partari0

If you get a ground loop when controlling your amps channel with the EXT jack, you can get around this by using a VoodooLabs Control Switcher to change functions via MIDI. I explained my situation to BTPA audio (they do custom boards and switcher cables for complicated setups) and he confirmed the HX Effects causes ground loops on many amps when connected via EXT to switch channels. They recommended the voodoo device and can supply the custom cable needed to go between that and my 6505+. Hopefully this will solve my issues.

I know a bunch of us are using Four Cable Method with various amps and setups. Let’s share our successes or woes and see if we can get this stickied. (HX FX and Helix, they can both be used like this) I’ll go first. I bought an HX FX to use in 4CM (willing to bet that’s a lot of HX FX buyers) with my tube amp to insert time based fx and a noise gate into my fx loop and change the channel on my 6505+ without tap dancing. I ran into noise, feedback, and ground loops which sent me on a forum frenzy. Depending on your amp/setup/end goal the solutions can be different for everyone. First off, connecting the HX in 4CM to a 6505+ introduces ground loops. I read that all ins/outs on the HX share a ground. I bought a radial isolation box to isolate the sends and returns, and while this got rid of some 60hz hum, I still had a ton of hiss. I used noise gates to solve this but my signal to noise ratio was terrible and I had massive amounts of tone suck. At this point I’m just going to use the FX up front and my hardware noise gate and eq in the loop because it sounds and feels night and day better. But that’s not all. Using the HX to switch channels introduced another ground loop, which I solved by snipping the ground on my channel switch cable, but that won’t work for everyone’s amps because some need the ground for switching. Overall I can still do way more with the HX than my old pedals, but I can’t use it how I originally intended. The purpose of this thread is for people to be able to find other users with the same amps, and share tips for 4CM success. - Patrick

There’s a lot of discussion around using the HX Effects and Helix in 4 cable method with various amps and setups. It would be helpful to have a dedicated thread to share tips or ask questions about the ground loops and noise that can happen when integrating into a tube amp.