Hard Panning Tracks L/R for effects loop: Reverb still usable?

Elektron Gear Model:Samples
#1

Hi, I’m advising my friend on a potential Model:Samples purchase and I had a question about the panning feature when used in conjunction with the onboard effects.

My friend has a Kaoss Pad he likes to use for effects and one-shot samples during performances, and his current drum machine (the ancient SR-16) conveniently offers assignable outputs that allow him to route some of the drum sounds through the Kaoss Pad and others directly into the mixer without effects. While the Model:Samples doesn’t have proper assignable outputs, it does have a pan feature that can be used to send specific tracks through the left or right line outputs.

This will allow for two separate mono outputs, which is not a particularly big loss as the M:S only allows for mono samples anyway. While the Kaoss Pad has plenty of stereo effects to spice things up for one of the outputs, my question is about the other one that will be sent to the mixer/interface without outboard effects.

I would suspect that the internal delay will not “bleed” over into the other output when hard panned, meaning it won’t be heard in the signal that’s being sent to the Kaoss Pad. However, if my experience with the Model:Cycles carries over, the internal reverb is always stereo, meaning some of the reverberated signal will always be heard in both outputs even when tracks are hard panned to separate sides. However, I don’t have access to a Model:Samples to test this and be absolutely certain myself, so I just wanted to ask here first to confirm.

The obvious solution (if mono reverb isn’t possible) is to set the reverb send for both tracks to zero and just use outboard effects for that, whether that’s via hardware or post processing. Better to have working internal delay rather than reverb, after all, as the delay can be sync’d to sequencer tempo and/or external clock, whereas the reverb is just textural icing on the cake, so to speak.

However, I just wanted to double check so I can give my friend an informed opinion. Thanks in advance!

#2

There‘s one Digitakt in my setup that‘s split into this dual mono configuration. I‘ll keep using the term Digitakt, but same should apply for the Models

If you manage the gainstaging and signal inversion and whatever, you essentially turn the pan parameter into another effects send for the Digitakt.

The reverb can be nice to use as a sort of texture bleeding (in a technical and poetical sense?) from one channel into the other. So there‘s still some post processing of channel A audible on channel B, but different than simply the pan control, kinda smeared a little. Nice to give things some glue and not have the channels be so strictly separated.

It can get dirty pretty quickly though, depending on the post processing that‘s coming down the signal chain. I found myself using the reverb not as much anymore as on a standard stereo configuration on the Digitakt, but I use lots of overdrive/bitcrushing/resonant filtering, so things are bound to get dirty. The Digitakt reverb isn‘t really a viable reverb to me anymore haha, but it still might work perfectly fine for what you‘re gonna do.

Also, a hard panned pingpong delay can be pretty cool.

Also also, the LFO on the pan setting is something I use a lot! Especially as a sort of additional envelope on panning. The first clicky transient of a drum stays on the clean channel, the tail then gets panned/sent to the effects-channel.

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#3

The delay, reverb, and panning options are exactly the same on both machines. So whatever is or isn’t possible on one will translate to the other. Hope that helps.

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