Best stereo speaker set up for Helix?

[JamieCrain]

Hi all, interested in thoughts.

 

Context:

I'm upgrading all my gear from Firehawk FX plus 2x10" FRFR powered speakers, to Helix plus  ??

 

Must haves:

Stereo output. I like guitar sounds that fill the room and sound like there is more than guitar playing. e.g. ping pong delays

More thump. The 2x10" speaker i currently use are loud as anything, but have no thump whatsoever.

 

I am not a "deep modeller", spending hours fine tuning exact patches and models, but I do want to control everything with my feet. I don't want to ever have to press a button on an amp or whatever to change a setting mid-track.

 

The PC112 (x2) looks like it will do the trick nicely for thump and stereo, but have no foot control via Helix for the built in speaker modes.

 

The PC112+ (x2) looks like it does everything including foot control, but more $s.

 

The PC212+ seems to do everything with less cables, but worried that it doesn't have the required room-filling stereo effect because it's all coming from one cabinet. Also If I go this route, should I not just get the FH1500?

 

Thoughts on the pros and cons?

 

[OmniFace]

I own a Helix and 2 PC212+ cabs.

Two separate speakers placed in different locations will always have more width.  However, I believe the PC212+ can use signal processing to make the cabinet wider sounding that a regular 212.  It has a control for Stereo Width that ranges from 0 - 200% (mono to extra wide).  It's presumably playing with phasing to get the extra width.  The FH1500 probably does the same thing.

 

Thump is a subjective term.  In a regular cabinet, that thump comes from a resonant frequency of a closed back cabinet.  The small the cabinet, the higher the frequency it would "thump" at theoretically.  The PC212+ are obviously larger than the others, and have 2 12's for more low end.  I haven't really compared the thump to my 412, but my guess is that it will not have as much simply due to physics.  You could possibly bump up 100Hz or so with EQ to try to simulate it though.  The PC212+ goes down to 70Hz I believe.

 

The + models give you access to custom IRs for the cabinet (and more models?), but if you're using a Helix you don't necessarily need it.  The same IRs can be loaded into the Helix itself. Foot control of the built in models is neat, but I find I don't even use the built in speaker models so far.  I did just buy them for their FRFR capabilities personally.  The speaker models are fun, but I generally use in-ears anyways so the mic'd models make more sense for my purposes.

 

 

 

 

[JamieCrain]

Interesting, thanks. Having 2x212+ cabs must sound MASSIVE.

Getting a 212+ is obviously a much simpler set up than 2x112, which is appealing. The cost is a little more but there's more features for sure. 

 

I'm not likely to become an IR guru, I expect I'll find something in the Helix that I like.

 

The one stereo trick i use almost all the time is add a ping pong delay with a 20ms delay to the end of my chain, and short feedback (one delay) panning full left/right to my speakers. This makes the guitar sound like there are two in the room. It's the same trick that FM radio stations use - it makes the music sound so much fuller.

 

 

[Thark]

On the other hand, the 212 is heavy and the 112 is light. For an old git like me the choice is 2x112. :)

[JamieCrain]

Well I had the chance to listen to both setups. In my mind, there is no question about what sounds best:

 

2 x single cabinets (in stereo) is miles better than a single stereo cab like the 212+ or FH1500, for stereo effects.

 

The stereo effects from two speakers within a single cab are almost imperceptible, even with a 'wide' stereo setting, compared to the 2x single set up.

 

I have my answer!

[clintonreese]

I have the PC 212+ and I use it with my PodGo and it sounds great using the stereo, because you can adjust the stereo to fill the room, mine sounds great...

[johnnyvlee]

I know "thump" wasn't the core of your question, but I would recommend that you avoid bottom end if you are a guitar player in a band. Once you have invested some time in learning how to record at home, you will learn that that there's real value in the guitar sound sitting nicely in a mix.  Pretty much the first thing a recording engineer does with a guitar track is cut out lows.

 

If you're typically playing guitar solo or not with other instruments that bring in the bottom end, then by all means go for it.

I know "thump" wasn't the core of your question, but I would recommend that you avoid bottom end if you are a guitar player in a band. Once you have invested some time in learning how to record at home, you will learn that that there's real value in the guitar sound sitting nicely in a mix.  Pretty much the first thing a recording engineer does with a guitar track is cut out lows.

 

If you're typically playing guitar solo or not with other instruments that bring in the bottom end, then by all means go for it.