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Using A/B split to extend pedal chain is sucking my tone.


cfarris87
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So I'm basically fitting more pedals onto the Path 1 chip, but when I'm sending the split to B 100%, I'm getting a pretty noticeably darker tone and a bit of a drop in volume. Am I doing this wrong? I definitely shouldn't be hearing a loss of volume. We're still using 100% of the signal. Any ideas?

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I do this all the time and haven't noticed that.

A screenshot is not nearly as helpful as a copy of the actual preset.

Attach a copy of the preset.

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On 5/30/2024 at 5:39 AM, cfarris87 said:

I definitely shouldn't be hearing a loss of volume. We're still using 100% of the signal. Any ideas?


Hi,

 

Erm… well, yes you will hear a change in volume - it’s known as “Pan Law” and  here’s the explanation from way back in 2019.

 


Hope this helps/makes sense.

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@datacommando- very interesting.

I know I saw that post long ago, but I guess I just deal with the tone of my presets as I go, without worrying those sorts of details.

If it sounds good, it is good, if it doesn't sound good, I tweak it till it does!

Works for me, but I can see how it might not work for others.

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On 5/30/2024 at 3:55 PM, rd2rk said:

@datacommando- very interesting.

I know I saw that post long ago, but I guess I just deal with the tone of my presets as I go, without worrying those sorts of details.

If it sounds good, it is good, if it doesn't sound good, I tweak it till it does!

Works for me, but I can see how it might not work for others.


Yeah, I guess we just know what to expect with it after all this time.
 

It also occurs sometimes within DAWs - in Logic Pro for example what most folks regard as the stereo pan knob, is by default an balance knob that only controls the left/right relative levels. You need to control/right click on it to access the stereo field pan facility. 
 

Technology, eh?

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Thanks for the responses! Here's the preset in question. Great info on the link. I assumed there was some magic I'm not privy to going on with the volume. I've also noticing something else going on, so it may not be related to the A/B. I've attached two presets. The second one (Betts) I just dl'd from Sadites but for this purpose, I've copied the amp and cab from my preset so there's no differences. But on my preset my guitar volume is reacting very differently. It's as if it's much more logarithmic and Sadites reacts more linear. Similar to a Fuzz Face, where it cleans up drastically once you drop past 9. So, if I turn my guitar down to let's say 7, and swap between the two presets, my preset is much cleaner than the Sadites preset. Can't for the life of me figure out why. Input settings are the same. I have the 'guitar in-z' set to auto on both. I do have the setting to choose the 'guitar in-z' to first block in my settings as I do have a Fuzz Face on my board so it reacts correctly. But this should only adapt to whichever pedal is activated first in the chain. Getting a bit long winded, but trying to be clear. Thanks for weeding through all this!

ABB.hlx Dickey Betts'ish.hlx

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On 5/30/2024 at 6:26 PM, cfarris87 said:

[...] Can't for the life of me figure out why [the cleanup is differently...]

The ABB patch has a parallel Minotaur (mid boost) before the amp.

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On 5/30/2024 at 11:59 AM, Schmalle said:

The ABB patch has a parallel Minotaur (mid boost) before the amp.

Perhaps I'm confusing series/parallel but my split is set to 100% B. This is being ran as series. And for this purpose, no effects are enabled. Just a dry signal to the amp. The minotuar or any other pedals in this extended chain will have no effect on the tone or reaction of the amp. I have disabled all effects before the amp when testing.

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On 5/30/2024 at 7:14 PM, cfarris87 said:

Perhaps I'm confusing series/parallel but my split is set to 100% B. This is being ran as series. And for this purpose, no effects are enabled. Just a dry signal to the amp. The minotuar or any other pedals in this extended chain will have no effect on the tone or reaction of the amp. I have disabled all effects before the amp when testing.

Why are you posting a preset where I have to figure out what I have to switch on / off to get what you are doing? -Waste of time. I'm out.

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On 5/30/2024 at 12:21 PM, Schmalle said:

Why are you posting a preset where I have to figure out what I have to switch on / off to get what you are doing? -Waste of time. I'm out.

Turn the minotaur off. Sorry that was difficult. Take your toxic attitude elsewhere then. I've played professionally for 20+ years, I'm not a moron. I've had Helix for about 2 years now, so I'm understand how it functions. I'm not fully steeped in all the intricacies as some people here are. I'm just here looking for some outside advice on something I'm perhaps overlooking. I'm sorry I accidentally exported with it on, but It would have taken 10 seconds to click the minotaur off and see that it's behaving exactly as I described with a clean channel. Perhaps we can both do better in the future :)

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On 5/30/2024 at 11:26 AM, cfarris87 said:

Thanks for the responses! Here's the preset in question. Great info on the link. I assumed there was some magic I'm not privy to going on with the volume. I've also noticing something else going on, so it may not be related to the A/B. I've attached two presets. The second one (Betts) I just dl'd from Sadites but for this purpose, I've copied the amp and cab from my preset so there's no differences. But on my preset my guitar volume is reacting very differently. It's as if it's much more logarithmic and Sadites reacts more linear. Similar to a Fuzz Face, where it cleans up drastically once you drop past 9. So, if I turn my guitar down to let's say 7, and swap between the two presets, my preset is much cleaner than the Sadites preset. Can't for the life of me figure out why. Input settings are the same. I have the 'guitar in-z' set to auto on both. I do have the setting to choose the 'guitar in-z' to first block in my settings as I do have a Fuzz Face on my board so it reacts correctly. But this should only adapt to whichever pedal is activated first in the chain. Getting a bit long winded, but trying to be clear. Thanks for weeding through all this!

ABB.hlx 21.93 kB · 3 downloads Dickey Betts'ish.hlx 11.62 kB · 3 downloads

Perhaps through some dumb luck, I have figured this out. Checked my settings and impedance was set to first block instead of first enabled. Who knows how that happened. But it appears as if that was causing the tone difference. Thanks for helping me work though it, cheers!

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