codamedia

I get the impression that the full benefit of snapshots has not kicked in yet.

IMO... those were some of the worst examples of AC30 tones I've ever heard... they all sounded thin and brittle to me. I never setup my AC30 (including my real one) to sound like that. That aside... I quickly jumped from tone to tone and also guessed wrong. I wasn't looking to pick out the Helix, I was looking for the real amp.... and still ended up picking the Helix. What these videos do is take away the "amp in the room" sound. Once you do that, modelers (Axe, Helix, Kemper) are all pretty much dead on the money!

For the most part I am with you on that, but I can't say never. At least a half dozen gigs a year has me setting up on a stage with a "vocal only" PA. Those gigs usually pay just as good, are equally as fun, and the crowd still has a great time.

That's pretty harsh... Please export/share your Helix Native patch (or a couple) so others can take a look and make a suggestion or two. It's a lot easier than trying to guess at what might be the problem. Many of us have no problems getting great tones out of the Helix. Why some people struggle with it as much as they do is a mystery, or we would have those same problems. Native and the Hardware should sound the same, however there are many variables with computers/interfaces to consider. As for latency, it is a non issue with the hardware unit. IMO this is the biggest limitation in the Helix... the mic models all "appear" to be taken from the center position which certainly highlights the bright/shrill tones. This is quite an oversight on the part of the modeling personnel.

Interesting... the 300 should be the same as the 700 but I have never had any luck getting a nice "strat quack" out of it. Thank you for the insight and idea's to try, I greatly appreciate it. Hmmmm, will HD Workbench load without hardware attached? I never thought to try but certainly can! Thanks.

Yes - the latter part of your comment would be accurate, but there is absolutely NO PROOF this is the problem of the HD500 itself (or it's drivers) or we would ALL be facing this issue. It doesn't help you... but I don't have this problem :) Just sayin'. These are user forums, not the best place to get "company driven" results. We are just a user base that's the intent of forums. Submit your problem to Line 6 through their ticket system with as much details as you can possibly provide about your system, including every peripheral attached to it.

Maybe it's just me... but this back and forth seems odd to me. When I see a modeling discussion that suggests there is no PA I don't take it so literal.... my thought is that it means the PA is for VOCALS ONLY and we can't plug the modeler into it for volume reinforcement. In those cases, we need our own solution to be loud enough for the room. House parties, legions, small clubs or halls... this is common!

@arislaf I use an older Variax 300 so I can't load up any of these to see what you are doing, but can you give me an idea of the change you made to the "Strat Quack" position (pos 2, bridge/middle) to make it more realistic? That is one setting I struggle with most on my Variax so I'd love to approach it differently. I do know the HD models are different from the legacy models and they won't be the same... I'd just like to know the approach you were taking.

Just to expand on this a little.... aside from breaking the general rules there are also different tools for different jobs. It all depends on what you are after. For instance, an echo plex is a commonly used echo in front of an amp, while other delays are often applied after. Stomp style compressors generally go before an amp to add some snap/pop/sustain, while the 3-Band or LA Studio is more of a studio style comp that is really effective (in a subtle manner) near the end of the entire chain. Again - those are just more general rules that can be easily broken :)

Absolutely... the loops (on the Helix) can go anywhere in the chain that you want to put them and your V-Twin will go in one of those loops.

There are many ways... but this is what I suggest as the basics. Guitar > Helix > Pedal Board Effects > Loop 1 Send to V-Twin Input > V-Twin Output to Loop 1 Return > Studio (Post) Effects > Helix Output to Carving Input.

The standard approach is to setup the Helix like you would setup the following... Pedal Board Effects > Amp/Cab/Mic > Studio (Post) Effects The nice thing is, there are no rules with the Helix, you can put anything your want, anywhere you want, without damaging anything. That opens the door to a lot of experimenting if you are so inclined.

That does not sound like normal behavior to me, so something is amiss. Sorry, I have nothing else to try. I'd ask for you to share your patch but I own a Helix not a Stomp so I can't test it.

Odd... try this to see if it fixes the problem. Unplug the pedal, set the volume to 100% then save the patch. Now run your tests to see if it works... but don't save anything other than what I suggest above.

How do you have EXP2 setup in the Global Settings? Options are Preset, Snapshot, Global? If it is set to "per preset" or "per snapshot" then it will load the default value that is stored at each preset/snapshot when the pedal is not plugged in. This can be any number between 0 and 100%. When it is set to "global" it should load at 100% when a pedal is not plugged in.

Another great reason why I sneak into this forum daily to see what's being discussed.... I didn't realize you could set parameter min/max values with a stomp switch, now I know!

Don't use me as the pawn to attack someone else! He was joking with me.... he wasn't telling me to stfu, he was just suggesting that I don't waste my time by being polite to you. He's not wrong! I fully get it. I'm just having fun :)

I posted that image because you claimed everything was "scooped".... sorry, I didn't realize the goal posts have been moved.... again. If you want a hump like the one your graph shows simply do one or more of these.... turn up the mids add an eq with a slight bump at the frequency you want place a low gain overdrive (eg: Minotaur or TS-808 are decent choices) in front of the amp... This is the practice that Guthrie Govan does by the way... (I only mention that because of the clip you posted).

I beg to differ.... let me re-post my image that you didn't seem to acknowledge yesterday. Marshall Plexi Jump > stock settings > stock cab > stock mic. If you don't mess with it... there is no shortage of mids.

Did you try a 1 to 1 comparison before you sold it, or are you relying on your memory?

I know I responded to you directly, but I don't want people to think I am ignoring this thread.... Please understand that I won't share my JD Aura IR's... if I post them here I don't think that is fair to Fishman or even more so to Jerry Douglas who likely has a licensing deal with Fishman. I didn't create the IR (Fishman calls it an image), I merely made a copy of it for my own use... from a product I own. It is not difficult to create an IR (especially from something like an AURA) if you take the time to learn. If you have a computer there is freeware (legal) software you can use to create them and no shortage of you tube videos to walk you through it.

Marshall Plexi Jump.... stock settings, stock cab... stock mic.... We must not view "scoop" the same way.... a slight bass bump maybe, but nothing that a single notch on the bass control wouldn't take care of.

Just add a Gain Block to the first block or the signal chain and turn it up to +6db. Alternatively, and EQ block will work, or you can add the kinky boost and crank it up a little. I'm suggesting this to TEST the unit... not as as a permanent fix. Adding gain before the overdrives should increase their gain substantially. If it doesn't... there is definitely something wrong.

Solid State amps "generally" are not effected by impedance other than potential volume differences. Higher speaker should result in lower power. The hint as to why this is happening has already been mentioned... The power amp has been sitting for 10 years. Every electrolytic capacitor in that amp has dried up then jolted back into service. Under normal use it likely would have been fine at 15 years old.... but not being turned on for 10 years is almost certain death (or at least harm) to those caps. Are you running in mono or stereo. If you are in stereo... try a mono setup using one side of the amp, then try the other side just to see if both are behaving the same.

It's a deep subject that can be debated forever with zero resolution :) The difference is between "listening" and "creating". You can listen to a finished album on a budget set of speakers but that album could not be created on that budget set of speakers. I find the same to be true when setting up tones. When you use good speakers (in a proper environment and volume) to setup your tones, your tones will translate back to budget speakers and volume levels with grace. When you use budget speaker to setup your tones, you will over correct the deficiencies. You are not likely to ever get the tone you really want, and when heard back on better systems your over corrections will be exposed... often with negative results. I don't disagree with the principle, but I do think this is an over simplification of what is really happening. Did you listen to some of the videos on both threads? Do you hear the same things he is hearing? When "niarolf" hears thin, someone else believes it's thick and warm. So what gives? As I stated elsewhere, I do not question niarolf's ears.... I don't doubt they he is hearing a deficiency. But why don't all of us hear it, and why do some of us hear it in reverse? Personal taste can account for what people like or don't like, but it can't make one person hear "thin and harsh" while the other hears "thick and warm". That is in the delivery... aka, the speakers. IMO - you need to start with a trustworthy monitoring environment... and based on that I believe niarolf does not have speakers he should trust for creating and monitoring his tones.