Go to mic???

[CBTL]

What is your go to mic? Do you mess with the settings or do you leave it as assigned to the cab you pic? Sometimes too much choice is a bad thing.

[zooey]

The 3 ribbons, 57, and 7 are my most common mic choices I think. I do try different mics when I'm prospecting for sounds, mic choice matters a lot.

[HonestOpinion]

Things really get interesting when you use two cabs and use a bright and a darker mic as well as varying the mic distance,the low & high cuts, and the mix level determining how much of each cab you have in your output.

[duncann]

Things really get interesting when you use two cabs and use a bright and a darker mic as well as varying the mic distance,the low & high cuts, and the mix level determining how much of each cab you have in your output.

 

Lol. Yes, it's interesting in the sense that when you start haphazardly going through all the possible permutations, a feeling of paralyzing anxiety starts creeping in, if you can call that interesting. There's always the next setting you haven't tried yet right around the corner.

 

For guitar, I tend towards the 57, 421, 121 or 160, and 87 or 84.

 

For Bass, I like the 4038 and 47.

 

I do wish they had some mic placement options other than just distance. For example, when listening to IRs, I always find cone-edge alignment pleasing.

[Verne-Bunsen]

Things really get interesting when you use two cabs and use a bright and a darker mic as well as varying the mic distance,the low & high cuts, and the mix level determining how much of each cab you have in your output.

^^ This!! I watched this video and it completely overhauled my experience with the stock cabs. to answer your actual question though, the Royer 121 ribbon and the SM57 and 7 dynamics are my go-to choices.

 

[vmoncebaiz]

I second the 121, 57, and 7.  I use bigger low cuts on the 121, and high cuts on them all, down to ~7k

 

For high gain stuff i like the RE30. Another guy here on the forum mentioned using the 112 for high gain sounds, and it actually works really well.  I particularly like them both blended with a duplicate cab and second mic, usually a 57.

[CBTL]

What's this thing with high and low cuts? I know it's probably a stupid question

[HonestOpinion]

What's this thing with high and low cuts? I know it's probably a stupid question

High and low cuts are generally used to emulate the frequency range and to some extent the frequency response of a standard guitar cabinet or amp. The Helix is capable of delivering a signal that spans at least the entire audible spectrum from 20 to 20,000hz (20khz). A guitar amp cabinet usually has a mostly audible range of about 70hz-8khz or thereabouts. The high end can often drop off dramatically around 5khz. The low and high cuts can help get rid of muddy boomy lows and spiky shrill highs. These cuts can also give different mics an even more distinct character, especially when two cab models are being used simultaneously.

 

Particularly when you are using a full-range speaker like an FRFR or a PA speaker to monitor your Helix you may find you want to experiment with the high and low cut to help control the low and high end of your sound. You may even find this necessary to get a more classic guitar sound when monitoring the Helix with a standard guitar cab or amp as well as many guitar amp preamp and power amp sections don't produce a full range signal (20hz-20khz) whereas a modeler like the Helix does. These full range frequencies can get accentuated in unpredictable ways when they pass through your guitar amp. Many people use say a low cut of 70hz and a high cut of 8.5khz as general guidelines and move them up or down depending on their equipment, the preset being used, what their ears are telling them, and in the example cited above depending on which mic model they are using.

[DunedinDragon]

Sometimes I leave the default mic settings if it matches well with the song, but some of the default choices do seem a bit odd to me given the typical use of the amp/cab.

 

Like most everyone else I find myself migrating many times to the 57 and the 421 because of my familiarity with those two mics and what they will sound like.  For condensor mics I trend toward the 414 and the 87, and ribbon mics (which I rarely use) I tend to go to the Royer.

[zooey]

High and low cuts are generally used to emulate the frequency range and to some extent the frequency response of a standard guitar cabinet or amp.

I hear this all the time here, and while on one level of course I understand, and I do use those controls, another (bigger) part of me says that if the speaker and cab emulations are actually true to the real speakers and cabs, there shouldn't BE any content above guitar cab range that needs to be filtered out.

 

Maybe it's that what we're used to hearing on recordings isn't what guitar cabs actually sound like in the real world. Whether it's through off-axis mic'ing or processing, more highs in particular get removed than what happens when you just play the amp through the speaker. Only hole in that theory is that many of ARE pretty used to the sound of real world guitar cabs, and we still like to pull "excess" highs out of emulated cabs.

 

Or maybe it's that in their infinite wisdom, amp sim makers often build their amps and/or cabs with more highs than in the real world, because removing frequencies is easier and more natural sounding than boosting what's not there, so those "excess" overtones give us flexibility, even if they mean we often have to filter some of that back out.

 

Back on planet Earth, I just adjust things until I like it, so as you were, carry on.

[hideout]

I use the ribbons exclusively. Never liked the sound of the 57 - so harsh. It's got a huge peak at around 5k and that's where the nasties live.

[Lachdanan0121]

So far, I am more drawn to the Ribbon mics. I want to say the 121 is the one I think I like the most so far.  But I am in the middle of finishing an album, and the majority of guitar is already recorded, and ReAmped.  So I haven't delved near as deep into as some of you probably have. 

[HonestOpinion]

I hear this all the time here, and while on one level of course I understand, and I do use those controls, another (bigger) part of me says that if the speaker and cab emulations are actually true to the real speakers and cabs, there shouldn't BE any content above guitar cab range that needs to be filtered out.

 

...

 

I totally concur! My brain tells me that these amp/cab models and IRs have been designed to and should already be delivering only the range/response I would hear from the amp/cab they are modeling but my ears often tell me something else. I don't know if it the additional effects or the frequency response of my speakers but by the time the sound makes it to my monitors it often benefits from some strategic low/high cuts.

[Joepeggio]

I like the ribbons, but in the mix with a full band the 414 is my first try.

 

@honost . Just a guess, but we are used to the last thing in the traditional chain being the speaker cab. In Helix i tend to put post effects after cabs to maintain stereo effects. Maybe some of these effects produce upper harmonics without a speaker to tame them. ?

[PeterHamm]

I always use one of the ribbons.

[Tcamponovo]

I like the 121 ribbon and the 4038 as well. I seem to get a warm sound from both and the 4038 seems a shade darker. Which I like. But different mics work differently with different amps. The old 57 is a good place to start.

[roscoe5]

112 Dynamic and 160 ribbon on a dual Dr Z 212 cab block with a 10 band mono eq block after with 500Hz cut and slight v shape lows and highs.

[hideout]

I still want this.

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Multiple-Mics-on-Cab-Sims/813019-23508

[hideout]

I've often wondered what it would sound like if you glued a piezo electric element onto a guitar speaker cone and fed that into the console or FRFR system.

[Joepeggio]

I've often wondered what it would sound like if you glued a piezo electric element onto a guitar speaker cone and fed that into the console or FRFR system.

it may sound like a flying piezo! :) they should laser track a speaker for a "no mic" cab!??

[hideout]

it may sound like a flying piezo! :) they should laser track a speaker for a "no mic" cab!??

Laser interferometry? Interesting. An optical means of capturing the sonics. Hmmm... Well... It would certainly be micless. I just don't know how musical it would be without all the flaws and coloration.

[hideout]

Nah. Just give me more mic placements.