Bug (loud bursts) when using Nano Cortex in the effects loop? Update: FIXED!

Nano Cortex
1

I have a Mesa Bandleader, and have been attempting to use the Nano Cortex in the effects loop for delay and reverb effects. This is a two channel amp, I have one channel setup for a clean tone, and the other channel setup for a high gain tone. On the Nano Cortex, I have bypassed everything except fx blocks 4 and/or 5. What I have discovered is that if I have a delay or reverb set at a fairly high mix (say 40%+) and switch amp channels from dirty to clean, I get a very loud burst of the effect. It’s like very loud… maybe 1.5x or 2x as loud as the core sound on either channel.

So playing the channels individually, the levels sound fine. Switching from high gain to low gain is brutally loud for a moment, then once the reverb/delay trail settles down, the volume is fine again. This happens with the effect trails setting both on and off. This is not usable this way… which means I am going to have to add a separate delay and reverb pedal, which is disappointing.

Has anyone else seen this? Can someone else test to confirm if this is a real bug, or just me? Am I missing a setting somewhere?

2

Replying to my own thread because I figured out the problem. It turns out my amp has the master volume after the effects loop, and since the clean channel is set at a much higher master volume than the gain channel, it results in a high volume burst from the delay/reverb repeats when switching channels. Possible solutions include:

  • Set the master volume the same for both channels, and use different clean/dirty presets that have an EQ at the beginning of the signal chain to equalize the volume in the loop between the two channels.
  • Add a switchable EQ pedal at the beginning of the loop to essentially do the similar as the previous idea, but now you don’t need different NanoCortex presets for your clean/dirty channels.
  • Since my amp has a build-in load and IR, I am putting the NanoCortex after the amp instead of in the effects loop. This won’t work when playing through a cab, but it can work for playing into an interface or FRFR speakers.
2 Likes