Tone or "amp" matching

[jeffhucik]

Does anyone know if line 6 plans to tackle tone matching for the helix? It's a very attractive feature that all but Helix has (kemper, axe, bias) I'm a stickler for wanting to have as close to the real thing in my arsenal, and though I get real close, I think tone matching will bring a whole new light to the situation. I think it could really up Helix's game.

 

PS. I know I can do it with external software(I have a studio and have all of it) I just think it would be great to have it built in to the editor. Bias does a GREAT job at this.

[PeterHamm]

No one knows about features they may or may not implement in the future. 

 

And even those of us who get to know in advance only know, generally, a very short time before the rest.

 

Tone matching (although it doesn't interest me) seems like something that could be implemented in Helix as far as the hardware is concerned, but only the guys doing the programming know for sure.

Maybe one of them can pipe up here? Or maybe they can't? I don't know.

[radatats]

I submitted this to IdeaScale last year, vote it up and we'll see what they do...

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Tone-Matching-for-Helix/753630-23508

[jeffhucik]

Just did that! I think its a no brainer for them in my opinion. I don't know why they wouldn't do it unless they are saving it for "Helix 2"

[jroseberry]

Does anyone know if line 6 plans to tackle time matching for the helix? It's a very attractive feature that all but Helix has (kemper, axe, bias) I'm a stickler for wanting to have as close to the real thing in my arsenal, and though I get real close, I think tone matching will bring a whole new light to the situation. I think it could really up Helix's game.

 

PS. I know I can do it with external software(I have a studio and have all of it) I just think it would be great to have it built in to the editor. Bias does a GREAT job at this.

 

I think tone-matching would be a nice added feature.

In the meantime, you can do tone-matching manually (if you have the appropriate DAW software and knowlege).

[lawrence_Arps]

can anyone explain this to me? it just seems pointless.

 

No regional artist would ever want to have an exact copy of someone else's sound...and in cover bands there are only a small number of tomes that 99.9999% of the audience can tell apart (guitarists excluded).

 

Heres a go at defining the maximum tones required for a covers band. )and ignoring FX)..

 

1. clean with a bit of brightness

2. clean and warm

3 .slightly driven

4. moderately driven

5. Heavily driven

6.Totally distorted.

 

These can be created on almost any amp...maybe a drive pedal needed in some case.  Add or remove  bass ,midrange, and treble to taste.

There is no gig in the world that this cannot cover.  Now personal taste comes in as do the instrument and the fingers and style.

 

Now Im not being critical of Helix users that choose to optimise these to the best amp. (which I do)...but  99% of non-modelling players  create all their tones on 1 amp.

 

my point is that audiences will not change their opinion of a performance on the basis that the Les Paul with the slightly over driven tone sounded more like a Marshall JTM 45 than a Bogner...  Just won't happen.

 

I can see a Farside style cartoon of two groupies leaving a show saying "what a shame the concert was ruined by the guitarist who used 25watt celestials instead of 30watt!"

[jroseberry]

I can see your points.

Keep in mind that those same types of sounds (clean to heavy drive) can sound appreciably different with various amps/cabs.

Whether or not that matters to you... is an aesthetic choice.

The audience won't care.

 

Tone-matching just allows you to get closer to specific sounds.

[gunpointmetal]

I don't personally care if its implemented, I'm usually chasing a sound in my head vs. a copy of an exact, but adding the features would only mean more Helix sales which would only mean more updates and a longer product life-cycle, which is good for me, so I think its a worthy addition to the device, should it be possible.

[jroseberry]

As a point of reference, the Kemper Profiler is essentially able to "tone-match" the frequency spectrum... and match the non-linear distortion aspects of most any mic'd amp/cab.  IOW, It's taking the same type of process much further.  Extremely useful in this case.

[zooey]

For "tone matching" to work, there has to be a hi-res EQ that can be controlled by the analysis part. Are you guys thinking that's a generated IR? Seems like you'd need more than one 4 band parametric to do a decent job, which I guess Helix could use, just not ideal for that purpose I'd think.

 

Anyway, implementation aside, I'd find it interesting to see what the curves looked like, whether I ended up using the result or not. I have a decent ear I think, but still, all skills improve w feedback.

[HonestOpinion]

I would love to see tone matching move to full preset matching one day including effects as in, here is the Robin Trower sound off 'Bridge Of Sighs' with not only the amp dialed in but the Univibe, distortion and everything else as well. Here is Jimi's Octavia sound off 'Purple Haze' with a Fender through a Marshall, or Brian May's modified Vox replete with delays off 'Bohemian Rhapsody', you get the idea. Now that would be some awesome tone matching. Even if you are not playing in a cover band they would make some great jumping off places for working up your own tone. I always thought that sampling technology would lead to that kind of tone matching eventually.