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Boss ES-8 & Neuro Hub routing?

M

Murphbass

Jun 12, 2005
151
58
Sacramento, CA
#1
After years of poorly assembled pedalboards that inevitably failed sometime during every gig, I have assembled a Rockboard with the Boss ES-8 at its heart. Among the pedals on the board are MIDI controllable effects such as the Eventide H9, Future Impact, and Source Audio Lunar, After Shock and EQ2. I have the Neuro Hub and have successfully programmed usable sounds as well as set up program change messages from the ES8.

However, I have the Hot Hand and am wondering how best to wire the MIDI section of my board. I would like to be able to use patch editors for the ES8, Source Audio Effects, H9 and Future Impact. Hopefully, I can configure it so that I plug in my computer to the MIDI (or USB?) port on the MOD port and can access all the pedals.

Should I place the Neuro Hub first since it will have the Hot Hand input (I'd like to be able to use it to control any MIDI pedal)? If so, will I be able to use an expression pedal into the ES8 to control MIDI CCs for the Source Audio pedals? This is the crux of the problem: How do I use the Hot Hand to control any pedal on the board (not just Source Audio) while being able to send signals from the ES8 (program change as well as the MIDI output from an expression pedal) to the Neuro Hub? Is this a loop that can't work? Will I need a MIDI splitter?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
#2
Best routing would be es8 > hub > future impact > h9

hub likes to be first in a chain, or else some funky things can happen. H9 is known for corrupting midi messages on their way thru to the next device, so it’s best at the end.

unfortunately, there’s no way to get both expression and hot hand for cc messages and still retain control of other downstream devices. The hub is able to convert its expression and hot hand input into ccs, but you must configure it to midi out when doing this, meaning you won’t be able to communicate with those downstream devices from your es8, the one way around this would be to use a midi merge box and splitter around the hub. So es8 to splitter, one side to hub, the other side to merge, set hub to midi out only, then connect to merge, then the future impact and h9 after the merge.

Also, hub and boss controllers have been known to have some issues playing together, you’ll need to set a few things correctly for them to play nice.

If not working properly, you’ll need to update the Neuro Hub's firmware using the Neuro desktop editor. Connect the Hub over USB and select the downward pointing arrow icon in the left-hand margin to begin the update process.

If there is still no progress, give these steps a try:
• Ensure the Hub is the first device attached to the ES-8, ES-5, or MS-3. (It might help to disconnect all other MIDI devices beyond the Hub when setting up and testing)
• Set the MIDI channel on the Hub is set to 1. This will require the MIDI channel on the ES-8, ES-5, or MS-3 to be set to something else as 1 is its default.
• For any given patch created on the ES-8, ES-5, or MS-3 ensure the MIDI device channel is set to 1 (the Hub), the PC setting to the patch number in Soundbox Manager software, and the MSB (Most significant Bit) to ‘0’ (Zero).
• Set the CC1 (continuous control) and CC2 settings to ‘OFF.’ The CC1 and CC2 settings (and their associated variable 0-127) are for CTRL1 and CTRL2 inputs on the ES-8.
• LEAVE THE LSB PARAMETER (Least Significant Bit) to ‘OFF’ (The default).
Do all of the above for every patch.
 
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