Still new, having some issues

MN246

MN246

Member
Hi everyone, I'm having a few issues with my FM9 that maybe you have some advice on. In general, I can get some awesome tones out of my unit, but I seem to consistently have artifacts in the tone that I can't dial out.

For instance, on multiple high gain amps, I will have a high pitch ringing noise that sits on top of the tone. At first I thought is was one of my monitors, but I verified them with an older processor and they are solid. Despite all efforts to tame it with EQs and tone adjustments, the only solution so far is a noise gate that mutes the signal. I don't mide using the noise gate, but this is not normal noise so it leads me to think something else is a miss. Also, the ringing is there as soon as I ad an amp and cabinet, no effects involved. So far I've verified it occurs one the solo 100, 6153, and FAS high gain models.

I've also struggled to dial in tones for my Fishman Fluence equipped guitars. They sound very thin and brittle. I haven't found any adjustments to correct this. It sounds like the 9v batteries are weak. I changed the battery in both guitars, with no improvement. When I swapped my older headrush unit back into my system. Both Fishman guitars sounded phenomenal like they always have. That's also the point that I realized the monitors were good.

My guitars with passive pickups sound better, but still not optimum. I'm 100% confident that these issues are the result of me not having much time with the unit yet. If anyone has had similar issues or has any advice, I welcome any suggestions. Thanks
 
Hello MN246 and welcome to Fractal land,

It sounds like you might be hearing "ghost notes". Take a look at the following thread to see if this addresses what you're hearing:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/how-to-eliminate-ghost-notes.152478/#post-1814089

I'm wondering if you set the sensitivity level properly for your Fluence Pickups. Take a look at the following section of the Fractal Wiki. It describes how to set input sensitivity. If you haven't already, try setting input sensitivity and see if your pickups sound as you expect they should. Here is the link:

https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Connections_and_levels#Setting_levels
 
IRs are a huge part of the tone, especially with Fractal devices and something that took me awhile to figure out at first. Try some of the factory presets and see how those sound. Make notes of IRs used that you like the sound of the presets. @2112 (Leon Todd) has some great free high gain presets and IRs you could try as well.

For the high end ringing, try lowering the High Cut in the Cab block preamp page. 6,000 to 9,000 Hz cut seems to be the range I use with most IRs.
 
When I made the switch from tubes to FAS (FM3) I was hearing artifacts very clearly that I didn’t notice as much on my real amps. But after hearing it on the modeler, I was able hear it on my amps. Maybe you have an issue with a setting etc, but it’s possible you’re just hearing things you didn’t notice before. Tubes make all kinds of noise when clipped and FAS nailed all of it. If you’re running into FRFR, it was tough for me at 1st. That damn tweeter can be brutal. I started with a Headrush 112. They are pretty shrill on the top end. Hi cut in the cab block might tame it as suggested, and the IR has a huge impact on your tone so try other ones. Legacy 103 (I think) is smooth and a little dark.
 
MN246 said:
...high pitch ringing noise that sits on top of the tone
Click to expand...
Microphonic pickup squeal? If that is the issue, reduce gain or play further away from your monitors or other magnetic sources.
 
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What is your entire signal chain? i.e. Guitar > FM9 > monitors, etc.

Is this happening with factory presets or just presets you create from scratch?

Posting the preset might also be helpful.
 
Thank you guys for the suggestions. The community here is really great. I'll check the links above and if I'm still having issues, I'll post the preset and a video clip of the noise.
 
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