So I've been running my Helix 4CM with my Friendman Runt, running some of the preamps through the FX return as well as using the Friedman straight up. Very versatile setup.
Decided today to compare the BE100 model (Placater) in the Helix to the BE channel on the Runt, with very interesting results. Basically what prompted this was comparing the Helix to the AX8 (as I posted yesterday, I think the Helix is the equal of the AX8, after years of thinking that the AX8 was far superior)
Anyway, I set it up 4CM with my amp and ran them both through the same IR, an Ownhammer 4x12 with a Greenback, mic'd with an SM57. In the clip, I A/B between them, using a looper to play the same clip through both the Runt preamp and Helix model of the BE.
Love to hear what people think.
Comments
Need to listen on a proper monitor.
It's probably just personal taste, or crappy ears, but neither sounds like what I would have guessed a Friedman tube amp would sound like, there's something that feels missing to me, like a lack of fullness. How did you dial them in, which one did you match to the other?
The second riff (the one that is cut short) stands out as sounding different to me than all the others.
http://soundcloud.com/adam-bourne-1/be-v-helix/s-8Pgkm
For what it's worth...the second one is slightly more compressed, but I can only tell that from looking at the waveforms. On my Tannoy Reveal monitors, I couldn't tell the difference at all.
I'd hazard a guess that the second clip in each is the Helix on that basis, but frankly...they both sound equally great.
Close enough that I doubt you would be able to tell the difference in a mix though, and I'm still not certain which is which.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
My guess is: Friedman / Helix / Helix / Friedman / Helix / Friedman, based on a tiny difference in attack that I am probably imagining hearing after listening to it 10 times straight
I'm not familiar with Helix or know what 4CM is - Is the Runt's power section being used in both examples, or neither because it comes back to the Helix for power amp modelling and then to the IR?
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