russgoos

Hi bobwilken, it should work to tap the "View" button repeatedly until you see the huge patch number.

Hi DarrellM5, thanks for your reply.  Would you please elaborate on how your level out the volumes between patches?  I use a decibel meter too, in addition to my ears for percieved volume.  Thanks!

Hello Matt,

Thanks for your awesome post!  I wonder if you (or other forum readers) have time to shed some insight on a volume problem I'm having between my HD500X presets and my DT25 head?

Quick background... I've played for 25 years and recently transitioned to 2/3 of the dream rig from a Mesa/Lexicon rack system and 15 years of rack gear programming/tweaking woes.  Using HD Edit software has been a blast!  Using the HD500X & DT25 I've been extremely happy with the models/presets I've been able to build from scratch (yep the factory presets are terrible) and do understand that different amp/preamp models have differing volume levels.

Config:  HD500X connected to the DT25 head via L6 link.  Love how clean & dead simple this connection is!  The L6 Link Audio (Setup Menu 9 of 10) set to Left/Right for the DT25 so the DT25 gets the full audio chain of the HD500X.  I've created the patches at a loud volume, the same approximate volume I'd use to play with my loud drummer.  I did this because I know there is a massive difference in the way a patch sounds at bedroom volume vs. stage volume.  I want the patches to sound great at stage volume.  I run my DT25 master at 12 o'clock and my HD500X master (non-programmable) at max.

Issue:  I'm attempting to achieve close to the same perceived volume level between patches while maintaining the tonal integrity of each patch.  I attempted to locate a low volume patch, then lower the loud patches to match the low volume patch's volume.  The problem is that if I use the HD500X's mixer for this, it changes the volume fed to the post section effects of the chain.  It also changes the tone of patch's gain (meaning distortion amount, not electrical measured gain volume).

For example, I have a VH style patch that uses the Plexi 59 preamp model with all dials on 10, including channel volume.  Of course, this is a very loud patch.  If I lower its volume via the mixer, it loses its crunch and screws up the post effects levels.  If I lower the channel volume, it loses its crunch too.

Another alternate example would be a patch that uses the AC30 preamp model.  This is a low volume patch where if I increase the mixer or channel volume, the amp starts to be overly crunchy for the clean/chimey type of patch that it is.

The main concern I have is that the grit/crunch/distortion/feel characteristics of each patch change significantly when I attempt to normalize volume levels via the mixer or channel volume.

I was thinking I would perhaps put a flat EQ at the end of each patch's chain to try to adjust the patch volume via EQ output gain instead of using the mixer or channel volume.  Haven't tried this yet, it might yield the same issue?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have on this.  Much appreciated!

Russ