cruisinon2

Sure, that works too. As far as level meters are concerned, I know lots of guys want them, but checking every block in the signal chain to see what the meter registers is not my idea of fun. It's just something else to obsess over and tinker with, and I've got more than enough of that already. We've all managed so far without rampant complaints of uncontrollable clipping. Hell, all the analog snobs who still run two dozen individual pedals have no visual way to determine how much signal is hitting each stomp box either, and they're not crying in their beer over it. If they hear clipping, they gotta track it down the old fashioned way...

Impedance matching is not relevant here, as the Stomp has no power section (nor do any of the other Helix products). It cannot drive a passive speaker cabinet. You can monitor with a traditional guitar cabinet if you like, but the juice has to come from somewhere...either a dedicated power amp, or the slaved power section of a head or combo.

Yes... you screw it up enough times, to the point that your aggravation level could split atoms. Then you won't do it anymore ;)...Eventually you'll just get used to periodically saving the patch you're working on so you don't lose everything accidentally. It may not be ideal, but it works.

This is why I use a separate interface, despite the fact that it's totally unnecessary as Helix is itself an interface. Yes, it means an extra round of D/A and A/D conversion, which some guys will condemn as tonally ruinous. But I've tried it both ways, and I honestly I don't think I could tell the difference with a gun to my head. My Focusrite 2i4 has both a master volume, and a direct monitoring mix control, which in blends the incoming Helix signal and the audio from your computer.... all right in front of me at arms length. I have absolutely no latency issues and never have to fuss with the computer audio volume. Just turn the mix control to taste. It's as easy as it gets.

I neverget get to 3 o'clock... rarely past 1:30 or so. And frankly, I can't imagining the scenario where I'd need to max out...it would blow me into next week. I've never had a problem with clipping, or getting loud enough. As always, to each their own... there's more than one way to do almost everything.

Well to start, this can only be accomplished for a fairly narrow range of volumes, and this is due to the fact that the way our brains interpret loudness of different frequency ranges is not at all linear. At lower conversational volumes, mid range frequencies are prominent. As you approach typical stage volume, the lows and highs become much more dominant, and mids have a tendency to vanish...a phenomenon we all have to deal with if you want the guitar to cut through the mix. So no matter where you are, any significant volume change will change your tone to a greater or lesser degree... there's no way around that. As for the rest, you'll get various opinions: Helix master volume: I set mine at noon, and adjust as needed depending on the circumstances. Some guys are obsessed with "unity gain", and leave it maxed out all the time, but then you've got nowhere to go if you need to turn up a bit. Speaker's volume control: It's not terribly practical. I hate having to reach behind stuff. Noon there, too. Guitar volume: This will fundamentally change your sound... depending on the pickups and the amp tone you're using, this can take you from crystal clean to heavy crunch... it's not for adjusting overall volume. Channel volume: This is really for adjusting relative volumes of one patch (or snapshot) to another, not so much overall volume as it can't be done quickly without digging through menus. Amp's master volume: This can also change your tone significantly, depending on the amp model in question. The higher you crank it, the more gain you'll get... also not really an overall volume adjustment tool.

At least it would be a welcome change from the never-ending "Helix sucks because I don't know how to use it" threads....

I love these threads... I was a rack mounted preamp/multi-fx guy for decades. Every single time I swapped units, there's was a period of adjustment... there's no way around it. If you use the same thing for a bunch of years, you get used to how it works and what it sounds like. It's that simple. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that switching to a completely different platform from a different manufacturer will require time and effort to achieve the results you seek. Expecting otherwise is asking for a miracle, and assuming that the new thing you bought is somehow inferior because it doesn't provide instant gratification, is ridiculous. I've never been thrilled with anything right out of the box. So my reaction to these "I A/B-ed my new stuff with the old stuff for 5 minutes, and they don't sound the same" complaints will always be this: No $hit...of course they don't. You can't just pull up the same amp, cab, and mic models on two entirely different devices and expect them to be indistinguishable. Especially when one of the units in question is as old as the 11R...I don't recall precisely when it was released, but it's been a number of years... which today, is a technological eternity. I've never played an 11R, but having many years of experience with similar gear, it's a virtual certainty that were I handed one right now, I would not reach tonal nirvana merely by flipping the switch and plugging in a guitar.

Huh? You made the exact same gripe about Fractal yourself...a sentiment which I echoed myself, and one that pops up around here constantly. There are plenty of guys simply unwilling to spend the rather exorbitant prices that Fractal demands. Particularly when there are other options that can fulfill their needs for far less money. If you're asking why it's not a society-wide discussion, happening at every office water cooler, and periodically showing up on the evening news, that's obvious... how many people own one or more computers? Now how many own a guitar modeler? It's a tiny, far more specialized demographic... plus we're all crazy. ;)

Mostly because of #'s 1 and 3. Prestige is intoxicating. It has been used successfully to sell everything under the sun. Madison Avenue figured that out long ago. A Rolex is thousands of dollars...yet it does the same damn thing as a Timex.

So if I may summarize, Fractal is better because: 1) Various famous dudes have one. 2) Internet comments say so. 3) It's more expensive. (see #1) Nothing about having tried both and genuinely preferring the Axe. You're right... in this case it's not subjective at alI. You've based your conclusion on the 3 pillars of advertising: 1) Endorsements from a famous face. 2) Endorsements from Joe Average. 3) Exploiting the perception that expensive stuff must be better than less expensive stuff, because otherwise no one in their right mind would pay the extra money... millions of Monster Cables have been sold entirely under this premise. ;) FWIW, I can't afford Fractal prices either...I mean, I wouldn't break me, but I can't justify it either.

So in essence, Fractal is better because: 1) Various famous dudes have one. 2) Internet comments say so. 3) It's more expensive. Those reasons friends, are the very essence of subjectivity. I rest my case. ;)

But what would you measure? And what difference would it make if you found that Product A had more or less of X, Y, or Z than Product B? Is more "better"? There's no guarantee that you'd prefer one over the other, no matter what you're trying to quantify. And that's always what it will boil down to. Do I like this thing, or not? You might love it, and I might hate it... so who's right? Nobody. And you could do your experiment with both companies going through their respective modeling processes with the exact same amps, mics, in the same room, etc, etc... and you'd still never get a consensus on which one was better, for the exact same reason: Perception is both variable, and notoriously fickle. We've all had the experience of loving our sound one day, and hating it the next... even when nothing has changed but the day of the week. You'll never get a room full of guitar players to universally agree on anything...

There's no objective "truth" to be found here. You can't "prove" that one device's modeling algorithms are "better" or "worse" than any of it's competitors, any more than you can prove that iceberg lettuce is "better" than romaine. There's nothing to measure or quantify. All we have is subjective evaluation and opinions, which are driven entirely by personal preferences, individual needs, and whatever inherent biases we all bring to the table. In other words, you either like it or you don't... but either way, you've "proven" nothing. I'll use my Les Paul example again...I hate the damn things. I find them horribly uncomfortable to play. I sound terrible whenever I pick one up....so I stopped trying. But does that "prove" that Les Pauls are terrible instruments? Of course not... they just don't work for me. There are plenty of guys however, who can make them sing. They're not the problem...I am. It's all relative. As far as I'm concerned, the closest thing there is to "truth" as far as guitar modelers are concerned is this: There are a lot good ones on the market today, both hardware versions and software based plug-ins. If you have even the slightest clue how they work, with a little effort (emphasis on effort) you should be able to achieve satisfactory results with any of them. And if you've tried them all and can't make a single one sound good, then the gear isn't the problem.... stick with "real" amps.

Yup. If you can manage to use somebody else's patches completely unaltered, it's just dumb luck. And yes, I've tried... there are way too many variables. Tried dozens (of not hundreds) from Customtone, and even purchased a handful of the more frequently touted ones early on, mostly out of curiosity. Nothing was usable for me without significant editing. So why pay somebody if I end up having to do it myself anyway? So I don't get the appeal at all.... but to each their own.

Personally I've never had much luck putting delays and reverbs before an amp, be it a "real" amp, or a modeled one... the whole reason FX loops exist is because some effects just tend to work better after the preamp, but much of it boils down to personal preference.... and as everyone else has already said, you can do as you like. The one and only "rule" is this: If it sounds good, it is good. How you got there doesn't much matter...

Submit it to Idea Scale... won't do any good in here.

yeah... that annoys me too. No solution that I know of, but I'd welcome one. Definitely the pinnacle of first world problems, lol

Yes, it is a terrible place...I acknowledged that earlier. It's not you, it's everyone else. We are all universally awful people, laying in wait to crush the spirit of anyone genuinely seeking assistance. Because as everyone knows, that is the key to a successful online community. This forum has endured for years based on it's capacity to systematically drive away everyone who shows up.

Don't you get it get yet? Taking the high road will get you nowhere with this guy. He thrives on confrontation, as do all trolls. You could deliver him the 600Hz notch spike that's he's decided it's the answer to his tonal quest, along with a pile of diamond encrusted 24k gold bars, and he would still find fault with it. It's an illness. Let him go....

For those of you playing at home, we have now completed Phases 1 and 2... Phase 1: Good faith efforts to respond to the initial volley of fire-breathing complaints are dismissed outright, mostly by questioning the brains/ears/ abilities of those who responded. Predictably, (and of course by design) this eventually grinds on the last nerve of everyone who bothered to try and help. Phase 2: The instigator responds to the inevitable pushback to Phase 1 charade by attempting to cast himself as the victim....oddly through name calling, lol. This is a peculiar tactic, as it is rather difficult to drum up sympathy for your plight from the same audience whom you've just labeled "retards". Nonetheless, this exceedingly strange behavior has been reported in 100% of wild troll encounters. (Trolls born in captivity tend to be non-verbal. They just grunt a lot, usually with one finger lodged in a nostril... it's pitiful. Please spay and neuter domesticated trolls, folks ;) ). But I digress...desperation truly is a stinky cologne. Stay tuned for Phase 3: Digital storm-off, usually accompanied by parting insults, peppered with the occasional expletive. ETA, 1-3 business days. Same script every time folks...

Yup. We're the problem. You win.

He doesn't want help. He doesn't want to like the Helix. It couldn't be any more obvious if it were tattooed on his forehead. Like all those who've come and gone before him, his goal is to irritate while satisfying an obsessive need for external validation. Indulging him only provides more opportunities for him to push everybody's buttons....yet everyone continues to line up and do exactly that. The only thing dumber is the fact that the next one who comes along will get exactly what he's looking for too... it's like Groundhog Day.

Impossible. For he is the Master of Tone....know thy place, serf. ;)

I love the bagpipes...