Quick intro if you haven't seen it in my previous post: Dial My Tone builds presets for real modelers. You give it a song or describe a sound, and it gives you a signal chain with the actual blocks, types and settings your unit uses, which you can send straight to your FM9.
Today I'm opening up something different: an FM9 editor that runs in your browser! Plug in your FM9 over USB, open the page, and edit your presets live. Nothing to install. This feature has been tested exhaustively over the use cases I can think of, but if you are willing I would love to get your eyes, hand and feet on it as well!
To be clear up front: this is an editor first. You turn the knobs, you build the chain, you decide. There's an optional FM9 aware helper called "DMT Assistant" built in that works as your assistant (more on that below), but you can ignore it completely and just use it as an editor. Up to your choice.
What you can do
Presets
- Browse all your presets, search by number or name, and load any of them
- The list opens on the preset you're on, not at preset 0
- Save to your FM9 over the same preset or a new slot; it reads the preset back and tells you if anything didn't stick
- Save a copy to your Dial My Tone account and keep versions of it
Signal chain
- See the whole grid the way the FM9 lays it out
- Add, remove, replace and move blocks, move whole rows, and set up parallel paths
- Zoom in and out, or show only the area you're using
Blocks
- Every block's controls as knobs, with channels A to D
- Change block types, turn blocks on and off per Scene
- Reset a channel or revert to what was loaded
Scenes
- Switch Scenes, rename them, and see which blocks are on in each
- Level your Scene volumes so the jump from rhythm to lead isn't a surprise at the gig (let me know if there can be any improvement here too)
While you play
- Undo and redo for everything
- A/B compare, plus Copy A to B
- Tap tempo, tempo, output level meter and DSP use
Phone and tablet
- A layout made for smaller screens, through the Dial My Tone Android app
The DMT Assistant
If you'd rather say it than click it, the DMT Assistant can make changes for you. Things like (just providing basic examples, you can test its limits): "tune me down to drop C", "put the reverb in parallel with the delay", "move row 2 down a row" or "rename this Scene to Chorus", "too much mud". It always shows you exactly what it's going to change before anything happens. You accept it or you don't, and Undo works on it like anything else. You can also ask it when something sounds off and you're not sure why. You can scope it to Whole preset, Just to a specific scene or to just specific blocks, and it will apply your changes within that scope.
Again, completely optional. The editor does everything on its own.
What works where
| Device |
Chrome |
Firefox |
Edge |
Dial My Tone app |
| macOS |
✅ |
not tested |
✅ |
– |
| Windows |
✅ |
not tested |
✅ |
– |
| Android |
✅ |
not tested |
✅ |
✅ |
| iOS (will be supported soon) |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
On Windows you need Fractal's USB driver installed, the same one FM9-Edit uses. Close FM9-Edit before you connect, since only one editor can talk to the FM9 at a time.
Firmware: I've tested this on FM9 firmware 11.00. Other versions may well work, but that's the one I've checked. If you're on something else, tell me how it goes.
Coming next: wireless with WIDI
Right now the editor needs a USB cable. Next up is wireless editing over a WIDI (Bluetooth MIDI) adapter on the FM9's MIDI ports, so you can edit from across the room or the stage. I'm testing it properly before I call it supported. If you already run a WIDI with your FM9 and want to help test, say so in the comments, and thanks in advance for that!
This is the first release. I've tested it a lot on my own FM9, but you'll find things I haven't. That's why I'm putting it out now and keeping it free while it's in testing. Use it on your real presets, push it around, and tell me what's broken, what's clunky, and what's missing. There's a Feedback button in the editor, or reply here.
Try the FM9 editor