UberMetalDood
New member
I finally got my M9 a few days ago. A lot of people have raved about how it sounds in front of an amp so I figured what the heck and bought it. I had a Nova System and didn't like it in front of the amp, couldn't get it to work through the FX loop, so I sold it. Now I've got the M9 which I wanted purely for effects.
First I tried running it in front of my amps but I didn't like it one bit. The signal became too spongy and the sound thinned out even will all effects bypassed. So much for Line6 true bypass. All the effects sounded washy. I was able to get a decent phaser sound but that's about it.
Then I ran it through my effects loop. BOOM! There was all the magic I was missing. I had my amp tone and response back and I was instantly getting immaculate reverbs, delays, flangers, etc...
There is a modded DS-1 demo somewhere that used a modeled Univibe and I've been obsessed with getting a cool Univibe effect on my overdrive so I switched over to the U-Vibe effect and tweaked it a little. BAM! There was the magical Univibe sound I was looking for except I still haven't exactly found the setting I'm looking for. With a little more experimenting I will have the sound I fantisized about.
The effects are clear, warm and not digital sounding mostly. I don't think you can completely escape some small amount of processed quality in the sound but you will be safe to challenge anyone to tell the difference!
The shocking part is that when I clicked on the overdrive it sounded better than through the front of the amp. I was able to get some great metal sounds and probably the best overdrive sound of all was the Tube Drive (BK Butler Tube Driver model). Even that one though sounded fairly bassy. Unfortunately when you reduce the bass it loses a lot of its magic. I still need to experiment with tweaking the other parameters to see if I can balance it back out but so far it has been a little difficult to reduce the boominess.
The overdrives/distortions are not outstanding but they can get as good as any modeler. I think there is some potential running the M9 through the FX loop. Fortunately I have a Maxon OD820 which I run through the input for an OD/boost so I will not be needing the M9 for overdrive most of the time.
One thing the TC Nova System did well was not mess with your tone. The bypass on it is outstanding. It also had true analog drive/distortion that sounded amazing through the amp input. Line6 cannot touch it. The effects are better than Line6 but I find the M9 to be much more user friendly.
I have heard people complain that the M9 isn't so great because you can only use up to 3 effects at once, including overdrive,distortion. I think it's kind of a weak argument but I can see why it would be limiting if you use it for overdrive even though I don't see how you can get a good sound with so many effects at once.
I might use 1 or 2 effects simultaneously but never more. If I ever need to use more effects than that I might as well get one of those guitar synths.
I have a few complaints too but not too serious. For one, on/off indicator lights are hard to distinguish in a lit room. In a dark place it will work better but if you're in a brightly lit gig like a dance hall or daytime, you can't tell which effect is on/off unless you read the tiny little screen.
Second, there is no on/off power switch. You have to physically plug/unplug it. I had the same gripe about the TC Nova System. It too has no power switch. It also didn't have a bypass either. At least the M9 has a bypass.
I haven't played with the EQ or noise gate yet but I'm anxious to. I have been wanting to tweak my amp with an FX level EQ for a long time. The noisegate may prove useful at a minimal setting. I think anything more will start to kill the signal or mess with the sustain.
$400 is basically what the M9 costs. Is it worth it? Well I can get the effects I've been wanting in my sound so in that way it is. The true test is to bring home one of those POD HD units and see how it stacks up against it. Considering that the POD HD 400 is the same price, there is a very good chance I will be exchanging the M9. Especially since the POD HD has an expression pedal.
It does have the advantage of being small. It's lightweight and not bulky like a POD HD or Nova System.
One more chief complaint is that it doesn't have a USB connection. I think you can update it if you have some kind of MIDI device but I don't really know anything about it yet. I need to read the manual.
Pretty neat unit. Don't buy the hype about it in front of the amp. NO processor besides the TC Nova System sounds good in front of the amp, but even it only sounds good for overdrive/distortion. Through the FX loop it's awesome.
First I tried running it in front of my amps but I didn't like it one bit. The signal became too spongy and the sound thinned out even will all effects bypassed. So much for Line6 true bypass. All the effects sounded washy. I was able to get a decent phaser sound but that's about it.
Then I ran it through my effects loop. BOOM! There was all the magic I was missing. I had my amp tone and response back and I was instantly getting immaculate reverbs, delays, flangers, etc...
There is a modded DS-1 demo somewhere that used a modeled Univibe and I've been obsessed with getting a cool Univibe effect on my overdrive so I switched over to the U-Vibe effect and tweaked it a little. BAM! There was the magical Univibe sound I was looking for except I still haven't exactly found the setting I'm looking for. With a little more experimenting I will have the sound I fantisized about.
The effects are clear, warm and not digital sounding mostly. I don't think you can completely escape some small amount of processed quality in the sound but you will be safe to challenge anyone to tell the difference!
The shocking part is that when I clicked on the overdrive it sounded better than through the front of the amp. I was able to get some great metal sounds and probably the best overdrive sound of all was the Tube Drive (BK Butler Tube Driver model). Even that one though sounded fairly bassy. Unfortunately when you reduce the bass it loses a lot of its magic. I still need to experiment with tweaking the other parameters to see if I can balance it back out but so far it has been a little difficult to reduce the boominess.
The overdrives/distortions are not outstanding but they can get as good as any modeler. I think there is some potential running the M9 through the FX loop. Fortunately I have a Maxon OD820 which I run through the input for an OD/boost so I will not be needing the M9 for overdrive most of the time.
One thing the TC Nova System did well was not mess with your tone. The bypass on it is outstanding. It also had true analog drive/distortion that sounded amazing through the amp input. Line6 cannot touch it. The effects are better than Line6 but I find the M9 to be much more user friendly.
I have heard people complain that the M9 isn't so great because you can only use up to 3 effects at once, including overdrive,distortion. I think it's kind of a weak argument but I can see why it would be limiting if you use it for overdrive even though I don't see how you can get a good sound with so many effects at once.
I might use 1 or 2 effects simultaneously but never more. If I ever need to use more effects than that I might as well get one of those guitar synths.
I have a few complaints too but not too serious. For one, on/off indicator lights are hard to distinguish in a lit room. In a dark place it will work better but if you're in a brightly lit gig like a dance hall or daytime, you can't tell which effect is on/off unless you read the tiny little screen.
Second, there is no on/off power switch. You have to physically plug/unplug it. I had the same gripe about the TC Nova System. It too has no power switch. It also didn't have a bypass either. At least the M9 has a bypass.
I haven't played with the EQ or noise gate yet but I'm anxious to. I have been wanting to tweak my amp with an FX level EQ for a long time. The noisegate may prove useful at a minimal setting. I think anything more will start to kill the signal or mess with the sustain.
$400 is basically what the M9 costs. Is it worth it? Well I can get the effects I've been wanting in my sound so in that way it is. The true test is to bring home one of those POD HD units and see how it stacks up against it. Considering that the POD HD 400 is the same price, there is a very good chance I will be exchanging the M9. Especially since the POD HD has an expression pedal.
It does have the advantage of being small. It's lightweight and not bulky like a POD HD or Nova System.
One more chief complaint is that it doesn't have a USB connection. I think you can update it if you have some kind of MIDI device but I don't really know anything about it yet. I need to read the manual.
Pretty neat unit. Don't buy the hype about it in front of the amp. NO processor besides the TC Nova System sounds good in front of the amp, but even it only sounds good for overdrive/distortion. Through the FX loop it's awesome.
