5150III Midi Channel Switching

PurpleLP

PurpleLP

Member
I am almost at the point of purchasing the FX8 and wanted to know if anyone had anyone has any experience using the using the unit with Midi for amp channel switching and how difficult that is to set up.

EVH tech support have confirmed that the 5150III Head uses digital channel switching which would not be compatible with Short-to-Sleeve style switching.

Thanks,

Jeff
 
I'm guessing you mean the 100w version, if it's the 50 then just connect a midi cable and set up the program changes and it should be simple. If it's the 100w then you'll need a box to convert the midi signal to the evh, but once that's done it should work fine. I've control my 50w head from a few different controllers and it works great.
 
Bestronics made me a custom relay cable that plugs into the EVH 100 watt head 7 pin DIN. Cable arrived today. This alleviates the need for a mini amp gizmo.
 
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

It is the 50 watt version and it looks like this will work. I've never used the Midi for changing the channels. The reason I am thinking this would be good as I could solve the volume change issue between channel 1 and 2 if I could incorporate the channel switching with presets and have a volume boost in the clean channel presets. Currently I have clean boost in the effects loop which works but requires a little more foot pedal tap dancing then I would like.And of course the Fractal FX8 from what I have seen sounds incredible and has high quality effects.
 
PurpleLP said:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

It is the 50 watt version and it looks like this will work. I've never used the Midi for changing the channels. The reason I am thinking this would be good as I could solve the volume change issue between channel 1 and 2 if I could incorporate the channel switching with presets and have a volume boost in the clean channel presets. Currently I have clean boost in the effects loop which works but requires a little more foot pedal tap dancing then I would like.And of course the Fractal FX8 from what I have seen sounds incredible and has high quality effects.
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Double win then - the midi switching is great on the 50 and using a multi like the fx8 really helps sort the levels - when mine arrives I'll be doing exactly the same.
 
Got my fx8 today and the scene selection and bank selection is unworkable live for what I need it for. I'll wait for the next update and if it isn't sorted ill stick some Strymon gear on the back end of my g system and put the fx8 on ebay.
 
bread said:
Got my fx8 today and the scene selection and bank selection is unworkable live for what I need it for. I'll wait for the next update and if it isn't sorted ill stick some Strymon gear on the back end of my g system and put the fx8 on ebay.
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May I ask what isn't working for you? Examples ect...... thanks
 
I've only spent about 30 minutes with my 5150 today, but found it pretty easy to set up the MIDI switching within scenes and seemed to work very well. The amp is killer and seems to work well for my needs. I'm about to go in and spend the evening playing and avoiding responsibilities. :)
 
john_p said:
Double win then - the midi switching is great on the 50 and using a multi like the fx8 really helps sort the levels - when mine arrives I'll be doing exactly the same.
Click to expand...

Guys, be aware that 5150 III 50W does nasty things like pops / clicks when switching channels via midi with anything in the effects loop engaged. This happened to me, and was not the issue with 2 of my units, but was pointed out between the lines even by Fenders's Howard Kaplan on thegearpage.net. What solves the problem is the switching unit that can put a little silence between two states. POD HD500X does it perfectly; the other unit I know which can do silent switching is G-Lab GSC3. But I'm sure there are many other MIDI switchers operating like this. Lag is almost unnoticeable, but of course occurs, when compared to regular FS. Please confirm, once you test it, that FX8 does all this flawlessly.
 
Ghost_of_Cain said:
Guys, be aware that 5150 III 50W does nasty things like pops / clicks when switching channels via midi with anything in the effects loop engaged. This happened to me, and was not the issue with 2 of my units, but was pointed out between the lines even by Fenders's Howard Kaplan on thegearpage.net. What solves the problem is the switching unit that can put a little silence between two states. POD HD500X does it perfectly; the other unit I know which can do silent switching is G-Lab GSC3. But I'm sure there are many other MIDI switchers operating like this. Lag is almost unnoticeable, but of course occurs, when compared to regular FS. Please confirm, once you test it, that FX8 does all this flawlessly.
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I have the 50 watt and the FX-8. I have never heard pops/clicks when it comes to switching channels. The only thing I have noticed was going from a dirty to clean tone was a little volume issue, but that has to do with the way I set it up. Meaning I really haven't spent too much time tweaking levels like I should have. It was super easy programming the channel changes though. Love it.
 
Received my FX8 yesterday. It is an amazing unit that sounds incredible. And the good news for 5150 III 50 watt users is that the Midi works flawlessly for channel switching. By utilizing scenes I can change effects, amp channels and match channel 1 and channel 2 volumes using a post volume boost. The scenes themselves have a config tab for setting up the Midi switching and volume boost up which saves having to use any of the effect blocks for this purpose. That alone is worth the price of admission but the rest of the unit is incredible and the quality and sound of the effects, design and build are all top notch.
 
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PurpleLP said:
Received my AX8 yesterday. It is an amazing unit that sounds incredible. And the good news for 5150 III 50 watt users is that the Midi works flawlessly for channel switching. By utilizing scenes I can change effects, amp channels and match channel 1 and channel 2 volumes using a post volume boost. The scenes themselves have a config tab for setting up the Midi switching and volume boost up which saves having to use any of the effect blocks for this purpose. That alone is worth the price of admission but the rest of the unit is incredible and the quality and sound of the effects, design and build are all top notch.
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I think you probably received your FX8, not your AX8 :)
 
bread said:
Got my fx8 today and the scene selection and bank selection is unworkable live for what I need it for. I'll wait for the next update and if it isn't sorted ill stick some Strymon gear on the back end of my g system and put the fx8 on ebay.
Click to expand...
I'm a G-System user as well and not happy with the FX8 layout myself. Still prefer the G's design and layout.
 
Tremonti said:
Bestronics made me a custom relay cable that plugs into the EVH 100 watt head 7 pin DIN. Cable arrived today. This alleviates the need for a mini amp gizmo.
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could you elaborate on this a little more please?
I'm in similar situation, 5150III 100w and trying to switch channels with my fx8
 
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