Using both an Aux switch and an Expression pedal with H9 - Eventide Audio

Using both an Aux switch and an Expression pedal with H9

A Factor pedal has both an AUX and an EXP socket, so both an Expression pedal and 1-3 Aux Switches can be connected. In contrast, an H9 has a single EXP socket, but if the instructions below are followed, it is possible to connect both a single Aux Switch and an Expression pedal.

There are really too many possible combinations of pedals, switches and cables for us to deal with each one individually. So, we would suggest you follow the guidelines below and be aware that we cannot give advice on other configurations.

1. You must use H9 software V4.8 or above

Connecting both a pedal and a switch requires that UTILS/EXPTIP be set to BOTH. This was not fully supported on earlier versions.

2a. You can use a Y-cable with a stereo (TRS) plug on one end (goes to H9) and two mono plugs (TS) on the other end.

This cable is sometimes sold as an Insert cable. We would suggest the Hosa STP-201 (or 202 or 203), which is widely available in lengths between 3 and 10 feet. The TS connecting to the TIP of the TRS goes to the expression pedal (the tip is the red plug on the above cable). Note that if you use a stereo TRS to TRS, the pedal and switch may interact in strange and mysterious ways.

2b. Or alternatively, instead of using a Y-Cable, you can use a Barn 3 OX9

The OX9 is a 2 button aux switch with a jack for an expression pedal.  So, it can either be used in aux switch mode with both of its switches controlling H9 pedal functions, or it can be used in BOTH mode where it’s left most aux switch is assignable to an H9 pedal function and an expression pedal can be connected through its expression pedal jack.  Please visit the OX9 product page for more information about this product.

3. You should use an expression pedal rather than a volume pedal.

If you use the second, you may find that it goes 0-100-0 as you swing the pedal. Further, many Volume pedals have too high an impedance, meaning that the pedal will only operate over part of its range – the impedance should ideally be between 10K and 25K. You may need to use the UTILS/PEDALCAL feature to get the full control range.

You can turn a volume pedal into an expression pedal by cutting the wire that goes from one end of the pot to the ring (center) connector on the jack. Alternately, some volume pedals have separate input and output jacks – in this case, connect to the output jack. Many pedals have range adjustment knobs – set this so that the display reads as low as possible when the pedal is fully depressed.

Examples of suitable pedals are:

Expression: Line-6 EX-1. This is a very simple lightweight pedal which is easy to use in this application. Be aware that many expression pedals are hugely over-complex things which can be hard to set up.

Volume: Ernie Ball 6181 25K VP/JR. Connect to the OUT jack. Note that the similar 6180 part has a 250K impedance which is too high.

4. You should use a momentary (non-latching footswitch)

An example of a suitable simple footswitch is the Boss FS-5U. This has a polarity switch which should be set to the right when facing it. We do not currently recommend that the AUX switch be used for TAP when a pedal is also connected.