Jarick
Rock Star
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- 3,534
Out of curiosity, I did a quick shootout this morning.
Set up in Logic Pro four tracks with the Axe FX 3 USB input. For the first three tracks, I used the guitar DI signal through a plugin (amp only) through an Impulsive IR loader. For the fourth track, I ran an amp block in the Fractal into the Impulsive IR loader. Basically, same guitar signal through three different plugins and the Axe FX, all into the same IR.
Helix Native (Brit 2204) was obviously quite high gain and I had to drop it back to about 2, but it was also really dark sounding and kind of fuzzy/choppy in the gain. Sounded better if you crank the treble/presence and drop the bass/mids but it's definitely different.
ML Amped 800 had the bright high end but was lacking a lot of bass. Gain was a little hot but not as much as the Helix. Didn't spend much time here due to the annoying intermittent muting of the trial.
NDSP Tim Henson is pretty balanced with a bit of a mid scoop. Gain was the lowest of the four and had to be brought up to at least 3:00 for crunch. It had the high end bite you expect from an 800 but seemed to add back a little bit of the low end to balance it out. Not sure if that's a mod or not, but very pleasant sounding.
Fractal Brit 800 was very close to the NDSP but more balanced without the mid scoop. I was surprised because normally I find it to be very bright but in comparison to the rest, it's quite balanced. Had to bump the gain up to about 6.
All four cleaned up pretty well with the volume knob.
Now the closest thing I found to the Fractal Brit 800 in Helix was the Placater. Leave the fat and C45 switches on, drop the gain a bit, cut back the bass to about 2 and the mid a little to taste, and boost the treble and presence up to 6. Very much in the ballpark. Now with the volume knob down it tends to be fuller than the 800 which gets bright, but in a mix it should be close.
Very impressed by the NDSP though, despite all the bad press, it's a great sounding plugin for the 800 thing.
Set up in Logic Pro four tracks with the Axe FX 3 USB input. For the first three tracks, I used the guitar DI signal through a plugin (amp only) through an Impulsive IR loader. For the fourth track, I ran an amp block in the Fractal into the Impulsive IR loader. Basically, same guitar signal through three different plugins and the Axe FX, all into the same IR.
Helix Native (Brit 2204) was obviously quite high gain and I had to drop it back to about 2, but it was also really dark sounding and kind of fuzzy/choppy in the gain. Sounded better if you crank the treble/presence and drop the bass/mids but it's definitely different.
ML Amped 800 had the bright high end but was lacking a lot of bass. Gain was a little hot but not as much as the Helix. Didn't spend much time here due to the annoying intermittent muting of the trial.
NDSP Tim Henson is pretty balanced with a bit of a mid scoop. Gain was the lowest of the four and had to be brought up to at least 3:00 for crunch. It had the high end bite you expect from an 800 but seemed to add back a little bit of the low end to balance it out. Not sure if that's a mod or not, but very pleasant sounding.
Fractal Brit 800 was very close to the NDSP but more balanced without the mid scoop. I was surprised because normally I find it to be very bright but in comparison to the rest, it's quite balanced. Had to bump the gain up to about 6.
All four cleaned up pretty well with the volume knob.
Now the closest thing I found to the Fractal Brit 800 in Helix was the Placater. Leave the fat and C45 switches on, drop the gain a bit, cut back the bass to about 2 and the mid a little to taste, and boost the treble and presence up to 6. Very much in the ballpark. Now with the volume knob down it tends to be fuller than the 800 which gets bright, but in a mix it should be close.
Very impressed by the NDSP though, despite all the bad press, it's a great sounding plugin for the 800 thing.
