Was the M9 the right buy for me?

davkane · #1 02-18-2010, 02:37 PM

I have got the M9, and I love it. I love the fact that it acts like a stompbox. On or Off, simple as that.

I am wondering, however, it what I really wanted was the X3 live or something else entirely. 75% of the time I will be playing relatively effects free.

The reason I did not go with a X3 live was because I have a Zoom B2.1u, where you have to save multiple patches of similar sounds to remove/add individual effects. For example if I have a patch with Overdrive/Compression/Chorus/Delay. and I want to remove the Overdrive, I need to make an other patch with Overdrive off, and if I want to have the same sound with the chorus off, I need a different patch, and if I want the same Overdrive but no chorus and no delay I need another patch. I realize I could potential remove one of the effects by using the expression pedal, but I could not impact the other 2 that way. The patches add up quickly, and what's more, I need to tweak them for my individual basses too (quickly adding more and more patches, for a similar sound).

Last night I came up with the plan that I needed the following
Wireless system will run into A/B box.
The A/B box will run into my DBX166XL. The A side will be Active bass hitting one compressor with the -10db pad depressed, The B side will hit the other compressor with the -10db pad not depressed.
The outputs of the DBX166XL will run into a tonebone bassbone (A for the active bass, B for the other just like in the compressor)
The single output will then run into Aphex Punch Factory (this may or may not happen)
Then into the Zoom B2.1u some potential reshaping (using the EQ and Noise suppression)
Then the Zoom would output into Stereo into the M9
And the M9 stereo into my Markbass setup, one side having a Digitech Phat Head pedal.

After I drew this out I decided I was insane because when I changed basses I would at least three clicks away from the sound I want.

I have probably way over thought things, and may even have things out of order, but it was what my mind came up with a 2am yesterday.

So I guess the question I am asking, is could the X3 live take the place of the silliness I have listed above easily live, just by changing a patch?

Or could I just setup the Punch Factory, Zoom and the M9 to handle it? The Zoom would be used to just equalize the Active bass down 10db. and the punch factory for compression. Does any one else ever use to multi effect units together?

Or could I just set up two compressors on the M9 on the A/B pedals of effect one and eliminate the craziness above? This would only leave me with two other effects, which I am not sure would work, but maybe?

Thanks for any thoughts you have on this

Swift713 · #2 02-18-2010, 02:49 PM

Seems like the Bassbone should handle all of the bass switching issues and allow you to use one signal chain. I'd ditch the B2, I think it's the weakest link.

cheapbasslovin · #3 02-18-2010, 10:14 PM

You have 6 scenes on the m9. There are EQs on the M9 (unless you haven't upgraded to 2.0). There are compressors on the M9. I believe you could do almost everything out of the Radial and M9. The only mistake, as far as I can tell, may be that you would want the additional effect of the M13.

davkane · #4 02-19-2010, 04:10 AM

Thanks. Yeah I have upgraded to the new firmware. The m13 "seemed" so big, but it might have fit my purpose better.

Ja-Boo · #5 02-19-2010, 04:23 AM

If I understand the Bassbone right, you could simply use the different inputs of the Bassbone with different volumesettings to handle the difference of the basses.

cybersnyder · #6 02-19-2010, 05:51 AM

How are you running stereo into a Markbass combo?

davkane · #7 02-19-2010, 06:28 AM

Sorry, not running stereo into the combo. I have 2 heads, 1 in the combo, one stand alone.

cybersnyder · #8 02-19-2010, 09:12 AM

I'm still trying to grasp the signal chain. Too complicated for me.

But the M13 has an effects loop that you can position between any of the effects slots.

Rowka · #9 02-19-2010, 09:20 AM

Your wireless receiver should go a long way towards normalizing the signal strengths of the active and passive basses. No?

AJ Brown · #10 02-19-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapbasslovin

You have 6 scenes on the m9. There are EQs on the M9 (unless you haven't upgraded to 2.0). There are compressors on the M9. I believe you could do almost everything out of the Radial and M9. The only mistake, as far as I can tell, may be that you would want the additional effect of the M13.

There are actually 24 scenes on the M9 (4 folders of 6 each).

Jehos · #11 02-19-2010, 10:53 AM

I have both an X3 Live and an M9.

The Pods are amp modelers with some effects thrown in. The M9 is strictly an effects box.

Could you throw away your rig and use an X3 Live? Probably. However, you would lose flexibility on where you wanted different effects to sit in your signal chain. Want chorus before distortion? You can do that, but only if you put it before the amp model as well. The M9 gives you much more flexibility with your effects.

I can't tell you which rig is right for you. If you just want simplicity and don't care as much about flexibility with shaping your tone, the X3 Live might be the right move for you. You could create one or two presets per bass, and keep them all in the same bank. Then you're 1 click from each bass' tone settings, with the ability to individually switch in distortion, chorus, delay, reverb, wah, and compression. If you want more flexibility though, you've probably got the right setup.

davkane · #12 02-19-2010, 12:49 PM

As for the wireless, I have some variant of the Line 6 XDR95 wireless, and it does not seems to compress the signal at all. The active bass still acts like an active bass and the Passive, acts like the passive. The signal runs hotter (at least to my ears) on the active bass.

As for the scenes, I thought the only way to hit the max was to save them on a PC and recall them from the PC thru the midi interface (I could be wrong, but that was my understanding), I have been toying with the idea of using a PC for some functions live, but I do not want to make it more confusing just yet.

Thanks for the info on the Live X3, I do want the flexibility the M9 offers, although now I think the M13 (being able to run the effects loop would be a great benefit). With the M9, it has to sit before the pre amp.

I am now thinking I can run the:
Wireless into both channels of the bassbone, so the signal for both the Active and the Passive are feeding both channels, and use the A/B switch to control which channel is active,
Then run the bassbone into the Punch Factory (for now)
Then the Punch Factory into the M9
Then the M9 out to the amps.

The Punch Factory maybe completely replaced with the M9 compressor. And at some point maybe I will trade up for the M13 to be able to run it thru the effects loops.

My chain was going to be way to complicated for the benefit at could have given me.

Thanks Everyone!

Quick question jehos Do you run both the X3 and the M9 in the same signal chain?

davkane · #13 03-10-2010, 11:18 PM

Just in case any one cared...

This is what I ended up with
Bass -> Wireless -> Bassbone -> Aphex Punch Factory -> Zoom b9.1ut -> M9 -> Markbass Mini CMD 121P

Not doing stereo any more, but may pick up another Markbass Mini CMD 121p someday and do the stereo thing again.

I did not realize that with the Bassbone with input 1, you could still switch channels (duh). So it is just one click to change the signal chain for the Active/Passive bass.