Synth pedals like the BOSS SY-200 with QC

Quad Cortex
1

I use my Strymon Timeline and Bigsky in the FX loop of the QC, stereo out, then back to the QC in stereo.
Now I got a BOSS SY-200 synth pedal, where in the chain should I place it?

Keeping the stereo would be ideal…

Thanks for your help!

2

You have 2 effects loops. Traditionally modulation/synth goes before delay & reverb but place it wherever you want to give you the sound(s) you’re looking for.

You have 2 options.
A:) Separate the Boss and run it in a stereo loop 1;
Shift over your Strymon pedals to stereo loop 2
(or reverse this order to not go conventional)

B: Just place the Boss in front of your Strymon timeline in the same loop (daisy chain).

3

@andycoalter, I think that’s a misunderstanding of the QC’s effects loops and what the OP is asking. Each of FX loops are mono, not stereo. If someone wants to hook up external effects in stereo, they have to use FX Loops 1 & 2 together.

@t2t2 It sounds like you’re using both the FX Loops 1 & 2 on the QC to run stereo on your Timeline and Big Sky, correct? And the SY-200 is mono but you’re trying to keep the stereo operation of your Strymons; is this what you’re getting at?

4

@DiffractionCircuit My mistake. My understanding is that you can run stereo each loop using a TRS → 2 TS “Y” cable in the send and return; I could be totally wrong though.

This is the method I use for a GFI Specular tempus and GFI Synesthesia and can get left → right panning effects.
Maybe what I’m doing isn’t “true” stereo as the OP is requesting.

1 Like
5

Here’s a separate discussion (and feature request) on that topic. Currently there’s not a way to use stereo “Y” cables in the QC’s FX Loops.

Ultimately it may come down to the hardware level. If each FX Loop only has a single set of DAC / ADC converters, then they’re forever mono. If each FX Loop has a dual set of these converters, then theoretically each of those jacks could handle stereo. Neural hasn’t confirmed whether this is the case (and it’s a little bit of a niche topic), but I think we’re just stuck with mono.

3 Likes
6

best bet is probably to run the Boss into the front of the QC, input 1 or 2.

If you could get by with the FX loop being mono out and stereo in, you could use Send 2 to go to the BOSS and loop back in with a different input.

2 Likes
7

That’s exactly right, looking to keep the stereo operation of my Strymons :wink:

8

Interesting, I haven’ thought of that… unfortunately I have some stereo blocks that I like running into the Strymons. I guess the only solution would be having it in front of the QC, input 1. I’ll loose some functionality but I guess that’s the only way.

9

unless you’re willing to split your signal before the QC; have DI guitar going into QC In1 and guitar > BOSS pedal > QC In2.
Then you could merge a fully wet/%100 mix of the Synth pedal back into Lane 1 at any point you wanted.

If any of those outputs on the BOSS could be used as a dry DI out, you could use the pedal itself as the splitter (apparently you can do that): https://support.roland.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408012310171-SY-200-Outputting-the-direct-and-effect-sound-separately