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Anyone using their HD or HDX as a midi controller??


BigD001
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Greetings,   Has anyone setup their POD as a midi controller for a KEMPER?  Just wondering how well it works, I'm not ready to drop 600 on the kemper remote, and it would be awesome to have a backup rig right there.

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I use my HD500X to control all sorts of MIDI things - it is a bonafide MIDI foot controller.  The knobs of the HD500x can not be assigned, but you can assign all buttons and both the on board (and extenal expression pedals if you have).  I've never had the pleasure of playing with a Kemper, but if it is standard MIDI spec the FX500 should work great! 

 

Midi controllers are pricey.  This is definitely a value add for the HD500.  In addtion to controlling MIDI amps, It works really well with ipad audio guitar amp apps.  It works great with Ableton too - assigning the expression pedal to some sort of filter or effect parameter can produce some really NEW sounds... assigning cab IR's via foot switch - provides another great way to change your tone in an unexpected way - so many things you can do when playing your guitar through Ableton, or Logic, or Mainstage, etc. 

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I control almost all of my in-the-fx loop pedals with MIDI from the HD500.  Tempo, PC commands, and some expression control.  Works great.  You can't, however, send more than one command at a time without extra MIDI hardware.  Only one PC or CC at a time.  

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I agree with what's been posted.  The HD500(X) works great as a midi controller.  I have used it quite a bit to control Ableton and S Gear in the studio.  I have a buddy who uses one to control his Axe FX.  

 

Super flexible setup and I think the fact that it's cheaper than the Kemper remote, which is just a controller, is VERY appealing.  

 

And as you stated you have a back up rig right there ready to go :)

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I use my HD500X as an audio I/O and MIDI controller device into MainStage with S-Gear. It works very well and is quite reliable, wakes from sleep and reconnects correctly every time. Note you can use the Looper switch as a "shift" switch to get 7 more MIDI CC messages. The MIDI messages are fixed, but you can usually use other techniques to map them to whatever you need to control. The only odd switch is FS4 which is the same with Looper on or off. Probably a bug as FS4 does not work as described in the manual.

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The unit functions very well as a master midi controller,but you'll have to re-map the recieving unit if you want to get fancy,and add a midi interface/splitter/combiner to manage more than one control message for different targets.Program changes should be fairly easy with any unit.I use mine as a main controller for a BOSS GT PRO (the rack mount box),and do the vast majority of gigs only  with the 500X.When using multiple amplifiers for live use, the system allows options that would be impractical otherwise,but is still fairly portable. I mostly stick to 4 patches that contain more traditional options of amp/preamp/pedal configurations,but the HD500x could be used as a controller in a fancy "looper" set-up if you're willing to put in some work matching up CC messages . I understand that Kemper makes fairly user friendly gear that should not be hard to configure.

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I have a Kemper and use my HD500 as a controller. If works nicely although the only issue is using switches 1-4 to control the effects on the Kemper. It takes a little fiddling to ensure that the lights on the footswitches tally with the status of the effect it is set to control. Once done though, no problems at all.

 

You can also run a cable from the Kemper to the HD500 to allow the tuner to still work.

 

That said, I wouldn't buy an HD500 to use for this purpose, I'd buy a Behringer FCB1010 and fit the Uno4Kemper chip. Cheaper, more control and more straight forward.

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Midi is kicking my lollipop here. I am trying to assign A, B, C, D so that when I hit FS5 - FS8, the HD tells the M5 what patch to use. All I can get is when I hit FS5 - 01 calls up on the M5. FS6 - 02, FS7 - 03 and so on, bank up on the HD brings me to 05 - 08 on the M5. 

 

I set the Tap button to link to Tap on the M5 and that is working perfectly.

 

IN HD EDIT:

 

If I set MIDI ASSIGN to Footswitch: F5, Midi Channel 1 (or base), Message : Program Change, Program #: 11 

 

THEN SAVE SELECTED TO HD

 

does nothing to the M5 to hit FS5.

 

All I can get is this 1:1 relationship between the two units.

 

Any thoughts?

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The PC value should be set to (M5 preset-1). For example, if you want preset 1 on the M5, send PC000, 001 for preset 2, 002 for preset 3, and so on.

 

Exactly, totally got that. With those settings, any settings, when I hit FS5, I still only get patch 01 on the M% no matter what any of the midi assignments are set for.

 

Again, if I hit FS5 (regardless of midi settings for that switch) the result is 01 on the M5

 

If I change the M5 to 02, the HD changes to FS6

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Exactly, totally got that. With those settings, any settings, when I hit FS5, I still only get patch 01 on the M% no matter what any of the midi assignments are set for.

 

Again, if I hit FS5 (regardless of midi settings for that switch) the result is 01 on the M5

 

If I change the M5 to 02, the HD changes to FS6

Do you mean that you have the midi-in of the HD connected to the midi-out of the M5 and the other way around ? That might generate a midi-loop.

 

Sammy

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Do you mean that you have the midi-in of the HD connected to the midi-out of the M5 and the other way around ? That might generate a midi-loop.

 

Sammy

 

No, at this point I only have a midi cable out from HD and in to M5.

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OK, this is just stupid annoying at this point and I am giving up. With the HD set in ABCD mode, the HD will not allow me to assign any other MIDI command to FS5 - A, FS6 - B, FS7 - C or FS8 - D. All other buttons are programmable. So this still leaves me stuck in the same place I was in from the start. Without having my M5 in the fx loop, with a switch FS1-4 assigned to it, I can not instantly change to a patch A-D and have midi tell the M5 exactly what I want it to do. The M5 follows ABCD in order "one to one" as you bank up and down. Without being able to assign a specific Program Change to FS5-8, A B C or D, there is a limitation. If you switch to pedal board mode, FS5-8 are fair game. I don't know why someone couldn't have told me this a week ago to save me all these hours of fighting with this setup. L6 Support didn't even catch this.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi guys, I hope some can help me with this. 

 

 

I recently purchased an RJM Swith Gizmo so I could change my amp's channels using my POD HD500x. (My amp's a Laney LC30, 2 channels). I can't get the device to work properly, as I can only get it to switch from the dirty channel to the clean one, but not the other way around. (I'm using the POD with the 4CM. I read somewhere about FS mode?)
 
I followed the steps on your video, and the manufacturer's tutorials, without results. Then I tried MIDI assigning (I'm not tech savvy at all). On the POD, I assigned FS3 to the clean channel of my amp (midi ch: 02; message: program change; prog #: 001). If the dirty channel's on, I step on it and it goes to the clean channel, so far so good. But, then I assigned FS7 to the dirty channel, but it doesn't do anything (midi ch: 01; message: program change; prog #: 001) to turn on the dirty channel, and it doesn't work. 

I'd greatly appreciate any advice
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  • 7 months later...

Hey gang. I know this is an old post but it makes more sense to add to it rather than start a new thread about the exact same thing. So I have the HD500X and my band uses a Korg EMX-1 drum machine/synth/sequencer for the drums and other instruments and an Alesis SR18 drum kachine with a footswitch to remotely start and stop the songs on the EMX-1 because the EMX-1 cant be remotely started and stopped on its own. So what I want to do is either/both:

 

- Use midi from the EMX-1 to switch patch presets for me during a song so I dont have to use a footswitch because I have a prosthetic leg and its very hard for me to keep my balance and still play in time while accurately engaging the right footswitch. So during a song when the EMX changes to a certain pattern in the chain, I want the EMX-1 to automatically switch to the correct patch. For example clean guitar preset for the verse and distortion for the chorus.

 

-I also want to be able to use the HD500X as the footswitch to start and stop these songs in the EMX-1. Again, I have to use our Alesis SR18 to do this because the EMX-1 doesnt have a midi channel for start/stop. The Alesis SR18 uses a 1/4" mono input jack that a momentary footswitch plugs into. We are currently using a Boss FS-5U for this, but can I use the HD500X somehow? Like by using the auxillary footswitch jack on the HD500X or is that only an input and not the output I need it to be?

 

I hope this makes sense to yall I know theres a lot of moving pieces here. Thank you.

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  • 5 years later...

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