Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Jump to content

HX Stomp: Snapshots vs presets


bossen83
 Share

Recommended Posts

New Line6 user here - got a Stomp last week and loving it so far (switched from using an ElevenRack for many years).

 

I'm wondering - is there any advantage to using Snapshots instead of Presets, apart from the trailing feature on reverbs and delays? I haven't dived too far into the features, but from what I gathered, I cant switch amp models between Snapshots, only when changing presets?

 

I'd love to hear wether people primarily uses Snapshots or Presets to switch between stuff like verse-chorus-solo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The advantage to using Snapshots instead of Presets is, that you have no breaks. If you load a preset, it takes about a second to load and it is muted at this moment.

...So not suitable to quickly switch between solo and rhythm parts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, bossen83 said:

New Line6 user here - got a Stomp last week and loving it so far (switched from using an ElevenRack for many years).

 

I'm wondering - is there any advantage to using Snapshots instead of Presets, apart from the trailing feature on reverbs and delays? I haven't dived too far into the features, but from what I gathered, I cant switch amp models between Snapshots, only when changing presets?

 

I'd love to hear wether people primarily uses Snapshots or Presets to switch between stuff like verse-chorus-solo.


You can  put more than one amp in a preset, and switch them using snapshots, but each amp will take up a block in the preset, and will consume a certain amount of DSP even when not active.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imagine the unimaginable - you have an amp and a pedalboard that you are TOTALLY happy with. You just wish that, in the middle of a song, maybe for a chorus, the amp gain could be up a little, a bit more middle, the reverb could be a little smaller, but slightly deeper, a bit more delay and more repeats, the tremolo ON, phaser OFF.....but there's no way you can make all those changes in the heartbeat between the verse and chorus.....YES THERE IS! It's called SNAPSHOTS!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think of it as three levels of control: presets for individual songs, snapshots for specific sections within a song and stomp footswitches for controlling effects in a song section. 

 

Presets have the advantage that they can have completely different signal paths, blocks and parameters, as well as a set of snapshots. They have the disadvantage of having to maintain a lot of them, a brief pause in sound while the preset loads (so switch them between songs) and no ability to have reverb or delay tails across presets.

 

Snapshots have the advantage of being able to instantly change up to 64 parameters in a patch with a single footswitch, no pause in sound and reverb and delay tails are preserved. Snapshots have the disadvantage of not being able to combine things from two different snapshots live (you can't have two snapshots on at the same time), and you can't change the signal path or blocks.

 

Stomp footswitches have the advantage that you can as many as 8 things (bypass, parameter min/max values) on a single footswitch and any combination of up to 10 switches - controlling the stacking of effects - within a single patch or snapshot. This gives a tremendous amount of flexibility and combinations of tones on 10 switches, just like a traditional pedalboard.

 

Use presets if you like to create a different sound for each song. Use snapshots if you like to control your tones in different sections of a song. 

 

Use stomp footswitches if you have your own sound, and want complete control of the combination of effects you want on at any time, for any song, or any section of a song.

 

I pretty much use one preset for a whole gig. I have a few presets that are song specific because they require something odd that wouldn't be in by typical setup.

 

I use snapshots in my goto preset for changing variax open tunings.

 

And I use a combination of Helix and HX Effects together to give me the footswitches I need to control the effects I use most of the time.

 

The beauty of Helix is that all these different operational setups are easily supported, allowing each of us to optimize our setup for our individual needs.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Being an HX Stomp user, another issue you may run into is that changing Presets can cause the audio to drop out completely in the middle of your performance. The only way to get sound back is to turn the Stomp on and then off again. It is a known issue on these forums, although I have yet to see a fix. Most Stomp users, including myself, that have had the problem seem to report it happens while changing Presets. So using Snapshots might be the more reliable approach at the moment. (and, make sure you still have sound after switching Presets in between songs)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll try going the snapshot route. I had my first band rehearsal with the stomp yesterday, and while the sound was amazing (though some tweaking is still needed), I did notice the pause when switching presets between stuff like verse and chorus patches. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another tip: If you are going to need an expression pedal, consider the Mission SP1-L6 designed for Helix. It has a toe switch that can be assigned like the other 3 stomp switches on the Stomp, so basically giving you an extra switch. The obvious use it to switch on the wah or other expression effect, but it can also be used just like the other switches to bypass multiple effects simultaneously, cycle through operating modes, etc. Although it can't be used for the Tuner/Tap-tempo function, I don't think. I often use it as a bypass stomp switch (i.e. with multiple effects assigned to the toe switch) when playing in snapshot mode, as the 3 switches on the HX are already assigned to the snapshots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
18 minutes ago, patriot2006 said:

Interesting, I only use presets and never have an issue with sound dropping out or a delay between presets.

I do have a question however. if you use snapschot is there a way to switch to another preset without having to manually turn the knob on top?

Yes you can use snapshots and switch presets using your feet for both actions. In Global Settings -> Footswitches there's a parameter called Preset Mode Switches. I typically select the “Preset/Snap” option which causes the scribble strips to show one bank of presets on the top row,  and Snapshots 1-4 on the bottom row. with a simple press of a switch you can select from among 1 of 4 snapshots and 1 of 4 presets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, patriot2006 said:

Interesting, I only use presets and never have an issue with sound dropping out or a delay between presets.

I do have a question however. if you use snapschot is there a way to switch to another preset without having to manually turn the knob on top?

 

Three ways.

In Snapshot Mode, press the two left FS buttons to go UP Banks, the two right buttons to go DOWN Banks. Then press the corresponding button for the preset you want.

I can never hit them both at the same time, very annoying.

 

Get a two button switch (Moskey Dual Switch is cheap and works great) and set it to switch between modes. Preset Mode is one down (LEFT) of Snapshot Mode.

 

Get a MIDI switcher. You can use it for all sorts of things, depending how much you want to spend and how much floor space you can afford it.

I have an FCB1010/UNO pedalboard. Works great, infinitely flexible (even more so with UNO2), big, ugly, cheap and virtually indestructible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...