PBC10 and MEGX combined features

[Rhyno]

Hello All. New to RJM Products. Searching through the forum I can see this is a very cool community.

I have been using GCX and Ground link in a couple of basic W/D/W setups where it was setup as IA only.

I will be using the PBC10 on a pedal board for front end effects and amp channel switching only.

I have racked and rack shelved my stereo effects that will only go to the Wet speakers. I have another shallow rack shelf that I'm thinking of buying and placing the MEGX on along with a power supply.

I would be placing the pullout rack shelf with pedals underneath the MEGX and power supply rack and a couple of older rack units like ADA STD1 and PCM 42 underneath the pullout rack shelf. Currently the only midi controllable device will be the H90. Reordering of effects is not a priority of mine although I see that it can be done on the MEGX.

I have the below questions and if anybody can help out that would be great.

1) I looked through the forum and I see the PCB10 can't display what is happening on the MEGX. Can the PCB10 still switch on and off It's loops along with the loops in the MEGX for a one switch preset on the PCB10?

2) If above ? 1 is possible.... Can the PCB10 also recall presets in the H90 and combine it along with a one switch/step preset?

3) I would still want the dry (including or not the front amp effects) to flow through The wet speakers or into the MEGX. Pretty sure this can happen. Just need confirm.

4) Can the MEGX handle the amp switching and boost switch (amp has a 1/4" boost input for leads ). This will prevent another cable running from the pedal board. Thinking I would only need the one mono sgnal ( front end effects are all mono) and a midi cable to the MEGX.

Hopefully these aren't redundant questions. I did look through the forum. Apologies ahead of time if the answers are out there.

Thanks,
Rhyno

 

[rjmmusic]

Hello All. New to RJM Products. Searching through the forum I can see this is a very cool community.

I have been using GCX and Ground link in a couple of basic W/D/W setups where it was setup as IA only.

I will be using the PBC10 on a pedal board for front end effects and amp channel switching only.

I have racked and rack shelved my stereo effects that will only go to the Wet speakers. I have another shallow rack shelf that I'm thinking of buying and placing the MEGX on along with a power supply.

I would be placing the pullout rack shelf with pedals underneath the MEGX and power supply rack and a couple of older rack units like ADA STD1 and PCM 42 underneath the pullout rack shelf. Currently the only midi controllable device will be the H90. Reordering of effects is not a priority of mine although I see that it can be done on the MEGX.

I have the below questions and if anybody can help out that would be great.

1) I looked through the forum and I see the PCB10 can't display what is happening on the MEGX. Can the PCB10 still switch on and off It's loops along with the loops in the MEGX for a one switch preset on the PCB10?

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Yes, the PBC10 can switch MEGX loops simultaneously with its own loops, no problem.

2) If above ? 1 is possible.... Can the PCB10 also recall presets in the H90 and combine it along with a one switch/step preset?

Yes, for sure. It can send program changes to devices on all 16 MIDI channels on every preset change if you like.

3) I would still want the dry (including or not the front amp effects) to flow through The wet speakers or into the MEGX. Pretty sure this can happen. Just need confirm.

Yes, that should be no problem. If you're running the effects in series, you're going to get dry signal mixed in. If you want to run in parallel, you'll need a line mixer that can blend in the dry signal with the wet.

4) Can the MEGX handle the amp switching and boost switch (amp has a 1/4" boost input for leads ). This will prevent another cable running from the pedal board. Thinking I would only need the one mono sgnal ( front end effects are all mono) and a midi cable to the MEGX.

Hopefully these aren't redundant questions. I did look through the forum. Apologies ahead of time if the answers are out there.

Thanks,
Rhyno

As long as the amp is two channel and uses a 1/4" jack for channel switching, either separate from or on the same jack as the boost input, then the MEGX can control it.

Please let us know if you have any other questions!

 

[Rhyno]

That is all fantastic to hear. Thanks a million for the detailed reply!

 

[Piplodocus]

1) I looked through the forum and I see the PCB10 can't display what is happening on the MEGX.

That's kinda true and kinda not true. It won't show you the loops that are on and off on the bottom of the display like it will for the PBC loops, but presuming you have a page set up to control the loops of it, that page will show you whether the loops are on and off based on the button light colour if you're on that page. But no, not on the display.

I don't have the latest MEGX, I have the older discontinued non-X one, and don't use it these days with my PBC10. But presuming it works very similar, there's 2 ways to use it. You can either:
* Send a program change messages to the MEG and have the MEG save/recall which combo of loops you want for that preset, or
* Get the PBC to send individual MIDI CC numbers for each MEG loop status and save which loops are on and off in the PBC/10 instead.

I personally like the 2nd method, because if I want to change what effects in the MEG loops are on whilst playing I just go to a page on the PBC 10 and change things with my feet. If I change presets then it's back to whatever. But if I want to keep those changes I can save it on there. Also I can edit PBC patches on my computer and save different MEG loops on and off statuses in the PBC editor.

So if you set it up that second way, you'll have a page with a button for each MEG loop on, same as you have a page for PBC loops. So you can flip to that page if you want to see what the MEG is currently doing. But no, you can't see them all the time on the main screen.

 

[Rhyno]

That's kinda true and kinda not true. It won't show you the loops that are on and off on the bottom of the display like it will for the PBC loops, but presuming you have a page set up to control the loops of it, that page will show you whether the loops are on and off based on the button light colour if you're on that page. But no, not on the display.

I don't have the latest MEGX, I have the older discontinued non-X one, and don't use it these days with my PBC10. But presuming it works very similar, there's 2 ways to use it. You can either:
* Send a program change messages to the MEG and have the MEG save/recall which combo of loops you want for that preset, or
* Get the PBC to send individual MIDI CC numbers for each MEG loop status and save which loops are on and off in the PBC/10 instead.

I personally like the 2nd method, because if I want to change what effects in the MEG loops are on whilst playing I just go to a page on the PBC 10 and change things with my feet. If I change presets then it's back to whatever. But if I want to keep those changes I can save it on there. Also I can edit PBC patches on my computer and save different MEG loops on and off statuses in the PBC editor.

So if you set it up that second way, you'll have a page with a button for each MEG loop on, same as you have a page for PBC loops. So you can flip to that page if you want to see what the MEG is currently doing. But no, you can't see them all the time on the main screen.

Thanks for that information Piplodocus! I haven't sat down and hooked everything up yet as I just got the MEGX but I think I will lean toward the 2nd setup you mentioned.