Boss ES-8 Parallel loops help!!!!!

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NoodlerKS

NoodlerKS

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Got a new ES-8. Just playing around with some of the loop functionality and I decided to try a Timmy (L1) and OCD (L2) in parallel to see what would happen. I'm not sure if I'm missing something but it cuts the gain down a ton. Maybe I am misinterpreting the idea of this? I was hoping to have my signal split and go to the two pedals and then sum afterwards. I understand how the signal could be weak due to the split but I find it unusable.

I've done some looking online and the only thing I notice that is different is the icon on the display screen where the paralleled pedals (L1,L2) outputs has a I above it. It could be that the tutorial videos are using firmware version 1 and I updated mine to version2. I'll attach a pic of the icon.

I also planned on using the parallel loops in my efx loop for delay and reverb. I have same result. HUGE volume drop. I tried turning up the Mixer 1 gain to 0 and no difference.

I have to be missing something. So far everything I've tried is unusable. Please help.
 

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I think I figured out the that I in the picture stands for mixer 1. O

One thing I forgot to mention. I'm getting a ton of dry signal with this setting. I have no idea why. The signal should only be going to the two dist/od pedals.
 
You´re getting tons of phase cancellation. The only stuff you can have in parallel to a straight dry signal is units that put out 100% wet, such as reverbs and delays with kill-dry. As soon as you have dry signal in two places at once you´re phasing out most of it. This is racks 101, but not that common an issue for the pedal folks out there.
 
only 100 percent wet modulation fx in parallel loop, delay, chorus, reverb, phase.
 
I understand what you mean when it comes to a series fx loop vs a parallel fx loop but I don't understand how it applies to the ES-8. I put a reverb in loop 8 and a delay in loop 7 and put them both in kill dry mode. Now I'm obviously not getting any dry signal. I want the dry signal also. I tried with only one pedal in kill dry and it seems to have better results.

My goal was to have a reverb and delay on at the same time but I don't want my delay completely dry with no reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpJcnMHUEL8. I've watched this video (start at 7:40) and it seems that it is more to do with the pedals than the ES-8. Especially digital which makes since due to latency causing the two summed signals to be phasey.

It looks like this might be my answer....just disappointed. Parallel loops on this thing look good on paper but are pretty much useless.
 
Yeah, if you put series loops in kill-dry you are not going to get any dry coming out. If I look at the picture up there loops 7 and 8 are serial. The only parallel connection I see is loops 1 and 2. My hunch is that both the ES8 and the pedals work just fine.
 
I should've mentioned that when I tried the reverb and delay that I made sure the correct loops were in parallel. The picture was in reference to my first post. I do think the ES-8 is fine too but I think some pedals work better in parallel (probably analog) than others.
 
Sorry, I just realized that the ES8 doesn´t carry the dry internally past the parallel connections. That´s just...wow. An inspired choice, to say the least. It´s only the loops that are in parallel to eachother. So if you want your effects to affect eachother ("I don't want my delay completely dry with no reverb") you should just use them as regular stompboxes carrying both wet and dry with the loops in series configuration and forget about the parallel configuration since it´s just there to place an effect in isolation from another.

Analog stuff rarely gets to properly 100% wet, by the way, digital is almost always better in that regard. If you examine how a big rack (or even a studio in some regards) is set up you´ll see tons of digital stuff running parallel to a single analog dry line with zero issues. Phasing is only a thing when you have multiple copies of the same signal running around =)
 
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