NS2 and delay FX loop

[Coma]

Am going to be throwing some money at a delay pedal and some other less fascinating stuff (power supply, wireless etc). I've been using the X-connection on the NS2 through my FX loop, but I'm not entirely certain about how to connect things if I exted my pedal quiver. So is my idea here correct?

Black is everything happening before FX loop.
Red is everything happening after FX loop.
And yes, I know everybody hates the Metalzone. Gimme a break, I bought it when I was 16 and i'm only gonna try to use it as a booster.

 

[devastone]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

Wah should probably go first, it wants to see the impedance of your pickups, then the tuner, NS-2 Input, MT-2 (if you must), output to amp, the rest is fine. The NS-2 works best when the guitar is plugged straight into it so it is sensing the signal straight from the guitar, but since it has a buffer you want the wah before it. If the tuner is true bypass, it can go before or after the wah.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

Really? I always thought OD and DIst boxes went before Noise Gates, to snuff out unwanted frequencies?

 

[Mincer]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I am a little confused about the wah in the loop. I'd put it right after the guitar. I'd have the tuner last. I'd put the delay in the loop.

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

First of all where are you trying to eliminate the noise from, the guitar pickups, or other pedals or the amp?

Wah, Tuner and overdrive first for me, before the amp. Delay in the loop. Then depending where you want to cut the noise from NS-2 either after OD or in FX loop.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I am a little confused about the wah in the loop. I'd put it right after the guitar. I'd have the tuner last. I'd put the delay in the loop.

I don't follow you. The wah isn't in the loop, the NS2 and the Delay is.

Why does the tuner need to be last? I've always run it first. Is this wrong?

First of all where are you trying to eliminate the noise from, the guitar pickups, or other pedals or the amp?

Wah, Tuner and overdrive first for me, before the amp. Delay in the loop. Then depending where you want to cut the noise from NS-2 either after OD or in FX loop.

Yes, I realise I may have made a mistake here. I've got the wah set last on my pedal board atm, and the NS2 is physically placed on top of my amp head. So by force of habit, I put it farthest to the left in the picture, LOL. But yeah, obv it should be somehwere else in the chain.

I'm trying to eliminate both guitar and amp noise. That's actually what the "send - return" jacks are for. The NS2 is apparently designed to go through the FX loop and eliminate preamp noise as well as regular noise from the guitar. So as of right now, I'm running:

Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> NS2 in -> NS2 send -> FX loop in -> FX loop out -> NS2 return -> NS2 Out -> Amp in.


Unless, of course, I've completely misunderstood how the NS2 and FX loops work.
But I want to run the delay through the FX loop as well, and this is basically where I'm stuck. I'm not entirely certain how to set everything up in the "right" order.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

Here's a picture of the X connection pattern

 

[mantis]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

NO MAN,
Let me tell you exactly how to use the Boss NS-2 properly so you get the best overall noise gating out of it.

With your current pedal line up I suggest the following wiring.

GUITAR>>>WAH>>>TUNER>>>NS-2 INPUT>>>NS-2 SEND>>>BOSS METAL ZONE>>>RETURN OFF THE NS-2>>>OUTPUT OF NS-2>>>>FRONT OF 5150 III>>>SEND OUT OF EFFECTS LOOP OF THE 5150 III>>>>TC ELECTRONICS FLASHBACK DEALY>>>>RETRUN OF EFFECTS LOOP OF 5150 III.

This is the best overall way to use it. I have owned most of your gear there and this should give you the best overall tone IMO. There is no right or wrong way to do this but I really went through the entire signal chain and in this setup, you will have the best results.
Now if you add any OD or distortion pedals, they live in the loop of the NS-2 where the Metal Zone lives. If you add any Modulation effects like Reverb or Chorus , they should live around the Flashback Delay. So the Chorus pedal would go infront of the delay in your loop and the Reverb would go after the Delay in your 5150's Loop. This chain IMO is the very best of the best for clean effects sounds and nothing gets in the way of others.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

Interesting. But this will also mean that the pre-amp hum removal of the X pattern is no longer being done, if I've understood this correctly?

Also, now I'm curious - what is the reason you don't put the tuner first in the chain?

Skickat från min HTC One M8s via Tapatalk

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I think you're confused how the effects loop works. Amp's input is the preamp in, Effects Loop Send is the preamp output, Effects Loop Return is the Power Amp input. (The X connection pattern image you posted is correct)

To use the NS-2 to gate preamp noise, the NS-2 Send goes to the Amp input, the Effects Loops Send goes to the NS-2 Return and the NS-2 Out goes to the Amp Effects Loop Return. You'll add the MT-2 into the NS-2 loop along with the amp's preamp.

Order should be:
Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> NS2 in
NS2 send -> MT-2 -> Amp Input
FX loop send -> Delay -> NS-2 Return
NS-2 Out -> FX loop Return

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I see. So then, the noise produced by the guitar is filtered by the NS2 in the first stage, whereas the noise added by the MT2 is filtered out after the pre-amp, in the second NS2 stage?

Also, wouldn't it be better to place the delay after the NS2 in the FX loop, as the tight settings of the gate will kill off repeats? Or am I jumping to conclusions?

 

[devastone]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I think you're confused how the effects loop works. Amp's input is the preamp in, Effects Loop Send is the preamp output, Effects Loop Return is the Power Amp input. (The X connection pattern image you posted is correct)

To use the NS-2 to gate preamp noise, the NS-2 Send goes to the Amp input, the Effects Loops Send goes to the NS-2 Return and the NS-2 Out goes to the Amp Effects Loop Return. You'll add the MT-2 into the NS-2 loop along with the amp's preamp.

Order should be:
Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> NS2 in
NS2 send -> MT-2 -> Amp Input
FX loop send -> Delay -> NS-2 Return
NS-2 Out -> FX loop Return

I agree with this except I would put the Delay after the NS-2 out so it doesn't kill the delay tails.

I see. So then, the noise produced by the guitar is filtered by the NS2 in the first stage, whereas the noise added by the MT2 is filtered out after the pre-amp, in the second NS2 stage?

Not exactly, the input senses the signal from the guitar so the gate closes when the signal from the guitar is gone, the actual gating happens to whatever is in the loop of the NS.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I agree with this except I would put the Delay after the NS-2 out so it doesn't kill the delay tails.

Where's the head smack emoji? Great call.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

So, this?

 

[mantis]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I think you're confused how the effects loop works. Amp's input is the preamp in, Effects Loop Send is the preamp output, Effects Loop Return is the Power Amp input. (The X connection pattern image you posted is correct)

To use the NS-2 to gate preamp noise, the NS-2 Send goes to the Amp input, the Effects Loops Send goes to the NS-2 Return and the NS-2 Out goes to the Amp Effects Loop Return. You'll add the MT-2 into the NS-2 loop along with the amp's preamp.

Order should be:
Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> NS2 in
NS2 send -> MT-2 -> Amp Input
FX loop send -> Delay -> NS-2 Return
NS-2 Out -> FX loop Return

This was from Boss Tech support.

Hi Daniel,

That connection scheme will not get rid of noise from within your amp's preamp circuitry when you're using the amp's internal distortion channel. That's not what the four cable method is for and the NS-2 is not designed to be used that way either.

The NS-2 is designed to be either used "in-line" between noisy guitar pedals and you're amp, or by using it's Send / Return jacks as a "mini" effects loop where you could instead place your noisy, high gain pedals.

You're welcome to try different connection schemes to see if you can find a custom configuration that suits your purposes, however, the two main connection schemes that the NS-2 was really meant to be used with are the ones on page 2 of the Owner's Manual. We have attached this NS-2's Owner's Manual to this e-mail for your convenience.



Kind Regards,
Roland Product Support

 

[Mincer]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

The reason I always put the tuner last is so it mutes everything while I tune, except the delays in the effects loop. But thinking about it, a Metal Zone into a 5150 has one too many stages of gain for any kind of hope of it being quiet.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

The reason I always put the tuner last is so it mutes everything while I tune, except the delays in the effects loop. But thinking about it, a Metal Zone into a 5150 has one too many stages of gain for any kind of hope of it being quiet.

Ideally, I'd use a booster pedal. But I'm not entirely sure I even need one, so using my old MT2 that's just lying around anyway seems like a decent enough proof of concept.

 

[Coma]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

This was from Boss Tech support.

Hi Daniel,

That connection scheme will not get rid of noise from within your amp's preamp circuitry when you're using the amp's internal distortion channel. That's not what the four cable method is for and the NS-2 is not designed to be used that way either.

The NS-2 is designed to be either used "in-line" between noisy guitar pedals and you're amp, or by using it's Send / Return jacks as a "mini" effects loop where you could instead place your noisy, high gain pedals.

You're welcome to try different connection schemes to see if you can find a custom configuration that suits your purposes, however, the two main connection schemes that the NS-2 was really meant to be used with are the ones on page 2 of the Owner's Manual. We have attached this NS-2's Owner's Manual to this e-mail for your convenience.



Kind Regards,
Roland Product Support

So odd, but I'm gonna try the different setups once I get my pedals delivered and see what works best. Will report back any findings.

 

[mantis]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I'm curious why you have the Boss Metal zone? The 5150 drive channels are fantastic and very versatile . The only reason I sold mine was the fact I felt is was more a 2 channel amp then 3. The shared EQ for clean and crunch just didn't work for me. Not to mention the volume jump was the deal breaker. Everything else about it I loved. It was a great sounding and Midi controlled head. Took pedals like a champ. I used the NS-2 on it.

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: NS2 and delay FX loop

I don't follow you. The wah isn't in the loop, the NS2 and the Delay is.

Why does the tuner need to be last? I've always run it first. Is this wrong?





Yes, I realise I may have made a mistake here. I've got the wah set last on my pedal board atm, and the NS2 is physically placed on top of my amp head. So by force of habit, I put it farthest to the left in the picture, LOL. But yeah, obv it should be somehwere else in the chain.

I'm trying to eliminate both guitar and amp noise. That's actually what the "send - return" jacks are for. The NS2 is apparently designed to go through the FX loop and eliminate preamp noise as well as regular noise from the guitar. So as of right now, I'm running:

Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> NS2 in -> NS2 send -> FX loop in -> FX loop out -> NS2 return -> NS2 Out -> Amp in.


Unless, of course, I've completely misunderstood how the NS2 and FX loops work.
But I want to run the delay through the FX loop as well, and this is basically where I'm stuck. I'm not entirely certain how to set everything up in the "right" order.

I'd refer to what Mantis said above, if the delays aren't causing any noise then put them in the loop of the amp, not the NS-2. I have a similar set up to yourself but only want to reduce the noise from an OD pedal, I have my head modded on the lead channel so its silent so I don't need multiple noise gates or more connections.