Is it possible to....

[Davus PG]

i don't understand this.

Sorry, so what I mean is preset 1 is on footswitch 1 and may have clean amp channel with compressor, chorus and reverb.

Then preset 2 is on footswitch 2 and that has say lead amp channel, phaser, delay and a different reverb

Preset 3 is on footswitch 3 and has crunch amp channel, compressor, flarge and different delay and reverb settings etc etc

And can these presets be loaded in banks, so say for a song I use 4 presets, they are all right in front of me at the press of a footswitch?

 

[chris]

yes, the switches can be Preset switches like you describe. the Banks are currently groups of 8 Presets.

we don't know if the update will let us have smaller banks like groups of 4 or any other number.

 

[Davus PG]

Excellent!

Thank you for your help.

Time to get myself on the pre-order list here in Europe.

 

[Sonicsam]

Ah ok.

So can the FX8 also run where each of the footswitches changes preset?

Therefore I don't need everything contained in 1 preset. Right?

Do you mean 'Sticky Preset mode' ? Yes, this is possible. In 'Sticky Preset mode' you will have a bank of eight presets at your disposal.

 

[flying_walrus]

Ah ok.

So can the FX8 also run where each of the footswitches changes preset?

Therefore I don't need everything contained in 1 preset. Right?

not currently.

in general, fractal gear is set up to optimize on/bypass times within a preset. all the bypassed blocks in a preset are processing the audio silently, so that when you engage one it's already doing it's job and there's no perceptible delay in switching it on/off.

switching presets introduces lag, as all the blocks have to be re-initialized, so they've invented "scenes", which allow you to switch effects on/off, and control various parameters of the effects within the scene.

most power-users (Petrucci, Zappa, Vai, etc) seem happy with this set up, it just requires a different way of thinking about your presets.

 

[Davus PG]

not currently.

in general, fractal gear is set up to optimize on/bypass times within a preset. all the bypassed blocks in a preset are processing the audio silently, so that when you engage one it's already doing it's job and there's no perceptible delay in switching it on/off.

switching presets introduces lag, as all the blocks have to be re-initialized, so they've invented "scenes", which allow you to switch effects on/off, and control various parameters of the effects within the scene.

most power-users (Petrucci, Zappa, Vai, etc) seem happy with this set up, it just requires a different way of thinking about your presets.

Argghhh! Just as I thought I was understanding it!

OK, having downloaded and read some of the manual I think I understand a little better now and as you say it may take thinking about some set ups a little differently.

For the most part nothing I play is over complex, it's just on a few songs I need to go from say a basic crunch to a clean channel with big spacey echoes and reverbs etc.

I think so long as within scenes I can change my amp preset and if required an H9 preset via midi as well as bring FX8 effects in and out then I'm fine - and if I've understood the manual correctly then that is doable

Can't quite get my head round the MIDI - but I think the only time I might have a problem is if i want a scene to change my amp channel and H9 preset at the same time. As someone said earlier I think to do that I'd need to set up my amp and H9 (if I keep it) so that some presets are the same number - so that preset changes on one channel change both the amp and H9. To do that I assume I would need to have duplicate presets on my amp and H9?

However I had't realised that you can swap to totally different effect types in scenes either, so say a tape delay to multitap delay.

Seems I may find my H9 redundant anyway, but nice to have the option I guess.

 

[brads4]

You can also trigger a midi event attached to the footswitch, so your scene change, plus a linked midi message to the switch that changes the scene could in fact send multiple program changes to different devices. I have put a request to send more than 1 midi program change on scene change to simplify the process, we'll see if it gets any traction.

 

[Dutch]

Your amp switches via midi, doesn't it? It has a midi in and can use that to switch channels?
In that case what you do is assign a midi channel to every unit you need to control. Midi has 16 channels to pick from so you can daisy chain the cables to 16 different apparati (not entirely, the signal degrades, so above 4 or 5 you're better off with a midi splitter). Any footcontroller can be programmed to send different commands to each channel, I'm sure the fx8 can do this too. So, you put the hk on channel 1, the H9 on channel 2, etc. Now you can tell the fx8 that when you press preset 4 it sends a PC (preset change) command with value 2 to channel 1, and a pc 43 to channel 2. Now the fx8 will switch to preset 4, the amp to preset 2 and the H9 to preset 43.
Etc.

I think that was the problem?

Anyway. If you want h9 and timeline type of presets, check out the sets of blocks for reverb and delay published by Simon on this AxeFx forum. There should be stuff you might like. Blocks should be transferable between all Fractal products.

 

[brads4]

A lot of the H9 type reverbs will take a lot of FX8 processing. I just kept an eventide space for the crazy reverb so I can put most cpu to other fx.

 

[Davus PG]

Your amp switches via midi, doesn't it? It has a midi in and can use that to switch channels?
In that case what you do is assign a midi channel to every unit you need to control. Midi has 16 channels to pick from so you can daisy chain the cables to 16 different apparati (not entirely, the signal degrades, so above 4 or 5 you're better off with a midi splitter). Any footcontroller can be programmed to send different commands to each channel, I'm sure the fx8 can do this too. So, you put the hk on channel 1, the H9 on channel 2, etc. Now you can tell the fx8 that when you press preset 4 it sends a PC (preset change) command with value 2 to channel 1, and a pc 43 to channel 2. Now the fx8 will switch to preset 4, the amp to preset 2 and the H9 to preset 43.
Etc.

I think that was the problem?

Anyway. If you want h9 and timeline type of presets, check out the sets of blocks for reverb and delay published by Simon on this AxeFx forum. There should be stuff you might like. Blocks should be transferable between all Fractal products.

Ah, thank you, yes this is exactly how I'm doing it currently. My switcher has 3 midi channels so I use those to control my H&K, H9 & Timeline. I just wasn't sure how many channels the FX8 could send program changes on.

Could this be done with midi blocks in scenes too?

Someone mentioned that scenes is a better way of switching as every thing is instantaneous, rather than switching presets which may introduce a small amount of lag. My current rig also preserves trails and spillover which I understand scenes also does? I want to be able to keep that feature.

 

[Dutch]

Ah, thank you, yes this is exactly how I'm doing it currently. My switcher has 3 midi channels so I use those to control my H&K, H9 & Timeline. I just wasn't sure how many channels the FX8 could send program changes on.

Could this be done with midi blocks in scenes too?

Someone mentioned that scenes is a better way of switching as every thing is instantaneous, rather than switching presets which may introduce a small amount of lag. My current rig also preserves trails and spillover which I understand scenes also does? I want to be able to keep that feature.

I wasn't clear enough on this, I don't own an fx8 and don't know how much it can do.
What I wrote was just midi basics, the general way it works when using several units in a midi chain. Any midi controller has to work this way, since this is how midi works.

Can't imagine the fx8 working differently since it is designed to control other units as well as provide effects. As to the specifics of the fx8 I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in.


From this thread it wasn't clear to me how much of the basics were known and if people were on the same page. Seemed not or I wouldn't have bothered.

 

[Davus PG]

Thank you for all the replies.

OK so I understand that 2 Humbuster cables are highly recommended for the FX8 - 1 from the FX8 to the amp's input and 1 from the FX8 to the amp's return.

If I were to run a pedal between the FX8 and the return on my amp would I need a Humbuster cable from the FX8 into the pedal and then just a regular cable from the pedal to the amp's return? I guess so. Sorry that sounds like a really stupid question.

Also - and I appreciate this would invalidate any warranty - but presumably it's possible to cut down a Humbuster cable and reattach one of the plugs to make it patch length?

 

[brads4]

I made a small patch humbuster exactly for the reason of putting my eventide space on the output back to the amp's effect loop.

The manual shows you how to make a humbuster, it's not proprietary. I made mine from scratch from the manual directly from my electronics store using high quality ends.

 

[Davus PG]

I made a small patch humbuster exactly for the reason of putting my eventide space on the output back to the amp's effect loop.

The manual shows you how to make a humbuster, it's not proprietary. I made mine from scratch from the manual directly from my electronics store using high quality ends.

Perfect- thank you !

Apologies, should have checked the manual first