Dt50 Head, 2.0 Firmware... No Pod. How To Match Volumes?

[ShavenYak]

Hey, I just got a DT50. So far I'm liking it pretty well, but I was hoping to use it in a cover band where I need to be able to switch voicings (between songs, not necessarily on the fly) and keep similar volume levels. Is there any way to do this without a POD? I've got the dtedit software and set up the basic sounds I'm after (BF Lux, A30, J-800, and Treadplate), but I'm having a heck of a time getting volumes balanced. For one thing, it seems that sometimes I'll make a tweak to the Volume knob on one of the voicings, and then go back to another voicing and find that its volume has changed as well.

 

Is what I'm trying to do even possible? Bear in mind that I will eventually need to be able to go to the gig and switch the amp from the front panel and have relatively similar volumes between the voicings.

 

Oh, and if it affects anyone's answers, I'm keeping the Master at around 1 o'clock and using an attenuator to control the overall volume.

[TheRealZap]

it's not really possible, other than have separate settings on channel A vs channel B because it will read the knob positions.

what I've done to use it this way... is to put my cleaner tones on A and my more gainy tones on B, that way the knob positions are more suited for each...

still not perfect... but keep in mind despite its capabilities... its a 2 channel amp.... not an 8 channel...

the real solution for me is using it with one of the pod HD's with L6LINK (all except the desktop version)

[theoptimizers]

Actually, you could use my app DTCustomizerToGo to do this.

 

http://www.cunningham-photo.com/DTCustomizer/

 

You could set up and save "balanced" voicings (using the channel volume) and send them to the DT50 whenever you want.

 

But, you would need an iPhone/iPad/iPod and a Midi interface for the iOS device.

[TheRealZap]

i'm guessing you mean to use the iOS device fulltime...

because i believe that it would still read the channel volume as shown if you manually use the amp and switch topo's on the front without the nice customizer app.

 

 

Actually, you could use my app DTCustomizerToGo to do this.

 

http://www.cunningham-photo.com/DTCustomizer/

 

You could set up and save "balanced" voicings (using the channel volume) and send them to the DT50 whenever you want.

 

But, you would need an iPhone/iPad/iPod and a Midi interface for the iOS device.

[theoptimizers]

You are basically correct.

 

As long as you don't touch the channel volume knobs, you would have the values you saved.

 

But, as long as the iOS device is attached and the app is running, whenever you switch channels (or voicings) the channel knob values would be set to the values you saved.

 

So, if you switched to a saved, "balanced" setting, and then you moved a knob, you'd get the value you moved it to. But, toggle channel back and forth, you get your saved knob values back.

 

If you are on stage, and you have your iPhone connected to your DT50, just don't move the channel knobs. Whenever you switch channels or voicings, you get your saved balanced volumes.

[ShavenYak]

I do have several iOS devices, and I think the USB MIDI interface I have will work with the USB camera connector dongle. Problem there is that with that plugged in, I'd have to rely on battery power to make it through the gig.

 

Would I have to switch the voicing with the app, or can it detect the voicing change from the panel switch and then send the saved knob values it remembers for that voicing?

 

It's a bit annoying that Line6 didn't come up with a better solution for using all the amp's capabilities live, although I guess they would rather sell more PODs. Of course, this is a pretty common conundrum even with traditional amps too - my Mesa Tremoverb had two channels with two modes each, but you basically had to pick two for live use because the other mode on each channel would be tremendously different in volume.

[theoptimizers]

You would be able use the channel and voicing (topology) controls on the DT50. As long as the iOS device is attached and the app is running, the saved channel knob values will be sent to the amp when the channel/voicing changes.

 

If your gig is 10 hours or more, you might have battery problems, otherwise you should be OK.

 

But, I haven't tested a Midi controller through a USB connector. I've only tested with the Line 6 Midi Mobilizer II, and the iRig Midi Controller.

[ShavenYak]

Ok, well I'll be the guinea pig for that scenario. I'll let you know how it goes.

[theoptimizers]

Thanks!

[ShavenYak]

Hey, I'm hoping to get around to fooling with it tonight. Something just came to my mind that would be really cool as an optional feature. If I'm understanding the MIDI implementation docs on the website, this should be possible. Could you make it an option to keep the voicings synchronized between channel A & B? So, for example, I'm on channel A, and I switch to voicing 1. The app sees the change and then also sends the midi command to switch channel B to voicing 1. I can use the footswitch to go from a clean Twin rhythm sound to, say, a Deluxe sound with a bit of breakup and a little louder. Later, I flip the switch to voicing 2. The app switches the channel I'm not on, and now I can footswitch between a crunchy Plexi and a JCM800.

 

I realize I could do this on the app with two touches, or from the amp panel by flipping the voicing switch, changing channels, and flipping the voicing switch again, but this feature would simplify it somewhat, and simple is always good on stage.