Helix with Powercab and IRs

[justinsytsma]

Hey all,

 

New to Helix and having a lot of fun with it. I have the Powercab 112, which is also awesome.

 

I want to clarify a couple things:

 

1) If I have a speaker selected on the Powercab, I should delete cabs in the presets and only use the amp models, correct? I notice when cabs aren't bypassed, the sound can get a bit muddy.

 

2) With a Powercab, is there a need for Impulse Responses? Any of the presets I have with IRs end up sounding pretty "meh", and super quiet. Or is this just a personal preference thing. Getting pretty great sounds without IRs. Am I missing anything?

 

Thanks

[foxmeister]

I'm no expert on these matters by any means, as I've only recently got a Powercab 112+ myself, but a few things I've learned are:

 

1. Don't use Helix cabs or IRs with Powercab when using speaker emulation. As you say, it just sounds muddy. I've not been deleting cabs or IRs from presets, just bypassing, but where I've got an amp+cab block, I've split these out so that I can bypass the cab.

 

2. When you're using a Helix, you don't really need to use the IRs on Powercab unless you want to free up a block but I guess its great for people with modellers who don't have IR support. When using IRs, I have found they sound more "amp-like" if you switch the Powercab to LF Flat. 

 

I'm only a mediocre bedroom player and thus don't intend to gig, but I'd imagine that if I were at some point, I might want to use IRs when going into a PA and not use the speak emulation if using the Powercab as a monitor. However, this is pure speculation based on what I've read, and with no experience to back it up! :)

 

Regards,

 

Dave