Since yesterday, there is one
There are many wonderful videos/guides about gapless switching with 2 amps. Maybe there is, but I haven't found one about more than 2 tones. Since I mainly use 4 tones (with similar character, from clean to mean, kind of like a volume block, but discrete), last night I spent a few hours on creating a preset that could do gapless switching between amp channels. So first, I cloned my amp block. Now there is 2 same blocks.
I experienced that when switching from the channel to itself (like A->A) via midi, there is no gap. So, to keep the preset simple, when one switch is stomped, I switched the channels of both amp blocks. This allowed me to think statelessly, which is so nice and simple
I measured the gap of channel switch within the same block. It was ~50ms, that is very little, but audible. I thought that Amp2 would be master, and Amp1 would be used as a slave to get in during the audio gap. By default, Amp1 would be bypassed, Amp2 not. This is the least favorite part of all this: Doubling the amp block CPU consumption for just 50 ms. But it sounds and feels sweet!
Then I created this midi message sequence. It was applicable for any channel:
1) Switch AMP1 (slave) channel to the desired channel.
2) Bypass AMP2 (master).
3) Un-bypass AMP1. -> I tested that steps 2 and 3 are seamless. That is good!
4) Switch AMP2 channel to the desired channel.
5) Bypass AMP1.
6) Un-bypass AMP2 -> 5&6 are basically the same with 2&3, which is good again
I only used CC Toggles. AxeFX 3 preset contains no multiplexer, and scenes are not utilized. I needed 6 midi messages per channel switch, and guess what, Nektar Pacer allows 6 messages to be sent at once max! Thanks for not deciding on less!
Any midi controller capable of sending CC Toggle messages and allowing 6 messages to be sent at once could use this workflow. I attached the Pacer preset.
Any Axe FX 3 preset with dual (and identical) amp blocks that are set in parallel and their 'bypass' modes set to 'mute' (to block unprocessed signal) will do. Axe FX midi mappings are important here, and below is a list of mappings necessary for gapless switching (This is Pacer preset based data, and can be changed):
AMP1/2 channel: CC#33/34
AMP1/2 bypass: CC#10/11
I also shared a screenshot of Pacer editor screenshot with midi message data, so it can be useful for other controller owners.
I really liked gaplessness, so wanted to share it. Hope it works for you.
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