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Are Helixes Identical ?


scallybert
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That title may be misleading, but it has to be short.

 

Say you have two (nominally) identical Helix LTs. Same firmware, etc, etc. To what degree would you expect them to behave identically ?

 

That is, if the same signal goes down the guitar lead into either, would the outputs into phones be identical ?

 

You'd expect the digital parts to behave identically; but I'm not so sure about the analogue input and output 'modules' either side of this.

 

[Why might you care ? eg if one was a backup to another, would they sound the same; or might you need to tweak the presets to maybe compensate for one having a slightly more sensitive input stage than the other ?]

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31 minutes ago, scallybert said:

[Why might you care ? eg if one was a backup to another, would they sound the same; or might you need to tweak the presets to maybe compensate for one having a slightly more sensitive input stage than the other ?]

 

I don't know for certain, but I would think that if you had a back up "Helix for your Helix"... it will be a heck of a lot more accurate than if you have a backup "Twin for your Twin" or backup "Tube Screamer for your Tube Screamer".   (insert any pedal for pedal, amp for amp in those statements)

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Thanks for the answers.

 

I've now got 2 LTs, and playing with the newer, I got the feeling that I needed 3 to 6 dB extra (input) gain on it, compared to the other

 

However, this is highly subjective, and might have been due to something else.

 

I think I'm most concerned (if I should be at all), about input gain (as opposed to headphone output or issues), as it would mean that there's a difference depending on which LT I record something with. [This could be worked around, but it's something to think about.]

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2 hours ago, scallybert said:

I've now got 2 LTs, and playing with the newer, I got the feeling that I needed 3 to 6 dB extra (input) gain on it, compared to the other

 

You should not be having this problem... 3db - 6db is a huge drop at the input.

Are you sure you didn't accidentally engage the INPUT PAD on the 2nd Helix?

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1 minute ago, codamedia said:

 

You should not be having this problem... 3db - 6db is a huge drop at the input.

Are you sure you didn't accidentally engage the INPUT PAD on the 2nd Helix?

Bear in mind, I'm not necessarily seeing a problem - this was a highly subjective perception, that made me wonder if they should be near-identical.

 

I restored the config from the first to the second, so I'd expect Input Pad not to be an issue. [?]

 

 

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19 minutes ago, scallybert said:

Bear in mind, I'm not necessarily seeing a problem - this was a highly subjective perception, that made me wonder if they should be near-identical.

 

I restored the config from the first to the second, so I'd expect Input Pad not to be an issue. [?]

 

1db would be subjective, 3db and more would be obvious, not just perception. 

Never assume anything in regards to the input pad... it only takes a moment to check. 

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8 hours ago, codamedia said:

 

1db would be subjective, 3db and more would be obvious, not just perception. 

Never assume anything in regards to the input pad... it only takes a moment to check. 

No padding on either LT - as you'd expect.

 

Not sure I agree on perception; but what's happened is that I have a perception that it's not sounding quite right, or the same, and increasing the input gain by 3-6dB seems to make it more as I'd expect. 

 

It's completely conceivable it's 'me', or another factor.

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34 minutes ago, scallybert said:

Not sure I agree on perception; but what's happened is that I have a perception that it's not sounding quite right, or the same, and increasing the input gain by 3-6dB seems to make it more as I'd expect. 

 

I can respect that @scallybert

 

3 to 6 db is rather dramatic... I believe the pad is 6db, and the vast majority of users would notice that difference regardless of experience. That would change the compression and gain levels of everything that follows. 

 

I'd be interested in hearing this for myself... do you know if the tone is different, or is it mostly feel? 

 

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