Using a reverb pedal to save CPU?

20West Studio

20West Studio

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I'm considering running a Strymon Blue Sky through the effects loop to save CPU and easy on-stage tweaking. Is anyone else doing this? How's it working out?
 
I'm using a Strymon BigSky and a Strymon Dig in an FX Loop and it's working great. I save tons of CPU and can easily achieve some settings that are easily tweakable on the fly and of course sound amazing.
 
This kinda concerns me. My AX8 unit is due arrive Monday the 8th. Users are buying or using external pedals due to saving CPU power with a state of the art multi effects amp sim unit ???? Thats an Oxymoron isn't it ????
 
Tman said:
This kinda concerns me. My AX8 unit is due arrive Monday the 8th. Users are buying or using external pedals due to saving CPU power with a state of the art multi effects amp sim unit ???? Thats an Oxymoron isn't it ????
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I'm a little concerned as well. Although I don't usually run complicated setups, I don't want to run out of juice either. hmmmm
With everything the unit has to offer I really don't want anything on the floor other than the Ax8
 
Tman said:
This kinda concerns me. My AX8 unit is due arrive Monday the 8th. Users are buying or using external pedals due to saving CPU power with a state of the art multi effects amp sim unit ???? Thats an Oxymoron isn't it ????
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be concerned. The unit is quite capable to be an all-in-one unit and I could use it that way. The thing is I owned my Strymon pedals before I had the AX8 and used them with my tube amp rig. I just decided to use them with the AX8 to give me some extra horsepower and to use some of the presets. If I wouldn't have already had them I wouldn't have bought them. The AX8 is plenty capable on its own.
 
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No worries. I've been running my AX8 for a year without any external pedals. I just want the flexibility of being able to turn a knob on stage to adjust my reverb.
 
When I bought my AX8 I thought I'd have to use an additional H9 to save CPU.. but after playing a bit with it, there are some tricks that can easily avoid that. Of course if you want to run everything in Ultra-res, keep the Echo Density on 8 all the time, and constantly have two delays on you'll end up running out of CPU.
IMHO when you're playing live nobody's gonna care if the echo density is maxed or if the cabs are running ultra-res, so don't worry about CPU :wink:
 
I've been using a H9 in the loop last couple weekends. Not necessarily to save reverb, but to provide easy access to other options that can easily be accessed (blackhole, shimmer, etc..) without having to resort to more complicated presets.
 
MysticTR1 said:
I'm a little concerned as well. Although I don't usually run complicated setups, I don't want to run out of juice either. hmmmm
With everything the unit has to offer I really don't want anything on the floor other than the Ax8
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Don't be concerned. Reading the posts here before buying the unit, scared me somewhat. Afterwards, I realized that was not the case for me. Only very, very complicated setups would cause that. It is fully capable!
 
MysticTR1 said:
I'm a little concerned as well. Although I don't usually run complicated setups, I don't want to run out of juice either. hmmmm
With everything the unit has to offer I really don't want anything on the floor other than the Ax8
Click to expand...
On Point ! I made this purchase in hopes it does all i need with no external stuff needed other than maybe a few expression pedals.
 
I only have CPU issues when I try to create large, general purpose, one-size-fits-all presets. That means the preset has wah, compressor, both drive blocks, amp, cab, delay (maybe 2x delay blocks), reverb, looper, some sort of modulation effect (e.g. rotary). Only then do I hit the CPU limit. Seems reasonable.

Of course, if you are creating sound-specific or song-specific presets, you won't ever hit the CPU limit because you'll be using fewer blocks.
 
I use the AX8 with only 1 external expression pedal (a Fractal EV). As was noted by JRFarmer, unless you are trying to build a MOAP (mother of all presets) you will not likely have any CPU issues. Using AX8 Edit, you can easily see where you are with regard to CPU when building a preset. A few times I did max out the CPU when building a preset. Dialing back the reverb to normal quality eased off on the CPU. I seriously doubt that in a live setting, anyone could hear the difference between a "normal" reverb and a high quality reverb. I use my AX8 in a variety of venues and almost always get comments from other guitar players on how good my guitar sounds. Live long and prosper. V.
 
Also, this why, i will like having 2 amp blocks for people like me who use Reverb with an external pedal.
I had an Axe FX2, but i prefer AX8 for playability in my recording home.
 
Geezerjohn said:
I use the AX8 with only 1 external expression pedal (a Fractal EV). As was noted by JRFarmer, unless you are trying to build a MOAP (mother of all presets) you will not likely have any CPU issues. Using AX8 Edit, you can easily see where you are with regard to CPU when building a preset. A few times I did max out the CPU when building a preset. Dialing back the reverb to normal quality eased off on the CPU. I seriously doubt that in a live setting, anyone could hear the difference between a "normal" reverb and a high quality reverb. I use my AX8 in a variety of venues and almost always get comments from other guitar players on how good my guitar sounds. Live long and prosper. V.
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I did a blind test on this forum (I think Dropbox killed the audio links, so I won't include the link). Even in an isolated situation, most of us were unable to discern which sample was the highest quality reverb. They all sound good.
 
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