coachz Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Can anyone post some screenshots of some involved patches in helix? I have read about the limits of IR and cab combinations but I'm wondering how many blocks people are able to use. Comps, verbs, delays etc on both stereo paths. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verne-Bunsen Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Hi coachz, Most of my presets follow this general formula: Path 1A/B in serial (1A output is muted) going into Path 2A which then runs a pair of cabs or IRs in parallel on 2A/B. The configurations of the various effects, delays and reverbs vary, but this is kind of my "template"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterHamm Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 This is, no lie, a typical patch for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 IRs (2048 size) and Reverbs tend to be pretty DSP hungry beasts, so you're likely to run out of DSP much quicker if you're using a lot of them so you really can't just count the blocks in a signal path. Some are WAY more expensive than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachz Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 Hi coachz, Most of my presets follow this general formula: Path 1A/B in serial (1A output is muted) going into Path 2A which then runs a pair of cabs or IRs in parallel on 2A/B. The configurations of the various effects, delays and reverbs vary, but this is kind of my "template"... Thanks of the screenshot. Why do you run multiple verbs, delays and modulation together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verne-Bunsen Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Thanks of the screenshot. Why do you run multiple verbs, delays and modulation together?They aren't necessarily run together, there's just more than one of each in the preset that can be toggled on/off with the foot switches. The 3 modulation blocks are a vibe, a chorus and a tremolo. They are positioned as they are because I like the vibe before the overdrive (a Minotaur in this case), the chorus after the overdrive, and the tremolo between the amp and cabs. I can't say I ever use more than one at a time. The two delays are a simple delay set for dotted 8th with one repeat at unity, and a tape delay set for more repeats at a much lower level, a more "traditional" subtle setting. Generally I'd only use one at a time, but at the time of this screenshot I was running the vintage delay into the tape delay simply because it was producing an effect that worked nicely for what I was doing. The three reverbs are really more like two that are used either/or. The one that is on in the screenshot is a spring reverb set rather subtly. The other two are assigned to a single foot switch and turn on/off together. The one before the cabs is a '63 spring reverb set much heavier and the one after the cabs is (I think, not at my Helix right now...) a chamber reverb to help get it a little thicker. That's more of a compromise than a preference though, as I don't think the spring reverbs (either of them) get near as thick/drippy/surfy as they should. That's a different conversation though.... Not all of the presets follow that exact formula, some of them have reverbs or delay in parallel instead of series or whatever the case may be to achieve the desired effect. That's the real "power of helix" in this context, to borrow your thread title: you can configure things however you please! I hope some of that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njglover Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 IRs (2048 size) and Reverbs tend to be pretty DSP hungry beasts, so you're likely to run out of DSP much quicker if you're using a lot of them so you really can't just count the blocks in a signal path. Some are WAY more expensive than others. Some amps (like the Archon) also use more DSP than others. So there really is no good "this many blocks" number. Suffice it to say that I only run out of power when trying to run multiple amps on a single path (well, path 1 or path 2, not the sub-paths) and also using IRs. On the other hand, I have an amp and an IR and a combo amp/cab all on one path in another preset, so... yeah. Generally, I get around it by using 1 IR (cab) with two amps in front of it for when I need to switch between clean and dirty. For more complicated things, I may add in path 2, but usually I just stick the IR, reverbs, and delays down there so I can use path 1 to run everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachz Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 They aren't necessarily run together, there's just more than one of each in the preset that can be toggled on/off with the foot switches. The 3 modulation blocks are a vibe, a chorus and a tremolo. They are positioned as they are because I like the vibe before the overdrive (a Minotaur in this case), the chorus after the overdrive, and the tremolo between the amp and cabs. I can't say I ever use more then one at a time. The two delays are a simple delay set for dotted 8th with one repeat at unity, and a tape delay set for more repeats at a much lower level, a more "traditional" subtle setting. Generally I'd only use one at a time, but at the time of this screenshot I was running the vintage delay into the tape delay simply because it was producing an effect that worked nicely for what I was doing. The three reverbs are really more like two that are used either/or. The one that is on in the screenshot is a spring reverb set rather subtly. The other two are assigned to a single foot switch and turn on/off together. The one before the cabs is a '63 spring reverb set much heavier and the one after the cabs is (I think, not at my Helix right now...) a chamber reverb to help get it a little thicker. That's more of a compromise than a preference though, as I don't think the spring reverbs (either of them) get near as thick/drippy/surfy as they should. That's a different conversation though.... Not all of the presets follow that exact formula, some of them have reverbs or delay in parallel instead of series or whatever the case may be to achieve the desired effect. That's the real "power of helix" in this context, to borrow your thread title: you can configure things however you please! I hope some of that helps! Thanks for the great info. That helps a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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