pol2711 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Hi all, My Helix is on the way. If all is going well it will be delivered end of this day. I was satisfied with my JTV-POD HD500X-DT25 combination. But with the Helix I will step into a new era (hopefully (o;) I bought a Alto TS115W (is the same as the A but with bluetooth) because everyone is raving about the sound. Everyone except me. On my iMac with studio monitors the sound is right. Thought that the Alto as a FRFR solution on stage will give me that same sound but then on a gig level. Trying it with my POD 500X and it sounds horrible. My lower strings gives me a sonic distortion (something is digital clipping somewhere), the clean sounds sound like a mobile speaker. If I use the bluetooth connection to play a MP3, the sound is OK. The Alto is not malfunction in any way. Hooking my POD500X (studio direct/volume POD 50%/XLR connection/contour off/volume Alto 25%) -> Alto: horrible To my iMac and studio monitors not changing anything on my POD: sound is OK Changed the XLR cable and tried 1/4: same results. Tried global EQ is various settings and off: same results Now I'm stucked. Lucky me I have the DT25 so I can hear the Helix to it's full glory. Someone else is having the same issue? Or is the Alto not suitable for gigging in combination with the POD? Strange 'cos via my iMac it sounds good to me. Thanks for any reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawn2031 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Hi all, My Helix is on the way. If all is going well it will be delivered end of this day. I was satisfied with my JTV-POD HD500X-DT25 combination. But with the Helix I will step into a new era (hopefully (o;) I bought a Alto TS115W (is the same as the A but with bluetooth) because everyone is raving about the sound. Everyone except me. On my iMac with studio monitors the sound is right. Thought that the Alto as a FRFR solution on stage will give me that same sound but then on a gig level. Trying it with my POD 500X and it sounds horrible. My lower strings gives me a sonic distortion (something is digital clipping somewhere), the clean sounds sound like a mobile speaker. If I use the bluetooth connection to play a MP3, the sound is OK. The Alto is not malfunction in any way. Hooking my POD500X (studio direct/volume POD 50%/XLR connection/contour off/volume Alto 25%) -> Alto: horrible To my iMac and studio monitors not changing anything on my POD: sound is OK Changed the XLR cable and tried 1/4: same results. Tried global EQ is various settings and off: same results Now I'm stucked. Lucky me I have the DT25 so I can hear the Helix to it's full glory. Someone else is having the same issue? Or is the Alto not suitable for gigging in combination with the POD? Strange 'cos via my iMac it sounds good to me. Thanks for any reply A question like this is probably best asked in the POD HD forum but since I have a 500x and a pair of TS110s, I'll give it a whirl. The very first question for you is at what sound level did you create your patches? It's a very well known fact with the 500x that if you create a great sounding patch at bedroom level and then go crank it up to gig level it more than likely will sound like crap. I don't know if the Helix has the same issue but people complain about this all the time on the HD forums. The fact that your mp3s sound how you would expect them to at higher levels shows that it is not your PA cab that is the issue. The solution to this issue is to create your patches at the volume you intend to use them at. One thing that can help also is, on the back of my TS110s, I have a button that will flatten the response of the speakers to account for what I believe is called the Fletcher-Munsen curve. I would be surprised if yours don't have the same. It would be nice to hear from some Helix users that have designed patches at bedroom volume and cranked them up to gig volume though. Does it have the same issue that the 500x does? I expect that it will but I am hoping for a pleasant surprise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrellM5 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I haven't tried gig volumes but my Alto TS110A sounds amazing with both Helix and a HD500X. I use XLR for both and choose studio direct on the HD500X. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelero Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I find the Alto speakers to be very mid-forward. Not what I would call flat response at all. I upgraded to a QSC K12 and it made a world of difference. The bonus is that the mid-forward sound of the alto makes it a very decent vocal monitor on stage, so I don't feel like my purchase was a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 It's a very well known fact with the 500x that if you create a great sounding patch at bedroom level and then go crank it up to gig level it more than likely will sound like crap. This is true, but it really doesn't have anything to do with the 500X. Any amp is gonna do this. It's how our ears work...the relative volumes of different frequency ranges are perceived differently, depending on the amplitude. FRFR makes it a little better, but none of them are completely flat. Problem is worse with traditional guitar amps/speakers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawn2031 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 This is true, but it really doesn't have anything to do with the 500X. Any amp is gonna do this. It's how our ears work...the relative volumes of different frequency ranges are perceived differently, depending on the amplitude. FRFR makes it a little better, but none of them are completely flat. Problem is worse with traditional guitar amps/speakers. Yeah, I should have worded that better but seeing as the 500x was my first modeller that I have used in this manner, it just kind of came out that way. What my sound guy had me do to get the flattest response out of my Altos was to hook a dual channel dual band EQ to them. I put in a CD that I know very well and know how it should sound and adjust the EQ till the music sounds right. Seems to work out really well for me. Yeah the global EQ could do some of that but I have better control over the frequencies this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekc Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Set the Helix Output mode to "Instrument Level" works best with Alto / Alesis speakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napynap Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Just to add some experience here, I use my POD HD to Alto TS110A for practices and jams. I'm using the global EQ to cut boom and remove fizz. Sounds great, but the sound is very directional compared to a conventional amp combo. Hopefully, the Helix has some suitable settings for yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol2711 Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 good top to try out: set the output form line to instrument... Will do that this evening and will let you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb7170 Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 This is not specifically to do with the ALTO speakers, but I had a minor revelation a couple of days ago.... I am using Yorkville PA/Monitor speakers - I think the N35 got from my soundman when he was moving to Yorkville powered speakers. They are light (Neo's) and good sounding, but I realized they are Full Range, but not Flat Response. I have been fighting with this problem all along -- never could get my speakers to sound good with the stock presets in either the HD500(X) or the new Helix. I've run them with a Crown XL1000, and most recently Quilter Tone Block 200 -- the problem's not with the amplification. I put on headphones and listened to the stock presets on the Helix and they sounded quite good, turned up my speaker and sounded harsh. I try not to resort to the global eq, but messed with it to find the sound of the headphones through the speaker. I found I had to cut the frequencies around 3 kHz -- really that was about it, and the harshness went away. It make sense, now that I think about it as PA speakers are meant to make VOICES sound good -- which live in the mids, so they emphasize the vocal range with peaking response around those frequencies... Once I cut that range, my speaker sounds VERY much like what I hear through the headphones. MUCH improved. If the ALTO's or other speakers are designed for vocal PA use, they may have the same mid-range harshness for the modelers' stock presets, that were probably set up with true FRFR reference speakers. You can make your own presets sound really good through the speaker without the global eq, but you'll make cuts in frequencies, that when sent to an FOH system won't sound that great. The good thing about the Helix is that you can choose the outputs the global EQ affects. I set mine to the 1/4" outs only, and left the XLR's that I connect to my soundman's system alone. Can't do that with the HD500X.... I do plan on revisiting my HD500 & 500X with the same thing in mind, as they are going to be my back up rig. Just an observation, hope it helps.... Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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