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Parapentep70

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  1. I agree with everything you added. Thanks for the hint about turning down sag when trying ANY guitar amp for bass use, makes perfect sense to me.
  2. (Posted by me in another forum earlier) The new Line6 Ventoux amplifier available with firmware 3.15 is GREAT for bass. Use a proper cab for bass (or IR or good EQ emulating a simple cab) and it is very easy to get different tones a beautiful crunch levels without using the expression pedal or the bass volume, just the fingers. Then the new "Mid" control, the HPF and the drive control (or your volume knob in the bass) work so well to modify how this model reacts to the dynamics in your fingers. The only bass amplifier that I liked before for this "tubey" feel and sound was the SVT. What I use most time to get this sound besides SVT is not an amplifier model but a combination of bass-friendly distortions plus cabs (or IRs or EQs). Mainly Teemah!, Obsidian and sometimes Clawthorn Drive for controllable Fuzzey sound. There are a few guitar amplifiers that work well with bass (changing settings and without their default cabs), but with the time I spent I cannot beat the SVT and the 3 overdrives mentioned. Ventoux is a solid candidate to get ALL these sounds (well, except the Clawthorn), all the sounds in the middle and many new good bass tones... with the twist of only 1 knob!. Simple as an old favorite real tube amplifier. It is NOT an emulation, Line6 describes it as a "creation" to get this tube sound without imitating anything already built. "Sag" control is magic for bass (I recommend low values or zero for "normal" situations). I need to try live!
  3. ...And mine died today. It worked 2 hours ago (the first time I tried to use it in 5 years or so). A couple of VERY satisfactory tests later.. it's gone, fried, dead. A combination of bad luck, user error, a commercial microphone that is not wrong, simply wired in an unusual way (and for a good reason) and above all, a mic preamp design that is not robust at all to this unfortunate combination.
  4. @zolko60, I noticed what you say long ago. In my preactical cases variations are probably comparable to yours (+/- 4dB or more), so I didn't see the point in measuring. I shared in this thread the simple explanation. It is simple. It is impossible to keep the balance in loudness among very different presets for different input signals. Simple example: If you have 2 simple patches, one with a drastic compressor and NOTHING in the other, if you balance loudness for WEAK signals, when you play stronger the non-compressed patch will sound proportionally louder. And the compressed patch will compress... and sound LESS louder. For the DSP experts: even an ideal linear, time-invariant system ("LTI") does not guarantee that you can keep equal loudness for different source signals. The counter-example to break this "false rule" is equally simple to find.
  5. I mentioned 2 simple ways : ) Compresion + different levels AND EQ+ different spectral content at the input. The good think about loudness meter is to measure to what extent. What I did by the way. I should be wrong then.
  6. After reading a page and a half on the subject, I think nobody is mentioning clearly one of the limitations when trying to balance volume in multiple patches: Even for the same instrument, and conditions (tone knob or pickup configuration), if you have 10 patches perfectly balanced one day, they can be completely unbalanced next day no matter how accurate you want to "measure" loudness.Why? Clean, uncompressed patches will sound much louder when you hit the strings much stronger. But heavily compressed and / or distorted patches will sound a tad louder... and dirtier. So if my patches are perfecly balanced when I play my guitar or bass at home and "measuring loudness" with whatever procedure (ears or the best weighted loudness meter plug-in), next day when I tend to play much harder in a live situation the clean patches will sound stronger than the dirty ones. (For the same reason some subtle overdriven sound usually becomes more distorted). Changing from pick to fingers (I am a bassist) or playing with volume control will make dispersion in loudness stronger. There is nothing to be done about it: Some patches "compress" levels (and therefore loudness) more than others. If levels are balanced at a given input, they won't be at a completely different input level. An easy example for some guitar players I've seen: If they balance patches with guitar volume at 1/10 (in an attempt to have margin to boost in a gig), when they go to full volume the overdriven patches will sound dirtier (and a tad louder), but clean patches will sound MUCH louder. In short, when patches have different compression levels (due to amp channel used / compressor / overdrive / fuzz / distortion / etc), if they are balanced at a given input level they won't when the input is hotter / weaker. There are more variables. An obvious example: Patches boosting lows or highs. If they are balanced in volume with the bridge pick-up, switching to the neck pickup will tend to boost the dark patch more than the other. Just in case it was not mentioned before.
  7. I would not say "better" or "worse", but some of the legacy effects work for my bass better than their modern counterpart. Some examples not covering all blocks (from my notes some time ago): I like "Heavy Distortion" (legacy) for a kind of fuzz tones with split / crossover. At low gains it does not pass bass without blending. I recommend to try Screamer, very different from Scream 808. Not better or worse, completely different. Without blending the legacy version takes bass EQ better in my opinion. Colordrive: good because of the way it blends with clean signal to keep bass. But it is just one of the many drives that works well. Facial Fuzz (legacy): Best fuzz for me for bass use. But I am not a seasoned Fuzz user, maybe most people don't agree. Please try and share opinions! Boost Comp: Simple compressor with flat response, it is effective on bass. Some bass users reported it as the best. To me it is not as good as Deluxe Comp or 3 band compressor, but I found it useful. Some reverbs: Lower on resources than new ones?, they can be effective for bass. I use Room, Octo and Cave to create ambients... but I also use Plateaux and Particle Verb.
  8. Parapentep70

    Bass Content

    Agreed! Some of the guitar cabs are far better than many bass cabs... for bass use! One important trick for me is to avoid the use of certain mics (57 Dyn cuts lows!). In my experience, a close (1'') 414 Cond or 121 Ribbon give me the best results. If some cab is too dark, then the 47 Cond helps (this is what comes with the SVT by default). Then the 4038 Ribbon boosts lows too much, it is useful sometimes, but I am not sure if there is the need to boost lows when there are so many cabs that work well. Avoiding medium distance "57 Dyn" is what makes MANY guitar cabs usable for me. My favorites bass cabs (Forgive comments in "Spanglish"): Also "No cab" works really well for me. With some EQ to tame and "voice" high frequencies, but totally transparent with lows. It avoids phasing issues. We bass players have enough with our "FRFR" cabs, they are not that "transparent" in the lows, so there is no need to make the problem twice as bad. I have certain theory why some "good" or "professional" or "thoroughly recorded" cab models are not so great with the Helix or any other modeller. Their responses are anything but "tight". 1x18 Woody Blue may sound good with headphones, but I doubt it is good with the full band and using any practical real cab in stage with the full band at high volume. To me it sounds really BAD. I can understand why some bass multi effect users are enthusiastic with their presets tuned with headphones without a band and then in the first rehearsal the band tell them "This is for guitars, your old bass amp sounded way better". ================== About the blend: Some overdrives / distortion have. And this is great because this avoids certain subtle problems that appear when using parallel paths. The problem with parallels paths (besides being very limited in number) has to do with phasing issues, they are different for each amplifier or overdrive. These issues are far worse in bass than in guitar. I know that this topic can be very controversial. Some ODs don't have a blend control, but they work at low / moderate gains "as if" they had a clean parallel path. If you play bass I recommend to try Teemah! for this reason. Teemah! and Obsidian 7000 are my favorite dirts. I have a preset that is simply Teemah! plus an EQ (instead of cab) plus effects, this is one of my favorites with the band. Because it is "rich enough" but "TIGHT". And I need my bass to sound very tight in many songs / band situations. Next in my "OD" list are 3 bass amps (SV Beast and Tuck'n'Go) and then Clawthorn Drive. There are many usable blocks to create OD / Distortion, some are bass amps, some are guitar amps. IME many of them are totally unusable for bass. But there are some surprises, for example the LEGACY heavy distortion (this one requires a parallel path). Or the Tube Screamer emulation is too "treebly", but does not CUT bass, so it admits EQ to restore bass... and does not require a parallel path! (it works better in a band context this way). I really would like to add a blend control in overdrives and distortions. Now I know it is not trivial to add if done properly. Hope it helps.
  9. There might be an important difference that depends a lot on the computer, operating system and interface you are using. Helix Hardware has very low latency (you hear what you play with minimum delay) while, depending on system, Native might give you acceptable or totally inacceptable latency. This can completley change your experience. Tweaking relatively good PCs and interfaces for live operation is not trivial (unfortunately). Helix is always very good in this area. Also I/Os in Helix are very good while PC interfaces can be (being practical) as good, acceptable or noticeably worse. But "sound", "tone", options and possibilities are basically the same with some obvious exceptions (like changing input impedance or trying to use external loops)
  10. A few years ago there was something similar to what you like. It was the "SWR Amplite", a power amplifier designed for bass. I don't know if they produce it any longer. My guess is that products like this were not too popular when a standard PA amplifier can do the same (or more) for less money. As njglover said, I tend to think power amps in pedal format cannot provide enough power for bass in certain situations. Some time ago I used my TC Electronic RH-750 as a power amp for my old Zoom B3 (using the power amp input). At the time I considered the possibility to swap it for an Ashdown Little Giant 1000 because the power stage (the only thing I was using) was comparable and the price lower. But I kept (and I still have) the RH750 just in case I decided to do a gig without any multi-effect. I checked and noticed your BH250 does not have the independent power amplifier input. But I'd try to see if the "buil-in" EQ in your BH250 is acceptable for your needs. Possibly with some tweaks it will be good enough, then you can save for a really good powered FRFR cab that is perfect for bass. In the last 7 years I've been using a standard PA power amplifier, first with the Zoom B3, then with the Helix. Something like the new Behringer NX1000 is inexpensive and probably good enough. I've been using the larger NU6000DSP to power my bi-amp "dream rig" since 2011. Now, if stolen or damaged, I'd buy a Barefaced FR800 active cab. Strictly equivalent to my rig when I leave 1 cab home, i.e. HUGE sounds, but weighting just 15 Kg! In my opinion there is not much choice for powerful active FRFR speakers good enough for bass and that don't weight a ton.
  11. Not sure if this is the same or not. But I think Helix should include some kind of harmony effect (similar to "pitch" or "dual pitch") that preserves formants. This is a basic (or perhaps THE basic) effect for vocals. I think this should be included in Helix since it can process 2 or more paths, and Helix includes a good microphone pre-amp. This effect does NOT require any special DSP resource (like, for example, a looper with a longer time or a convolutional reverb with long impulse responses). The effect is intended to generate vocal harmonies avoiding "smurf" or "monster" voices (when raising / lowering pitch, respectively). Someone asked for this in Ideascale. I think it is a must for musicians who sing and play guitar. Not my case, I cannot sing! : )
  12. Working for a living as an Electronic Engineer and after reading these potential improvements for the Helix (and other stuff from other vendors) I understand that most probably EE's designing Helix did a stupidly wrong job providing the wrong OPAMPs and decoupling / coupling capacitors or power supply filters to take the most of out of relatively good (relatively expensive) converters. Not only this. Also EEs from the other companies listed also chose really bad components around their converters and DSPs, when they could have got all the potential performance from them. This must be a generalized case of really bad engineering. Add that these claims are not supported with measurements or numbers, showing how bad existing designs are, and how badly an improper supply decoupling degrades the ADC performance of the Helix. And therefore how many dBs of performance they can recover by substituting the side components so improperly chosen. Just to quantify how well spent is the cost of the mods! In short... I think I am entitled to be at least a bit skeptical.
  13. Same for me. Last block in my patches is always a "Return" block I use to mix dry signal from a keyboard, sometimes the keyboard was muted for this reason. Thanks to the forum now I understand why.
  14. I came to the same conclusion. I don't know the internal signal path but Teemah! definitely sounds as if it had a dry path. In fact in my notes for "bass usability" I wrote "includes a dry path" but... in reality I don't know. I strongly recommend to try it for bass guitar for this reason, it works on its own really well without the need for dual paths with or without crossover (and their associated drawbacks).
  15. I was going to print it... and noticed that there is a small issue. The text is oriented in the best possible way, but then the labels for the external loop connections should show "Returns / Sends" or perhaps add some "R's" and "S's". I noticed when I did my poor and ugly version... written on a white PVC tape, I initially made the same mistake. Very good work, thanks a lot for sharing.
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