Two Amps setup question

[DBeaudreau84]

New to the Helix routing so figured I'd ask here. So I'm using my Helix in Snapshot mode now & I want to run 2 amps, 1 for a clean tone & 1 for high gain. Do I have it routed correctly for what I'm trying to do in this picture or do I need to put the other amp on path 1B & select the split point to an A/B switch assigned to a footswitch? If that's the case, I tried this and can't seem to get the A/B switch to assign to the footswitch I want & it just gives me a dual amp tone blended. How would you go setting this configuration up? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance.

[MayPRS]

Probably you already tried this but I should ask anyway: did you configured the bypass state of the amp block per shapshot? 

 

Meaning :

• enable clean amp on snap. 1 and disable the high gain amp-> save the snapshot;
• disable clean amp on snap. 2 and enable the high gain amp-> save the snapshot.

Have you done this? Oh and welcome to the family! :)

 

[rd2rk]

I have found that when using separate amps for clean/hi-gain, placing them both on the same path and bypassing one or the other sometimes causes a loud POP depending on the gain difference. I prefer to use the A/B split method. There's two ways to go about it depending on your needs.

 

Snapshot -

Assign the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to Snapshots.

In SS1 set the "Route To parameter" of the Split A/B Block to 100% A. Save the SS.

In SS2 set the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to 100% B. Save the SS.

 

Footswitch - 

Assign the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to the FS you want to use.

In the "Bypass/Controller Assign" screen select the FS you assigned.

"MIN Route To" should automatically be set to A and "MAX Route To" to B.

 

The amps always remain ON so there's no POP when you switch routes.

This method also makes it easier to add EQ or other FX to one amp and not the other.

 

EDIT: The third method is to assign the "Route To" parameter to an expression pedal. 

This allows you to blend/morph the two amps.

I prefer to use the expression pedals for other purposes, but if you have a third pedal this is a viable option.

[DBeaudreau84]

On 3/31/2023 at 12:58 PM, rd2rk said:

I have found that when using separate amps for clean/hi-gain, placing them both on the same path and bypassing one or the other sometimes causes a loud POP depending on the gain difference. I prefer to use the A/B split method. There's two ways to go about it depending on your needs.

 

Snapshot -

Assign the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to Snapshots.

In SS1 set the "Route To parameter" of the Split A/B Block to 100% A. Save the SS.

In SS2 set the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to 100% B. Save the SS.

 

Footswitch - 

Assign the "Route To" parameter of the Split A/B Block to the FS you want to use.

In the "Bypass/Controller Assign" screen select the FS you assigned.

"MIN Route To" should automatically be set to A and "MAX Route To" to B.

 

The amps always remain ON so there's no POP when you switch routes.

This method also makes it easier to add EQ or other FX to one amp and not the other.

 

EDIT: The third method is to assign the "Route To" parameter to an expression pedal. 

This allows you to blend/morph the two amps.

I prefer to use the expression pedals for other purposes, but if you have a third pedal this is a viable option.

 

I haven't tried this yet, will try when I get home.

[theElevators]

Yes, that popping sound if you have 2 amps one after another and one is turned on while another is turned off is obnoxious and you can only be fixed with some reverb spillover trickery...  To circumvent that, you should really use 2 paths with both amps on, and switch between 2 paths.  That way there won't be any pop. 

 

In my humble opinion it's not a good idea to use 2 amps (clean/dirty).  That's something that big shot guitarists do like Eric Johnson... In reality each amp/cab has its own unique frequency spectrum, etc... And live your balance will be all over the place if the sound guy tunes your sound with one amp/cab in mind... In other words you may have your cleans too loud, or the other way around.