Reverb & delay - Helix vs Fractal

[Eagle]

The Fractal Axe3 is the only modelling device that can compare to older classic fx processors. It’s head and shoulders above the Hx.

 

[DLC86]

I’m not sure it’s really the same thing, maybe.

The mix in Fractal is tricky to me compared to everything else I’ve used. You better adjust with your ears and not your eyes, that’s for sure. When I use reverbs in serial in Fractal, I am always shocked at how low that mix parameter needs to be relative to everything else I’ve ever used. If you just go rough things in quickly with values typical to virtually every other reverb unit, you’re gonna get a big surprise when you start playing.

I don’t really understand why this is, but I can work around it. I tend to do most things reverb and delay in parallel so this doesn’t impact me much.

D

I don't know what else you've used but there are a lot of delay and reverb pedals out there that call "mix" what is actually a wet level knob... And my approach to have that with fractal is to leave mix at 50% and use the input gain instead, that also has the additional benefit that when you change that setting mid-song trails are not altered abruptly.

Reverb pedals that have a proper mix knob instead usually have pretty much the same mix law as fractal delay block, i.e. the dry level is reduced only for values greater than 50%.

 

[dk_ace]

I don't know what else you've used but there are a lot of delay and reverb pedals out there that call "mix" what is actually a wet level knob... And my approach to have that with fractal is to leave mix at 50% and use the input gain instead, that also has the additional benefit that when you change that setting mid-song trails are not altered abruptly.

Reverb pedals that have a proper mix knob instead usually have pretty much the same mix law as fractal delay block, i.e. the dry level is reduced only for values greater than 50%.

No. The pedals I’ve used generally have a typical mix knob where the dry signal is left unchanged until above 50% where it is reduced until it is 100% wet. Even then, fractal is much different in the amount of wet signal for a given position below 50%.

Nothing I can’t work with, but it’s decidedly different from all other reverb pedals I’ve used. TC, source audio, L6, etc, all work pretty similar in this regard, my FM9 is the outlier.

D