my 2 cents...

At first I thought it was overkill to consider having two M13's..now I'm seeing times it would be great LOL

so, I'd get an M13....someday those EQ's and other goodies may come in handy, and 4 blocks can be nice to have

good luck whatever happens!

EDIT - forgot to mention that I am using the 4 cable method with the loop..YMMV

I have an M13 and an M9; I use the M13 for my main rig, and the M9 for my practice/jam rig. Formerly, I typically carried around the M13, an expression pedal, and a crybaby. Sometimes I also bring a POG, or a whammy pedal.

Too damn heavy. I live in the city, so busses and subways are the reality of me getting to the studio, and the M13 made this a pretty fair physical effort, and also made me bulky in a crowd.

The M9 solved that problem; now I leave the M13 at home so I don't have to break down my main rig every time I practice, and take the M9 when I to jam or rehearse. The M9 is still really powerful, and with some creative use of latched scenes and whatnot, I can get a solid catalog of sounds (though mostly I just use a couple of scenes full time).

I know that if I had the M9 and not the M13, I'd jones. But if you have to pick one, and you're not a really experimental guitar player that would have to have more than three or four effects running simultaneously (assuming you use a wah or something), or just don't need to see twelve available effects ready to go at any time, I'd get the M9.

The only set of effects I find somewhat sub par are the octave dividers. They're serviceable, but just don't sound special to me, so I subbed in a POG2, which when used in conjunction with echo, phase, flange, and some other stuff, sounds amazing.

I agree with jack_cass and others. The clean amp setting is the key if you want to keep things simple.

By the way, there is a Zep-style preset scene in the m13 having an echo model in front of an overdrive model. Maybe a classic combination but nevertheless the result didn't convince me.

I'm new to the "M" family. Last week I went out and bought the M9 for it's size alone. This week I returned and bought the M13. I like being able to run 4 effects at one...that was my main reason for getting the M13. It's also nice having all of the displays in view as opposed to just one.

I must say, I was skeptical of getting a line6 as I don't dig Amp Modeling, but once I heard these units were FX only I was sold!

The Effects are AWESOME! I have since sold my pedalboard!

btw- I use the M13 out front and use my ElectraDyne's Vintage Low (Gain) channel and it sounds MINT! I also will use the M13's Overdrive's to bump the Drive. I am having NO issues having the FX in front of a bit of Amp OD...in fact, at my last gig I was complimented SEVERAL times on my tone (Although The Mesa Boogie Electradyne doesn't hurt)

I also went out and bought an EX-1 pedal and all I can say is, "Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!."

I have to agree with the comment on price. The M9 is overpriced 50-75 at least (I'd actually say $100). It's a great device, and I know the models/tech is the same, but there's the a completely dumbed down interface (1 screen instead of 4), and a lot less pedal combos/options immediately available. $299 for the M9 would be a no brainer purchase, $349 would have been ok, $399 is expensive (relative to $499 for the whole M13 shebang). Line 6 knows how to take your money, there's no doubt about that.

However, and I can't stress this enough, if you're a musician that can play out of three...or more...different amp/backlines in a week in addition to your own rig, and you have to carry your sound around in a bag, and you want it to be consistent, and you're sick of batteries, patch cords, and all that, the M9 is an GREAT solution. I've worked with a lot of other stuff to try and get this package and the M9 is the first to deliver *almost* exactly what I want (I've said before that the octave and harmony effects are not up to snuff IMHO, they don't track nearly as well as something like a POG).

The M13 has a solid spot in my main rig, and it comes with me to important gigs; one day if I have a roadie they'll be carrying it around. But for standard getting around, or practice/jams/basic gigs, I find the M9 tough to beat for sheer power and convenience. M9 + crybaby + expression pedal fits in a 13 inch laptop bag, which is great on a crowded subway, and it's a lot of horsepower.

Regarding sound, I agree with the effects loop comments here (and use it in my main rig), but again, if you move around a lot and frequently only get five minutes to set up and no real sound check (typical in NYC showcase gig), you can't fuss with that. I get satisfactory results using the amp footswitch to switch to the lead channel as a boost (so just some increased gain and mids/presence). On the M13, in my main blues and rock scenes, I keep the tube comp in a separate column from the other drives/distortions as a boost (usually in my "filter" column), and it works great, but on the M9, it's hard to give up a whole effects column just for boost.

One other thing I do; my first column is my distortions, and I use the expression pedal to control the output level, as opposed to using the volume pedal model. This works great and even allows me to forego the tube comp boost if I have to (since I can just boost everything by turning up the output on my distortion column). One thing for sure about the M9, you get more creative about doing a lot more with a little less.

Well, let's not go CRAZY here: if you really want to do it up, being a musician is just as expensive as it ever was. What Line6 has done is lowered the barrier to entry and the cost of a standard working rig with lots of effects options, but if I'm looking to impress, it's dedicated time-based effects running through an FX loop of a boutique amp (a top hat or Z or some such), with amp-based distortion and a real tube boost; that'll still cost you 3k at least (without the guitar, and you're not putting a Squire through that rig). The M9 and the M13 are good, primarily the delays and chorus/flange stuff (which are actually pretty damn good), but the harmony, octave and distortion models are "good", not "great". My old TS9 simply sounds better than the screamer model out of the M's, and the combo of a dedicated Boss DS-1 and TS9 is still such a standard that guys like Steve Vai are putting pedals out today that are essentially those same old analog electronics.

I suppose if you think that the M13 is underpriced, then the M9 is a solid buy (and I did buy both, so clearly I think they're worth the money), but relative to the M13 the M9 is pricey.

No hate here for line6 at all, I own both M devices, a PODX3, and a guitarport, and I use them all every day. But every Saturday I play with some older guys, all lawyers and/or retired musicians, that own all kinds of equipment, and they all say the same thing; yeah that stuff'll take you so far, but there's a reason Eric Johnson and Larry Carlton don't use it, you should be investing in the amp, not all those pedals", and these guys have been playing for a long, long time, and seen more music then I will for another 20 years.

Just a different perspective; the MXR distortion w/marshalls (custom) and a flanger is still all you need to sound like Eddie, and it's still the best way to sound like him; Randy too. Well, and the fingers.