Helix Oblivion Boost

[pipelineaudio]

Even at ten, Oblivion's boost is quieter than with it off. I realize some of the pedals are like this, but seems like there should be a range here

 

[eggpl@nt]

Even at ten, Oblivion's boost is quieter than with it off. I realize some of the pedals are like this, but seems like there should be a range here

View attachment 14696

Isn’t that only true if you’re not already compressing the shit out of the signal?

Do you observe the same behavior if you back the input gain way off?

 

[pipelineaudio]

let me do that one second

It is slightly louder at 10 on boost when amp gain is 0

Midrange reaches even with no boost at 5 boost sort of, though the highs and lows are lower

 

[ian_dissonance]

I wasn’t really a fan of that boost anyways. But maybe that’s why? I’m expecting to hear something different from boosting a high gain amp, but with my guitars all I get is some extra scratch and some muddy midrange.

 

[pipelineaudio]

The graphs seem to show exactly what you heard

 

[synthpenguin]

Isn't it more or less just the SD-1 model but built-in? Anyway, what you're showing is basically what I'd expect from that, and matches with the classic thrash theme of the amp.

EDIT: well, it was in that Catalyst version at least! 27:46 ~

 

[pipelineaudio]

I'd expect a boost to boost, as in add volume before the amp

 

[synthpenguin]

I'd expect a boost to boost, as in add volume before the amp

Understandable, but that's not typically how an SD-1 / TS is used in this context. Maybe having a separate "gain" control for the boost on this model would be cool to give that flexibility though.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Ahh but yeah! It IS seemingly 100% faithful to the helix model of that pedal!. here's that for the boosted signal, pretty much identical to the last pic I think

 

[pipelineaudio]

These graphs don;t tell the whole picture of course, its not showing the effect it has on dynamics, for all we know it could be adding tons of saturation

 

[synthpenguin]

These graphs don;t tell the whole picture of course, its not showing the effect it has on dynamics, for all we know it could be adding tons of saturation

Yeah, I think it's usually used for this style to add a bit of compression and overall "tightness" with the EQ changes rather than a traditional boost. A lot of times these pedals are run with very low gain (or even gain at 0) for this type of sound, so the pedals often aren't even spitting out unity gain.

The video I linked to explains it a bit more, and also has explanations for the boosts for the other Catalyst (and now Helix) models too. They all act differently, e.g. one controls an EP Booster model, one controls a treble booster, a couple of them add models of additional tube stages, etc

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

The Helix model of the SD-1 has an approximately 3,5dB lower output than the real pedals I own(ed). When I use the Stupor OD I always add a Gain block after it.

 

[synthpenguin]

The Helix model of the SD-1 has approximately 3,5dB lower output than the real pedals I own(ed). When I use the Stupor OD I always add a Gain block after it.

Huh, interesting! I don't own an SD-1 anymore, but I didn't notice that at all. I didn't measure anything though. What sort of settings?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Huh, interesting! I don't own an SD-1 anymore, but I didn't notice that at all. I didn't measure anything though. What sort of settings?

Drive 0, Tone 5, Level 10

 

[pipelineaudio]

Is the TS crazy quiet compared to the real one? Or are there so many variations that its probably correct?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Is the TS crazy quiet compared to the real one? Or are there so many variations that its probably correct?

Will test later with my Maxon OD-9 and OD808 pedals.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I just ran pink noise through my drive pedals and the corresponding models within the HX Stomp (Settings: Drive 0, Tone 5, Volume 10). Here are the results:

HX Stomp Scream 808: 1,7dB less output than Maxon OD-9 and OD808

HX Stomp Stupor OD: 3,6dB less output than Boss SD-1

 

[synthpenguin]

Drive 0, Tone 5, Level 10

The same settings on both? I can see that happening. What's the signal chain for the comparison?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

The same settings on both? I can see that happening. What's the signal chain for the comparison?

Signal chain: audio interface to pedal and directly back to the instrument input of the audio interface.

 

[synthpenguin]

Signal chain: audio interface to pedal and directly back to the instrument input of the audio interface.

Interesting! Thanks! Did you happen to test the levels of the pink noise through Helix with the Helix drive pedal block removed vs the pink noise going through the audio interface loop with the pedal removed or disabled? I'm assuming so, but I figured I'd ask just in case :) Thanks again!