HD500 as midi controller

  • That's exactly what I was concerned about the- double AD/DA conversion. I'm have the HD setup for stomp boxes on the KPA for FS1-4. Due to the HD needing stomps in those slots, I'm thinking I may need a work-around- maybe noise gates set to do nothing.


    Love the tuner on the KPA but hate to turn around onstage & deal with it- floor is so much easier. Still haven't figured out where I'm putting it since I'm going straight to FOH with no cab. Have to find some type of stand.


    This unit is a godsend for me as I have a broken back & neck so lugging gear is a thing of the past for me!

  • Hmm, that sounds like an interesting solution. Is there any signal loss/sound quality issues you notice?

    I have plugged direct into the KPA to compare but didn't notice a difference. I'm also using a JTV Variax via VDI into the HD so that another big reason I've kept it in my signal chain.


    Cheers,


    jayson

  • Just bought the Kemper Rack. Love it! I have the HD500 as a controller. Do you know how to:


    - Switch of the delay with the HD500?
    - I have a tremolo that is assigned to a pedal on the HD500. Every time I load the rig the tremolo is on - no matter if the FS-button is on or off. How can I fix this?


    Thank you in advance

  • Just bought the Kemper Rack. Love it! I have the HD500 as a controller. Do you know how to:


    - Switch of the delay with the HD500?
    - I have a tremolo that is assigned to a pedal on the HD500. Every time I load the rig the tremolo is on - no matter if the FS-button is on or off. How can I fix this?


    Thank you in advance


    Hi! ;)
    You need to assign an HD 500 switch to send CC #26 (mute the trails) or #27 (keep the trails) to switch your delay.
    As for the tremolo: Is that rig saved with Tremolo status on or off? In your case it should be switched off otherwise it will be engaged when calling up the rig.

  • Ok great!


    Concerning the tremolo, it doesn't matter whether it's on or off. When I select that rig from the HD500, the tremolo is always on.

  • Ok great!


    Concerning the tremolo, it doesn't matter whether it's on or off. When I select that rig from the HD500, the tremolo is always on.


    Hmm... This means the HD 500 sends a CC # when sending a PC for the first time.
    This CC is not assigned to the tremolo but to the slot the tremolo sits in (e.g 17= Stomp A, 18=B etc.)
    Can you check in the HD's midi settings what gets sent?
    You can also monitor midi traffic by using a tool like midi ox.

  • Troy, make sure you send CC #68 in order to REALLY control delay mix.
    When you send CC #27, which is also (erroneously!) called 'Delay mix' you toggle delay on and off while keeping the trails.
    Kemper should rename the CC#27 to 'delay switch keep trails' ASAP.


    Yes! Victory! Thanks, Ingolf.

  • Another quick question;


    Is there a a way to use the HD500's expression the way it works in the HD500. IN other words, volume till you hot the toe switch then wah without volume. Cn this be done without using a stomp block?

  • Another quick question;


    Is there a a way to use the HD500's expression the way it works in the HD500. IN other words, volume till you hot the toe switch then wah without volume. Cn this be done without using a stomp block?


    Yes and it works wery good indeed.


    on the Kemper make sure to go to Rig and set volume to pre and lock it there, also make sure to have a wah in stomp A and under wah menu set pedal mode to on.
    wah on stomp A has to be saved to rig as off (get switch on by tue switch when switching to exp 2 on the HD500)


    read the first post in this thread

  • Maybe I'm not understanding.


    I am trying to use the internal expression pedal; i.e. the one with the toe switch that is built into the HD500.


    I want the volume to work normally. Then when I hit the toe switch it turns the volume pedal off and turns on the wah.


    RIght now, I can get the toe switch to turn on the wah. But the volume pedal stays on going up and down. I can bypass the volume pedal function for just the wah and that works great.


    In other words. I have to pick wah or volume for expression 1. (I have exp 2 tied up doing something else)


    What am I missing?

  • i just want to say thanks. i would have been completely lost without this thread. instead, i now have my hd500 set up exactly how i want it using the great information i found here. very easy to follow walkthroughs.


  • With 2.0 you can map the Volume Pedal (CC1) to Wah.

  • I have my HD500X connected to my Kemper as a foot controller and it toggles the FX in the Kemper on and off correctly. It does not light up on the HD500X to reflect the status of the FX.....should it do this or is data only going one way from HD500X to Kemper? I have both Midi in/out connected.


    Thanks,
    Derek

  • I have my HD500X connected to my Kemper as a foot controller and it toggles the FX in the Kemper on and off correctly. It does not light up on the HD500X to reflect the status of the FX.....should it do this or is data only going one way from HD500X to Kemper? I have both Midi in/out connected.


    Thanks,
    Derek


    They don't sync automatically. You have to save the preset in the pod hd500x in order to reflect the status on the KPA.

  • ----Figured it out, thanks :) -----


    Thanks. Apart from the saving the status of the effect on/off, should the lights on the HD500 footswitches ever change? Right now they function perfectly to turn an effect on and off but the light on the footswitch itself is always off.


    Thanks,
    D

  • Mmm, I think they should, but maybe they need to have an FX assigned in the POD.
    Try this:
    a) create a patch on the POD HD;
    b) put some FX on the slots of the HD and assign them to the footswitches;
    c) assign the right CC to the footswitches in order to control the KPA;
    d) turn on the FX in the pedalboard in order to match the corresponding rig in the KPA;
    e) save the patch in the POD HD.

  • I have an HD500 but haven't turned it on since getting the Kemper. Eventually going to do a 4CM and MIDI control...


    anyway, lots of good info in this thread. trying to summarize for wikpa...


    1) FX Slots don't match KPA status - There is no two-way communication between KPA and Pod. The Pod patch that corresponds to the KPA rig must have the corresponding footswitches assigned to dummy effects on the Pod, and the Pod effects must be set to on/off status to match the corresponding Stomp on the KPA when the Pod patch is saved. Pod must have a dummy effect attached to that footswitch for it to light on - otherwise the light will always be off even if it successfully changes the state of the KPA effect. If using 4CM or something where the signal is passing through the Pod, the best option is a "Volume Pedal" with Level at 100% and turn off any expression pedal control or a Noise Gate with Threshold of 0% - these should be completely transparent when on. These must be toggled on/off and saved as a patch to the Pod to match the initial status of the corresponding rig on the Kemper. For example, if KPA Rig has desired effects in stomps A, B, C, and D, but only A is initially turned on, and these are controlled by Pod switches FS1, FS2, FS3, FS4, all switches must be assigned to an effect in the Pod, and the FS1 effect must be turned on and all others off when the patch is saved to the Pod.


    2) Change Pod Expression Pedal functionality after using Toe Switch - the Pod automatically switchs from EXP-1 to EXP-2 (or vice versa) when a secondary expression pedal is not connected to the Pod. EXP-1 and EXP-2 can be assigned to different MIDI CC assignments. The Toe Switch is also just another footswitch and can be assigned to work like other footswitches, toggling effects on the KPA. This means you could additionally use it to toggle effects. If you have a secondary expression pedal connected to the Pod, the internal switch will remain on EXP-1. Since you can only assign this to control one MIDI CC on the KPA, you probably cannot use the toe switch to completely switch functionality (from controlling volume to wah, for instance); however, if you had two different Wah effects on the KPA, you could toggle which one you control. I believe this would allow you to switch from Wah to Pedal Pitch control, for instance. Beyond this, you have to use different patches/rigs.


    3) The Pod's MIDI Program Change (PC) signals are hard-coded and cannot be changed. 1a = 1, 1b = 2 ... 16d = 64. This means you are limited to a maximum of 64 different rigs you can access on the KPA via the Pod HD500. This seems like the biggest limitation of the unit for KPA control.


    4) To make things simple, you can load up a single patch in HD Edit with a transparent Volume Pedal or Noise Gate in all slots, assigned to FS1 - 8, and sending MIDI CC's to Stomps A - D, X, Mod, Delay, Reverb. Then copy this patch over EVERY patch on the Pod for that setlist. Now go through your patches one-by-one, and for each footswitch check to make sure the on/off status on the Pod matches the KPA. If it doesn't, press the footswitch on the Pod, save the patch on the Pod (not the KPA), and reload the patch - everything should match up now.


    5) The Pod can not only serve as a MIDI controller but an effects processor. You can hook up the KPA in the Pod's FX Loop via the 4 cable method to add an additional 8 effects. Signal loss/increased noise is reportedly insignificant. This adds a surprising amount of flexibility, especially for post effects, where there are currently only two wildcards. Now you can place delay or reverb anywhere in the chain. You can also take advantage of the HD's parallel processing...or the synth/filter effects. You could even use an Pod HD amp model like a traditional OD to goose the Kemper's amp profile. You can add solo boosts or a bunch of EQ's to any patch without worry of running out of post effects. You have more distortion effects available. You also gain a Looper!


    6) The tap tempo button can be assigned to tap tempo on the KPA.


    7) The KPA's tuner can be accessed by the Pod HD, but it will have to mapped via MIDI CC to its own footswitch - it cannot be triggered by double-tapping a footswitch or by holding down a footswitch unfortunately.


    8 ) The Pod's Looper button is assignable, and makes a nice way to access the KPA tuner if you aren't otherwise using the looper.


    9) The Pod offers two footswitch modes: ABCD and FS5-FS8. In both modes, FS1-FS4 are freely assignable to any MIDI CC #. In ABCD mode, FS5-FS8 always send program changes - they will change patches on the Pod HD as well as trigger a MIDI PC on the KPA. In FS5-FS8 mode, FS5-FS8 will only change Pod patches and send MIDI PC messages after you have pressed bank up/down. Thus, to change from patch 1A to 1B in FS5-FS8 mode, you'd have to press bank up (bank 2), then bank down (back to bank 1), then FS6 (B). The advantage of ABCD mode is that you can change patches with one button press. The advantage of FS5-FS8 mode is that all 8 footswitches can be used to toggle effects on the KPA.


    Let me know if I missed anything or if something is incorrect - I did not repeat which MIDI CC#'s correspond to which function on the KPA, because that's already listed in on wikpa.org