Blackstar AMPED 1 - amp in a pedal

relic245

Danny1969 said:

I also mentioned the DI level of the Amped 1 going up with speaker level. He said that's what would happen when turning up a mic'ed amp, plus the DI isn't just tapped of the driver stage, it's post power amp behaviour. 

That is correct. I think at the time my comments were based on what I would like it to do rather than thinking through how it was likely to work. 

I love the unit but it does have some usability issues though (that I think are not just my preference this time)

I'd love to feed them back to Blackstar. They sent me a survey a while ago to ask how I was getting on with it. I said that I think I've discovered some issues with the midi implementation and would happily have a chat or provide more info but didn't hear anything. 

To me the midi implementation has 2 problems. 

Everything on the unit is midi controllable. To my mind that means I should be able to take a midi pedal and create patches, sadly it doesn't work (unless I'm missing something obvious).  I won't bore you with the details (unless you want them) but there is not enough control to balance the volume of one sound against another and set it all in advance. 

It's a moot point anyway because I think that the way that it responds to midi signals is either broken or flawed. 

I have a midi pedal (that I built) that can send out several different messages per foot press. 

It works wonderfully well with my HX FX. 

For 1 patch I may send:
turn off OCD pedal
Turn on Tubescreamer
Set volume level
Set dirt level

Works a treat. 

I tried something similar on the Amped1 eg

Set preamp to USA
Set tube type
Set preamp level
Set bass
Set middle
Set treble

Couldn't understand why it wasn't working.  Eventually figured out that the unit couldn't keep up. The only way I could get it to work was to put a delay in between each message. I think it was either 30 or 40 ms between each message. 

That is clearly not acceptable in a live situation. 

So my assessment is still the same. Sounds fantastic, my back loves it but isn't quite there. The only way I can really use it live is as a pedal platform so it's just a small amp.  I feel that it has so much more to offer but hasn't quite got past the teething stage yet. 

TimmyO

Danny1969 said:

II also mentioned the DI level of the Amped 1 going up with speaker level. He said that's what would happen when turning up a mic'ed amp, 

Design intent vs user need. In some companies one has a far stronger voice than the other.