line 6 m13? or T.C Nova system??

[adam-antium]

looking to buy an easy to use multi effects board, both of these are pretty much the same price, i just dont know enough about either, youtube is good but it only gives you the opinion of the person who own's one or the other!!

the line6 sounds great ive heard a guy use one to great affect in a local bar, but a lot of people say the nova sounds better...decisions decisions.

any help would be great guys, have had great help from people here many times now

 

[threeminutesboy]

use your ears

try them both if you can and try them with your own guitar and amp

That's the best way to make your decision

 

[peterd79]

i'm using the Nova and couldn't be any happier.

For me it really boiled down to the quality of effects that TC has available and the real time change of the effects. Sure- no system is perfect and has it's downfalls... but this is one sweet rig.

i run a VP Junior and EB Wah prior to the Nova and then a VP Junior as an expression pedal... and to give me more preset options at a time i run a Tech 21 Midi Moose and i've not had any problems... this is pretty much my whole effects unit

pushed into an Orange ad30 htc and orange cab... it's money!

 

[MikeVt]

Funny you should ask this...I've been struggling with something similar over the past week. I'm happy with my setup for recording, but now I'm looking for something to put in front of my amp to take to jams. I looked at the Nova system, and have heard that it's effects are better than Line 6. However, since I have a JC120, I was looking for more variety in the drive section. I ended up buying both a POD X3 Live and an M9 to try out. I must admit, the M9 has blown me away. It just sounds GREAT - and although you can only use 3 effects at a time (4 on the M13), it is REALLY flexible. The effects are lush & clear, and I love the way the drives sound in front of my JC. I also like not having to dink with level matching between the various effects. In contrast, although the X3 is nice for duplicating cover sounds, it does feel a bit thin & compressed compared to the M9. The M9 has loads of punch and body...and is inspiring. The one area where the X3 excels is on handling the piezo output from my JPs.

If you get the Nova, I'd be interested to know what you think. Otherwise, the M13/M9 are both great options...

Mike

 

[peterd79]

Funny you should ask this...I've been struggling with something similar over the past week. I'm happy with my setup for recording, but now I'm looking for something to put in front of my amp to take to jams. I looked at the Nova system, and have heard that it's effects are better than Line 6. However, since I have a JC120, I was looking for more variety in the drive section. I ended up buying both a POD X3 Live and an M9 to try out. I must admit, the M9 has blown me away. It just sounds GREAT - and although you can only use 3 effects at a time (4 on the M13), it is REALLY flexible. The effects are lush & clear, and I love the way the drives sound in front of my JC. I also like not having to dink with level matching between the various effects. In contrast, although the X3 is nice for duplicating cover sounds, it does feel a bit thin & compressed compared to the M9. The M9 has loads of punch and body...and is inspiring. The one area where the X3 excels is on handling the piezo output from my JPs.

If you get the Nova, I'd be interested to know what you think. Otherwise, the M13/M9 are both great options...

Mike

one of the neat things you can do with the Nova is add in more in the drive section by running a pedal in front if you wish or if you want to run one of the Newer TC drive pedals you can run it through midi mapping and turn it off and on based upon your preset. i've not done this yet but find it a great option if i need to expand my drive. but i think it all boils down to what you're trying to achieve tonally and what works best for you. Line 6 makes a great product... the Nova just worked best for me but have seen and heard nothing but great things about the Line 6

 

[fatoni]

nova sounds the best that side of axe fx but it isnt 4cm capable so that might turn some people off. i had this issue years ago so thing might have changed. i ended up going with a used g system. later the g system and the mkiv were replaced by the axe fx and its one of the best things ever

 

[MikeVt]

one of the neat things you can do with the Nova is add in more in the drive section by running a pedal in front if you wish or if you want to run one of the Newer TC drive pedals you can run it through midi mapping and turn it off and on based upon your preset. i've not done this yet but find it a great option if i need to expand my drive. but i think it all boils down to what you're trying to achieve tonally and what works best for you. Line 6 makes a great product... the Nova just worked best for me but have seen and heard nothing but great things about the Line 6

For comparison's sake, I'm pretty sure that you can do the same with the M13 - as it has a programmable effects loop. Both the M13 and M9 are midi capable. My preference was to have a variety of drives built in so I didn't have to buy additional pedals and deal with interconnecting and powering them. In the end, I think that's really all that the M9 offered over the TC for me.

One thing that some people don't seem to like about the Nova is the fact that the effect doesn't engage until you take your foot OFF the pedal. This would never be a deal breaker for me - but something I'd get used to, and probably pretty quickly. One thing the TC DEFINITELY has over the M13/M9 is the PS. The PS appears to be built in to the Nova. The M13/M9 use an inline brick, and a VERY poorly built one. The 9v AC side is very thin and flimsy. It's definitely not going to hold up. With the M13/M9 being built like a tank (all metal), I don't know what Line 6 was thinking. Trip over the wire once, and it doesn't matter how tough the pedal is...you're done. You can hear the fact that the case is pretty hollow by knocking on it, so I don't know why they didn't just put the PS inside. The other thing I don't like about the M9 is the adjustment knobs and placement of the display. If your hands are any bigger than a 2 year old, then your hand covers the display any time you are making an adjustment - so you have to shift your viewing position constantly to see what changes you are making. The knobs are also narrow, making adjustments somewhat less than comfortable.

All in all, I suspect the TC is more user friendly, and if it weren't for the weak drive section, I'd probably have gone that way.

Mike

 

[Sweat]

This is interesting keep it coming, was going to build a pedal board but with the life/job changes want a small multi now and the Vox just aint doin it for me.

 

[colinboy]

Alrite Adam mate hope lifes treating ya well.hows the BFR and the mesa lonestar combo?

I am actually mad to buy the G system from Tc electronics myself but the missus has me on a tight leash at the moment as were getting married next year.

I ve heard great things about the nova system and i know for a fact the delay and chorus tones are top notch all together.(Remember us at the guitar show in london a few yrs ago and there was a guy demo-ing the tc nova modulator and delay pedals?well there the same fx in the Gsystem and nova system so you cant go wrong)

You can also switch the channels on your amp via midi with the nova system.
what about xmusic do they stock them so you could try one out?

 

[adam-antium]

Thanks for the feedback guys. basically what im getting from what you's are saying and what ive read is that either of these pedals are good.

i should of said what im looking to do with this pedal!! im going to be playing covers with a band. i have seen an amazing guitarist use the m13 and get some amazing sounds out of it, the same guy actually told me the tc electronics gear is alot more complicated than the m13, me being a technophobe it almost ruled the nova out but im just about to buy one of them now and wanted to get some feed back from users of one or both units..

im using a jp6 bfr , mesa lonestar 2X12 combo and using a blackstar ht duel for some drive.

 

[tommyindelaware]

i just ordered a nova systems and a g systems unit. the effects quality is the best of ANY floor unit out.

 

[adam-antium]

howye Colin. congrats on tying the knot. whens the big day?ye need a cover band

the gsystem is defo out of my price range, about to buy a house and like you on a tight leash!! the girlfriend told me i can buy one more thing... so its one of these and maybe the volume jr pedal by ernie ball

 

[adam-antium]

my main problem with the nova system is not being able to have scenes like the m13, you dont seem to have that flexibility with the nova system, its more of a recording or bedroom tool where as the m13 more of a live tool? correct me if im wrong..id say i may be wrong

 

[peterd79]

if you can squeeze it... go for two VP juniors... on to use as a volume pedal and one to use as an expression with the Nova... it's delightful. it's the best system i've ever used. i used a line 6 pod with the floorboard and it was good... but that was my experience with the Line 6 Porducts. the drive was great but not exactly what i was needing.

the Nova would sound great with the mesa...

 

[colinboy]

howye Colin. congrats on tying the knot. whens the big day?ye need a cover band

the gsystem is defo out of my price range, about to buy a house and like you on a tight leash!! the girlfriend told me i can buy one more thing... so its one of these and maybe the volume jr pedal by ernie ball

Ha ha ya i will need a coverband but how are ye fixed to go to the south of spain as were getting married there nxt year

As far as i know the nova system is pretty user friendly,havent tried the line 6 model or heard it in action being honest.

Have ya started gigging with the new coversband yet,what kinda of stuff are ye playing?

 

[adam-antium]

im confused now.....
playing rock covers man thin lizzy, acdc....that kinda stuff.

really would like to try both, went to xmusic today and he had neither..

 

[MikeVt]

my main problem with the nova system is not being able to have scenes like the m13, you dont seem to have that flexibility with the nova system, its more of a recording or bedroom tool where as the m13 more of a live tool? correct me if im wrong..id say i may be wrong

Nah - I think that's wrong. The Nova system is most definitely a live tool. As far as scenes, the Nova system has presets - so it's similar in that respect. You don't get any presents with the M13/M9. You just get to save your pedal assignments. As soon as you change a setting, the changes are written to the scene.

Mike

 

[adam-antium]

but what i dont get with the nova, excuse me for sounding like an idiot but wouldnt you be doing a lot of fidiling around for different songs, and skipping through different effects to find what you want...

 

[peterd79]

i use a tech 21 midi moose and if i know my song requires two tones lets say a clean for the intro and i have my clean at preset 30 and i need to go to an overdrive at preset 45... with the nova it could require some toe tapping... but with the midi moose (really the only way to go imho) is to start the song and immediately trigger up to preset 45 and it will hold it in bay until i tap it ready to go... i've not had any problems with this method... and then i just add in the reverb, modulation, etc as i feel i need to add.

 

[MikeVt]

but what i dont get with the nova, excuse me for sounding like an idiot but wouldnt you be doing a lot of fidiling around for different songs, and skipping through different effects to find what you want...

The M13/M9 MAY win there, but I say MAY. You would still have to switch 'scenes' for different pedal configs, much like selecting presets. It sounds like both will allow you to turn on/off different effects (or blocks) with the footswitches once you select the preset or scene.

Some other differences -
- You can run 6 effects (ie: blocks) at once with the Nova. You can only run 3 at once with the M9, or 4 at once with the M13.
- With the M13/M9, those effects can be ANY effect, in ANY order. You can even double up. If you wanted to flange your chorus, you could. The Nova only allows one effect of each type.

Mike