devices · FM9 · learn · 05 of 08 · 6 min
plugging it into things
Every jack, what it is for, and the Humbuster cable that fixes hum before you reach for a DI box.
the one thing
Guitar into Input 1. Into a real amp, use a Humbuster cable (TRS at the Fractal end, TS at the amp) to cancel ground hum.
the jacks
Click any jack to see what it does and what to watch for.
inputs and outputs
FM9 · rear panel · schematic, drawn from Fractal Audio’s panel diagram
INPUT 1 · Instrument
TS, 1/4" (unbalanced)rear panel
Your guitar or bass, on Fractal's Secret Sauce IV front end.
- Worth knowing
- Inputs 2 and 3 will take a guitar and do not have this circuit. Put the instrument here.
humbuster
Fractal wire their quarter-inch outputs so that a special cable (TRS at their end, TS at the amp) cancels ground-loop hum. An ordinary guitar cable works, without the hum canceling.
If a real-amp rig hums, this is the first thing to try, before a ground lift and long before a DI box.