Can you split a pedal output without detriment?

Emp_Fab

Just thinking in the bath....   If I wanted to put a stereo chorus at the end of my fx chain, and fed the PA with the stereo signal, panned L&R, could I split one of the output channels from the pedal so I could feed my amp, without it creating an imbalance in the stereo field on the PA side ?

Also, given that I'm using an ME50 for my reverb, the chorus would have to come after that...  I've never tried chorus after reverb...  Is it likely to be mushy shit ?

ICBM

It depends on how the stereo is done - if it's wet/dry, splitting one of the outputs will give you either dry signal or vibrato (not chorus) into the amp, depending on which one it is. If it's normal/inverse-phase, it will work - unless the PA is mixed in mono or both channels are panned to the same place, in which case the chorus will disappear.

I assume you're not using the chorus on the ME-50 because you're using the modulation block for something else...

Chorus after reverb might sound like mush, or great - I'm not sure I've ever tried it.

Emp_Fab

Not using the modulation on the ME50, i just prefer the sound of my Arion SCH-1.  I'm not running two amps so I guessed it might fill the sound out a bit if I had the stereo chorus in the PA a bit, but I'd need to feed my amp from one of the Arion's outputs. but if it's going to screw with the sound of the channel I'm splitting then I'll pass.

ICBM

I would just find a setting on the ME-50 that’s reasonably close to the Arion. No-one will notice the difference at the gig.

That’s why I sold my original MIJ ‘long dash’ CE-2... the valuable one. The ME-50 was easily close enough.

You can use the ME-50 itself to split the signal to the amp and the PA, although a DI box with a ground lift - and preferably speaker emulation, since that on the ME-50’s output is poor - is a good idea.

Emp_Fab

If I can't feed the PA with a stereo signal there's little point.  The ME50 has two outs - L(/mono) & R.  Putting them straight into the mixer without any speaker simulation is going to sound too harsh.  Plus I'd still have to find a source for my amp.

I can't see how a DI would help me here though.  Never mind, it was a bit of a daft idea!

merlin

Emp_Fab said:

Just thinking in the bath....   If I wanted to put a stereo chorus at the end of my fx chain, and fed the PA with the stereo signal, panned L&R, could I split one of the output channels from the pedal so I could feed my amp, without it creating an imbalance in the stereo field on the PA side ?

Also, given that I'm using an ME50 for my reverb, the chorus would have to come after that...  I've never tried chorus after reverb...  Is it likely to be mushy shit ?

I would keep all of that sensitive electrical equipment out of the bath to be honest. It'll get destroyed by water ingress and you may also get you knackers frazzled. 

fandango

merlin said:

Emp_Fab said:

Just thinking in the bath....   If I wanted to put a stereo chorus at the end of my fx chain, and fed the PA with the stereo signal, panned L&R, could I split one of the output channels from the pedal so I could feed my amp, without it creating an imbalance in the stereo field on the PA side ?

Also, given that I'm using an ME50 for my reverb, the chorus would have to come after that...  I've never tried chorus after reverb...  Is it likely to be mushy shit ?

I would keep all of that sensitive electrical equipment out of the bath to be honest. It'll get destroyed by water ingress and you may also get you knackers frazzled. 

Surely some added 'splash' is cool, but isn't that for drummers?

ICBM

Emp_Fab said:
If I can't feed the PA with a stereo signal there's little point.  The ME50 has two outs - L(/mono) & R.

If you look closely at the back of it there's an output labelled 'Line/Phones' . This is stereo, and speaker-emulated(ish). You will need a splitter cable to use it in stereo to two channels of a PA.

Emp_Fab said:

Putting them straight into the mixer without any speaker simulation is going to sound too harsh.

Which is why I would use a speaker-emulating DI box if you can (or two, in stereo). eg H&K Red Box, or Peavey EDI, or whatever the Behringer one is.

Emp_Fab said:
Plus I'd still have to find a source for my amp.

The left/mono normal output.

Emp_Fab said:
I can't see how a DI would help me here though.

To eliminate the ground loop that connecting your signal path to both the PA and your guitar amp may otherwise cause.

This is one of the great things about the ME-50 - you can use it to split the signal to an amp and a PA at the same time. I haven't tried it in stereo, but I don't see any reason it won't work. I would try it without the DI boxes first and see if ground loops and the speaker emulation are an actual problem, and fix that if they are...

ICBM

Just for you , I've set mine up like this and tested it, in stereo through my small PA and a guitar amp - using the 'Pan' delay to be sure - it does retain the full stereo separation through the PA, even with a plug in the Mono jack feeding the guitar amp with the correct mono'd signal.

It actually sounded quite decent even without extra speaker emulation too - there's a little too much bass and if anything a little too *little* top end, but it can be EQ'd easily enough to sound very similar to the sound from the amp. So I'm not sure it does need the Red Box after all.

Correction - now I've put the PA cabinets at opposite ends of the workshop with the amp in front of me it sounds *epic* .

Slimbert

Emp_Fab said:

Is it likely to be mushy shit ?

If these antibiotics I'm taking are anything to go by then it's a definitely yes.

They're are absolutely ruining me!