I was going to purchase a PS 2A so I can run it as a loop with my Deluxe Reverb. Can you tell me if I was playing at a venue that required a silent stage, would I be able to come out of the Fryette Line Out and run it to FOH and shut off any sound that would be coming out of the Deluxe Reverb so I have a silent stage?
Hi @archtopjazz
Yes, you can do that. The front of house would take a balanced line-level output from the back of the PS-2A. However, this will need a cab. sim. like an IR applied to it. You have removed the speaker and the way it shapes the sounds, so you would need to add that back. You could control this yourself with an cab. sim. FX and send FOH that. But yes, this would work with a silent stage.
Hi Dan, Thanks for the reply. Could you please give me a example of a good quality cab sim that I could get? I would like to get something that is not dobling any of the functions that the PS-2A is already doing. Thanks, Jim
I think any IR Loader pedal with XLR input would be the correct tool for you. XLR will avoid noise interference and ground loops. You can then load IRs into that and send those exact sounds to the front of house. This will not double any functions of PS-2A because it does not have Cab. Sim capability.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the info. I think I will go wth a Two Notes Opus. If you know of something better please let me know.
Thanks,
Jim
In Jim’s headline for this thread, he says he wants the Power Station to add an FX loop to his Deluxe Reverb, and he also wants to use a good IR loader to send to FOH since he is doing silent stage. The Power Station will not send the effects to FOH (or anywhere since the stage is silent!)
You told him to use the line out into the cab sim, then to FOH, but the Power Station’s line out is BEFORE the FX loop. This means he can’t send the effects in the loop to FOH. He needs a Boss Tube Amp Expander.
Incidentally, why is the line out before the FX loop? Is there a way to reroute the line out to post fx (many amps have a switch for this)?
Hi Chris, Thanks for your comments. I did not realize that about the PS2A. Would the
Boss Tube Amp Expander Core work for what I am trying to do or would it be the
Boss WAZA Tube Amp Expander? Thanks, Jim
I believe that all of the Boss WAZA Tube Amp Expanders have the loop FX go through the line out to the FOH so that you can go silent with your effects intact. But the Tube Amp Expander is a very different product. It has a lot of computer integration and IR rigs loaded as part of the setup. If you wanted to use the Fryette, you could use the PS-2A. You would run the line out to your pedal board where the signal would go through your effects, then through a cab simulator, then to FOH. I believe the line out is line level, so it may not play nice with some pedals. There is also the Fryette Power Load IR Reactive Load + IR + Analog Cab Simulator, but I don’t quite understand how that thing works. Maybe Dan from Fryette could explain the signal path of that one.
Thanks Chris. Hopefully Dan will chime in.
Thanks @Christian this point got lost.
So the setup would be something like this:
If you add a y-splitter, I’d get an passive isolated one to avoid any ground loop issues.
In this case, you would not need a XLR out, just jacks, so you have more IR Loader options. And isolation would come from the splitter.
Hi Dan, Would there be a way to run my OD pedals into the front of the Deluxe Reverb amp and have the time based effects go to the loop in the PS 2A? That is the way I would run it if I was not going to FOH. Thanks, Jim
Is it impossible to mod the line out to come after the loop? Or make it switchable? All of these workarounds are a bit taxing.
Hey Chrisrian,
Well, anything is possible, but it’s not a Fryette-supported mod; it’s just the way the unit is designed. But are you suggesting having two line outs, one pre and one post FX loop?
It would be useful to have a single line out that could be switched between pre and post-loop. It could even be an internal jumper. I had a Mesa amp with two physical jacks, a preamp out and a slave out. My M9 Carbine bass amp has a DI that is switchable between pre and post processing. So the request is really about the functionality of having the line out placed after the fx loop if needed.
Hi Chris, Referring to Dan’s drawing, would there be a way to run my OD pedals into the front of the Deluxe Reverb amp and have the time based effects go to the loop in the PS 2A? That is the way I would run it if I was not going to FOH. Thanks, Jim
Yes, it looks like you plug your guitar into OD then into the Deluxe Reverb. Then instead of using the line out, you would use the fx send to run through your time-based effects, then at the end of your effects pedals, you would use a passive isolated splitter box to split the signal into two: one that would go into a cab sim or IR loader then be sent to FOH, the second of the splitter outputs would go to the fx return.
The passive isolated splitter piece of the puzzle is tricky. The Lehle P-Split III, Radial Big Shot ABY, and Morley make passive splitters. I have a love-hate relationship with ABY splitters because they react in different ways depending on the pedals in your rig, buffers, true bypass, impedence, etc. You’ll have to experiment there. It would be a whole lot better if the line out came after the fx loop.
Hi Chris, Thanks for the reply. I have a Lehle P-Split III, so I am set on that. Would you have any recommendations on a cab sim or IR loader? Something that is not too complicated would be great : ) Thanks, Jim
@Christian OK, noted about the switchable lineout.
@archtopjazz I tend to use IR only on PC. I think the important thing is you get something that is at least high-resolution audio, 24-bit 20ms IR. But probably a lot of pedals on the market do better than this already. I’d check the tech specs. for a few pedals you like and are in budget, see if you can gather the IR processing bit-depth (e.g. 24 bit) and IR length (>=20ms) as well as the noise metrics they quote (this could be S/N then a number like -100dB). I’d compare candidates on these main figures and make a decision. based on those – as well as form factor and ease of use. If you want any help with that, just post what you find. Or maybe if someone on the forum has already done the hard work, they can give you some advice!
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For live shows I used an Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5. There are more authentic cab sims in the Two Notes Torpedo CAB, or Engle Cabloader. But the H&K is much simpler and more reliable (all analog, no latency), it can be powered with a 9 volt battery, phantom power, or 12 adapter, and doesn’t rely on software.
My inclination has always been to go with the higher level of gear. But you have to remember the context: a super nice IR cab sim sounds great, but you are already using the Fryette way off label and making all kinds of workaround compromises. When they designed the Power Station, they made the choice that our way of using it was not important. I think they were wrong… but they’ve sold a billion of these things, so what do I know! Still, the weird signal split workaround is the fault in the system, not the difference between the H&K’s cab sim on vintage loose vs a finely modeled IR of a Jensen P12R.
Anyhow, given the compromises and workarounds already in the setup, you’d be better off with the Boss Tube Amp Expander, which was designed with this live setup from the start. It has a post-loop line out and an IR loader.
If you still want the Fryette (it’s probably a better feeling attenuator), you’ll get better results skipping the whole “line out fx out split the signal return one send the other have some go through AD/DA and others not” complications and just hang a Sennheiser E906 on the amp.
**It just occurred to me: just use a DI box (the kind that takes speaker level and knocks it down to line level) from the speaker cable between the Fryette and the Deluxe’s speaker, then put a cab sim on that signal. No? **Second edit: it would only work with the H&K Red Box because the other DI boxes that accept speaker level inputs only output mic level signal, and I don’t think that would work with a line level IR loader… the Red Box just happens to have a rudimentary cab sim onboard.
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I gently push back on this point. Nobody thinks you are wrong! The Fryette community is smart and innovative! We listen a lot and are always surprised and interested by how people use our gear. For example, the self-attenuation mode was first suggested by a Power Station user and made it into the user manual.
I can see the usefulness of this, especially in a live situation. So I’m going to make sure the shop reads this thread and picks up the suggestion. Thanks!
Most DI’s are not designed for low impedance / high power speaker-level signals. But there are some on the market that are. They are clearly a bit more niche and aimed at guitar players. But as @archtopjazz already has a splitter, then I think getting just a decent IR loader is still probably the best fit.