Would a buffer help in my effects loop?

*bump*

Yeah has anybody else done this? Ive only had a buffer in front of the amp
 
my time factor has a buffer but its nearly at the end of the loop and I have the patch bay that everything runs through too,
 
thats what I don't know. Sometimes it matters what is before or after the buffer but I don't totally udnerstand how it works.
 
Mark Wein said:
thats what I don't know. Sometimes it matters what is before or after the buffer but I don't totally udnerstand how it works.
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it's a signal re-charger. so you get signal loss with all those connections in and out, right? having a buffer makes sure the signal is at the proper strength to go through the cabling. so the conventional wisdom is to put it at the end. but if you've got buffers periodically throughout your signal chain, then it doesn't matter.
 
I need to play with switching the timefactor buffer off and on and seeing if that makes a difference.
 
Mark Wein said:
I need to play with switching the timefactor buffer off and on and seeing if that makes a difference.
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i always forget you can switch the buffer in those things. i should try that. maybe it'll remove the high end harshness i'm getting when i use the pitchfactor after dirt.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
i always forget you can switch the buffer in those things. i should try that. maybe it'll remove the high end harshness i'm getting when i use the pitchfactor after dirt.
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thats one of the neat things about those pedals. The Suhr Koko boost does the same thing.
 
Loops are low impedance so I don't think I'd worry about the cable runs. It's the high impedance run of cable into the front end that is the killer.
 
Unless all of your effects are true-bypass switched you have buffer in the signal path. Many guitar cables and the wire used in effects is 22 gauge. The resistance of 30 feet of wire is ~ 0.48 ohms. This resistance is added to the ~ 60,000 - 75,000 ohms of resistance in the signal path prior to the pre-amp stage. IMHO cable and effects signal path resistance has no affect on signal loss. Unless your cable lengths are 1000s of feet, it is completely swapped by the input resistance of the pre-amp stage in the amp.
 
telecaster911 said:
Loops are low impedance so I don't think I'd worry about the cable runs. It's the high impedance run of cable into the front end that is the killer.
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It is as Tele mentions however there are other considerations to note.

1) Sends and returns have adjustable levels to compensate for losses and balancing when the loop is being used.
2) Most loops send out line level signals

Instrument buffers are not line level signal devices but are instrument level devices.

Here is a breakdown of signals used in the world of audio.

+4 dBu is "professional" line level, common in modern pro recording gear, and it is about 1.25 V.
0 dBv is an average line level, typical output from rackmount guitar/bass preamps.
-10 dBu is "consumer" line level, common with older and cheaper recording gear.
-20 dBu is roughly in the neighborhood of a typical instrument's output.
-30 dBu is again in the neighborhood of a typical microphone or DI box's output.
However, instruments and microphones can have a very wide range of output levels in reality, so it is most practical to think of instrument-level and mic-level in/outputs as just "a lot lower than line level", rather than calculating specific dB amounts.
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http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/linelevel.shtml
 
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