unit face were showing proper input in. I replaced the FM9 with the AX8 and everything worked correctly so I knew the connections to the monitors were good.
I put the FM9 back in place and tried again but there was no sound out via Output 1. I knew from the manual that the headphone outlet was from Output 1 so I tried a pair but didn't get sound. Knowing that the S/PDIF was set to mirror Output 1 I started up the computer again and checked to see if I was getting audio out but UAD's Console 2 app didn't see any signal in, nor did any DAW I use. When I went to the meters setting on the FM9 screen I saw that input was fine but I was getting no signal on the Analog Out meters, but was getting signals on USB 1/2 and 5/6 meters. I then went through the I/O settings to see if I had a wrong output set but everything looked correct. I've set the USB out levels to +10 and the S/PDIF out level to +5.
I spent the rest of Friday and Saturday going over the manual as well as this forum and other internet searches to see if there was something in the menus that I missed but found nothing. I've gone through the Fractal Wiki site on troubleshooting no sound and checked off all suggestions. This morning I reset all menu software parameters back to factory settings (nothing changed on the screens) but there was still no analog signal to the monitors nor any signal to the computer. I again replaced it with the AX8 and everything worked fine.
At this point I've concluded that there is some issue with Output 1 not sending an analog signal or allowing a digital signal to mirror off of it. Although I'm familiar with other Fractal Audio products and software this FM9 is new software and menu choices and so I decided to post my problem to see what blindingly obvious thing I'm missing before I contact support.
Thank you for your input.
Mark
The unit came with FW 3.0 and USB 1.01 firmware. When I tried it out by hooking it up to some monitors I wasn't getting any sound but I remembered from videos that there were some adjustments to be made so I didn't think twice, I had downloaded the latest Fractal-Bot and FM9-Edit software from the site (no beta versions) and installed the FW 4.0. The FM9 works fine with the new software and is recognized by the Mac running OS X 11.7.3. The USB is plugged directly into the Mac Pro (late 2013) and the S/PDIF goes from the FM9 out to the UAD Apollo 8 S/PDIF in. All hooked up exactly like the AX8 was. The FM9's Output 1 XLR l/r go into the Mackie HR824 monitors that I used with the AX8 when I don't use the computer.
Once the updating was done on Friday I turned off the computer and set the FM9 Input 1 input levels to "tickle the red", final setting at 94%. I then set Outputs 2 and 3 at 90%. I turned the monitors on and chose the first factory preset. No sound out but the meters on the unit face were showing proper input in. I replaced the FM9 with the AX8 and everything worked correctly so I knew the connections to the monitors were good.
I put the FM9 back in place and tried again but there was no sound out via Output 1. I knew from the manual that the headphone outlet was from Output 1 so I tried a pair but didn't get sound. Knowing that the S/PDIF was set to mirror Output 1 I started up the computer again and checked to see if I was getting audio out but UAD's Console 2 app didn't see any signal in, nor did any DAW I use. When I went to the meters setting on the FM9 screen I saw that input was fine but I was getting no signal on the Analog Out meters, but was getting signals on USB 1/2 and 5/6 meters. I then went through the I/O settings to see if I had a wrong output set but everything looked correct. I've set the USB out levels to +10 and the S/PDIF out level to +5.
I spent the rest of Friday and Saturday going over the manual as well as this forum and other internet searches to see if there was something in the menus that I missed but found nothing. I've gone through the Fractal Wiki site on troubleshooting no sound and checked off all suggestions. This morning I reset all menu software parameters back to factory settings (nothing changed on the screens) but there was still no analog signal to the monitors nor any signal to the computer. I again replaced it with the AX8 and everything worked fine.
At this point I've concluded that there is some issue with Output 1 not sending an analog signal or allowing a digital signal to mirror off of it. Although I'm familiar with other Fractal Audio products and software this FM9 is new software and menu choices and so I decided to post my problem to see what blindingly obvious thing I'm missing before I contact support.
Thank you for your input.
Mark
