Preset volumes

[Dwf2008]

Some of my presets come in at different volumes when selected. Where in the signal chain should I be tweaking the volume ? Assume there is an amp, noise gate, and compressor, among other effects.

[DunedinDragon]

There are several places you can potentially adjust the volume of a patch without affecting the tone.  The most common one is the channel volume on the amp model.  You could also use the level on the output block.

[knoxdaz10]

channel volume of ur amp is where u do it

[rd2rk]

4 hours ago, DunedinDragon said:

There are several places you can potentially adjust the volume of a patch without affecting the tone.  The most common one is the channel volume on the amp model.  You could also use the level on the output block.

 

The Channel Volume on the Amp can affect the tone by changing the levels that the effects that come after the amp see. The best thing to do is change the Output level at the very end of the chain or, if it's a mono preset, add a gain block at the end.

[loydall]

On this subject - if you're using any of the above methods, how do you actually know what the correct volume for a patch is?

[Verne-Bunsen]

In addition to what has already been mentioned (amp channel volume and output block level), the IR block level is quite useful as well. I presume that the stock cab blocks also have a level parameter, but I’m not sure off the top of my head and I’m not at my Helix to look. Generally I set my amp channel volumes relatively low to preserve headroom in downstream stuff, then bring it back up with the IR block level. When I’m recording, I’ll use the output block level to make fine adjustments.

[rd2rk]

20 minutes ago, loydall said:

On this subject - if you're using any of the above methods, how do you actually know what the correct volume for a patch is?

 

14 minutes ago, Verne-Bunsen said:

In addition to what has already been mentioned (amp channel volume and output block level), the IR block level is quite useful as well. I presume that the stock cab blocks also have a level parameter, but I’m not sure off the top of my head and I’m not at my Helix to look. Generally I set my amp channel volumes relatively low to preserve headroom in downstream stuff, then bring it back up with the IR block level. When I’m recording, I’ll use the output block level to make fine adjustments.

 

If all you care about is leveling (averaging, nothing too loud or too soft), take your loudest preset and your softest preset and use the above methods to average them.

I wonder if it would be possible to implement something like what radio stations use to do this? I forget what it's called, but it's a real thing.

[DunedinDragon]

49 minutes ago, rd2rk said:

 

The Channel Volume on the Amp can affect the tone by changing the levels that the effects that come after the amp see. The best thing to do is change the Output level at the very end of the chain or, if it's a mono preset, add a gain block at the end.

 

Interestingly enough, I've been experimenting today with adjusting my Helix master volume up from my normal setting of 11 o'clock to 3 o'clock.  There's several reasons for doing this which I won't go into now, but it does entail me making fairly significant adjustments to my amp channel volumes to retain the same overall output level.  The only impact I've seen on after amp effects seems to be on mostly around the LA Compressor which kind of makes sense in terms of when the compressor will kick in and how it affects my mix between uncompressed and compressed signals.  But that was all relatively minor.  I saw no effect at all on reverbs, delays or EQ's.  I wasn't working on any patches that used the twin harmony which I normally place after the amp, but I may mess with one of those later.  All said, there wasn't anything that was really problematic or couldn't be adjusted pretty easily.

One thing I did notice is the signal can tend to peak higher in the case of more dynamic playing (harder picking attack) than it would at a higher channel volume levels.  Probably due to the modeled circuits in the amp that likely protect or limit such spikes at higher channel volumes.  Just interesting points to share I thought.

I'll probably end up posting a more extensive stand alone post on some of the reasons why I did this and what lessons I've learned from doing it as I think it provides some good insights into Helix behaviors given all the recent discussions about Helix master volume settings.