Dec 1, 2010 12:09 PM
Preliminary results of HD500 DSP usage of amps and fx
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I hope this information is taken in the spirit in which it's intended - which is to help everyone understand just how much DSP these new amp models use, and to hopefully help folks optimize their use of the HD500's amps and fx.
I wish L6 either published the actual data and/or allowed a meter on the unit to tell us how much of the DSP we're using, and no, I don't know why that isn't a feature, but it isn't - so I did some testing to get a rough idea of how much DSP various fx and amp models use. The results were pretty interesting.
First, a quick note about nomenclature - L6 uses the concept of "expensive" when they refer to a particular effect or amp's DSP usage, and I'll use that term the same way.
To get a sense of how expensive each effect is, I first loaded each effect into as many slots as possible w/o any amp modeling to see how many slots I could fill up before hitting the DSP limit indicator. If I could get 8 instances of the effect, then I know that the effect takes up no more than 12.5% of the DSP's horsepower (100/8 = 12.5%).
I then found that certain effects (reverbs and pitch shifters, primarily) hit the limit before filling up all 8 slots. So for the reverbs that could be loaded 7 but not 8 times, I concluded that they each used between 12.5% and 14.3% of the DSP (100/7 = 14.3). Similarly, the pitch shifter and pitch glider could be loaded 5 but not 6 times, thus these use between 17% and 20% of the DSP (100/6 = 16.6 and 100/5 = 20). Both Spring Reverbs and the Particle Verb could be loaded 4 but not 5 times, thus these take up between 20% and 25% of the DSP.
Using this information, I then started loading amps and seeing how heavily I could load each one using the information above. What I found is that I could divide the amps up into three different tiers using different fx combinations - that is, less expensive amps could handle more expensive fx chains, while more expensive amps couldn't.
One of the surprising results of this little experiment is that the Pre versions of the amps are not necessarily as relatively expensive as the full versions of each amp. In particular, for example, the Treadplate full version is in the bottom third of relative expense of the full version amps, but the preamp version of the Treadplate is one of the more expensive ones. What that tells me is that the poweramp modeling in the Treadplate must be less expensive than most of the other amps. On the other extreme, the Tweed's Preamp version was in the least expensive group, but the most expensive full version group.
What I take away from these results is that these amp models use an enormous amount of the HD's DSP, so in dual amp mode you're probably using about 80% of the DSP on the amps alone (assuming you're using the full versions). Since the Spring Reverb is between 20% and 25%, you're already out of processing power.
All of this is summarized in the attached chart, which I intend to include in the documents section of the HD500. If I get more motivated, I'll do additional testing to see if I can get more precise information about the amps and even the effects.
A few random tidbits that I figured out during testing:
(1) the octo is the most expensive reverb other than the springs and the particle (big shock, eh?)
(2) the tube comp is at least 2x as expensive as the noise gate (which means the gate must be 6.25% or less)
(3) the two rotary effects are the most expensive of the mod effects.
Ok, hope this is interesting and helpful!
Message was edited by: fester2000 - fixed a few typos.
looks like great work! i'm certain that it will be appreciated.
Nice stuff, Fester. I can see it being really helpful planning the budget.
bbenham wrote:
Nice stuff, Fester. I can see it being really helpful planning the budget.
Thanks - I hope so!
Cheers,
Fester2k
zap3nc wrote:
looks like great work! i'm certain that it will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Fester2k
Fester2k
Nice work. Very interesting and useful and probably about as accurate as you are going to get without a meter of some sort in the LCD. It must have taken you an hour or two at least to work through this exercise.
Thanks for making the effort. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate it. ![]()
regards
Nick
nickmattocks wrote:
Fester2k
Nice work. Very interesting and useful and probably about as accurate as you are going to get without a meter of some sort in the LCD. It must have taken you an hour or two at least to work through this exercise.
Thanks for making the effort. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate it.
regards
Nick
Thanks - you're probably right about accuracy. What we might find with add'l testing is further gradation among the various amp models.
Cheers,
Fester2k
Dude that is totally awesome! Thanks so much for the great effort!!!
thegreatoz wrote:
Dude that is totally awesome! Thanks so much for the great effort!!!
Thanks! No worries - I was curious about this from the start, so I finally dug in and figured out what I could.
Cheers,
Fester2k
(1) the octo is the most expensive reverb other than the springs and the particle (big shock, eh?)
This doesn't surprise, really, because I remember not long after the M13 came out, Rich Renken said the Octo was the most DSP intensive effect Line 6 made. He basically said when they were deciding on how much stuff they could put in the M13, they had to make sure it was able to run 4 instances of this effect. The Particle Verb was a later addition, so I'd assume that any new effect would have to use less than the Octo.
The one thing that's weird, though, is I'm almost positive that I've been creating patches, and there are times that I can select the Octo but not the Particle. Maybe I'm just imagining this, but I'm pretty sure I remember this happening...
EDIT: Oh, wait, nevermind... I see I misread your statement. You're saying the Spring and Particle are bigger than the Octo... That makes, sense then with what I'm seeing. One thing to remember regarding the reverbs on the HD500 versus those on the M13 and M9 is that the ones on the HD500 are true stereo. I don't believe they are on the M-pedals. So that could explain some of the apparent difference in DSP usage.
phil_m wrote:
...The one thing that's weird, though, is I'm almost positive that I've been creating patches, and there are times that I can select the Octo but not the Particle. Maybe I'm just imagining this, but I'm pretty sure I remember this happening...
Entirely possible -- I didn't double check any of these results, so there may be a few screwups, but if your 500 is close by, see if you can load 7 instances of both the Octo and the particle. I was surprised when the Octo didn't appear to be as expensive as the springs and the Particle, but I'll double check that tonight.
There are, of course, a lot of assumptions about DSP usage built into this test, too. One of which is that the DSP nanny treats all fx as a fixed number at all times and there isn't any variance whatsoever. That's how I'd build it, if I knew how to do these things, but there may be some sort of "smart" or "dynamic" character built into the DSP limiter so that these results ultimately may not mean much. Hopefully L6 will chime in on this stuff at some point, but I'm not holding my breath.
Cheers,
Fester2k
Great work! Any idea what amount of DSP the various Cab models use? I'd be useful for those that don't use the cab sims (I'm not one of them, but it was my first thought).
eightthree wrote:
Great work! Any idea what amount of DSP the various Cab models use? I'd be useful for those that don't use the cab sims (I'm not one of them, but it was my first thought).
Thanks! And no, right now I don't think anyone can rely on the DSP nanny to tell us how much DSP the cabs use b/c of the bug that lets you bypass the DSP nanny when you disable cab sims. Once they fix that bug (assuming they do), we should be able to get in there and guesstimate how much DSP the various cab sims use.
Cheers,
Fester2k
fester2000 wrote:
.... the DSP nanny ...
I absolutely love that term!! I hope you achieve Line 6 immortality with it! I can just hear the talk several years from now...... "Oh Yeah? Well remember what Fester's DSP Nanny study showed?......"
Great work on this, Fester.
silverhead wrote:
I absolutely love that term!! I hope you achieve Line 6 immortality with it! I can just hear the talk several years from now...... "Oh Yeah? Well remember what Fester's DSP Nanny study showed?......"
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
I can see it in my obituary now - "Yesterday we lost our dearly departed brother Fester2k. He accomplished many things on this earth, not the least of which was his coining of the phrase 'DSP Nanny' in connection with a groundbreaking 2010 study of DSP limitations in a piece of Line6 gear. He leaves behind..etc..." ![]()
Ah, well - hopefully the testing helps somebody out.
Cheers,
Fester2k
One small thing to note, the measurement you're making is actually "Percentage of Available DSP". Because even when the unit is idle with no effects loaded, a portion of the processor is being used.
Karl_Houseknecht wrote:
One small thing to note, the measurement you're making is actually "Percentage of Available DSP". Because even when the unit is idle with no effects loaded, a sizable portion of the processor is being used. Was this way on the Axe-Fx too. A blank patch there on the Ultra used about 80% of the CPU.
8.0% in a patch with all shunts (gate on and output mixer) and lowers to 6.2% wtih the gate off. 4.8% in a patch with the absolutely nothing except the output mixer (noise gate off) and back up to 6.2% with gate back on.
You must have had a bunch of stuff in there to be at 80% or did you drop a decimal?
wardick wrote:
Karl_Houseknecht wrote:
One small thing to note, the measurement you're making is actually "Percentage of Available DSP". Because even when the unit is idle with no effects loaded, a sizable portion of the processor is being used. Was this way on the Axe-Fx too. A blank patch there on the Ultra used about 80% of the CPU.
8.0% in a patch with all shunts (gate on and output mixer) and lowers to 6.2% wtih the gate off. 4.8% in a patch with the absolutely nothing except the output mixer (noise gate off) and back up to 6.2% with gate back on.
You must have had a bunch of stuff in there to be at 80% or did you drop a decimal?
Weird. I distinctly remember it at 80% with nothing at all in there. But since you have one in front of you and I don't, I believe you. Maybe I left an amp model on or something? Or maybe I even misread the display. My apologies.
No need to apologize over it.
Your comment made me look! I never paid attention to it or needed too.
That's awesome dude. Nice work!!!
ozbadman wrote:
That's awesome dude. Nice work!!!
Thanks, ozbad!
orangekeeper2 wrote:
Absolutely superb. A very simple, practical and logical approach to get something that so many folk have been looking for...
Thanks, hope it helps!
Cheers,
Fester2k
I appreciate the time you have taken to analyse all this Fester and your results perfectly match up with my experience at using dual tones, but I am still a little troubled by this whole affair.
To try and get an analogy going, 20 years ago you could buy a PC, a 386SX 25 (not everyone can remember them I appreciate). To go pretty darn quick (at the time) you could buy a 386DX 25. The only difference was that the DX had two processors in and the second one labelled a maths co processor (I believe it was actually just two identical chips). Some people bought the cheaper SX version and a few who wanted the PC to go really fast bought the DX. The price difference was really not all that big in the grand scheme of things. Although my analogy may not be quite the same, my point being: Why on earth in this day of really cheap processors have I bought a HD500 where if I have two amps going and want to add a couple of effects do I run out of juice. It is absolutely criminal and I would have been happier paying a few more shillings for something that has no processor issues at all. This is fundamentally opposed to my way of thinking and is way wrong. I now have to use my M13 in the HD500 loop just to re create my live setup. Sorry if I seem a tad annoyed about this but I am.
Apart from that, it sounds bloody great.
markcockerill wrote:
.....Why on earth in this day of really cheap processors have I bought a HD500 where if I have two amps going and want to add a couple of effects do I run out of juice. It is absolutely criminal and I would have been happier paying a few more shillings for something that has no processor issues at all. This is fundamentally opposed to my way of thinking and is way wrong. I now have to use my M13 in the HD500 loop just to re create my live setup. ......
Have you been following this thread?
http://line6.com/community/thread/49404?tstart=0
If not, check it out. There are LOTS of different opinions about this topic discussed there. Very entertaining and informative reading. I'm sure you'll get some good debate going there!
Thanks dude, I didn't want to deride from Fester's excellent work here. I will check it out.
markcockerill wrote:
I appreciate the time you have taken to analyse all this Fester and your results perfectly match up with my experience at using dual tones, but I am still a little troubled by this whole affair.
To try and get an analogy going...
Apart from that, it sounds bloody great.
Hey, bummer that this unit isn't doing what you want. My guess (and this truly is a guess, as I have no idea what L6 is planning) is that there will be an HD Pro unit of some sort that will have that second processor so that the limits of the DSP are higher.
FWIW, I'm very, very glad L6 lets us maximize the available DSP the way we see fit, rather than restricting the unit to single amps or something like that.
Cheers,
Fester2k
fester2000 wrote:
markcockerill wrote:
I appreciate the time you have taken to analyse all this Fester and your results perfectly match up with my experience at using dual tones, but I am still a little troubled by this whole affair.
To try and get an analogy going...
Apart from that, it sounds bloody great.
Hey, bummer that this unit isn't doing what you want. My guess (and this truly is a guess, as I have no idea what L6 is planning) is that there will be an HD Pro unit of some sort that will have that second processor so that the limits of the DSP are higher.
FWIW, I'm very, very glad L6 lets us maximize the available DSP the way we see fit, rather than restricting the unit to single amps or something like that.
Cheers,
Fester2k
That would be the best solution. Make the best damn modeler you can and charge accordingly. With that scenario if the 500 does all you need, great. The whiners like me can then put up or shut up, and buy the new Pro unit. Heck I may put up AND shut up;-)
Absolutely superb. A very simple, practical and logical approach to get something that so many folk have been looking for...
Really helpful, thank you!!
Thanks Fester2000, from a potential customers point of view, your work is a huge help because this is one of the issues that has been bugging me. I can see from your report that this issue wouldn't be a problem for me.
timowens wrote:
Thanks Fester2000, from a potential customers point of view, your work is a huge help because this is one of the issues that has been bugging me. I can see from your report that this issue wouldn't be a problem for me.
Glad it gave you what you were looking for, Tim! Took me awhile to get to it, but I actually got better data than I thought I might be able to get!
Cheers,
Fester2k
Fear not....unless you really need it to run like the X-3....its not as bad as you might think.
Thanks very much Fester2000 for your time and willingness to share what you have observed! I appreciate your insight and find all of this stuff quite interesting. And pardon my ignorance at this point, but do you think this is something (the whole "expensive" effects and amp models DSP usage situation) that can be optimized in future Firmware Updates, or is it about as optimized as possible in respect to hardware/processing power.
Thanks again!
Geetar42
geetar42 wrote:
Thanks very much Fester2000 for your time and willingness to share what you have observed! I appreciate your insight and find all of this stuff quite interesting. And pardon my ignorance at this point, but do you think this is something (the whole "expensive" effects and amp models DSP usage situation) that can be optimized in future Firmware Updates, or is it about as optimized as possible in respect to hardware/processing power.
Geetar - You're welcome! I wish I knew the answer to your question about optimization. My guess is that, at best, there may be a little room to squeeze, but my guess is that they've already squeezed that lemon pretty hard. What seems more feasible (but there's no evidence that L6 is interested in developing this) would be to have "light" versions of some of the more expensive effects. But with models that burn ~40% of the available DSP, there just isn't much left to run mega heavy expensive fx.
We'll have to see what, if anything, L6 does with firmware updates. Frankly, I'd probably rather have another 16 amps and cabs, plus fixing the current bugs first before they worry about further optimization of the amps and cabs.
Cheers,
Fester2k
fester2000 wrote:
geetar42 wrote:
Thanks very much Fester2000 for your time and willingness to share what you have observed! I appreciate your insight and find all of this stuff quite interesting. And pardon my ignorance at this point, but do you think this is something (the whole "expensive" effects and amp models DSP usage situation) that can be optimized in future Firmware Updates, or is it about as optimized as possible in respect to hardware/processing power.
Geetar - You're welcome! I wish I knew the answer to your question about optimization. My guess is that, at best, there may be a little room to squeeze, but my guess is that they've already squeezed that lemon pretty hard. What seems more feasible (but there's no evidence that L6 is interested in developing this) would be to have "light" versions of some of the more expensive effects. But with models that burn ~40% of the available DSP, there just isn't much left to run mega heavy expensive fx.
We'll have to see what, if anything, L6 does with firmware updates. Frankly, I'd probably rather have another 16 amps and cabs, plus fixing the current bugs first before they worry about further optimization of the amps and cabs.
Cheers,
Fester2k
First a million thanks for taking time and doing this. It will help a bunch as getting 90% of the way there and having the DSP nanny slap your wrist is a royal pain. The idea of starting all over with a different amp, and then trying to figure which MIGHT work is crazy.
I never would have guessed that the DRz is one of the least expensive as many feel that is one of the best models. The power amp modeling on that seems pretty damn detailed. That may mean that they did optomize some amps more than others, but we will only know if/when there is a firmware update.
Light version of effects is fine. I'd be happy adding an X3 gen reverb if it meant it was half as expensive as a M series for instance. Having another 16 amps would also be great. There would be more aprorpiate choices in the less expensive categories for instance. I think it is safe to assume that a SLO would be less DSP hungry than a Bman with tube driver, for instance.
toasterdude wrote:
I never would have guessed that the DRz is one of the least expensive as many feel that is one of the best models. The power amp modeling on that seems pretty damn detailed. That may mean that they did optomize some amps more than others, but we will only know if/when there is a firmware update.
I wouldn't necessarily expect that using more DSP always makes a better sounding effect, though it makes sense that as a general trend that's true a large percentage of the time. Seems like this is a not-unexpected exception to that trend.
mdmayfield wrote:
toasterdude wrote:
I never would have guessed that the DRz is one of the least expensive as many feel that is one of the best models. The power amp modeling on that seems pretty damn detailed. That may mean that they did optomize some amps more than others, but we will only know if/when there is a firmware update.
I wouldn't necessarily expect that using more DSP always makes a better sounding effect, though it makes sense that as a general trend that's true a large percentage of the time. Seems like this is a not-unexpected exception to that trend.
Or. . . .the goal was to get all the amps to sound as good as the DRz while being less DSP intensive. Maybe they decided to release the HD with what they had ready and optomized and go back and optimize all the other amp models later on? Wishful thinking at least.
Nice effort...will probably help some . gives a good understanding. Still if ya wanna run the HD like an X-3...not gonna matter.
Tell ya the truth if they'd figure out a better link up to the M13 that would really rock.
amgamg wrote:
Nice effort...will probably help some . gives a good understanding. Still if ya wanna run the HD like an X-3...not gonna matter.
Tell ya the truth if they'd figure out a better link up to the M13 that would really rock.
An HD/M13 combination would be killer good. It can't be that difficult to add midi mapping to HD or more scenes to M13. One could hope at least.
Thank you so much for your time and effort doing this!
fester2000 wrote:
What I take away from these results is that these amp models use an enormous amount of the HD's DSP, so in dual amp mode you're probably using about 80% of the DSP on the amps alone (assuming you're using the full versions). Since the Spring Reverb is between 20% and 25%, you're already out of processing power.
Message was edited by: fester2000 - fixed a few typos.
Seems to be about what I was experiencing/saying. The DSP currently in the HD is not really up to doing dual amps. I agree that it is better to leave the feature in there, but I wouldn't hype it as much.
Also since I never used any of the expensive effects like pitchshifter/pitchglide or spring/partucle verbs. It is in fact dual amps that is the major limitation and not " effects heavy chains".
I think it is safe to say that if you never use dual amps the HD 500 may rarely encounter the DSP limitation. If you do use Dual Amps you will hit it quite frequently. In the other monster thread I said repeatedly that I can do dual amps with no reverb but trying to have any reverb, even plate can have me hit a wall.
However the patch I DLed the other day that had a DRz and a JTM45, also had plate reverb, which should have us very near the dsp limit, unless the DRz is that much less DSP hungry. However the patch also had red comp, stereo delay and I was able to add a second digital delay and a tube driver.
Going by your list I would think that was impossible. One more reason to use the DR Z I guess!
thanks, fester2k, for coming through with what you set out to do when i lamented on the dsp limit issue a couple of weeks ago.
i had then wanted the following chain: wah>tubescreamer>park75+bassman>rotarydrum>63spring
based on your easy-to-read chart, it is obvious to me now that my dual amp choice will already take up 70 to 80% of the available dsp capacity, leaving not much room for anything else.
great job!
cheers
Thanks a lot for Your superb work Fester2k!
IMHO I think reaching the DSP limit wil be both a problem and a stimulant. A problem if we want to build rich effects and amps structure, with complex textures doing cool stuffs...but WHO really need those things? I think L6 did an excellent job recreating real breathtaking effects and amps, maybe too much, even for a guitar hero!
So the stimulant may be thinking different and try to find different ways to reach the goal, for example: we forget the external loop...need some more stuff? Use external loop and link whatever You want, et voilà! job done!
I'm really optimist and I'll wait further improvement that surely L6 will do, so start suggesting them what to do:
Music is fantasy... ![]()
Anyway, thanks again Fester2k...
Hey thanks for the kind words, everyone. If anyone sees different behavior from what I've reported, please speak up! Or if you have other ideas as to how to reverse engineer more info about available DSP usage, again, I'm all ears.
Cheers,
Fester2k
Hey Fester,
The only thing I was thinking of now, is that now that you know that the amps take up approximately 40% of available DSP, you could start with the amps (two of them) and then start adding in each effect to get more information about some of the effects that use less than that 12.5%. For example, if you know 2 amps will use up about 80% of available DSP - then you only have about 20% left to work with. Let's say you want to know about how much one of the Wah models uses.
Now that you know you have about 20% left, you could put in a bunch of Wah models until the Nanny comes to slap your wrist. If you were able to add 4 Wah models (but not 5), you'd know that those Wah models use up a bit less than 5% of available DSP.
Does that make sense? I realize this would be a lot more work, what with the 100 FX models available... but the more information the better. Perhaps I'll start working on this too and reply back with my findings.
Thoughts?
Just did a very quick test. I setup a patch with 2 AC30's (Full amps) and was able to add in 8 Fassel Wah models without any appearance of the DSP Nanny. I also went through and selected dual amps of all the models in your "top tier" without issue. So it appears that the Fassel Wah has a very low DSP footprint.
eightthree wrote:
Just did a very quick test. I setup a patch with 2 AC30's (Full amps) and was able to add in 8 Fassel Wah models without any appearance of the DSP Nanny. I also went through and selected dual amps of all the models in your "top tier" without issue. So it appears that the Fassel Wah has a very low DSP footprint.
I am out of the country so can not do any tests right now. I am thinking as long as you don't add reverb, you can do a decent amount of effects.
So I quickly just completed the following test. On that patch with 2 full AC30's, I was able to get the following information on the distortion models:
The numbers in brackets are the number of each model I was able to add to my dual AC30 patch before getting the DSP warning. Based on Fester's findings that the Amp models use about 40% of available DSP each (I specifically picked the AC30 because it was in his "mid-tier" category, so should be an average amp in terms of DSP usage), I just divided 20 (the amount of approximate DSP that should still be available after adding dual AC30's) by that number to get the approximate usage of each distortion model.
Note, the numbers basically mean that for the Tube Drive (for example) I was able to successfully add 5 of that effect before getting the DSP warning, which should mean that it would use somewhere slightly less than 4% for each effect (again, based on the assumption that Fester's earlier findings about Amp DSP usage are accurate, which I have no reason to think they're not
). I think that's probably about as close as we're going to get without an official DSP meter (something I hope to see in a future firmware update).
• Tube Drive (5) < 4%
• Screamer (4) < 5%
• Overdrive (5) < 4%
• Classic Dist (5) < 4%
• Heavy Dist (5) < 4%
• Colordrive (5) < 4%
• Buzz Saw (5) < 4%
• Facial Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Jumbo Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Fuzz Pi (5) < 4%
• Jet Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Line 6 Drive (5) < 4%
• Line 6 Distortion (5) < 4%
• Sub Octave Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Octave Fuzz (3) < 6.67%
Using the same method (dual AC30's), everything else except delay is here:
Distortion Models
• Tube Drive (5) < 4%
• Screamer (4) < 5%
• Overdrive (5) < 4%
• Classic Dist (5) < 4%
• Heavy Dist (5) < 4%
• Colordrive (5) < 4%
• Buzz Saw (5) < 4%
• Facial Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Jumbo Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Fuzz Pi (5) < 4%
• Jet Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Line 6 Drive (5) < 4%
• Line 6 Distortion (5) < 4%
• Sub Octave Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Octave Fuzz (3) < 6.67%
Wah
• All Models (8) < 2.5%
Dynamics
• All except for Boost Comp (8) < 2.5%
• Boost Comp (5) < 4%
Modulation
• Pattern Trem (8) < 2.5%
• Panner (8) < 2.5%
• Bias Trem (7) < 2.86%
• Opto Trem (5) < 4%
• Script Phase (8) < 2.5%
• Panned Phaser (8) < 2.5%
• Barberpole Phaser (7) < 2.86%
• Dual Phaser (6) < 3.34%
• U-Vibe (4) < 5%
• Phaser (3) < 6.67%
• Pitch Vibrato (6) < 3.34%
• Dimension (5) < 4%
• Analog Chorus (3) < 6.67%
• Tri Chorus (2) < 10%
• Analog Flanger (3) < 6.67%
• Jet Flanger (3) < 6.67%
• AC Flanger (2) < 10%
• Boa Flanger (2) < 10%
• Frequency Shifter (7) < 2.86%
• Ring Modulator (4) < 5%
• Rotary Drum (2) < 10%
• Rotary Drm/Hrn (2) < 10%
Filter
• Voice Box (8) < 2.5%
• V Tron (8) < 2.5%
• Q Filter (7) < 2.86%
• Vocoder (5) < 4%
• Seeker (6) < 3.34%
• Obi Wah (6) < 3.34%
• Tron Up (6) < 3.34%
• Tron Down (6) < 3.34%
• Throbber (6) < 3.34%
• Slow Filter (6) < 3.34%
• Spin Cycle (5) < 4%
• Comet Trails (4) < 5%
• Octisynth (8) < 2.5%
• Synth O Matic (1) < 20%
• Attack Synth (1) < 20%
• Synth String (1) < 20%
• Growler (1) < 20%
Pitch
• All models (1) < 20%
EQ
• All models (4) < 5%
Dude, nice work! The only thing I'd caution people over is not to treat these #'s with any particular precision since my estimations on the amp models are about plus or minus 2.5% - a 5% span.
But these results really are excellent! Thanks for doing all this legwork here, bud!
Cheers,
Fester2k
Excellent work both of you!
Maybe one of you could combine the other's work into a single document... our "best guess" so far of DSP usage?
The more I use the HD amp models, the more I feel like a single amp model gives me all the richness, tone, and texture I need. I did not feel that way with the X3 amp models, and most of the dual tones I created were designed with that in mind. There are still a few situations where I'd want to use 2 amp models, but most of the time I feel like I can get a better, less congested tone with just one amp sim. I add this because if any current or former X3 users are seeing this information and thinking "gee this POD HD really isn't going to give me dual tones" then yes, that's true, but chances are you won't really need them in most situations anyway. And if you do, then it's still possible to do dual amp patches -- just not with a long list of other effects.
mr_slugworth wrote:
Excellent work both of you!
Thanks!
Maybe one of you could combine the other's work into a single document... our "best guess" so far of DSP usage?
Good idea! I'll take the lead on this since I drafted the original document.
The more I use the HD amp models, the more I feel like a single amp model gives me all the richness, tone, and texture I need. I did not feel that way with the X3 amp models, and most of the dual tones I created were designed with that in mind. There are still a few situations where I'd want to use 2 amp models, but most of the time I feel like I can get a better, less congested tone with just one amp sim. I add this because if any current or former X3 users are seeing this information and thinking "gee this POD HD really isn't going to give me dual tones" then yes, that's true, but chances are you won't really need them in most situations anyway. And if you do, then it's still possible to do dual amp patches -- just not with a long list of other effects.
I agree - the dual amps are cool, but really the detail on these amps is so spectacular that I find myself just finding the sweet spot of a particular sim and grinding on it for awhile.
Cheers,
Fester2k
mr_slugworth wrote:
Excellent work both of you!
Maybe one of you could combine the other's work into a single document... our "best guess" so far of DSP usage?
The more I use the HD amp models, the more I feel like a single amp model gives me all the richness, tone, and texture I need. I did not feel that way with the X3 amp models, and most of the dual tones I created were designed with that in mind. There are still a few situations where I'd want to use 2 amp models, but most of the time I feel like I can get a better, less congested tone with just one amp sim. I add this because if any current or former X3 users are seeing this information and thinking "gee this POD HD really isn't going to give me dual tones" then yes, that's true, but chances are you won't really need them in most situations anyway. And if you do, then it's still possible to do dual amp patches -- just not with a long list of other effects.
I agree tat many X3 dual tones were because of a lack of depth or complexity. However plenty of dudes use dual amps with real tube amps, and they are pretty complex.
I am so used to dual amps, it is hard to go back. Even if just 2 of the same amp with different cabs or mics or tone settings plus the 20ms delay. Just sounds fatter.
OK, finished the full list, everything in order.
Dynamics
• All except for Boost Comp (8) < 2.5%
• Boost Comp (5) < 4%
Distortion Models
• Tube Drive (5) < 4%
• Screamer (4) < 5%
• Overdrive (5) < 4%
• Classic Dist (5) < 4%
• Heavy Dist (5) < 4%
• Colordrive (5) < 4%
• Buzz Saw (5) < 4%
• Facial Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Jumbo Fuzz (5) < 4%
• Fuzz Pi (5) < 4%
• Jet Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Line 6 Drive (5) < 4%
• Line 6 Distortion (5) < 4%
• Sub Octave Fuzz (4) < 5%
• Octave Fuzz (3) < 6.67%
Modulation
• Pattern Trem (8) < 2.5%
• Panner (8) < 2.5%
• Bias Trem (7) < 2.86%
• Opto Trem (5) < 4%
• Script Phase (8) < 2.5%
• Panned Phaser (8) < 2.5%
• Barberpole Phaser (7) < 2.86%
• Dual Phaser (6) < 3.34%
• U-Vibe (4) < 5%
• Phaser (3) < 6.67%
• Pitch Vibrato (6) < 3.34%
• Dimension (5) < 4%
• Analog Chorus (3) < 6.67%
• Tri Chorus (2) < 10%
• Analog Flanger (3) < 6.67%
• Jet Flanger (3) < 6.67%
• AC Flanger (2) < 10%
• Boa Flanger (2) < 10%
• Frequency Shifter (7) < 2.86%
• Ring Modulator (4) < 5%
• Rotary Drum (2) < 10%
• Rotary Drm/Hrn (2) < 10%
Filter
• Voice Box (8) < 2.5%
• V Tron (8) < 2.5%
• Q Filter (7) < 2.86%
• Vocoder (5) < 4%
• Seeker (6) < 3.34%
• Obi Wah (6) < 3.34%
• Tron Up (6) < 3.34%
• Tron Down (6) < 3.34%
• Throbber (6) < 3.34%
• Slow Filter (6) < 3.34%
• Spin Cycle (5) < 4%
• Comet Trails (4) < 5%
• Octisynth (8) < 2.5%
• Synth O Matic (1) < 20%
• Attack Synth (1) < 20%
• Synth String (1) < 20%
• Growler (1) < 20%
Pitch
• All models (1) < 20%
EQ
• All models (4) < 5%
Delay:
• Ping Pong (5) < 4%
• Dynamic Dly (4) < 5%
• Stereo Delay (4) < 5%
• Digital Delay (4) < 5%
• Dig Dly W/Mod (4) < 5%
• Reverse (4) < 5%
• Low Res Delay (3) < 6.67%
• Tube Echo (3) < 6.67%
• Tube Echo Dry (3) < 6.67%
• Tape Echo (3) < 6.67%
• Tape Echo Dry (3) < 6.67%
• Sweep Echo (3) < 6.67%
• Sweep Echo Dry (3) < 6.67%
• Echo Platter (3) < 6.67%
• Echo Platter Dry (3) < 6.67%
• Analog W/Mod (3) < 6.67%
• Analog Echo (3) < 6.67%
• Auto-Volume Echo (2) < 10%
• Multi-Head (2) < 10%
Reverb
• Plate (2) < 10%
• Room (2) < 10%
• Chamber (2) < 10%
• Hall (2) < 10%
• Echo (2) < 10%
• Tile (2) < 10%
• Cave (2) < 10%
• Ducking (2) < 10%
• Octo (2) < 10%
• Spring (1) < 20%
• '63 Spring (1) < 20%
• Particle Verb (1) < 20%
Vol/Pan
• All models (8) < 2.5%
Wah
• All Models (8) < 2.5%
fester2000 wrote:
Dude, nice work! The only thing I'd caution people over is not to treat these #'s with any particular precision since my estimations on the amp models are about plus or minus 2.5% - a 5% span.
But these results really are excellent! Thanks for doing all this legwork here, bud!
Cheers,
Fester2k
Yeah, absolutely - as I mentioned above, I think this is as close to accurate as we're going to get without an official list directly from Line 6, or a DSP meter on the HD500 itself. However, these rough estimates should get you a good overall picture of how effects and amp models compare to each other in their DSP usage.
Great work. These numbers seem very close to reality because I think they explain why the FX1 roster is the way it is in the HD300/400. It becomes clear why certain expensive FX like the Spring Reverb can't live in the Reverb assignment block without having to employ the DSP Nanny.
So the FX1 through FX3 static assignment of available FX is really all about employment - Line 6 just doesn't want to hire that many nannys so puts a lot of the bad kids in the room with the smallest class (FX1) to keep things under control!
Ok, here's the fx-only DSP estimation chart. I tried to present the info in a way that's both easy to view/understand while still being meaningful. Because of the roughness of the absolute accuracy of these data, and in order to make them consistent with the first round of testing, I took eightthree's data and combined all the fx that showed a usage of less than 5% into a single row, divided into groups of similarly expensive fx split up by a "--".
So the Pattern Trem group is less expensive than the Bias Trem group, which is less than the Dual phaser, etc., etc. Since the difference between what is probably 2% and 6% is hopefully not too significant for the users, and because we are probably only within 4 or 5 percentage points of the actual available DSP usage, I figured I could just lump all those together so we can get all the fx on one page.
The other thing I did was make a very crude adjustment to all the numbers because of some inconsistencies in the results. For example, if the spring verb can be added 4 but not 5 times w/o any amp modeling, but can be added to this particular dual amp setup, then the dual amp *must* be using less than 80% of the DSP. How much less? Who knows? But I think we must have another 1 or 2 percentage points of DSP to work with, so I simply added 1% to each tier that eightthree concluded (using the 40% per amp approach he used), since each amp probably only used about 39% or so.
The other thing I did to specifically harmonize eightthree's results with mine was to modify the lower boundary of the most expensive effects - the spring verbs and particles, in particular, because we already know they *must* use at least 14.3% of the available DSP from the non-amp testing. I'll have to run the Synth/growler tests to see how many of those we can add w/o any amp modeling to get a sense of where they are in the range.
So the bottom line is that between eightthree's results and my results, we have a rough sense of how much absolute available DSP each effect uses, and in particular now thanks to eightthree we have a *very* good sense of the relative expense of the various fx models.
Big thanks to eightthree here - he did a knockout job at taking the ball and running a really, really long way down the field.
Cheers,
Fester2k
Thanks for the kudos man! Really though, it wasn't all that much work to do, just a lot of knob twisting and note-taking. But it didn't take all that long to do - I just had to break it up into pieces while I had some time available. I doubt it was more work than what you did originally, so thanks again for the base testing you did for me to work from ![]()
Hi Fester,
Based on everybody's great work here, I ran some tests tonight which I believe give some more accurate numbers on some of these things. Running v1.10 of the firmware.
Using your HD500 DSP Estimations Amp naming convention:
Pre-Amp:
-------------
(Tier 1): 28.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 2): 31.0 +- 1.0%
(Tier 3): 34.0 +- 1.0%
1st most expensive:"AC30 TB pre"
2nd most expensive:"Angel Fireball pre"
Full Amp:
--------------
(Tier 1):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 2):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 3):37.5 +- 0.5%
Most expensive:Both the "Gibtone" and "Divide by 13"
Effects:
-------------
Tube Drive:4.5% +- 0.5%
Octave Fuzz:6.5% +- 0.5%
Spring/63 Spring: 22.0% +- 0.5%
Particle Verb:21.5% +- 0.5%
All other reverbs:12.0% +- 0.5%
What's particularly cool is that most of these numbers are a tad lower than our previous estimates so we can squeeze just a little more in than we previously thought.
Cheers, and thanks again for kicking off this great effort.
David.
ozbadman wrote:
Hi Fester,
Based on everybody's great work here, I ran some tests tonight which I believe give some more accurate numbers on some of these things. Running v1.10 of the firmware.
...
Cheers, and thanks again for kicking off this great effort.
David.
Very cool work, David! How did you get such highly accurate results? Honestly I didn't think getting anything +-0.5% was remotely possible when I started testing these things.
One quick question: I'm assuming there must have been a typo in this section, maybe?
Full Amp:
--------------
(Tier 1):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 2):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 3):37.5 +- 0.5%
Unless all the full amps are within 1% of each other (which is possible), these don't really make sense. But maybe if they are all this close how did you figure out that the Gibtone and Divided by 13 amps are the most expensive? Maybe because it's 3:00 in the morning and my brain isn't working correctly, hahahahaha.![]()
Ok, really cool effort! Thanks for contributing to the process!!!
Cheers,
Fester2k
fester2000 wrote:
Very cool work, David! How did you get such highly accurate results? Honestly I didn't think getting anything +-0.5% was remotely possible when I started testing these things.
One quick question: I'm assuming there must have been a typo in this section, maybe?
Full Amp:
--------------
(Tier 1):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 2):37.5 +- 0.5%
(Tier 3):37.5 +- 0.5%
Unless all the full amps are within 1% of each other (which is possible), these don't really make sense. But maybe if they are all this close how did you figure out that the Gibtone and Divided by 13 amps are the most expensive? Maybe because it's 3:00 in the morning and my brain isn't working correctly, hahahahaha.
Ok, really cool effort! Thanks for contributing to the process!!!
Cheers,
Fester2k
Hey Fester,
Well, by trial and error I was able to hone in on some pretty accurate numbers on the 63 Spring and Particle verbs, as well as the Tube and Octo. By varying combinations of these I could further hone in on values of other things. Say > 35, < 40, then adjust some effect combination to get >36 < 39, etc.
Yep, it looks like the Full Amps are all between >= 38 and <= 39 so knowing you had already grouped them, I figured that was accurate enough. I took the middle for all 3 groups and added the error.
To work out the most expensive, I put my combinations right on the edge, then went through all the pres/amps until I triggered a "DSP OVER message", then fine tuned it until this only happened on 1 preamp/amp. I couldn't separate the Gibtone and Divided by 13 fulls, even with just a a noise gate difference, so I put them together as the most expensive.
And what's really cool is that now as I put things together, I can fairly accurately predict when adding even a small effect is going to trigger a DSP error.
Dude, thanks again for your brilliant idea on the general approach. It's had awesome results for all of us.
David.
Wow
There's been some excellent stuff going on here with a lot of effort having been put in. Nice work all. Very useful info and a great guideline.
Thank you ![]()
Regards
Nick
So, some more results today as I needed some numbers for the Pitch shifters (in order of increasing usage):
Bass Octaver: 17.5 +- 0.5%
Pitch Glide: 18.0 +- 0.5%
Smart Harmony: 19.5 +- 0.5%
Also, we can recalculate the numbers from eigththrees efforts now we have more acucrate amp values:
So, for example (using 100% - 2*40.0%):
• Tube Drive (5) < 4%
• Screamer (4) < 5%
• Overdrive (5) < 4%
• Classic Dist (5) < 4%
becomes (using 100% - 2*37.5%):
• 25/6 < Tube Drive (5) < 25/5 giving >4%, < 5% (my value for this driver BTW is 4.5%, so that matches up nicely)
• 25/5 < Screamer (4) < 25/4 giving >5%, < ~6% (FWIW, it looks like Screamer is about 4.8 +- 0.5% on my tests)
• 25/6 < Overdrive (5) < 25/5 giving >4%, < 5%
• 25/6 < Classic Dist (5) < 25/5 giving >4%, < 5%
etc., without having to redo the work that was done, just the calculations.
Cheers,
David
good job! really intresting
I did an experiment (not so well documented) with a dual amp, a tube drive, a digital delay and a volume. The only full amps that could be rum simultaniusly where 2 Super O´s or 1 Super O and a Gibtone 185. Which means these are the two least expensive full amp´s with the Super O being the least af the two.
This is a contradition with your results? I wonder if there is an explenation for this.
Gerrit
Gerritsmrg wrote:
I did an experiment (not so well documented) with a dual amp, a tube drive, a digital delay and a volume. The only full amps that could be rum simultaniusly where 2 Super O´s or 1 Super O and a Gibtone 185. Which means these are the two least expensive full amp´s with the Super O being the least af the two.
This is a contradition with your results? I wonder if there is an explenation for this.
Gerrit
Hmmm
That doesn't sound right. I've just done an experiment with my HD500 running firmware 1.22 using your basic recipe, which contains:
Tube Drive
Digital Delay
Volume Pedal
In addition, I can run FULL dual amps without exceeding the DSP limit as follows:
1 x BF Double and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Highway 100 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x SuperO and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Gibtone 185 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Tweed B-Man and 1 x any other full amp
1 x BF 'Lux and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Divide 9/15 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x PHD Motorway and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Class A-15 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Class A-30TB and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Brit J-45 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Brit P-75 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Brit J-800 and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Bomber Uber and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Treadplate and 1 x any other full amp
1 x Angel F-Ball 1 x any other full amp
So, in firmware 1.22 with three FX as you specified ALL 16 of the currently available FULL amps can be run in any combination without causing the DSP to fall over with no need to disable speaker cab emulation or anything like that.
My HD500 was re-flashed with the latest available flash memory (1.22) and the global settings were reset, to ensure all was completely clean for this test. My test was carried out directly on the HD500. I'm not sure what you are doing differently.
Bear in mind the previous tests were carried out under an earlier version of the HD500's and before today this thread was last responded to back in December 2010.
Is your HD500 running firmware version 1.22? Where are you seeing the message that the DSP has exceeded its capabilities? (LCD or in HD500 Edit?)
Something has to be different, otherwise I'm at a loss to explain why your HD500's DSP seems to be falling over so easily
Nick
This is all great info but you guys realize that each firmware update will most likely change ALL of these perameters right?
bverdon wrote:
This is all great info but you guys realize that each firmware update will most likely change ALL of these perameters right?
Yes - of course that is entirely possible if Line 6 manage to find ways of optimising the amp models more with every firmware update ![]()
I just did a simple test based on the recipe offered by another user yesterday in a post in which he was having severe problems getting dual amps to work and the results he was getting just seemed very wrong, but with the currently available firmware (1.22), and found that ALL full amps can be used with ANY other full amp without hitting any DSP limit with the FX specified.
Yes - of course that is entirely possible if Line 6 manage to find ways of optimising the amp models more with every firmware update
I think I'll wait for buying, until the development has finished and the final version is available. ![]()
In the meantime I remain lucky with the X3. ![]()
jodeli wrote:
Yes - of course that is entirely possible if Line 6 manage to find ways of optimising the amp models more with every firmware update
I think I'll wait for buying, until the development has finished and the final version is available.
In the meantime I remain lucky with the X3.
You might have a very long wait then as no-one knows if and when there will be a final update ![]()
I'm pleased your X3 is still working out for you. In some scenarios, so is mine, but I rarely use the X3 Live these days because the HD500 works so well all round
bverdon wrote:
This is all great info but you guys realize that each firmware update will most likely change ALL of these perameters right?
Yep, but now that we've worked out how to do it, we can reproduce the results for future firmware updates. Hopefully as many have eluded to, we won't need to in future. If Line 6 adds a DSP meter to the HD500 and HDEdit (which they must already have the data for since they know when we've hit a limit) then we won't need to.
Damn! This is one of the most informative and crazy good work done by all! Thanks to everyone who worked at getting this info and thanks specifically to you fester2k for getting the ball rolling on this one.
Now that we are up to version 1.31 (if my memory serves me since I'm posting from work), does anyone know if these values have changed?
Jim
So, this is a fantastic thread, but I wonder whether any of the fx or amp models have been adjusted to use less (or more?) DSP power since the major update.. Anybody got a ton of free time on their hands and can test a few effects and amps using the methodology above?
thanks for the hard work. I just got an HD500 a few weeks back and have been frustrated with this. now I know how to build my presets without all the trial and error of what I can put in.
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