Questions about the FM9 before purchasing

911ap said:
The point I am trying to make it is that if the FM9 or Axe or any fractal system can truly replicate any pedal, then it makes zero sense to have any analogue pedal in your rig. It's just over complicating a set up for no reason. So Metallica for instance is an example I can think of where it's logical. They started using a fractal and it has 100% replaced their entire rig. They don't use amps, cabinets, or pedals at all. Then there is Steve vai who kept his digitech whammy and his own vai distortion pedal. Which maybe he keeps his pedal because it's HIS pedal.

Then there is the extreme of John Mayer who I feel maybe just keeps all the pedals because this man has bought every most expensive piece of gear that practically exists in the guitar world.
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Whether or not it makes sense to you, they do what they do. At the end of the day, it's a tool and what you want to use it for is entirely your own personal preference.

There are plenty of people on this forum that also use Fractal in conjunction with external amps, cabs, effects pedals, rack effects, etc. Even other modelers!

For many (myself included) it can be everything.

Part of why I started the Fractal journey was to get my rig to a more manageable size. I had an amp and cab, a midi controller and expression pedals, a rack mounted midi loop switcher with a drawer full of pedals and rack mounted multi effects.

I could not load my rig into my car by myself!

Only you can decide how you want to use it ;)
 
unix-guy said:
Whether or not it makes sense to you, they do what they do. At the end of the day, it's a tool and what you want to use it for is entirely your own personal preference.

There are plenty of people on this forum that also use Fractal in conjunction with external amps, cabs, effects pedals, rack effects, etc. Even other modelers!

For many (myself included) it can be everything.

Part of why I started the Fractal journey was to get my rig to a more manageable size. I had an amp and cab, a midi controller and expression pedals, a rack mounted midi loop switcher with a drawer full of pedals and rack mounted multi effects.

I could not load my rig into my car by myself!

Only you can decide how you want to use it ;)
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Yes, to me the best utilization is to minimize the rig. Though honestly I'd probably never let it replace a head/cab even if it was identical haha. I'd definitely use the amp modeling features if they are good for other amplifiers. Gotta have at least one head and cabinet no matter what. Kills the heart if you just use it to do everything IMO.
 
Ok this may be a stupid question. I got my FM9 today. Which end of the humbuster cable goes into the FM9? The blue end? One end is blue and one is black. It doesn't say which side is the TRS end and the TS end. I'm guessing blue is the side that goes into the FM9?
 
911ap said:
Ok this may be a stupid question. I got my FM9 today. Which end of the humbuster cable goes into the FM9? The blue end? One end is blue and one is black. It doesn't say which side is the TRS end and the TS end. I'm guessing blue is the side that goes into the FM9?
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TRS has tip and two rings. TS has tip and one ring.

TRS and TS.jpeg
 
ok so I have this thing hooked up in 4cm mode and I just have a drone/hum. There is no sound coming from my guitar.

Ok so the directions said turn out3 all the way up but apparently I had to turn out 1 all the way up too. But it's using the models preset instead of the synergy rig I have to give my tone. How do I make it so it using my amplifier not the amplifier models in this thing?

Also this hum is loud as f**K. It says raise the boost pad on output 3 to lower the noise floor for the hum, and that did absolutely nothing.
 
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As for the humbuster the black end goes into your FM9 the blue end goes into your FRFR.

I use the humbuster cables out of output 1 on my FM9 into my Elis 8's and that is how I have it setup.

FAS makes it easy by color coding the cables.
 
Ok I quit this thing till I can get some knowledge. This is the most frustrating thing to use. If I want to use it with the built in presets (really impressed with the Van Halen variac preset, they nailed it) it's fine.

But I can't figure out at all how to use this thing with my amplifier in 4cm to just use for effects, and if I want to go back to the amp modeling then it should be a simple switch. The manual itself is not even clear on how to do this.

Does fractal support call people on the phone? I feel if someone walks me through setting this thing up on the phone and navigating that initial thing I'll be good. I have no clue about this hum either. It seems using XLR cables instead of these humbuster cables may fix that issue. Not sure why their instructions do absolutely zero to lower the noise floor.
 
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Habuman said:
Check out this video from @2112 for the 4CM. He is using the AXE III but the same method applies.

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I connected it the same. Only I am using a syn2 and LXII power amp but that shouldn't make a difference. All these go into the syn2 basically. I don't know how he got to that page that shows all the empty boxes. I'm not even trying to play with effects, I'm just trying to play with no effects and just the syn2.

I did the input 1 to output 3 with nothing in-between. I didn't do input 3 to output 1. But, regardless even that way I just get one channel out of the 4 the synergy has. I'll get the clean channel on my vai module. When I try to switch through the channels on the syn2 the tone doesn't change at all.
 
911ap said:
I connected it the same. Only I am using a syn2 and LXII power amp but that shouldn't make a difference. All these go into the syn2 basically. I don't know how he got to that page that shows all the empty boxes. I'm not even trying to play with effects, I'm just trying to play with no effects and just the syn2.

I did the input 1 to output 3 with nothing in-between. I didn't do input 3 to output 1. But, regardless even that way I just get one channel out of the 4 the synergy has. I'll get the clean channel on my vai module. When I try to switch through the channels on the syn2 the tone doesn't change at all.
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Did you change your input mode to LEFT ONLY. Thats what happen to me one time and changing the input mode fixed it.
 
catscanman82 said:
Did you change your input mode to LEFT ONLY. Thats what happen to me one time and changing the input mode fixed it.
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I was reading about the different modes. Mine is in stereo. I wasn't sure if I should do left only, right only, or copy L +R or sum L+R. So if you run with a regular amplifier it should be in LEFT only? On which outputs/inputs? All of them?

Ok so I tried it. So when I do a preset and do input 1 to output 3 and then input 3 to output 1 now it works with my amp. Meaning when I change channels the sounds they would make I can hear. But, no sound is coming from my guitar now. I tried LEFT ONLY and stereo.
 
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911ap said:
I was reading about the different modes. Mine is in stereo. I wasn't sure if I should do left only, right only, or copy L +R or sum L+R. So if you run with a regular amplifier it should be in LEFT only? On which outputs/inputs? All of them?

Ok so I tried it. So when I do a preset and do input 1 to output 3 and then input 3 to output 1 now it works with my amp. Meaning when I change channels the sounds they would make I can hear. But, no sound is coming from my guitar now. I tried LEFT ONLY and stereo.
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The other thing I did was reconnect everything like in the manual and also look at your input and output blocks. Unplugged everything and Start from the beginning. Believe it or not it’s a little frustrating but I also learned a lot.
 
catscanman82 said:
The other thing I did was reconnect everything like in the manual and also look at your input and output blocks. Unplugged everything and Start from the beginning. Believe it or not it’s a little frustrating but I also learned a lot.
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What's interesting is they actually have a 4cm preset that has everything already set up for you I found. Even using that no sound comes from my cabinet, though the channel switching on my syn2 works normally. I saw another thread about using the output 2 instead of 1 or something. I'm going to try that. I'm going to order XLR to TS cables as well and see if that makes a difference with the noise like many threads apparently I have found claim.

I'm also going to try it just running it through the fx loop and not in 4cm to see how the noise compares with that set up. Maybe this is the reason why when I ask why people still use pedals like boost and such is because of the noise issue of 4cm.
 
911ap said:


here is something I have seen quite a bit. Steve vai is the same way with his fractal set up. Why do these guys still use pedals? John Petucci uses a lot of pedals. Steve Vai uses his vai distortion pedal (which I believe is just a boss OD1 and TS808 in one), a digitech whammy pedal, and a wah pedal.

If the fractal can recreate all of these why are they still using pedals with their Axe FX III?
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John said one time that sometimes they just get sent to him, and if he likes it, he'll stick it in the drawer in a loop. And that pedals are fun. And once in a while, just a different way to goose the front of the amp.

The Mimiq is an exception, since it's not modeled, and for live use, it's his 'always on' pedal, first in his chain.
 
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