H7600 in a guitar rig

[TomHome]

Hi guys

I'm planning on moving from an Eclipse to a H7600 to get rid of my external compressor, eq and few stompboxes in my rack.

I will keep the Triaxis, rack Crybaby and Switchblade mixer.

One really good point with the latest Eclipse OS is the very short delay time when switching from one program to another.

What can you tell me about this program change delay when using the H7600 ? I was wondering since a more powerful unit might bring more time to switch.

And btw is there a voltage switch on the H7600 for using it both in 110V and 220 V countries ?

Thanks

tOM

[IDeangelis]

Hi Tom

preset change on the H7600 are slower than on the Eclipse

…BUT….

given the bigger dsp power and preset structure of the H7600, you may not actually need to switch presets as much as you'd need on the Eclipse. The H7600 MIDI Virtual Racks presets library include a good number of fx combinations. Each preset sports up to 5 high quality rack units FX. You have ten tweaks stored in each preset; each one "remembers" the status of fx on/off and the value of the parameters labeled with an "*" (asterisk). Basically a single MIDI CC with values from 1 to ten can recall any of these internal tweaks without the need of changing preset. The change is instant…no waiting time. These presets alone are worth the admission ticket to an H-unit for a guitarist. You may take a look at the Presets Manual. In the very last pages there's an in_depth description of these wonders…and the list includes all details for the FX combos of each presets. We have also included the single FX so that the good_will user can build his own racks, using Vsigfile editor.

cheers

I

[TomHome]

Hi Italo

Sorry about the delay for my reply, but I bought the H7600 meanwhile!

What I'm going to do is use some compressor preset on one side of the H7600, and that will feed my guitar signal thanks to my Switchblade mixer.

Then on the other side I will mainly use some Virtual Racks to get all the effects I need, and that will come later in the sound chain.

I guess that playing will the panoramic on each preset will do the job…

BTW, thanks for your answer.

tOM

PS : It's good to hear from you again! It reminds me of the good ol' yahoogroups days, I hope life's treating you as it should.

[IDeangelis]

HI Tom

you mention "one side" compressor and "Virtual racks" on the other side. Do you mean running two presets at the same time? Because if this is waht you mean, it's the H8000FW that can do this. The H7600 runs on a single DSP and thus can load a single preset.

warm regards

Italo

[TomHome]

Italo,

In the Patch Editor, I've connected a compressor module from In1 to Out1 and then a delay from In2 to Out2.

I guess that I will have the compr effect on channel 1 and delay on channel 2 (sorry but I can tweak but I can't play at that time so I don't hear what I'm doing …)

What you're telling me is that as soon as I use presets instead of modules connected together, i will not be able to route the signal within the presets ?

For example, I see that Compr is the first module used in 6611 Clean Chords preset. Is it possible to have the signal from In1 to the Compr and then straight to Out1 while In2 goes to the rest of the modules and on to Out2 ?

Or is it just too complicated and I really need an H8000 ?

Thanks for your advice

tOM

[IDeangelis]

Hi Tom

the architecture is open, so, indeed, you can have a compressor running on I/O 1 and the rest of the Virtual rack on I/O 2…

BUT…

you'll end up with a *MONO*, strictly mono, use of the H7600, because you are separating channels 1 and and their respcite analog I/Os into separate paths.

If you want to keep the fx in stereo (delay/shifter/reverb) you have 2 solutions:

-use an analog compressor in your rig and let the H7600 do the stereo fx

-get an H8000 to separate fx across different presets the 2 DSPs can load at the same time.

best

I

[TomHome]

Italo,

Thanks,

I'm still a bit confused : is it possible to route the signal R/L with a virual rack preset by adding a mixer in the patch editor ?

Anyway, I got a H7600 to get rid of my dbx external compressor with the Eclipse, so now I just have to find another way …

I found a seller in Paris with a quite decent price for a H8000. That brings 2 questions :

– Its H800 has OS 4.5 right now. Is updating to 5.3 possible and/or painful ?

– What's the difference between H8000 and H8000FW ? Is it just a Firewire port added ? And how to upgrade it to the FW ? I haven't seen this info the forum nor the H8000 support pages.

tOM

[IDeangelis]

Tom

before we discuss upgrading your hardware, let me clearly understand why you are doing this:

IN 1 > compressor > OUT 1

IN 2 >Virtual Rack > OUT 2  or OUT 1 & 2 with an internal mixer added

What you connect at input 1?

Where you connect OUT 1 to?

What you connect to IN 2 and OUT 2?

I

[TomHome]

Italo,

I would like my signal to route like this

Guitar > (In 1) Compressor (Out 1) > Preamp > (In 2) Effects (Out 2) > Poweramp

With the Switchblade mixer, patching from one to another is quite easy.

I hope this is clearer.

tOM

[IDeangelis]

Tom

the compressor will sound much better on the signal POST preamp, rather then after a guitar. It's just its character. This is also true for analog compressors. A DBX sounds great after a pream, whereas a Boss or TC footstomp are great after the guitar.

An H8000 fof a dsp running only a compressor is definitely overkill.

On the 7600 you should use MIDI Virtual racks as they are and connect the Eventide AFTER the preamp, not after the guitar, using XLR cables. Forget about routing things thru the Switchblade as it's not the case here.

Gtr > Preamp > H7600 > Power Amp

best

I

[TomHome]

Italo,

On some of my old presets with the Eclipse and dbx, I had compressor before preamp and that sounded cool, but a huge majority of them had the compr post preamp, you're right. And I think putting the H7600 after my preamps will just do the job.

But, just to get smarter, assuming that my sound will be in mono, is it possible even within a virtual rack  to add a mixer module and pan the signal chain so that Out1 and Out2 will have 2 different signals coming out ?

Thanks again

tOM

[IDeangelis]

Yes, it's possible. You'll need the STEREO MIXER module which can be configured for the numbers of inputs needed and provides level and pan for each.

best

I

[jamesgleason]

What are some other good presets for guitar?

[IDeangelis]

There are hundreds of them! Really worth sitting down and listening thru the library.

How about MIDI Virtual Racks?

I

[jamesgleason]

I've been going through and there is quite a lot to choose from! I'm wondering which atmospheric/pad sounds work well for guitar in a live situation?

[IDeangelis]

No rules really, but one:

listen to the presets with your guitar and you'll know which ones do the job for you.

cheers

I

[nickrose]

TomHome:

And btw is there a voltage switch on the H7600

There is ..

[J20056]

tOM,

I use exactly the same setup as you, but I most definitely use a stereo rig. If you care so much about a compressor prior to the H7600, I assume it's because you want to get more sustain or something, not the usual nice compression on a clean track that tidies up the strumming? If that's the case, I think you'll lose a lot by not using the MIDI racks or any H7600 preset in mono, just for the luxury of having a compressor from the H7600. I own and love my H7600, but I didn't buy it because of its compressors. I think either you put the compressor in your own preset by blending a compressor module in front of MIDI racks (using VSigfile, which has some learning curve), or you use a good compressor pedal like a Boss CS2, AnalogMan Comprossor or any favorite pedal. I would never want to lose the stereo ability of the H7600 just to get a compressor as you describe.

Now, if you really only care about mono, then I agree with your approach, and the SwitchBlade is OK, although you might find it hard to get high levels out of the TriAxis into the SwitchBlade without overloading it, as it is line level. That's my biggest pet peeve with my SwitchBlade, and it is well known at this point.

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