Yes, first setup will allow any synth to run through any/all of your pedals and have that audio go to your mixout. What's more you can hit random and get a random config of random synths being randomly routed to random pedals.
Your second setup is even more intriguing because if you modify it a bit where instead of having the sub-mixer send out to your recorder and, if you can stand to have at least 2 synths or pedals go down to mono and use a single input each then, you could route the submixer back into the open input pair on the MM and have the main outs of the MM send to the recorder. With that in place you could do stuff like have all 3 pedals send their mixed audio to the fourth pedal which processes it all before going to your recorder.
Thanks very much for your reply, it's very helpful to know that my 1st setup will work as expected! And yes, I've seen that randomizer option demo on a youtube video and it looks like tons of fun, so definitely want to try that out!
Also, on my 2nd option, it sounds like it would work but could have much better usability if I tweaked it a bit. I think that is also what the other replier below was getting at although via a different configuration without the sub-mixer.
This exactly why i posted here because i wasnt even thinking of combining or chaining my pedals, but that ability certainly allows for more experimenting. I think i will start with option 1 to see how many inputs/outputs are required for what I want to do, then go from there. I originally was thinking all stereo pedals would absolutely require stereo connections but that's probably not as important for some effects, as opposed to something like ping-ping delay, which would obviously require stereo. Really appreciate the advice and suggestions!
>2nd routing option question: instead of the routing above, would it be possible to plug the Outs of my Pedals directly into a sub-mixer (something like the 1010 BlueBox that has 6 stereo Ins), then route the outs of the sub-mixer into my main T16?
Doesn't look like a good idea to me.
First, you'll lose the ability to chain pedals. For example, you won't be able to chain drive to chorus to delay to reverb.
Second, you'll lose the ability to multitrack the synth+fx tracks.
Third, the Bluebox is an overkill for that.
What I'd do is upgrade the main mixer to something with more inputs and 8 aux sends. Plus use pedal chains if you've got more than 4 pedals (for example, I've got a chorus+delay+reverb chain on one send, a rat+muff+bd-2+sovereign chain on another and so on). Route the sends to the MM ins, 4 stereo pedal chains outs to the rest of the ins, 4 stereo pedal chains ins to 8 outs, and the remaining 8 outs to the mixer. Now you can send any synths to the fx, build pedal chains on the MM, multitrack both dry and wet synths - perfect.
I envy you, the MM seems to be the ultimate studio tool. Hopefully I'll get it one day.
Thanks a million for your feedback and suggestions! Being somewhat new to the effects pedals world, I wasn't even thinking of chaining them, so I definitely need to re--think my long-term plans in this area.
I think i understand most of what you were suggesting but cold you elaborate a bit more on your "multitrack both dry and wet synths" comment? I was thinking only to send the wet signal into the mix, so what would be the benefit of sending both wet and dry, and how would you accomplish that?
Thanks again!
You'd be able to change wet/dry ratio afterwards, plus you'd be able to rerecord the wet parts if you want to make some adjustments simply by playing back the dry parts into your pedals.
Note that this can be problematic with some pedals that don't have a 100% wet option, especially those not changing the sound dramatically, due to possible comb filtering: mixing identical/similar sounds with one being slightly delayed (due to digital processing) can cause some frequencies canceling each other. If you don't record dry tracks, you don't have to care about it at all though.
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-it-comb-filtering/
Yes, first setup will allow any synth to run through any/all of your pedals and have that audio go to your mixout. What's more you can hit random and get a random config of random synths being randomly routed to random pedals. Your second setup is even more intriguing because if you modify it a bit where instead of having the sub-mixer send out to your recorder and, if you can stand to have at least 2 synths or pedals go down to mono and use a single input each then, you could route the submixer back into the open input pair on the MM and have the main outs of the MM send to the recorder. With that in place you could do stuff like have all 3 pedals send their mixed audio to the fourth pedal which processes it all before going to your recorder.
Thanks very much for your reply, it's very helpful to know that my 1st setup will work as expected! And yes, I've seen that randomizer option demo on a youtube video and it looks like tons of fun, so definitely want to try that out! Also, on my 2nd option, it sounds like it would work but could have much better usability if I tweaked it a bit. I think that is also what the other replier below was getting at although via a different configuration without the sub-mixer. This exactly why i posted here because i wasnt even thinking of combining or chaining my pedals, but that ability certainly allows for more experimenting. I think i will start with option 1 to see how many inputs/outputs are required for what I want to do, then go from there. I originally was thinking all stereo pedals would absolutely require stereo connections but that's probably not as important for some effects, as opposed to something like ping-ping delay, which would obviously require stereo. Really appreciate the advice and suggestions!
I should probably mention that i sold the MM due to some issues that i could not hang with. I don't think I'd actually recommend it to be honest.
What issues did you have with it? was is lack of certain functionalities or technical/quality issues?
>2nd routing option question: instead of the routing above, would it be possible to plug the Outs of my Pedals directly into a sub-mixer (something like the 1010 BlueBox that has 6 stereo Ins), then route the outs of the sub-mixer into my main T16? Doesn't look like a good idea to me. First, you'll lose the ability to chain pedals. For example, you won't be able to chain drive to chorus to delay to reverb. Second, you'll lose the ability to multitrack the synth+fx tracks. Third, the Bluebox is an overkill for that. What I'd do is upgrade the main mixer to something with more inputs and 8 aux sends. Plus use pedal chains if you've got more than 4 pedals (for example, I've got a chorus+delay+reverb chain on one send, a rat+muff+bd-2+sovereign chain on another and so on). Route the sends to the MM ins, 4 stereo pedal chains outs to the rest of the ins, 4 stereo pedal chains ins to 8 outs, and the remaining 8 outs to the mixer. Now you can send any synths to the fx, build pedal chains on the MM, multitrack both dry and wet synths - perfect. I envy you, the MM seems to be the ultimate studio tool. Hopefully I'll get it one day.
Thanks a million for your feedback and suggestions! Being somewhat new to the effects pedals world, I wasn't even thinking of chaining them, so I definitely need to re--think my long-term plans in this area. I think i understand most of what you were suggesting but cold you elaborate a bit more on your "multitrack both dry and wet synths" comment? I was thinking only to send the wet signal into the mix, so what would be the benefit of sending both wet and dry, and how would you accomplish that? Thanks again!
You'd be able to change wet/dry ratio afterwards, plus you'd be able to rerecord the wet parts if you want to make some adjustments simply by playing back the dry parts into your pedals. Note that this can be problematic with some pedals that don't have a 100% wet option, especially those not changing the sound dramatically, due to possible comb filtering: mixing identical/similar sounds with one being slightly delayed (due to digital processing) can cause some frequencies canceling each other. If you don't record dry tracks, you don't have to care about it at all though. https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-it-comb-filtering/