Rick
Axe-Master
Lengthy Post Warning
Background:
This is an initial review of the FM9-Turbo, and one I expect to update from time to time as my experience with it grows. For those who aren’t familiar with me here, I began my Fractal journey in 2011 with the purchase of the Axe FX Ultra. I have since owned five more Axe FX units, the AX-8, various foot controllers such the MFC-101 and briefly the FC-12 (explained below), several of both type EV pedals, and one or two other assorted accessories. In other words, other than the FX-8 and FM3, I’ve been a pretty complete FAS gamma tester!
I explained the history above to be clear that I am not at all unfamiliar with FAS gear. It has been my main gigging setup in one way or another since 2011, and I have played hundreds upon hundreds of paying gigs using it. There is no doubt that these purchases ended up paying their own way. Still, I am often surprised at the things the geniuses in New Hampshire pull off with each new iteration of their magic boxes.
One of the unfortunate oddities of using this incredible gear for so long, for me, has been the “I have built my presets and they work great” mindset… and the laziness that comes with it. While Fractal Audio has come quite a long way since I began riding along, my usage of the advances has not! With each new Axe FX (my main stage rig) being backwards compatible with my old presets, I only made the tweaks necessary when a firmware update might make something go wonky. I did add parts of the new functions available, but didn’t rebuild from scratch to take full advantage. Not exactly deep-diving, for certain. And I was missing out because of it.
Starting Over:
So, with the purchase of the FM9T, I had to learn new things. It has its own controller built in, for starters, so there were layouts and control functions to learn. As mentioned earlier, I had a FC12 briefly (straight from that waitlist) and compared it with the RJM foot-controller I was using. For what I did, the RJM was the better option and I sold the FC12 for exactly what it cost me. In, like, 10 minutes. Well, let me tell you, the FC series controllers have come a long way, too! The capabilities are spectacular, and the multi-functional programming that is available is much more akin to the MMGT series of controllers I am used to… and being as they are the best of the best, that is saying something! The OFM9G layout is very functional as a beginning place to learn about the control capabilities, and I am now using that. While it is still not 22 buttons of availability like the MMGT/22, getting to anything you reasonably need is damn quick. The colored footswitch LEDs are a great on-the-fly status indicator. The small screens per button are a lot better than the nothing per button you had on the MFC-101, while still trailing the ridiculously good readability of the RJM. The ones on the FM9T are workable for me, as I won’t really be “reading” them at gig time, more taking my queues from button location and color. Having the ability to reverse the screens might be helpful on darker stages, as a possible future upgrade that should involve just firmware. (Edit: Fractal read my mind… the inversion feature is already included, see posts below!)
The Presets:
Let’s get right to it… anyone who says the presets included in the FM9T (or any FAS unit) aren’t usable or useful is full of ¢rap. There are multiple presets that anyone of any competent playing level could do a whole night of any regular style of music on with minor, if any, adjustment. Period. I won’t go into the quality of the models, as there is no reason. They sound, in a word, right. Yes, someone needing extravagant ranges of wildly diverse settings might have to build, but the "all the factory presets are useless/junk/etc" comments are just silly.
There are so many fun presets that it took me several days to just do a cursory introduction spending a few minutes playing through scenes. And while I am on scenes… you CANNOT overemphasize how big of a leap forward FAS gear made each time one of these things were added. Scenes, channels, scene controllers, per-preset, global controls, and many, many more were not available at all in my early FAS years. As each came on, the possibilities they added were mind-boggling. Really. Now that they are all available simultaneously, it is quite easy to see how everything I used to do in a whole bank of presets to cover a night can now be done in one preset. ONE. That is astounding. I recently watched a few vids by @Cooper Carter on his 2023 live preset, and I just sit there slack-jawed as it goes on and on... in one preset. Crazy.
Other Considerations:
The footprint of the unit is completely workable on any stage I’ve ever played on, and some of those were small. That it, along with an expression pedal or two, comprises your whole front of stage rig is pretty darned spiffy. Add in a decent FRFR (something that is harder than it needs to be, as discussed in another thread) and you are done. I mean that my entire rig, including guitar, can fit in the front seat of my truck.
I also ordered a Studio Slips FM9 case, and it is a great addition. The brown/black color combo looks very nice. I’ve used Studio Slips cases on speakers that logged hundreds of dates without failure, so I expect this to be a “as long as I own the device it was made for” sort of purchase. In response to a search for easy hotel room amplification that @yek was conducting some time back, I tried my Bose Soundlink III speaker, via the the Headphone out to the Bose Aux In, with my Axe FX… and it sounded pretty sweet! It works the same way with the FM9T. Not gig loud, but easy pick up and go loud, and enough for living room jams and such. And the Soundlink (in its case), FM9, cables and an EV2 pedal all fit in the Studio Slips case and pocket. Too cool. When I don’t need the Soundlink, the regular EV-1 pedal and cables occupy the pocket. Plenty of room, and the case protects the FM9T well. Finally, it is easily carry-on sized for flying.
Summary:
Even for a long, long time FAS user, the FM9T is a special piece of gear. Perhaps at the perfect intersection of form and function, it is going to be even more popular once readily available. While there are other options out there, and I hear from their fans all the time, there simply is nothing that I trust like a Fractal Audio Systems device, and they certainly have nothing the quality of an FM9T. The PROVEN professional reliability in all facets of performance set FAS apart, and the FAS gear I’ve owned has proven itself to me literally hundreds of times over on stages in all sorts of environments. I expect to see hundreds more from this new FM9T. I do still have and use my Axe FX IIIT and RJM rig, along with a dozen or so tube amps. While I don’t anticipate selling my Axe FX rig at the moment, I am now convinced (and I wasn’t before) that the FM9T can completely cover my requirements for performing. I could use it as my only rig.
Finally, the constant improvements in function and capability, firmware updates, addition of new models of amps and effects, and constant contact with the user base set FAS apart from any other competing design to such an extent that, for me, there is no competing modeler on the market. The FM9T is a worthy addition to that legacy, and I am very pleased to have it in my guitarsenal.
Background:
This is an initial review of the FM9-Turbo, and one I expect to update from time to time as my experience with it grows. For those who aren’t familiar with me here, I began my Fractal journey in 2011 with the purchase of the Axe FX Ultra. I have since owned five more Axe FX units, the AX-8, various foot controllers such the MFC-101 and briefly the FC-12 (explained below), several of both type EV pedals, and one or two other assorted accessories. In other words, other than the FX-8 and FM3, I’ve been a pretty complete FAS gamma tester!
I explained the history above to be clear that I am not at all unfamiliar with FAS gear. It has been my main gigging setup in one way or another since 2011, and I have played hundreds upon hundreds of paying gigs using it. There is no doubt that these purchases ended up paying their own way. Still, I am often surprised at the things the geniuses in New Hampshire pull off with each new iteration of their magic boxes.
One of the unfortunate oddities of using this incredible gear for so long, for me, has been the “I have built my presets and they work great” mindset… and the laziness that comes with it. While Fractal Audio has come quite a long way since I began riding along, my usage of the advances has not! With each new Axe FX (my main stage rig) being backwards compatible with my old presets, I only made the tweaks necessary when a firmware update might make something go wonky. I did add parts of the new functions available, but didn’t rebuild from scratch to take full advantage. Not exactly deep-diving, for certain. And I was missing out because of it.
Starting Over:
So, with the purchase of the FM9T, I had to learn new things. It has its own controller built in, for starters, so there were layouts and control functions to learn. As mentioned earlier, I had a FC12 briefly (straight from that waitlist) and compared it with the RJM foot-controller I was using. For what I did, the RJM was the better option and I sold the FC12 for exactly what it cost me. In, like, 10 minutes. Well, let me tell you, the FC series controllers have come a long way, too! The capabilities are spectacular, and the multi-functional programming that is available is much more akin to the MMGT series of controllers I am used to… and being as they are the best of the best, that is saying something! The OFM9G layout is very functional as a beginning place to learn about the control capabilities, and I am now using that. While it is still not 22 buttons of availability like the MMGT/22, getting to anything you reasonably need is damn quick. The colored footswitch LEDs are a great on-the-fly status indicator. The small screens per button are a lot better than the nothing per button you had on the MFC-101, while still trailing the ridiculously good readability of the RJM. The ones on the FM9T are workable for me, as I won’t really be “reading” them at gig time, more taking my queues from button location and color. Having the ability to reverse the screens might be helpful on darker stages, as a possible future upgrade that should involve just firmware. (Edit: Fractal read my mind… the inversion feature is already included, see posts below!)
The Presets:
Let’s get right to it… anyone who says the presets included in the FM9T (or any FAS unit) aren’t usable or useful is full of ¢rap. There are multiple presets that anyone of any competent playing level could do a whole night of any regular style of music on with minor, if any, adjustment. Period. I won’t go into the quality of the models, as there is no reason. They sound, in a word, right. Yes, someone needing extravagant ranges of wildly diverse settings might have to build, but the "all the factory presets are useless/junk/etc" comments are just silly.
There are so many fun presets that it took me several days to just do a cursory introduction spending a few minutes playing through scenes. And while I am on scenes… you CANNOT overemphasize how big of a leap forward FAS gear made each time one of these things were added. Scenes, channels, scene controllers, per-preset, global controls, and many, many more were not available at all in my early FAS years. As each came on, the possibilities they added were mind-boggling. Really. Now that they are all available simultaneously, it is quite easy to see how everything I used to do in a whole bank of presets to cover a night can now be done in one preset. ONE. That is astounding. I recently watched a few vids by @Cooper Carter on his 2023 live preset, and I just sit there slack-jawed as it goes on and on... in one preset. Crazy.
Other Considerations:
The footprint of the unit is completely workable on any stage I’ve ever played on, and some of those were small. That it, along with an expression pedal or two, comprises your whole front of stage rig is pretty darned spiffy. Add in a decent FRFR (something that is harder than it needs to be, as discussed in another thread) and you are done. I mean that my entire rig, including guitar, can fit in the front seat of my truck.
I also ordered a Studio Slips FM9 case, and it is a great addition. The brown/black color combo looks very nice. I’ve used Studio Slips cases on speakers that logged hundreds of dates without failure, so I expect this to be a “as long as I own the device it was made for” sort of purchase. In response to a search for easy hotel room amplification that @yek was conducting some time back, I tried my Bose Soundlink III speaker, via the the Headphone out to the Bose Aux In, with my Axe FX… and it sounded pretty sweet! It works the same way with the FM9T. Not gig loud, but easy pick up and go loud, and enough for living room jams and such. And the Soundlink (in its case), FM9, cables and an EV2 pedal all fit in the Studio Slips case and pocket. Too cool. When I don’t need the Soundlink, the regular EV-1 pedal and cables occupy the pocket. Plenty of room, and the case protects the FM9T well. Finally, it is easily carry-on sized for flying.
Summary:
Even for a long, long time FAS user, the FM9T is a special piece of gear. Perhaps at the perfect intersection of form and function, it is going to be even more popular once readily available. While there are other options out there, and I hear from their fans all the time, there simply is nothing that I trust like a Fractal Audio Systems device, and they certainly have nothing the quality of an FM9T. The PROVEN professional reliability in all facets of performance set FAS apart, and the FAS gear I’ve owned has proven itself to me literally hundreds of times over on stages in all sorts of environments. I expect to see hundreds more from this new FM9T. I do still have and use my Axe FX IIIT and RJM rig, along with a dozen or so tube amps. While I don’t anticipate selling my Axe FX rig at the moment, I am now convinced (and I wasn’t before) that the FM9T can completely cover my requirements for performing. I could use it as my only rig.
Finally, the constant improvements in function and capability, firmware updates, addition of new models of amps and effects, and constant contact with the user base set FAS apart from any other competing design to such an extent that, for me, there is no competing modeler on the market. The FM9T is a worthy addition to that legacy, and I am very pleased to have it in my guitarsenal.
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