AMPERO II STOMP, The Most Powerful Story Ever Told

Having a lack of money in an environment where people just seem to be wildly spending, and eventually the money shortage will start to flicker away.
I am writing this article in a bit of an emergency, but as the title says, my favorite multi-effects pedal, HOTONE - AMPERO II STOMP, has become a seriously unbeatable piece of equipment.

HOTONE / AMPERO II STOMP Amp Modeler & Effects Pedal

I will write later about what made it invincible and where it is not invincible, but let me start with an entity that cannot be left out of the story of how this happened.

This is the AMPERO II STAGE (hereafter referred to as “STAGE”), a latecomer to the AMPERO II STOMP.

HOTONE / AMPERO II STAGE

In a word, it is a model based on STOMP with an additional footswitch and enhanced I/O. By the way, it seems that the DA/AD converter has also been upgraded.

If that were all, I never would have said “wow” as I had just bought STOMP at the time of its release. But the reason why I was so worried about replacing STOMP was the existence of the “scene function”.

Many of you may have heard of the scene function. Yes, it is a function that is also included in the HX Stomp, the parent of the STOMP-type multi-effects pedals, as a “snapshot” function.

Line 6 / HX Stomp Multi-Effects Pedal

The scene function does not change the arrangement, number, or type of blocks in a patch, but it does allow you to turn blocks on and off and to call up different parameter settings. This may not sound that convenient, but the most valuable aspect of this function is that it does not cut off the sound.
The sound can be changed just like stepping on a switcher. However, unlike a switcher, the parameters can be changed. This is also amazing. (Of course you can change the parameters if it is a MIDI-compatible effects pedal, even if it is a switcher.)
For example, you can use one delay effect and change the delay time for each scene. You can also do various other things depending on your ideas, such as preparing an amp with increased gain instead of engaging effects pedals for soloing.
Of course, you could have two of the same model with different settings, but that would eat up DSP capacity, which is the fate of multi-effects pedals, so users have to be very careful about that.

I was really seething when I found out that such an extremely useful scene function was STAGE-only.
As I wrote in my review of STOMP, sound cutting and weak pitch effects were my problems and caused me dissatisfaction, so I wanted the scene function without sound cutting as much as I could get my hands on it.

It was April 25, three and a half months after the launch of STAGE.
I was using STOMP as usual, but it started acting strange for some reason, so I decided to re-install the firmware.
So, I went to the official HOTONE page and downloaded the latest version without looking at any details.

”...... Huh?”

The UI of STOMP had changed completely. However, the UI looked familiar.

Yes, it was STAGE, and it seemed that almost the same firmware as STAGE had come to STOMP.
When I noticed this, I checked that first.

“It has scenes! Kuriharaaaaaaaaaaaa！！！！！”
Roughly, I set the scene and fearfully stepped on the footswitch...

“No sound cut out! That's impossible!“

I looked up to the heavens and was amazed at how beautifully I was able to change tones.
What was even more astonishing was that within the patch, there was no sound cutoff even when individual blocks were turned on and off, not just when changing scenes. I had separate distortion pedals and amps for scene 1 and scene 2, and assigned a delay to the third footswitch.
Until then, I had to be very careful about when I stepped on the footswitch, because there was a disconnect that I could clearly hear regardless of whether I turned on the drive pedal in the patch or the FX loop.
My biggest problem has been solved.

And, as if on a side note, the behavior of the pitch effects has been improved. I felt a delay when adding octaves and hums, but that has improved considerably.
I don't know if DSP efficiency has been improved, but it seems that there is more room for the number of effects that can be used at the same time.

STOMP has been updated up to now,

• The sampling rate was fixed at 44.1 kHz, but now it can be selected up to 192 kHz (the AD/DA chip originally supported this, but the software seemed to limit it).
• Various effects were added sequentially. What a surprise, some of the effects on STAGE.
• The high quality amp model named “HQ” can even be used to select vacuum tubes.
• Scene function implemented (up to 3 scenes due to the footswitch).
• Sound breaks in the same patch have been eliminated.
• Improved tracking of pitch effects
• Improved DSP efficiency through renewal of firmware

I have done all of this. Also, all of this has happened in the six months since I had bought STOMP.
It has been updated many times since before then, and it is turning out to be a better and better piece of equipment.

I honestly can't complain when it comes to this point. I do have a complaint that the foot switches are so close together that I tend to press them at the same time, but that's just my poor stepping skills. If you can get such a good sound out of such a compact piece of equipment, it’s unwise to complain about it.
However, if you get carried away and choose too many heavy effects, you will end up overloading your system, so you need to be very careful when creating your sound. As I mentioned earlier, this is the fate of stomp-type multi-effects pedals, so it can't be helped. Let's face it head on with an open mind.

After this update, STOMP has become the most powerful multi-effects pedal, and I was thinking of leaving the role of un-simulation to Kemper Player, which was just released the other day, but now I'm not thinking at all. Rather, I've shifted my focus to using STOMP as a dedicated spatial, un-simulator, and IR loader by connecting it to the output of a switcher and controlling it with MIDI. Some distortion and most of the pitch system eat up a lot of DSP capacity, so I'm happy-happy-happy if I can cover it externally.

The image above is the board I'm aiming for right now; since I'm mostly copying UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, I can't leave out Whammy and Pitch Factor. I don't feel like I can play with the best sound if I just do this.

So the relationship between STOMP and STAGE may be similar to the relationship between HX Stomp and HX Stomp XL.

Line 6 / HX STOMP XL Multi-Effects Pedal

In the end, it may just be that the user should choose how he/she wants to use it.

This is the story of how the AMPERO II STOMP became a great piece of equipment.
Someday, I would like to write an article comparing stomp-type multitracks. (Don't tell anyone that I gave up while I was writing this article.)

But, HOTONE is too competent to make people buy STAGE, a latecomer to the market, and to pay attention to STOMP, too, isn't it?
When AMPERO III STOMP comes out, I'm sure I'll be the first to bite. I hope it doesn't come out for a while yet, though...

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