Should more blocks have a blend or mix parameter?

[sleewell]

Apologies if this has been previously discussed and I missed it.



I think all modelers and multi fx units should have a blend or mix control in nearly every effect block if possible.

Lots of them already do but it should be more.

Agree or disagree?

If you were working at one of these companies and you got the message to build this in would it be a huge kick in the groin or fairly easy?

 

[ragingplatypi]

The short answer is yes.

But the more nuanced answer is that it depends on the company’s ethos. Line 6’s workaround with the Stadium is multiple splits per signal path. I’m sure they prefer that because they value their models being very true to the original.

But for any modeler that isn’t focused on perfection, I wish they would add a clean signal option.

And then I expect Fractal to be able to do it all.

 

[sashimi]

The short answer is yes.

But the more nuanced answer is that it depends on the company’s ethos. Line 6’s workaround with the Stadium is multiple splits per signal path. I’m sure they prefer that because they value their models being very true to the original.

But for any modeler that isn’t focused on perfection, I wish they would add a clean signal option.

And then I expect Fractal to be able to do it all.

Line 6 added bass/mid/treble controls to amps that didn’t have them, I don’t see why they can’t put a mix knob on anything they want to. I always appreciate the line 6 models that do have a mix knob, and I miss it when it’s not there. Way easier than dealing with parallel paths for simple stuff.

 

[Orvillain]

float JUCEAudioProcessor::equalPowerMix(float dry, float wet, float a01)
{
a01 = std::clamp(a01, 0.0f, 1.0f);

// hard endpoints to avoid microscopic dry/wet bleed
if (a01 >= 0.999f) return wet;
if (a01 <= 0.001f) return dry;

float t = 0.5f * float(M_PI) * a01;
float s = std::sin(t);
float c = std::cos(t);
return c * dry + s * wet;
}

There you go. Free equal power wet/dry mix for everyone!

 

[Orvillain]

But more seriously, yes.... with caveats. I don't really like how the mix behaviour can change from block to block; I notice this particularly on the Helix platform. But also a lot of pedals out there - Source Audio and Strymon for example - who put the 50/50 value around 3 o'clock on the knob... puhhhhleeeeeaaaassseeeee stop doing that!!

50/50 should be 12 o'clock. Always.

Also, the mix at 100% should not kill the dry signal when the effect is bypassed, like it does on Fractal delays and reverb blocks. Mega annoying.

 

[HotRats]

Yes, i'd like to have all blocks (except the few where it doesn't make sense) with a dry/wet mix control.

 

[laxu]

But more seriously, yes.... with caveats. I don't really like how the mix behaviour can change from block to block; I notice this particularly on the Helix platform. But also a lot of pedals out there - Source Audio and Strymon for example - who put the 50/50 value around 3 o'clock on the knob... puhhhhleeeeeaaaassseeeee stop doing that!!

50/50 should be 12 o'clock. Always.

I disagree about that. For me "dry signal with some wet mixed in" is the way more usable area of most fx pedal mix controls, so there's basically no scenario for me where I want the wet signal to dominate. Thus for me it's advantageous to be able to adjust that area more granularly.

The problem is really about the lack of labeling. If Strymon put just a little 50/50 indicator on the box it would solve the issue. Even better if they allowed to change the mix to "50/50 at noon" if users prefer that.

 

[Orvillain]

there's basically no scenario for me where I want the wet signal to dominate

TALENTLESS HACK FRAUDDD!!!!

 

[Orvillain]

But no, seriously.... it should be noon on the knob, always. Crushing all of the upper end detail into less than a quarter of the physical knobs range is just bad design.

Duplicating bad analog design in digital makes no sense, especially when it is so easily controlled. You could honestly add the ability to specify the 50/50 point at any given clock position, with just a few extra lines of code.

The major bonus perk of doing this is your delay or reverb works more predictably in the effects loop and in front of the amp.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Strymon could really mess with people and put an indent on the knob at 3 o’clock.

 

[Tito83]

Yes, please. For the life of me I can't understand why that's not common practice.

Also, the mix at 100% should not kill the dry signal when the effect is bypassed, like it does on Fractal delays and reverb blocks. Mega annoying.

I imagine that's because I imagine most people would use a 100% mix for parallel processing, so it makes sense to fully mute when bypassed... But 100% there should be a way to change that.

 

[Orvillain]

I imagine that's because I imagine most people would use a 100% mix for parallel processing, so it makes sense to fully mute when bypassed... But 100% there should be a way to change that.

One of the things I like to do is have 100% wet on a reverb, for huge swelly stuff... and then immediately cut across to my gain channel while also turning the reverb off.

On the Fractal stuff, you can't easily do that because of how the mix interacts with the bypass state. It works quite well on other pedals though.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Yeah, I don’t see any reason not to have it if it’s able to do it, and I imagine digitally that’s pretty much everything. The idea of taking something that can do anything (digital) and restricting because something else can only do one thing seems silly.