Virtual Capo FM9 vs FM3

D

devbro

Member
I discovered the VC recently on my FM3 and it works pretty well but I notice unpleasant artifacts when playing live. I use it with 3 dedicated patches (-1, +1, +2). Can anyone tell me if the FM9 is more stable than the FM3? I’m ready to pull the trigger on an FM9 if it’s noticeably better. Attached is a pic of the -1 patch

Thanks
 

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The FM9 shifter doesn't seem to be as good as the III from my first impressions. I have to test them side by side. It might be my imagination.
 
I've not tried an FM3 but have found the VC in the FM9 Turbo sometimes glitches - I've read about this online also and find that the Dual Chromatic Pitch shifter works better than the Capo in the Pitch Block. Give that a try before you upgrade if that's the only reason you want the FM3's big brother.
 
I do not know about FM3, but FM9T VC sometimes glitches or has bad latency, I could not find the rule why. On FXIII VC works fine, so for FM9T rig I just bought Digitech Drop, which is at least same good as VC in FXIII.
 
There are artifacts with all of them, especially as you add more effects on top. If you live in the downtuned zone, it's better to just tune the guitar. If it's just for a few songs then it's easier to vc.
 
Fortunately, it’s only a few songs. I tried turning the pitch tracking off and adjusting the tracking level lower as suggested in some other posts which marginally helped. The patches that use VC are only running at 75% CPU which is why I was considering FM9 but based on what I’m hearing is the FM9 suffers from the same problem.
 
Updated firmware to 8.0. I was still on version 6.0. Holy Shit! In addition to the VC working like it should, this update is a beast and installation was the easiest ever. I think I have more mileage in my FM3. Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated!!
 
Jetset95 said:
Zack Seif has more on the Pitch Block if you haven't seen it (spoiler, it's not good for Fractal).
Click to expand...

All pitch shifting algorithms have artifacts. The question is: how does it compare to other real-time pitch shifters? He doesn't do a direct comparison, so it's hard to conclude whether it's good or bad. He probably should have explored the VC settings more, that will make a big difference. He definitely should have been using the Smooth setting in the last test, or maybe even Off with the tracking turned up. Regarding the Drop pedal, the advantage to the Axe-FX VC over the Drop has always been the lower latency. Nothing does realtime pitch shifting perfectly, but there are pros and cons. Here's an AxeFX III (I do not know if the FM9 and AxeFX III are the same) comparison:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/virtual-capo-any-good.187797/#post-2327758
 
GlennO said:
All pitch shifting algorithms have artifacts. The question is: how does it compare to other real-time pitch shifters? He doesn't do a direct comparison, so it's hard to conclude whether it's good or bad. He probably should have explored the VC settings more, that will make a big difference. He definitely should have been using the Smooth setting in the last test, or maybe even Off with the tracking turned up. Regarding the Drop pedal, the advantage to the Axe-FX VC over the Drop has always been the lower latency. Nothing does realtime pitch shifting perfectly, but there are pros and cons. Here's an AxeFX III (I do not know if the FM9 and AxeFX III are the same) comparison:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/virtual-capo-any-good.187797/#post-2327758
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly.
 
rsvette12 said:
Hate fake pitch shifting :) get a guitar for specific tuning - there's no substitute
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Not always feasible or even possible. I can use several altered tunings per gig (with a Floyd Rose). The Roland VG was my only practical solution. If you don't need per-string shift, the VC can make a fly gig possible. If you can stomach robot tuners and don't need a vibrato arm, that's another possibility. Real-time low-latency pitch shifting is difficult. Maybe LLM will provide another solution in the future.
 
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The one on the Helix is passable if within 1-2 semitones, but it uses a ton of DSP so was not really useable. I was hoping the FM9 was better but have not had a need for it yet, so havent tried.

I have been playing for over 20 years, and have never changed tuning for live. Just isn't practical, I just use partial shapes if needed for a key.
 
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Jetset95 said:


Zack Seif has more on the Pitch Block if you haven't seen it (spoiler, it's not good for Fractal).
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty good to me 😅 Not sure, I recently did a gig with 3 songs half step down with virtual capo, both distortion and acoustic IR. Was pretty nice, dare I say flawless. Edit: was with Axe FX 3.
 
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I used the VC in the FM9T for one song last week so I didn't have to bring a dedicated guitar. It was "good enough" for that brief use, but next time I'll probably just bring a second guitar because it didn't sound or feel completely natural.
 
I find the pitch shifting in my Variax JTV-69S works better, and it does open tunings quite well. This is probably because there's a pickup per string. The models aren't that great, but are passable in a live band mix. But I prefer to not use that guitar on gigs anymore as mine has sustain issues.
 
Jetset95 said:


Zack Seif has more on the Pitch Block if you haven't seen it (spoiler, it's not good for Fractal).
Click to expand...

I didn't watch the video, but I've seen that guy provide enough incorrect advice on Facebook that I personally wouldn't trust him without verifying myself.
 
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