The collection of processors in the M9 includes 19 delays, 23 modulation effects, 12 compressors and EQs, 17 distortions, 26 filters, and 12 reverb effects. As with the M13, the M9 lets you access the parameters of all the effects nearly instantaneously with your feet. Stepping on any switch calls up the parameters of the chosen effect on the LCD screen, and five knobs below the screen adjust the corresponding parameter. A sixth knob is for programming—press it to choose a different effects group (distortion, delay, etc.), or rotate it to select effects within that group.

True, you can only use three effects at a time with the M9 compared to the bigger pedal’s four, using seven switches compared to the M13’s 15. Still, the M9 does give you the option of six different sounds from which to choose, without having to change banks, or Scenes as they are called here.

The rock-solid metal case is laid out with three columns of FX Units, each with an A or B option. You can either use an FX Unit’s A or B option—not both simultaneously. However, you can use FX Unit 1’s A with FX Unit 2’s A or B, and so on. For example, you can have a compressor in FX 1’s A slot and an overdrive in B; an auto wah in FX 2’s A slot and a flanger in B; and a tape delay emulation in FX 3’s A slot with a chamber reverb in B. On the other hand, you could have six different settings of the same distortion. There are plenty of ways to create useful setups.

Simultaneously stepping on FX 3’s A button and the adjacent Tap button puts you in Scene mode where you can choose any one of 6 Scenes instantly (or with a turn of the Model know, another 18, for a total of 24). Each Scene loads a whole new combination of six sounds into the switch slots (though you will have to remember which effects are in each scene as there is no ability to name scenes). This puts 36 potential effects within two taps of your foot (and another 108 within two taps of your foot and a twist of your wrist).

Special mention should be made of how easy Line 6 has made this simultaneous switch tapping. I don’t have particularly large feet but I easily covered the two switches at once. Although some devices require you to hit the two switches exactly together or they don’t work, Line 6 made the process more forgiving—I never ended up changing the tempo or choosing FX 3’s A slot by mistake when I tapped those two switches together.

Tapping FX 2 and 3’s B switch at once puts you in tuner mode, while hitting the B switches of FX 1 and 2 together puts you in Setup mode. The foot combinations are clearly printed on the face of the unit in case you forget.

In Setup mode you get to choose things like how loud you would like your looper to playback the material that you have recorded, whether you want the loop to play back until stopped or have it fade, whether to place the loops before or after the effects, and so forth. On the Tempo/Expression pedal page of the Setup menu you can choose a master tempo for all the time-based effects, and which expression pedal affects which effect row. Other pages allow you to set preferences like global noise gate and LCD screen appearance.

I Saw The Light
Each effect type lights up in the LCD display in its own color: yellow for compression/overdrive/distortion, blue for modulation, purple for filtering, green for delay, and orange for reverb. When you step on a switch, its light turns the color of the effect group selected and the effect’s parameters appear on the screen. When the effect is off, the switch’s colored light is dimmed but remains on, letting you know which type of effect is in that slot.

The latest firmware update (version 2.01) allows you to deactivate this function and have the light go out completely. There are advantages and disadvantages to each setting: While having the light dim tells you the effect group, I found that under certain stage lighting conditions, it was hard to tell if the effect was on or off.

The color-coding may help jog the memory, but, ultimately, you will have to remember which effect is in which slot, and in which scene. I found that organizing each scene in a similar routing—for example, FX 1: overdrive, FX 2: modulation or delay, and FX 3: delay or reverb—helped me get in the ballpark.

It also made sense to me to create scenes for different styles of music, or at least limit each scene to a basic sound concept. I set up one for a rootsy effect with a mild overdrive, a tremolo, a vibrato, and a choice of slap delay or spring reverb. Another scene was dedicated to radical modulation effects and filtering using the synth-like Throb effect and a filter controlled by an expression pedal, rather than a typical wah. I built a third scene around ambient effects with a long delay and version 2.01’s gorgeous new Particle Verb—a granular Eventide-type reverb.

Getting Loopy
Holding down the Tap Tempo switch for a couple of seconds sends you into Loop mode, with 28 seconds of available loop time. The six switches are then repurposed to purely loop functions.

The Line 6 DL4 requires you to double-tap the tap-tempo switch to reverse the loop. If you are not fast enough, it reads it as one tap and drops the loop an octave, instead. As an inveterate DL4 user who is used to years of dealing with this issue, imagine my relief that the M9 has a dedicated Reverse switch.

The color of the light above each switch indicates the effect type that is selected.

Making loops with the M9 was a pleasure. I could use different effects for each layer by going back and forth between Loop and Effect mode. I could even change Scenes for a whole new bank of effects. If going back and forth bothers you, you can control the loop functions (among other things) with an external MIDI foot controller.

The sound designer in me loved being able to place the effects after the looper. However, I would probably use that more in the studio, because the effects will then color everything you play over the loop.

Use Me Baby
There are many different ways to use the M9, depending on your needs and your feelings about the sound of the various Line 6 effects. Those who eschew digital distortion can run all their analog overdrives, distortions, and fuzz boxes in front of the M9, reserving its DSP for modulation, delay, and reverb effects.

I could just as easily see using the M9 as a dedicated looper, one that would allow you to further process your loops with filters and modulators. With its MIDI dump capabilities, you could store multitudes of different Scene groupings and use the M9 for all of the above and other sound shaping functions.

Overall, for less than the price of two 4-series pedals, the M9 gives you the sounds of all four and much, much more.

Pros: Sounds great. Easy to use. Wide variety of effects. Lightweight.
Cons: Wish it had that fourth effect slot.

Michael Ross in a New York City-based guitarist/producer/music journalist. He contributes articles to Guitar Player, Premier Guitar, Guitar Edge, EQ, Sound On Sound, and Gearwire.com. He is the author of the Hal Leonard books Getting Great Guitar Sounds and All About Effects.