Using a Pedal Reverb instead of Plugin

Nola

Well-known member
Can anyone tell me how to put hardware (pedal) reverb onto a guitar track?
I use Cubase. My pedal is a Strymon Flint, and I have a reamp box. I'm just not sure how to route this in the daw. Also, will there be a time mismatch when the reverb signal comes back into the daw due to the reamping box process?
Thank you.
 
On the hardware side you just take a balanced output, go to the balanced input on the reamp box and then to the input of the pedal. Then you can either go to an instrument level from the pedal or use a DI box and go to a mic preamp. Depending on your interface it actually might be preferential to use a good DI box.

I would set it up as a send fx in cubase... but.

Need to know if you have cubase pro or not before I advise further. Cubase pro is the only version with extended I/O options.

As far as time issues go (the latency introduced by the loop above) cubase has built in compensation for this.
 
Hey thanks!
Yes, I have Cubase Pro 9.5. I'd be curious to hear the routing.

Do you know how Cubase accounts for the latency?
 
Since it's reverb, which is basically a delay type effect...any latency is irrelevant...it will just add that tiny bit more to the reverb effect, and nothing that would appear out of sync.
 
Cubase actually pings the loop, so you can turn off the pedal (just click it off, still letting dry signal through) and hit the ping button and the DAW will account for the time it takes to send the signal through the loop.

You have to ping it anytime you change buffer settings though.

I'll try and put up the steps to setup the loop when I get off work in a couple hours.
 
Would be easy if your mixer had a Send and Return ability for effects. That's the regular connection for it. Some mixers have it, some don't.
Perhaps an option for the future if you want to use it more?

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Sorry just got home. Ok here are the steps you fallow to set this up. You can then use the plugin on an FX track or as an insert on an audio track.

1. Pull up audio connections (Studio--->Audio Connections....)
2. Navigate to the External FX tab.
3. Hit the "Add Exteranl FX" button.
4. Name the FX, in your case I would call it "Strymon Flint"
5. In the case of this pedal I would personally set it up as Mono Send Configuration and Stereo Return Configuration.
6. Hit the "ok" button.

7. Now you have to connect your I/O the effect is using. Your Send bus should be the output you have on your audio interface that goes to the pedal. This is hardware dependent, so only you know what is correct here.
8. For the return bus, if you set it up as a stereo bus you need to set those 2 as the inputs you have the pedal connected to, again this is hardware dependent so only you know what is correct here again.


Once you have done this, cubase will create a folder in your plugins list. It will be called "external FX." Inside you will have a "plugin" (not really a plugin, but it loads like one) that handles the gain of both the send and return as well as the ping feature. The ping feature is the little sawtooth icon button at the top right hand corner of this "plugin."

To ping the signal path, hit the button with the pedal TURNED OFF but still passing signal. The idea is to have cubase measure how long it takes the loop to complete and compensate for the latency, it can't do that if the ping is wet with reverb. Also as stated above, you will want to re-ping any time you change your hardware buffer settings or TBH I would do it every time I opened the project to work on it.



Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Awesome! Thank you. I'll try it tomorrow.

Does the ping feature work this same way if reamping, too, to compensate for any time issue?
Would reamping a guitar basically be the same setup as above?
 
Awesome! Thank you. I'll try it tomorrow.

Does the ping feature work this same way if reamping, too, to compensate for any time issue?
Would reamping a guitar basically be the same setup as above?


TBH I have no idea. I've never looked into the delay of the reamp loop, but I doubt it more than a few samples at most.

I don't see why you couldn't do it that way, but I personally don't do it that way.


You know... now you got me curious. haha Might have to try it. I only have some cheap compressors/gates setup as external FX in cubase.
 
Also just want to say, if anyone finds this thread in the future and is wondering why they can't do this. YOU MUST HAVE CUBASE PRO IN ORDER TO HAVE THIS FEATURE!!!
 
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