HX in 4CM with external noise gate

[Kruszo]

I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out the cabling and signal path for setting up my MT15 amp with the HX in 4 cable mode with a Boss Ns2 or ISP G string pedal...

 

In my mind, the guitar would go direct into the analogue tuner pedal I have, out of that and into the ns2 so the signal would be affected by the noise gate before it hits the amp, then the ns2 would feed the hx fx and using the ns2 fx loop I would be able to have an fx loop block at the end of my signal chain after hx fx time based effects etc. To do some of the gating there

 

Would that work if I use the 2nd send and return inputs on the hx?

 

How would it need to be wired?

 

[rd2rk]

It looks to me like you're thinking of the NS2 as two separate noise gates.

What you're really doing is putting both the HXFX and the MT15 in the FX Loop of the NS2.

The only gating you'll get is at the end of the signal chain.

The net effect would be the same as just using the HXFX/MT15 in standard 4cm and putting the NS2 between the HXFX OUT and the MT15 RETURN.

I don't have the HXFX (HXS and FLOOR) but AFAICT, unlike the HXS/FLOOR, the HXFX does not have an input gate, so you'd have to use a block for a gate, either at the beginning or end of the chain depending upon where you decide to place the NS2. On the + side, you're getting back the FX Loop 2 block, so total blocks remain the same.

As far as placement, try it both ways. The NS2 might work better in one place or the other.

 

[Kruszo]

On 8/6/2025 at 9:36 PM, rd2rk said:

It looks to me like you're thinking of the NS2 as two separate noise gates.

What you're really doing is putting both the HXFX and the MT15 in the FX Loop of the NS2.

The only gating you'll get is at the end of the signal chain.

The net effect would be the same as just using the HXFX/MT15 in standard 4cm and putting the NS2 between the HXFX OUT and the MT15 RETURN.

I don't have the HXFX (HXS and FLOOR) but AFAICT, unlike the HXS/FLOOR, the HXFX does not have an input gate, so you'd have to use a block for a gate, either at the beginning or end of the chain depending upon where you decide to place the NS2. On the + side, you're getting back the FX Loop 2 block, so total blocks remain the same.

As far as placement, try it both ways. The NS2 might work better in one place or the other.

 

 

Thanks for the reply - so the NS2 having a loop doesn't allow you to separate the signal from the guitar and the amp/effects?

 

I was hoping to move away from using the hxfx gates - as I was previously using 2 x hx fx Horizon gates, one at the start just after the fx loop 1 block (amp) and one at the end of the signal after all effects. I had the horizon gate set to the lowest possible tolerance but was still experiencing loss in sustain hence wanting to try the ns2

 

In actual fact, I would probably opt for the ISP Decimator ii G-string which has some unique key thing which is supposedly superior to the NS2... the MT15 amp is known to have bad noise issues and I think I'm getting a consistent hum from it from using the fx loop, so it could be the case that I fix the cable shielding inside to sort or if I ran the horizon gate with the G-string maybe that would help

 

What Is the best way to preserve the dynamics and sustain? Would it be horizon gate up front and then ns2/G-string at at the end or vice versa?

[rd2rk]

On 8/6/2025 at 2:48 PM, Kruszo said:

Thanks for the reply - so the NS2 having a loop doesn't allow you to separate the signal from the guitar and the amp/effects?

 

I don't own one, so I can't say for sure, but that's not usually how FX Loops work. What does the manual say?

 

On 8/6/2025 at 2:48 PM, Kruszo said:

What Is the best way to preserve the dynamics and sustain?

 

That's why I don't use noise gates. The input gate on my HXS/FLOOR is pretty good IMO, but even so I rarely use it.

I'm not really a super high-gain guy, so I don't really need it.

 

On 8/6/2025 at 2:48 PM, Kruszo said:

Would it be horizon gate up front and then ns2/G-string at at the end or vice versa?

 

Try it both ways. If it SOUNDS good it IS good!

 

On 8/6/2025 at 2:48 PM, Kruszo said:

the MT15 amp is known to have bad noise issues and I think I'm getting a consistent hum from it from using the fx loop

 

Amp FX Loops are usually INSTRUMENT level, so make sure that the HXFX Loop is set properly.

The FX Loops on the Helix line are known to add a small amount of noise which, when used with high-gain amp settings can be annoying.

Be sure that the cables you're using in the FX Loop are high quality shielded cables no longer than absolutely necessary to minimize that.

[Schmalle]

The NS2 is nice as it offers an improvement over the HX's noise gate: you have a side chain input for an independent trigger signal.

 

To benefit from that use the 4CM (see manual) and inject the NS2 in two places:

• between the guitar and the HX input to get the trigger signal (pure guitar)
• between the amps Send and the HX Return to gate the signal coming from the amp's preamp

 

You end up in these cable connections:

guitar   ->  NS2 In
NS2 Send ->  HX In
HX Send  ->  amp In
amp Send ->  NS2 Return
NS2 Out  ->  HX Return
HX Out   ->  amp Return

 

Have fun!