It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/maliciousteve/20190125_133307_zpsbkyhtguv.jpg
I'd also agree that the amps associated with the heavier genres sound better. I have noticed I spent a fair amount of time fucking about with a bit of medicinal chug chug on the placater.
I'm not knocking quality per say, perhaps it's more the choice of pedals that have been imitated that I don't like.
I'm still holding fire on a fryette power station in anticipation of what's coming next.
When I started using it more generally, I found the stock cabs aren't bad by any stretch but I do think they're a weaker point, finding some IRs was a step up.
In terms of option paralysis, I think I wouldn't know where to begin if I didn't already have experience/ preferences to guide me like knowing what kind of cabs and mics I like. Even when I'm trying something new (I found I love the SLO model!) I at least had reference points.
I think the OD pedals etc are really good - when I use modelled pedals I know into modelled amps I know, the result is what I expect. For good and bad - some pedals don't work with certain amps and guitars, just like in the real world. The OCD is woofy and fizzy simultaneously, just like a real OCD (a pedal that I tried to like twice, but never understood the popularity!). The Rat is boxy and has loads of upper mids to the point of harshness - just like a real one, and it's one of the things I like about them. If you pick an already middy and saturated amp and try to boost it with a TS9, it won't do much, just like in the real world... so, I'm convinced.
To be sure, some models are better than others. You find your preferences. And if you're starting from scratch, that's going to be quite a task. I remember I once borrowed some amps around late 2014 to record an album, had 5 options miked up in the room and absolutely messed it up because I was all over the place, and the same can happen with the virtual equivalent if you're not careful. I like the delays some more than others. Vintage digital and Adriatic Delay are my go-tos. And I don't really care about modulation/ reverb that much, so my opinion on those is utterly irrelevant
Anyways... that's my 2 pence. If it makes your life better keep it, if it's not, move it on.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
In terms of how close the amp models sound to the particular amps they are modelling, I can only say that of the amps I have used in the real world they do a good job of capturing the vibe of those. I would be inclined to say that you should keep an open mind and open ears in terms of picking amp models to achieve the sound you are after. Don’t approach it in terms of recreating your own favourite real world amp exactly, rather embrace the things it can do that you can’t easily do or not at all do in the real world. A favourite trick of mine is to set up a parallel path with two amp models, one set cleaner, the other dirtier and then recombine them at the end into a single IR. This would be impossible to do in the real world and even with a multi amp/cab/mic set up there would inevitably be some compromise with the phasing.
Truth is, I get better tones with the Helix than I have with amps and pedals, because I don't have to compromise any one tone for the others that I use in a show. That means that while there might be a couple of percent (with the attendant assumption that tone is measurable...) missing in some areas, the idea is that the overall average is closer to the tone in my head.
I also use it somewhat differently to a lot of folk; I let go of the whole FRFR thing for live work, because it's just too frustrating and - when you're using house PAs of variable quality, I'm convinced that you need to trust the sound guy to use mics and positioning that work with the PA they're familiar with. One-size-fits-all doesn't work, and you don't get a chance to work with the sound engineer to tweak the EQ to get it perfect when you have 10 minute changeovers and line checks rather than soundchecks.
So I run the Helix LT into a power amp (SD Powerstage 170) without cab sims or impulses, and straight into a guitar cab. For me, it's essentially an identical experience to all the valve rigs I've used, except it's less hassle to deal with on stage.
To get the same one-touch experience with pedals and an amp, I'd have to literally spend thousands, starting which a Gigrig G2 - which would cost basically the same as I paid for my LT, before I've even bought a single pedal. And it would be obscenely heavy.
Nope. Not going back.
For just playing at home a helix amp model > matrix power amp > real cab is brilliant.
I'll then use the sadites method for creating a DI signal path if I'm going the gig or record the tone.
How do you find the Powerstage? I have been using the power section of my valve amp...the issue with that is I am tempted to set it up in 4CM which means I end up endlessly A/B-ing between valve and digital. I do have a Magnum44 but it's not quite as warm as the valve amp. Better than the Harley Benton GPA-400 I had previously.
I am using a GSP1101, so I'm tempted to get a power amp in a rack form factor and stick them both in a small 2U rack case...then maybe retire the valve amp.
1 - Volume and power. Like many, I have an 8 ohm cab, and this amp only puts out about 90W into 8 ohms. I needn't have worried...even against our loud drummer, I chickened out with the volume control long before it ran out of headroom.
2 - The EQ. I wanted something flat. However, the active EQ is an amazing thing to use. Imagine, for a second, that you could turn the bass up on your amp such that you only get more bass, not more mud. Same goes for the mid and treble controls.
I can carry everything from the car in one go, with a spare hand; the amp fits in the Novation 25 rucksack with the Helix.
It's actually the perfect solution for me.
I've had 2 Helix' and sold both, they are great units but I just prefer amp & pedals, there's no piddling about with hi cut, low cut, cab type, IRs, mic placement, mic type etc. Just guitar, Mesa Boogie Mark V 35 and a bit of Strymon Flint to taste.
I do have an Atomic Amplifire 3 for silent practice and hooked up to audio interface and nearfield monitors for direct recording if required, as it has a small desk friendly footprint but prefer the simplicity of a valve amp.
The Helix felt a little like that for me...the amps weren't awful by themselves - far from it, but to get the most out of it does seem to require a lot of knowledge and effort. Like someone mentioned above, if you download patches and look at how they are made up, they sometimes look incredibly complicated, with multiple amps, parallel pathways etc. It's just too much for me.
I have a helix but have realised it's amp and pedals all the way for me, although my LT is a great and invaluable tool.
I think if I was in a cover band that needed to cover a lot of ground, which did gigs through a decent sized PA it might work.
But I’m in an acoustic cover band and soon a Ska cover band and really I just want my own sound. We interpret the originals but don’t necessarily want to copy them so
to that end just an amp and a few pedals works better. There’s absolutely no scenario I’d need a Kings of Leon, U2 or Oasis ‘tone’.
In fact I can safely say that I would never entertain the idea of being in your classic cover band like that, I just don’t want to be involved with anything that needs me to get a facsimile of
somebody else’s sound. But I can see the Helix might be a better route than pedals and amps if I did.
...I suppose that's why I felt Helix was too much unit for me but I'm happy with a much cheaper, much simpler version of modelling.