I’ve recently got my first ML10x and quickly decided I need two more….I am used to having patch bays for FX, but I love the way this cuts down on that…but given they don’t make a 19” ML48X I still have problem with the borders of these three devices.
I also have a problem that ‘new users may not attach more than one image ‘ - cool. Feels like the 90s.
I will have to add my options as replies…there’s a lot of thinking out loud here. Appreciate if you’ve had the patience to get through it!
- Anyone think I am missing any major flaws?\
- Or any other approaches?
- What would you do?
Dual stereo AB/Y
I’ve come across these: https://kmamachines.com/machines/stereo-aby/ - two would cost almost as much as an ML10x, though.
I have drafted up the rough inter-machine layout below (assume pedals not pictured in the various returns. It forces me to revolve around a single ML10X as the main/central unit - everything returns there eventually to be heard. I can’t actually decide if this is super flexible or barely much better than just using the interconnects on the ML10X and managing it through software. It’s certainly far from what a theoretical “ML30” might do.
Output to a stereo ABC Box
Then I look at letting each ML10X output on its own into my audio interface via a ‘pre-merge’ of the out on each box, via a much cheaper Loop master ABC (ABC YYY I guess I would call it) ABC Box Selector Pedals - Stereo ABC Box .
This still doesn’t quite give me every combo, but I think it’s more useful than the ABY option above? I still have to start on the ‘main’ unit, but can then branch off pretty quickly if I wanted early chain pedals from the other two boxes, and come back, or not, at my discretion. I could ‘expand’ the interchange points here by sacrificing a SEND RETURN pair on the second two boxes…or if I found myself wanting to do something off pattern, I guess I could just interchange via the two pedals (EG say my main interchange trunks pictured above are being used up on a parallel chain, but I also want to have Blue Box 1’s C loop’s compressor jump straight into OrangeBox 3’s D Loop’s phaser, I could just manually patch the compressor into the phaser’s input, and use the phaser’s output to the Box 1’s C Return (That the compressor had been in previously))
Native only?
Then finally I thought about how I might use this without any further external hardware…as I have written this up, this has warmed on me -I think this still gives me a lot of options - if my logic is sound, I should be able to have my signal hit the third (orange) box’s pedals first, if I wanted, even though it is 3x patches downstream from the input itself. I can see I am limited by only one ‘return point’ from any FX from the third orange box merging into the second green box’s chain, and one return point for both of these downstream boxes when they return to the first blue box - somewhat limiting series, but should be ok for paras?
Then if I want to fix that problem, I just need to lose a send on box 3 and a return on box 1?
