Hi everyone!
I was digging in the forum for a solution and encountered this thread. I have recently posted sth about this external MIDI controller issue. However, people in this thread seem to be much more involved about the communication issues between Ax8 and a MIDI controller.
I have recently bought Blackstar Live Logic MIDI controller
Here is my scenario:
If I assign a switch on Blackstar to a specific CC# in toggle mode with on value 127 and off value 0 for ex. CC47 for Delay Bypass, when I press the button led flashes, Delay block engages in Ax8. That part is good. However, if I change a scene where Delay Block is saved in bypass state, Blackstar does not recognize that change. I also tried a second MIDI cable from OUT of Ax8 to IN of Blackstar. No change. LED shines on me crazy diamonds.... Blackstar Controller does not collect any information from Ax8 to change its switch status in order to follow the changes in Ax8. And when I press the button again in order to toggle to off value, LED turns off, but this time no change in Ax8 as expected. Now they are in the same state
If I try to program the switch of Blackstar in MOMENTARY mode, then LED flashes just as long as I press the button, and Delay is also engaged just as long as I press the button. So in order to engage/bypass blocks Momentary option does not work.
The only advantage of this pedal is that it serves well in toggle mode by letting me know with its shiny leds that the switch is in the ON mode. At least if I make any change on Ax8, I might equalize the setting knowing the last state of the Blackstar switch. I tried the same issue with amp/cab x/y state change with one assigned button. The same failure holds.
To cut it short, the problem - that I first described on my other posts - with EXTERNAL foot switch persists. Ax8 does not have a communication even with a MIDI footswitch. If the states of any parameter are different on both pedals, one should press the switch of Blackstar once in order to equalize the states and then a second time in order to change any parameter in Ax8.
But there is also good news:
If any of the switches is assigned to a scene switch with MOMENTARY, using on and off values the same needed for that scene, it works like a charm, just flashing the led on pressing and fading away immediately but at least having done its job by changing the scene. The good thing is that red scene lights on Ax8 switches indicate anyway on which scene we have landed
))
So conclusion:
I dreamed about having extra bypass buttons (for Flanger, Chorus, Pitch etc...) under my foot via this MIDI pedal. However using effect blocks with this twice stepping routine wouldn't be lovely. So I decided to use this setup...
I will assign 5 Scenes I mostly use to 5 Blackstar Switches (Momentary) and check my position from red lights of Ax8 if needed. The 6th and the last switch (Toggle) will serve to change amp and cab x/y state together. As I tested and also presented here, using such an assigned switch to change both amp and cab from x to y is the fastest way compared to scene or preset change. I made recordings with same input and measured the silence gap while switching. Comparison tells the truth. This last toggle switch will help if I will need a more seamless change of amps and if I just wanna change amp while leaving every other block as they are. Since I will be freeing many switches on Ax8, there I will assign them to blocks I need under my foot.
If you have any suggestion to solve the unsolved part (that damned twice tapping), I appreciate them. I would be very happy to hear that the total communication between Ax8 and a MIDI controller would be possible. I just imagine that if switches' on/off states on Blackstar should follow the Ax8 states (scene/preset or manually block engagement), for that Blackstar should be able to RECEIVE any data. And that is only possible with another MIDI cable from OUT of Ax8 to IN of Blackstar. As I told, I couldn't get any solution from this experiment.
I am open to any ideas
Best regards
Stay in peace
