Helix Talk

[Elf]

Have you listened to the clips I posted? Maybe it’s easier with a few other points of reference to compare against.

I just listened to them again from my phone, it’s really easy to hear it doing this zippy/filter sweep sound in the decay that doesn’t sound realistic.

I did listen to them, just not sure now if I’m looking for the right thing. But no urgency I was just curious.

 

[pablo retamal]

I would love to hear examples of this because I can’t hear it on my end.

It has happened to me with Marshalls on helix, just play bias and sag with a high setting on the master volume

 

[avanzzzi]

Let's play a game.

There's Helix Cali Rectifire and a NAM capture of a real Dual Rectifier in the following samples. They sound somewhat similar but one sample has a little "something" in the high mids. Tell me what you think.

The effect is not so obvious but it's there.

Sample1
Sample2

 

[MirrorProfiles]

hmm so some of it definitely seems to relate to bias/crossover distortion - if I set the bias to 10, the noise is quite a lot less noticeable, but obviously the amp sound and response changes in other ways.

Need to dive in more, but probably need to use the Axe FX as a reference for adjusting bias.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Let's play a game.

There's Helix Cali Rectifire and a NAM capture of a real Dual Rectifier in the following samples. They sound somewhat similar but one sample has a little "something" in the high mids. Tell me what you think.

The effect is not so obvious but it's there.

Sample1
Sample2

Sample 1 has more of that fizz going on

 

[CakeEater]

Let's play a game.

There's Helix Cali Rectifire and a NAM capture of a real Dual Rectifier in the following samples. They sound somewhat similar but one sample has a little "something" in the high mids. Tell me what you think.

The effect is not so obvious but it's there.

Sample1
Sample2

Sample 2 has a clearer sound profile, especially in the upper mids. This is what I generally find about good NAM profiles, they still sound big and fat, but clear as well. I've described this before in some Helix amps as congestion.

 

[burningyen]

I’ve never noticed that noise before but definitely hear it in the clips you guys are posting. Sort of a raygun pew-pew sound. Hoping when I get back home I don’t suddenly hear it in my presets.

 

[James Freeman]

When the XL Stomp was on my board I noticed the signal chain was backwards.
ie. a "traditional" guitar effects chain is from right to left.

 

[avanzzzi]

Sample 2 has a clearer sound profile, especially in the upper mids. This is what I generally find about good NAM profiles, they still sound big and fat, but clear as well. I've described this before in some Helix amps as congestion.

It's the same effect we isolated, but the mid-high frequencies of it stand out more when more palm mutes are being played. I used NAM because it had a similar tone, but it could be another amp sim where this effect doesn't occur. Congestion is a good description.

pew-pew sound

This description is also good.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

When the XL Stomp was on my board I noticed the signal chain was backwards.
ie. a "traditional" guitar effects chain is from right to left.

Lol. I never even thought about that and I have a stomp on my board now. Considering how annoyed I get with fuzz face in/out sockets being the wrong way round I'm surprised that hasn't bothered me before.

Now you've mentioned it though I'll probably get all twitchy now using it

 

[MirrorProfiles]

So listen to especially the last half of the clip to hear the difference. This is here regardless of how bias+bias X are set (lowering bias makes it more obvious but its still zipping down).

Helix.cm1_02.wav

real amp for comparison:

Real 5150.cm1_02.wav

 

[HomespunEffects]

So listen to especially the last half of the clip to hear the difference. This is here regardless of how bias+bias X are set (lowering bias makes it more obvious but its still zipping down).

Helix.cm1_02.wav

real amp for comparison:

Real 5150.cm1_02.wav

View attachment 26630

View attachment 26631

Are you hearing what I mentioned in this post: https://thegearforum.com/threads/helix-talk.931/post-222664

 

[the swede]

When the XL Stomp was on my board I noticed the signal chain was backwards.
ie. a "traditional" guitar effects chain is from right to left.

The only brand who does it right (haha…) is Zoom. Otoh is super awkward in a display when things go from left to right…

 

[the swede]

I meant right to left…..

 

[Vic Winters]

So listen to especially the last half of the clip to hear the difference. This is here regardless of how bias+bias X are set (lowering bias makes it more obvious but its still zipping down).

Helix.cm1_02.wav

real amp for comparison:

Real 5150.cm1_02.wav

View attachment 26630

View attachment 26631

This is what I was looking for in my previous post.

The amplitude of the real 5150 gradually decays the entire time while the Helix stays almost linear for a certain amount of time before it sharply decreases.

 

[dronerstone]

This is what I was looking for in my previous post.

The amplitude of the real 5150 gradually decays the entire time while the Helix stays almost linear for a certain amount of time before it sharply decreases.

View attachment 26647

The tail ends of those two waveforms look similar enough at first glance, I'd say.

Not sure if I can follow your description.

 

[Vic Winters]

The tail ends of those two waveforms look similar enough at first glance, I'd say.

Not sure if I can follow your description.

The tail isn't the issue, it's the overall form. The real 5150 starts decreasing in volume almost immediately. By the 7th cycle, you notice a fair amount of black between the wave and the border lines.

With the Helix it doesn't start noticeably decaying from the transient until around the 11th cycle. It's similar to a compressor with a slower release. That might be where the complaint of the "Helix feel" stems from.

 

[ballhawk]

When the XL Stomp was on my board I noticed the signal chain was backwards.
ie. a "traditional" guitar effects chain is from right to left.

It's not backwards in China

 

[MirrorProfiles]

This is what I was looking for in my previous post.

The amplitude of the real 5150 gradually decays the entire time while the Helix stays almost linear for a certain amount of time before it sharply decreases.

View attachment 26647

its definitely an interesting graph, but I feel like there are too many outside variables that could influence things to be able to draw any conclusions. I'd imagine adjusting settings of the MV or preamp gain, or a slightly different voltage or bias might adjust the way those look. Or even just playing a different note.

 

[Vic Winters]

its definitely an interesting graph, but I feel like there are too many outside variables that could influence things to be able to draw any conclusions. I'd imagine adjusting settings of the MV or preamp gain, or a slightly different voltage or bias might adjust the way those look. Or even just playing a different note.

It's not pure scientific analysis by any stretch, but it's good to know there might be something there that could be improved.