Resurect an ART SGX2000 via the loop?

[otherusername]

For nostalgia I'd like to get more use out of an SGX2000 but most of my dirt sounds end up with an oboe-ish slant that is nice for a niche but creeps in too often. I know another preamp is obvious but I thought I'd add a MIDI controlled stompbox in Loop1 instead of a rack preamp or my amps preamp section.

Maybe a:

TC Nova Drive
Rocktron Cyborg Distortion
Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion or Pro Classic distortion
Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic Distortion Pedal (no MIDI )

The Twin tube sounds great on youtube clips but lacks MIDI control. Could I get enough gain and tone variety before and after the loop to effectively replace the on pedal controls via the SGX2000 and get good variety of tube clipping? I don't know about line vs instrument levels in this combination.

Youtube clips of the TC Nova drive are nice to my ears and I'd get TS9-ish and Rat-ish new sounds. What about the levels here?

The Rocktron and Soundblox youtube clips are disappointing to me in that all three pedals have all those various tone picks but they sure sound the same to me in the clips. Again, what about levels?

So, one, has anyone been successful with adding good dirt in the SGX2000 loop? What did you use?

And, two, are the Rocktron and Soundblox clips poor or are the presents on these units all in a narrow range in your experience?

[forum_crawler]

The Nova Drive would be a nice midi addition to your arsenal. It does the TS/RAT thing very well. It is refined, and its routing capabilities do make it very versatile. I wouldn't call it a high gainer by any stretch of the imagination, but I would say that if you want some classic rock sounds, the ND-1 will be able to provide them for you.