Is the line6 M5 being replaced

Travisthedog

Any news on its replacement - are they any good in a live environment

Only need occasional chorus, flange and verb

hugbot

The patch changing is a bit fiddly live.

Zoom g3 might be handier with its extra buttons

Travisthedog

Yeah I've had a few G3's but ultimately too big

rossyamaha

I've not heard anything but it will of course come to the end of it's product lifecycle at some point. I know a bunch of guys that use them live and love them. One guy I know has 3. 1 one for dirt, another for mods and another for reverbs and delays. He should just buy an M9 but he prefers the M5 for some reason. 

I agree the preset change can be a little tricky in the heat of battle as it were but it's just a case of getting used to it. I have the same problem with my Strymon stuff. 

jonnygreentrees

I use one for modulation and the particle verb. Pretty good as a swiss army type of pedal if you only want one sound per song

monquixote

I had one and didn't like it.

They are also quite big.

I'd get a zoom or a z cat or even just a hof and corona mini

longi

They work really well in a midi setup, as the patch changes as you bank up so no need for the fiddly manual mode. A new version would be good with midi thru and 128 patches instead of 24.

Teetonetal

You would think that line 6 would bring out a range of products based upon the helix technology... 

Travisthedog

Teetonetal;1007481" said:

You would think that line 6 would bring out a range of products based upon the helix technology... 

That's what I was hoping

gubble

I use mine live for delays and a tuner plus the odd 'one song' type sound.

Changing patches mid song is a nightmare mainly because I can't read the screen without my glasses.

I also find the buttons a little too close together which causes me to on occasion hit them both when turning the effect on or off going into scene mode.

Sounds great though - proper swiss army knife pedal

impmann

When I left Line6, it didn't look like any replacement for the M5 (or anything else in the M-line) was scheduled. This was a great shame IMHO, as despite the problems/grumbles they were fantastic pedals - and they were actually more reliable than a lot of folks would say... I used to compile the failure data for worldwide warranty claims and these had a low percentage fail rate compared to other products - even with the switch problems that others bang on about.

I'd love to see an update on the M13 - something without amp modelling, similar flexibility in effects routing but with better stereo implementation, etc etc etc. BUT NO F*CKING CONNECTIVITY TO MY BLOODY SMARTPHONE, AS NOBODY WANTS TO USE THAT IN A LIVE CONTEXT (you could write that 50ft tall in neon letters outside the Calabassas office and they still wouldn't hear/read that).

meltedbuzzbox

of all the latest and greatest pedals I have been most impressed by the m9/m13

The m9 I bought is probably the best £150 I have spent on my board. 

tone1

I was addicted to Line 6 M products and have had All of them more than once!
I sought help in the end and joined this very forum

stickyfiddle

The M5 is very nearly the perfect "cover band one-song pedal" for where you need a bunch of sounds (swirlies, delays, whammy, etc) but only need each one one in a set.  I had an M9 but honestly only used more than one sound at once about 4 times ever.  

While we'd all love Helix sounds in an M5, if they just did an M5 mk2 with easier patch changes it'd be a huge selling thing, like a moderately-priced H9.

Mkjackary

I had the M13 and loved it.
Build was top notch, they sell for 160 now, so bloody cheap. Switches were fine, no problems.

Only gripes are
The PSU is a pain in the ass. Build it in and have a kettle lead to power it.

Most distortions and fuzz type effects are shit (and no good chorus)

Maybe if I'm being cheeky add in polyphonic octaving.

Everything else was great, mods, eq, boosts, comps were good, delays and reverbs were brilliant.

Oh and an easier way to update would be handy, faffing about with midi is a PITA

Mkjackary

Although I did have a wierd problem with mine that you probably knew about @impmann where the power would just go, completely randomly. Happened twice to me, one for like ten mins the other for 2 hours. Then the power comes back and they are fine.

No way to make it happen again. No way to know when it would happen, just completely random, didn't do anything to fix it, just had to wait.

There are quite a few threads on the line 6 forums and nobody could really solve it. They took them in for testing but couldn't make the issue happen in front of them.

fretmeister

Teetonetal;1007481" said:

You would think that line 6 would bring out a range of products based upon the helix technology... 

I'm sure They will. But not until they can meet supply demand for the Helix and make sure the smaller units won't affect Helix sales.

My helix rack is due in another 2 weeks or so.

monquixote

fretmeister;1008592" said:

[quote="Teetonetal;1007481"]You would think that line 6 would bring out a range of products based upon the helix technology... 

I'm sure They will. But not until they can meet supply demand for the Helix and make sure the smaller units won't affect Helix sales.

My helix rack is due in another 2 weeks or so.[/quote]

Yep agree.

I expect some smaller helix derived products will drop next year

meltedbuzzbox

isnt the firehawk a smaller helix?

digitalscream

Surely, MIDI aside, the replacement for the M5 is the Zoom MS70CDR (or MS50BT if you want drives)?

If you're determined enough, it's not that difficult to make a little gadget which enables the MIDI control too.

impmann

Mkjackary;1008588" said:

Although I did have a wierd problem with mine that you probably knew about @impmann where the power would just go, completely randomly. Happened twice to me, one for like ten mins the other for 2 hours. Then the power comes back and they are fine.

No way to make it happen again. No way to know when it would happen, just completely random, didn't do anything to fix it, just had to wait.

There are quite a few threads on the line 6 forums and nobody could really solve it. They took them in for testing but couldn't make the issue happen in front of them.

Tbh, I do know what can cause that.

Inside there is a ribbon cable between the two main boards and the crimped end can suffer with intermittent bad connections. Recrimping the cable usually fixes the fault but because of the cost of the labour and the potential for cock up, Line6 wouldn't bother fixing it and so 9 times out of 10 it would have been replaced under warranty.

Unless you know what you are doing, I wouldn't touch it - get a good tech to take a look.

Hope that helps