HT Dual into front of the amp or fx-loop

[mindwalker]

Hey guys,

I've recently got hold of an HT Dual pedal. Since the HT-5 I already have needed to be repaired after less than 2 years, and knowing how the power tube in the HT-5 is rare (plus I want to experiment with something different), I've decided to try to keep the HT tone but to run it through a different amp (and sell the HT-5 later), thus = HT Dual pedal (HT5's preamp they say) + another amp.

I've tried running the HT Dual pedal into my recently acquired ENGL Ironball in 2 ways: front of the amp, and fx-loop return. And I'm not really satisfied with either of them. Front of the amp on the clean channel sounds OK if a bit muffled... I need to play a bit with the EQ to balance things a bit but that's to be expected since the clean channel of the amp is coloring the sound. But then when I ran it into the FX-loop of the amp I was expecting to be able to get the true tone of the pedal, powered by the ENGL's pair of EL84s. To my surprise, it sounded even more muffled (like it had a blanket on top) than in front of the amp.

Has anyone experienced something similar and perhaps can chime in on the reason why it doesn't perform as expected (to me at least) via the FX-loop ? Would it sound better via a dedicated power amp ?

Thanks a lot for any tips guys!

[SydneyPC1]

Since I sold my HT-5 I have been using the HT-Dual straight into a small mixer then into a pair of studio monitors. Sometimes with FX pedals or a multi before or after the Pedal. I have always used the emulated out as it replaces the need for dragging around a cab.

These days tho I just use a guitar software program for practice and recording. They all come with loads of FX and sound great to my ears. Still for live its my HT-50 head and a HTV-212 (loaded with V30's)

One thing I have noticed about this forum is that Blackstar owners are players. Not interested in talking about gear as much as using it.

Good Luck

[nkay]

I use mine in the loop of my Marshall JVM. I tried it in front of a clean channel setting, but it just didn't sound very good and the noise was crazy.

My best setup so far is into the loop (plug the output of the pedal into your FX return), I use a Bad Monkey to boost the Blackstar a bit to get some tightness. Through the loop it is very bassy, so I turn the bass on the pedal down to 3-4, mids usually a bit scooped at 3-4, and treble very high. I use the ISF in the middle. I have to dial in a bit more presence on the amp itself to get the cut I want.

I don't really use it as my main sound, I use my Marshall. I bought the pedal to act as a backup "amp/preamp" that I can plug into the loop of whatever amp I have, or go emulated output in a real bad situation where the power amp is down as well. But I do like it on it's own, a bit more darker thicker than the usual Marshall sound and it has nice pick attack.