lxxwj Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Are they actually any good? I mean, they ARE digital, and digital is evil, but they're showing up on tons of pedalboards and multi-effects units are pretty logical.. but are the sounds any good? I just want to check in with you guys before putting down 400$ for an M9. Edited February 4, 2012 by lxxwj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) I've had mine for a couple of years now. I only keep pedals for that long if they turn out to be practically irreplacable. Positives: Great for whammy effects, octave divider is convincingly analogue-sounding, delays and reverbs are really good and varied, a few interesting modulation effects (barberpole phaser, ring mod particularly, also pattern tremolo), synths aren't bad and tracking is very good, there's a good squishy-sounding compressor in there, fuzzes aren't bad either. Tap tempo across all the effects and tempo can be synced to MIDI. Can hook up two expression pedals and either one can be set to modulate any param on any effect, or even several params on several effects at once. This brings some massively cool possibilities. It's also very quick and easy to edit patches and they automatically save as you're editing. It's got the quickest, easiest interface of any multi I've ever used. Negatives: Filters aren't great, envelope-following filters in particular are pretty useless because there's no sensitivity control and the better ones boost gain annoyingly. Chorus/flange options aren't good IMO but I'm not a fan of chorus/flange on bass anyway. One downside to the tap tempo rates on stuff like delays is that you can't set two speeds and swap between them with exp. pedal (so you can't have a crotchet delay modulating to a dotted quaver or whatever) which is a shame because it does work when you've got the rates set to millisecond values. It depends what you want it for, basically. I use mine to add modulatable craziness to my 'core' sounds from my OC-2, Octavius Squeezer and Bugcrusher, but my my it's good at that! Edited February 4, 2012 by thisnameistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxxwj Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Chorus and flange is the best part for me, so sounds like something I wouldn't buy.. Wait, where'd you get a bugcrusher? I've always wanted one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I agree with the above except I like some of the modulation sounds. The compressors are OK but my bassist said the BYOC I got for £56 was miles better than anything on the Line 6 gear. I had a good core set of pedals (distortion, delay, reverb) and got an M5 to go in the middle and provide modulation or crazier sounds but I really don't use a huge amount of the settings as it's more tonal colouring than a pedalboard replacement for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I have proper stompboxes for the staples of my sound (a distortion and a synth, sometimes wah) and use the M5 (previously an M9) for fx I only need in a song or two so no point in buying pedals just as expensive just for that. I use the modulations mostly. Delays and reverbs are excellent but I don't really need them. Distortions aren't brilliant, wahs are ok, synths are unusable rubbish IMO and auto-wahs are also unusable due to the ridiculous volume boost. I also use the whammy in stationery mode (like a pitchshifter) to practice songs my band plays in different keys than the original, and to play a drop D song without actually having to tune down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyclaret Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Intrigued too. A lot of forums say the wahs are pants. Are they still pants with an expressikn pedal? The detune samples on you tube sound pretty hot. I think may be the m5 as a replacement for the ebs octaver with the option for a couple other silly effects when needed. More thoughts please. Perhaps the eventide modfactor is the way to go? Edited February 4, 2012 by tonyclaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) I think wahs are ok with an expression pedal, I prefer my 105q but I find them nearly as good. For some things they are actually more versatile as you can set how low or high they go on the sweep. My biggest gripe is you have to first activate them on the M5/9 and then move your foot to the expression pedal, which makes it a bit unpractical. I love to have the 105q sitting there and just put my foot on it whenever I feel like and it activates itself, then deactivates when I take the foot off... Edited February 4, 2012 by 1976fenderhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Using the M5 here. No complaints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EskimoBassist Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Thread resurrection! I am seriously considering buying an M9 and getting rid of all my delay and modulation pedals. Can someone please convince me either way! As far as modulation goes, it would be mostly the phaser and chorus that I would be using, and I would be using the delays and reverbs a lot too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deej Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I guess it depends how much you like your modulation. The delays and reverbs are great on this and thats the main thing I use it for, particularly with its versatility and tap tempo. Modulation is...ok. I rarely use it so it gets me by, but I can understand others finding it a bit uninspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 The chorus is decent but nothing special; put it this way, I prefer M9 analog chorus to say the thin, metallic Boss chorus but the Ebs chorus is far better. The barberpole phaser - as mentioned above, is a seriously cool effect and probably my favorite on there. The delays are really, really good, tap tempo is always a winner. All IMO of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Agreed, you read through the manual about all the vintage effects that were modelled but not all of them are actually useful in practice. If you can borrow an M5, that will give you a good starting point as to whether an M9 is worth it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='EskimoBassist' timestamp='1333534450' post='1602933'] Thread resurrection! I am seriously considering buying an M9 and getting rid of all my delay and modulation pedals. Can someone please convince me either way! As far as modulation goes, it would be mostly the phaser and chorus that I would be using, and I would be using the delays and reverbs a lot too. [/quote] Get it. Or an M5, are you sure you need the M9? I love all the phasers, the analog chorus is very good though truly nothing out of this world, I don't think the other choruses are that great so if you don't like that one you're probably screwed... The AC Flanger is brilliant, the Analog Flanger is ok and the other flangers aren't very usable I think... All delays and reverbs are great to awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EskimoBassist Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) I don't need a truly amazing chorus, just something that is passable and that will keep the lowend. The phasers are more important to me, anything that can cop a decent Phase 90 sound will do it for me. The delays and reverbs are what it's all about though - I was about to drop about £160 on a Nova Repeater but then figured if I would spend that much on one delay pedal why not just get an M9. And yeah I'm pretty sure I need an M9, I would use the looper plus I would want to use 3 effects at the same time. Edited April 5, 2012 by EskimoBassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Get it, for what you say I can tell you won't regret it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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