Voodoo lab control switcher help

Richy4Fingerz

Richy4Fingerz

Member
an old issue but tough to get the right info or at least info I can understand....I’m using my old yama TC100 tube amp and am doing the 4 cable method...all works well there...have a voodoo lab control switcher which works well just plugged into the amp and switches fine manually....have correct patches built and running fine and sounds good....

Have an axe fx xl+ with an mfc101

My problem.....getting the voodoo lab to communicate with axe fx

Connection:
5 pin midi cable from axe fx midi thru to the in of the voodoo lab...
1/4” cable from voodoo lab to amp channel input

I understand that I can’t do any changes to my amp with the Mfc using scenes but only with midi program change command with a patch change....I’m cool with that but I can’t get that change to even happen....

Need somebody to explain how to set up the signal in the axe fx to change the amp....
 
If you plug your MFC directly in to the control switcher does it change presets?

The only role the Axe Fx plays here is passing Midi data from the MFC.
 
unix-guy said:
If you plug your MFC directly in to the control switcher does it change presets?

The only role the Axe Fx plays here is passing Midi data from the MFC.
Click to expand...

I’m using the expansion port which I can’t use midi at the same time I’ve read....that is how I power my mfc....I can’t seem to get a signal to the control switcher it seems...I can trip the amp channel manually with the switcher but not thru the midi port on axe fx...also the controller won’t take a program meaning when I push the 1st and 4th buttons simultaneously it’s suppose to blink to tell me it took the program, assuming it’s because there’s no midi signal sent to alert the controller it has a signal....

I made sure the axe fx midi page has the echo midi turned on...I also made sure the controller is set to recognize both pc and cc signals so that’s why I’m struggling, I’ve done all that I know to do at this point unless I’m really missing something obvious....
 
Richy4Fingerz said:
I’m using the expansion port which I can’t use midi at the same time I’ve read....that is how I power my mfc....I can’t seem to get a signal to the control switcher it seems...I can trip the amp channel manually with the switcher but not thru the midi port on axe fx...also the controller won’t take a program meaning when I push the 1st and 4th buttons simultaneously it’s suppose to blink to tell me it took the program, assuming it’s because there’s no midi signal sent to alert the controller it has a signal....

I made sure the axe fx midi page has the echo midi turned on...I also made sure the controller is set to recognize both pc and cc signals so that’s why I’m struggling, I’ve done all that I know to do at this point unless I’m really missing something obvious....
Click to expand...
I think you should try going directly from the MFC to the switcher to make sure that works. You'll need to power it with an adapter and change the MFC setting, but this will confirm whether the Axe Fx is part of the problem.

Also, are you expecting to use both Axe Fx and switcher on the same Midi channel? If so, do you have them on the same channel? If not, have you programmed the MFC to send the switcher specific midi on the correct channel?
 
unix-guy said:
I think you should try going directly from the MFC to the switcher to make sure that works. You'll need to power it with an adapter and change the MFC setting, but this will confirm whether the Axe Fx is part of the problem.

Also, are you expecting to use both Axe Fx and switcher on the same Midi channel? If so, do you have them on the same channel? If not, have you programmed the MFC to send the switcher specific midi on the correct channel?
Click to expand...
Both channel 1.......will try the test...thanks
 
unix-guy said:
I think you should try going directly from the MFC to the switcher to make sure that works. You'll need to power it with an adapter and change the MFC setting, but this will confirm whether the Axe Fx is part of the problem.

Also, are you expecting to use both Axe Fx and switcher on the same Midi channel? If so, do you have them on the same channel? If not, have you programmed the MFC to send the switcher specific midi on the correct channel?
Click to expand...
Have no power source for the mfc to do the test....am I correct though that the midi thru on the back of the axe fx should send a midi signal to the switcher as long as the echo midi is selected in the I/o page...is there a setting in the mfc I should turn on or off.......I did confirm that the controller will not take a program if there was no midi signal sent to it ....

Just to review I have the midi echo turned on in the i/o page...I have the midi cable coming from the thru on back of axe fx into midi in on the controller.....both the axe fx and switcher are set to channel 1.......I set the controller to accept both pc and cc signals....I tested 2 different midi cables to be sure it’s not a bad cable...I am using the cat5 cable for mfc....I did a patch change which should have sent a program change to activate the controller but it doesn’t seem to be getting a signal....

Am I missing something in my connections and and/or in the settings? Before I spend money on a power source just for the test I’d like to be sure it isn’t something in the connections or settings I’m missing......desperate for help as we have a gig on December 8th and another on New Years and I’d like this rig to work before then.....thanks for any help at all you can give me.....
 
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Sounds like everything is correctly connected.

Is the MFC also on midi channel 1? Oddly, the Axe Fx will change programs even if not on the same midi channel...
 
unix-guy said:
Hmmm... I'm out of ideas. Sorry...
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Thanks for your help but yes so am I...I just came across a video on YouTube where a guy said that external midi units has to be on a different midi channel....I just tried turning program change on for patch 3 and set to midi channel 2 and set controller to midi channel 2....still no luck.... just wanna tie it all to my car and drag it down main street at this point..... I mean the midi has to bebsending a signal because all of my expression pedals work and the mfc is basically a glorified midi controller so I am stumped completely......
 
Didn't have time to watch the video, but you can use the same midi channel or different midi channels depending on what you are trying to achieve. Using different channels involves more MFC programming...
 
And I think I just found the answer in the manual:

The Axe-Fx II XL/XL+ has separate dedicated MIDI IN, MIDI OUT and MIDI THRU jacks.
Unlike a shared/soft MIDI THRU, the XL’s dedicated MIDI THRU jack adds no latency, but it is "hard-wired" to the MIDI IN PORT, and therefore does not pass signals from other MIDI inputs. For THRU functionality when using an MFC-101 at the FASLINKTM or MFC port of an Axe-Fx II XL/XL+, MIDI OUT can be made to work as a soft THRU by setting MFC ECHO TO MIDI OUT to "ON" (on the MIDI page of the I/O menu).
The Axe-Fx II Mark II has a MIDI Out/Thru combo jack that transmits or forwards MIDI signals to another device. MIDI THRU is disabled by default but can be enabled on the MIDI page of the I/O menu).
Click to expand...
The Thru jack only works with a midi cable because it is hardwired to the midi in jack.

Use the Out jack instead with the MFC ECHO set to ON.
 
unix-guy said:
Did you see my previous post?
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I did, I seen that in the manual as well and had tried both the out and the thru.....I finally resolved it by talking to Ben at voodoo lab.....it was the switcher that had a problem, he walked me thru a factory reset as well as a hard reboot on the unit and it worked right away...

Have everything working as it should now just dealing with why when I use any effect after the loop block in the axe it degrades my overdrive...thinking now it’s a level setting somewhere and hoping it’s no issue with my effects loop in the amp.....

Thank you so much for your patients and help....it was much appreciated......happy thanksgiving !,!!!
 
unix-guy said:
Voodoo Lab has great support.

Glad it's working.

I assume you're using the midi out?
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Yes but I don’t think it matters too much, midi thru still sends a signal but my issue was the control switcher...apparently when they are tested at the factory prior to shipping they need a hard reboot and Ben thinks it it didnt get that before they shipped it....as soon as I did that then a factory reset then changed the settings to what I needed it worked right away....again thanks for your help....I’m not midi savvy but I’m not a midi idiot either so that threw me for a loop because there is soooooo much in the axe fx that it could have been.....at least I feel vindicated that it wasn’t my intelligence level that was the issue lol...cheers....
 
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