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Volume from Guitar - Helix - FRFR


specracer986
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What do you use as a base for setting the volume on the guitar to Helix to FRFR. I have the typical problem where my patches sound okay practicing by myself but then sound thin when I get to band rehearsal, and I think it has to do with my volume settings.

Do you set the FRFR volume fairly high and then step down with the Helix volume and the guitar volume? I've only had my Helix a few weeks and haven't really figured this out yet. It seems like if I have the Helix too high and the FRFR too low, it creates this thin boxy sound, but if I raise the volume of the FRFR, it opens up a bit. Like I said, I'm still fishing, so I thought I'd ask advice.

 

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Volume affects tone...a lot. A patch will never sound the same at bedroom volume vs. stage volume. Doesn't matter if its an FRFR speaker, a traditional guitar amp, or a kazoo.

 

For the sake of simplicity, I'd leave the FRFR's master volume at 12 o'clock and raise or lower volume as needed from Helix.

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I understand the tone will be different at low volume. What I'm wondering, once you start raising your volumes, has anyone noticed a difference between cranking the Helix volume knob very high when the FRFR is a bit low, verses starting with the FRFR fairly high, then adjusting the Helix up as needed, but not over pushing the monitor?

Like I said, I don't have enough seat time myself, so I'm still trying to figure out if there is a best method to start with. Thanks.

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Generally speaking FRFR powered monitors tend to work best when kept at 50% (little chance of clipping or limiter circuits kicking in) and that's more than loud enough to not have your ears fool you about the sound.

 

I create my patches with my Master volume level on the Helix at 50% and try to target (using a sound meter) around 80db as my sound pressure level (SPL).  That pretty much gives me a very accurate picture of what things will sound like on stage.  I may have to turn up my Helix Master Volume a bit to around 60% once I get on stage, but everything stays very consistent as far as the sound.

 

At 80db of SPL I try to stand back from the speaker about 5 or 6 feet with the speaker roughly at head level to hear everything blended clearly.

 

I've never really played witht monitor level and the Helix volume level like what you're talking about.  I've just known for a long time that 50% tends to be about optimal for me on both the speaker and the Helix (as it was also when I was using a POD 500X).  You may have to come up slightly on your speaker volume if it's a bit underpowered, but most of them nowdays are pretty loud at the settings I'm talking about.

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Ok, thanks. I'll keep the monitor at 50%, it's a Yamaha DXR12, with 1100 watts, so it doesn't need to be cranked too much, I guess. I have a db gauge. I should bring it to my rehearsal space and check what I'm practicing at, both alone and with the band.

The other night at rehearsal, I had a patch that sounded bad at the beginning of the evening. Later on, the same patch sounded better, so I wasn't sure which change had made the difference. I usually try to do changes one step at a time, but when there's other people around it's sometimes hard to keep track of things. I may have had my monitor too loud and not enough coming out of the Helix. Time will tell. I'll keep better track of all settings at next weeks rehearsal.

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Another issue you may have aside from volume. I use 2 alto ts110a's. At first I set the tone with these to find a fairly brittle tone when I went to FOH. I think modern powered PA speakers tend to be high bass low mid hyped to give the people that thump without needing a sub.

 

My solution was to compare my tone with some 8" studio monitors I have. Great tone in the altos, thin in the monitors. I ended up global eq'ing the altos: -7db around 300hz, -5db near 900hz to match the studio monitors. Now FOH sounds nearly the same as the Altos. :)

 

Shows the need for separate global eq for different outputs.

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Seperate-global-eq-s-1-4-xlr/804057-23508

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Anyone who doesn't have a db meter can download from the play store for Andriod many free apps that do just that I use "Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite" it has a bunch of other tool besides the db meter. I sure apple has one as well but don't know if there is a free one.

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I've always run my powered speaker level right at half-way and used the Helix master to set the volume. Never had a problem of it not being loud enough, and I've never had a problem of clipping the input of the speaker. You pretty much cannot take a low volume patch and just "turn it up" and have it sound the same.

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This advice from a Crown PA amp manual: Keep the power amp volume setting as high as possible to allow the amp to respond to transient peaks; use the mixer (or Helix in our case) output volume to set the desired sound level.

 

My powered PA speaker's volume knob has a notch at the mid point which is labelled with a U for unity. Maximum volume and anything to the right is for boosting the input signal when a mic is directly connected. With the PA speaker set at U, I use the Helix 1/4-inch output set to line level and I set the Helix volume knob around two o'clock to get a balanced mix with the rock band's un-mic'd drums. That's a good rehearsal and stage volume for me. The front-of-house mixer mic's the drums and takes an XLR output from Helix, which I have set to not be controlled by the volume knob. The Helix volume knob only controls the (1/4-inch) level coming from my own PA speaker; the front-of-house (XLR) level never changes.

 

All my patches are balanced to have about the same level as an empty patch.

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Every PA brand varies, so you may have to adjust from one speaker to the next. But I also like to work with Helix around 50% and adjust the speakers as needed. When doing demos, I've noticed some of the guys like to crank Helix at about 75%. I think its better to have Helix cranked more that the actual speaker pesonally, but that may just be my preference. If you're going into a board, make sure the EQ is set pretty flat (on the board) and the gain is fairly low as well. And my motto is to never underestimate the power of mids in your guitar EQ. I can never seem to get enough! But I probably like a little more mids than most guys. Mids definitely add some warmth and volume to any sound. Also, it's funny how easily you can bump the mic knob and not realize it if you not paying attention. All the sudden, everything sounds different! hope this is helpful. Good luck and have fun!

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