Helix Talk

[laxu]

That's interesting I hadn't thought of that. I always thought the 4cm tone suck people were talking about was the capacitance from the length of cables they were using to connect it all up.

I noticed that even a few decibel drop would be perceived as "tone suck" to my ears and just correcting that by comparing amp fx loop on/off and matching the levels solved the problem.

 

[Jarick]

I have compared Helix's drives and fuzzes with the real pedals (or exact clones), the models are very accurate when done right.
Of course the drive models are not without flaws, some early models needed to be fixed like the RAT and DS1, and they got a LOT better with their recent fuzz models.

It is all up to the experience of the people who create the models, to me it is very noticeable with every update.

Agreed, I could always get them all very close. To the point that I’d wonder why I bothered having the pedals.

posted elsewhere but I’d be intrigued by an hx effects 2 with more knobs, switches, DSP, and a bigger screen.

 

[TubeStack]

I noticed that even a few decibel drop would be perceived as "tone suck" to my ears and just correcting that by comparing amp fx loop on/off and matching the levels solved the problem.

With the HXFX it seemed like it was the Send going into the front of the amp that was causing it, rather than levels in the loop, but I don't really know. I experimented quite a bit and eventually went with HXFX in front and Stomp in the loop, as I had both at the time, which sounded and felt way better. Controlled the Stomp via midi from the HXFX. It was fun but kind of a pain.

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve also experienced some trouble getting 4cm to work with my Mesa Mark III without degradation. As others have noted, it’s likely that levels aren’t exactly right and I’m perceiving that level drop as an unwanted tonal change.

I keep meaning to pull out my decibel meter to do some checking but it hasn’t been a priority since I tend to use my non master volume amps or just the Helix direct to FOH in most situations.

 

[dk_ace]

Here’s a great interview with Peter Gabriel’s guitarist, David Rhodes. They actually get into some nice detail about how he’s using the Helix.

The super interesting thing to me is how much he’s switching amp models through the set. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing that but I’m concerned about my place in the mix changing too much. Probably should give it a try soon and see if I can dial things in to avoid that problem…

D

 

[ragingplatypi]

I feel like getting that right requires playing through the same PA with a good sound person and plenty of rehearsal time to tweak levels. All the resources that Peter Gabriel has and most of the rest of us don’t.

 

[Lysander]

The super interesting thing to me is how much he’s switching amp models through the set. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing that but I’m concerned about my place in the mix changing too much. Probably should give it a try soon and see if I can dial things in to avoid that problem…

I saw an (amazing) show for that tour, and in retrospective it kinda makes sense. They covered material from multiple albums, released over a ~35 year span.

Then again, his core sound stood the same for most of the show. Chimy cleans, or slightly overdriven, edge-of-breakup stuff.

 

[dk_ace]

I saw an (amazing) show for that tour, and in retrospective it kinda makes sense. They covered material from multiple albums, released over a ~35 year span.

Then again, his core sound stood the same for most of the show. Chimy cleans, or slightly overdriven, edge-of-breakup stuff.

Yeah the results wouldn’t be dramatic tonal changes for me probably. The differences would more than likely be fairly subtle to the audience, but it might make it more fun for me. His differences must be subtle too because he was surprised the amp models were switching out as much as they are.

D

 

[sleewell]

what would you guys use to get like a sharp, abrupt stutter type of effect?

 

[DieSchmalle]

what would you guys use to get like a sharp, abrupt stutter type of effect?

Tremolo with max intensity and square wave.

 

[Rewolf]

Bleat Chop Trem is really cool for that

 

[dronerstone]

PSA: The KWB and Obsidian 7000 models are massively underrated for stoner/doom stuff!

I got them both to sound very similar to my boutique Model T preamp, both have massive low-end and can go up to line-level output when cranked, which means they should be able to drive a power amp on their own - hence no additional volume/boost block/pedal needed.

Band practice should take place next Friday. I'll definitely report back!

EDIT, to avoid confusion: I use the HX FX (no Moo))n preamp there) and usually set my preamp to slightly above "edge of breakup", hitting it with fuzz.

 

[eggpl@nt]

I was running the Range Master into the Small Tweed and Princess--all stock settings--and having a good time yesterday.

 

[James Freeman]

Feature request; compensated pad.
Currently there is Global, Off and On, I would like to add a compensated option that automatically adds back 5.5dB when I enable the Pad, that way I get extra headroom before the AD converter and correct gain from the amps.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Another feature request.

Can we have a preset assignable tap tempo switch? Footswitch real estate is limited on the stomp and as I don't use tap tempo in every preset I either have to go into the global settings and add one everytime I need it or just accept that I have to basically lose a footswitch in presets where I don't need one.

It would be cool to be able to assign a tap tempo button to the preset in the same way as the input pad - global, off or per preset.

 

[vino_buono]

More on this: it would be nice to have a way to control the input level in a continuous way. Like, when I switch from single coils to humbuckers I would like to be able to lower the level so that I don’t get more gain; when I play at loud volume I usually use a slightly lower level than rehearsal, and the opposite when I play in the bedroom. Needs not be analog. I am currently using a boost pedal before the Helix for that.

 

[norminal]

And here I am just wishing there was some kind of level meter viewable from the front panel.

 

[James Freeman]

I just compared Helix Parametric EQ and my go-to DAW EQ MAutoEqualizer.
Helix's actual (measured) Q range goes from 0.3 to 3, that's why I couldn't notch some very narrow frequencies.
Maybe the Parametric EQ was designer to emulate some pedal? Anyway, the actual Q range is not 0.1 to 10.

This is another reason to refresh the parametric eq, along with previous requests of more bands and full frequency range per band.
I need a great DAW quality parametric eq in my Helix, the tones I can create with the stock cabs and a powerful parametric eq can match any professional recording, I just need that control in HX so I can share my efforts in a preset.

 

[HotRats]

Yeah, Q is not very narrow on the helix parametric eq.
Is more like a console eq type.

 

[Perrymusica]

Acabo de comparar Helix Parametric EQ y mi DAW EQ MAutoEqualizer.
El rango Q real (medido) de Helix va de 0,3 a 3, por eso no pude detectar algunas frecuencias muy estrechas.
¿Quizás el ecualizador paramétrico fue diseñado para emular algún pedal? De todos modos, el rango real de Q no es de 0,1 a 10.

Esta es otra razón para actualizar el ecualizador paramétrico, junto con las solicitudes anteriores de más bandas y rango de frecuencia completo por banda.
Necesito un ecualizador paramétrico de gran calidad DAW en mi Helix, los tonos que puedo crear con las pantallas estándar y un ecualizador paramétrico potente pueden coincidir con cualquier grabación profesional, solo necesito ese control en HX para poder compartir mis esfuerzos en un preajuste.

True, a parametric equalizer in the "fabfilter" style would be great. Investigating about this type of equalizations was how I managed to do the "match / cloning" within helix.