Hx Stomp clipping

[SillyOctpuss]

I noticed last night that I was clipping the input of my Hx Stomp if I hit the strings pretty hard with my les Paul. They're not exactly high output humbuckers but medium output paf style pickups. I've got the input pad turned on and was surprised to see the input icon flashing red.

Has anyone else had this with the input pad turned on? My prs doesn't seem to clip it just my les Paul.

 

[the swede]

Can’t think of any other thing that hot pickups or they’re very high.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I’m curious about the pad - on the HX stomp, the input pad=line input.

How much attenuation does this provide? does this alter the input impedance? what is the impedance of the line input?

The manual suggests using the Line input for line level sources, or high output active pickups (less sensitive to impedance). What about high output passives?

I can easily clip the HX Stomp input with a 498T or Seymour Duncan’s which are all pretty run of the mill/off the shelf pickups.

Would be cool to know how much to boost the signal back up after the input block, or whether there’s some nasty impedance mismatching to look out for.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I’m curious about the pad - on the HX stomp, the input pad=line input.

How much attenuation does this provide? does this alter the input impedance? what is the impedance of the line input?

The manual suggests using the Line input for line level sources, or high output active pickups (less sensitive to impedance). What about high output passives?

I can easily clip the HX Stomp input with a 498T or Seymour Duncan’s which are all pretty run of the mill/off the shelf pickups.

Would be cool to know how much to boost the signal back up after the input block, or whether there’s some nasty impedance mismatching to look out for.

Yeah I'd like to know those answers too.

I always thought the 498t were pretty high output tbh. It's been at least 15 years since I've owned a guitar with one in it so could well be wrong on that. Are you clipping the input with the pad on @MirrorProfiles

Also interesting point about pickup height @the swede. My les Pauls bridge pickup is definitely closer to the strings than my prs and the two pickups are very close spec wise to each other.

 

[vino_buono]

It seems strange to me. With the HFS pickup in my custom 24 I never had any clipping problems with my LT and Stomp, even whith the pad off. That pickup should have at least as high an output as a Les Paul (although I do set my pickups rather low). What I do find, is that the input circuitry provides a rather strong signal to the input of the signal chain, and I typically reduce the signal level first thing in the chain. But never had any clipping issues with passive pickups; only issue I had was with a piezo pickup clipping the Studio Pre model (but not the input).

I’m curious about the pad - on the HX stomp, the input pad=line input.

How much attenuation does this provide? does this alter the input impedance? what is the impedance of the line input?

As far as I recall reading in the other place, the global pad in Helix attenuates exactly as much as the line input in the stomp, about -5.5 dB. As a matter of fact, presets sound the same to me on the LT with the pad on, and on the stomp with the line input.

Ideally the attenuation in either device would not affect the input impedance, although in the full Helix this is done via analog circuitry and this may entail a very small change of impedance -- when I compared hardware pad vs using gain reduction with a gain block, the differences were essentially imperceptible and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to discern them in a blind test.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

It seems strange to me. With the HFS pickup in my custom 24 I never had any clipping problems with my LT and Stomp, even whith the pad off.

You must have your pickups set really low if you're not clipping the input with the pad off. With it off I easily clip the input if I'm playing heavily on the low E with any guitar with humbuckers or P90s. With the pad on it's just my les Paul.

 

[James Freeman]

Helix guitar input has 11.5dBu of headroom or 4.1v Peak and with the Pad enabled it's 17.5dBu that's 8.2v Peak.
I don't know what humbucker you use but if you are clipping 8.2v, something is WAY too hot.

Lower the humbucker a touch, you might even find the guitar sounds better.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Helix guitar input has 11.5dBu of headroom or 4.1v Peak and with the Pad enabled it's 17.5dBu that's 8.2v Peak.
I don't know what humbucker you use but if you are clipping 8.2v, something is WAY too hot.

Lower the humbucker a touch, you might even find the guitar sounds better.

The les Paul has a set of medium output Mojo PAF's they're about 8.1k so definitely not high output.

I'm going to lower the pickup and try it tonight I was fixing an EHX Bassballs for my bass player last night and wasn't able to muck about with my les Paul.

 

[Iron1]

I sold my Stomp a few years ago, but IIRC they have way too many places to adjust input and output gain. Might take a peak at your Global settings just to make sure something didn't get unintentionally adjusted.

 

[James Freeman]

Just measured my Helix Floor, the Pad is exactly 5.5dB, and the input has exactly 11.3dBu of headroom without the pad.

 

[vino_buono]

You must have your pickups set really low if you're not clipping the input with the pad off. With it off I easily clip the input if I'm playing heavily on the low E with any guitar with humbuckers or P90s. With the pad on it's just my les Paul.

I do have them low especially for the CU24 (I find the tone to be more defined and dynamic), but I don't find it makes a world of difference in terms of hotness. Regarding the global pad, the Helix manual says that "if your guitar or bass has active or really loud pickups, you may want to turn this on." For a passive pickup, ideally you should be fine with the pad off (that's been my experience). If you are clipping with a passive pickup and the pad on, that's very strange. My LP with 57 Classic pickups (set at average height) does certainly not clip with the pad off.

You wrote you noticed the red light in the input meter. Did you also hear the clipping in the guitar sound?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

My LP with 57 Classic pickups (set at average height) does certainly not clip with the pad off

IMO it would be best if the user could have their pickups set at any height they like and still be able to record a DI that doesn't clip. Dropping the pickup lower may help in that regard, but it may yield a tone that the user doesn't want as a result. I think it works fine for most cases but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as some kind of benchmark/reference for all others to follow.

 

[vino_buono]

IMO it would be best if the user could have their pickups set at any height they like and still be able to record a DI that doesn't clip. Dropping the pickup lower may help in that regard, but it may yield a tone that the user doesn't want as a result. I think it works fine for most cases but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as some kind of benchmark/reference for all others to follow.

Completely agree. I just meant to say that it works for me the way it is expected to work, and I am sorry I have no idea why it's not working for you.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Completely agree. I just meant to say that it works for me the way it is expected to work, and I am sorry I have no idea why it's not working for you.

tbf, I'm not using it as a DI ever. But I am still interested in making sure that I understand how its expecting to work so I can get the best response out of Helix Native, and also if I get sent things to work on that were recorded with a Helix, I'll know whats going on. Most don't need to worry about clipping the input but IMO it would be nice if their manual had a bit more information on exactly what is going on with input levels/impedances etc. Its lucky we have so many people here willing to work this stuff out.