Wondo100 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 I must be doing something wrong. Was playing the Helix through 7CM into two Grandmeisters. Sounds great, but the amount of programming involved with those two amps and MIDI, etc. plus all of the cables was just a lot. I wanted the simplicity And versatility of the Power Cab. Got two 112s, did not like the tone too much. Kind of Boxy, but then again I have played mostly 212s and 412s for a very long time and 112s were never my favorite. After speaking with several people on the forums, I was convinced the 212 would be more to my liking. Well, it is a great amp for sure, but running into that muffled sound again. I have a good signal so that the inputs are orange. I am using the IR setting. I have lots of good IRs. The Redwirez sound good, but most everything else, muffled and only some of the Redwirez sound the way I think they should. After dialing in some tones, switched back to the tube amp rig and everything is wide open and organic. I know the PCs can sound good, so I have to be doing something wrong. I want to figure this out somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Yesterday you were raving about the PC212 being the missing link between Earth and Nirvana. Today it sux. Take a week off. Listen to your favorite music. Play your acoustic. Eat donuts. Come back with fresh ears. Start with a New Preset. Add an amp that you KNOW you like (not the one you think you should like). Make sure the PC212 is on the FLAT Preset. Put your favorite IR on the Powercab and select USER IR in the Helix Powercab settings with that USER IR selected. Don't get fancy with it! Do everything else on the Helix. Work for the tone you want. When you get it, don't forget to SAVE! If you can't find your tone stripping it down to the bare essentials as above, take up banjo. ;-) Just kidding. But sometimes it REALLY DOES help to take a complete break from a seemingly insolvable problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondo100 Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 Actually was not raving about it. I was replying to a thread about using IRs and what sounds good in the PC as opposed to the stock cabs, etc. I would really love to rave about the PC, trust me. I want this thing to work. I also did not say it sux. I am trying to get it to sound good compared to my amp and cabs. I am trying to eliminate the convoluted 7CM and have an easier more flexible solution in the PC. Taking time off to fool my ears does not work, because as soon as I compare the PC with a dialed in tone to my tube amps and cabs, the ears immediately know the difference. I take no offense to what you said rd2rk, because you have been the biggest help to me so far on the forum and I know you are suggesting to just take some time away, but that is not feasible right now. I only have a small window of time where I can dial things in or send it back. For those with experience, I am hoping for some technical advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondo100 Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 Okay, So spent some time with the PC 212. Here is what I have discovered. FRFR always works good with either some stock cabs in the Helix but mostly I prefer some IRs that I have. I have some Ownhammers, Redwirez, Celstion, Sun City. So, with FRFR, with those IRs, I am getting really good tone. The stock speaker choices in the Powercab are not to my liking. The stock IRs, a couple of the Allure sound really good, but I am primarily using either the Live Ready Sound Powercab pack or the Redwirez Modern Classic Pack which is really doing a great job. What I like about running to from the Helix to the PC with the L6 Link is that I can choose between IRs or FRFR. The challenge is getting the volumes to match. I am usually brining the speaker volume with the IRS in the PC to between -12db and -10db as I find that the -14db is just not hitting the PC in the right way. I know I can use either the output on the preset or the amp ch volume, but I am finding that bringing the speaker volume up just a couple of db sounds more like AITR for me anyway. Then, I have to increase the FRFR speaker volume up to its +6db. My lingering questions with this is if I am sending XLR out to monitors or FOH, what is being sent out? I think it is the speaker mode? Since I am not running any cabs in the Helix when using PC IRs. Also, how do I get the Helix to control the global setting of the Stereo spread on the PC? In other words, if I have the Helix set to control the PC in preset mode, can I go in and choose global and choose the stereo spread I want and have that locked to snapshots and be able to have that changed within a snapshot or preset? For example, I have one snapshot that uses PC IR and the other uses FRFR with Helix IR, but I want the Helix IR with FRFR to have a wider stereo spread. Other than these questions, all seems to be working good. Still not sure if I should just leave the volume levels alone on the PC and just control everything from the Helix, but as I mentioned, I just feel a couple of db bump on the PC sounds better than the output level bump on the Helix. Came to the conclusion that the PC will not replace any of my tube amps. I was hoping to do that to make life simpler, but there is just so much good with the tube amps, and there are good things about the PC. Not saying that the more time I spend with the PC, might allow me to not use the tube amps as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 15 hours ago, Wondo100 said: My lingering questions with this is if I am sending XLR out to monitors or FOH, what is being sent out? I think it is the speaker mode? Since I am not running any cabs in the Helix when using PC IRs. Also, how do I get the Helix to control the global setting of the Stereo spread on the PC? In other words, if I have the Helix set to control the PC in preset mode, can I go in and choose global and choose the stereo spread I want and have that locked to snapshots and be able to have that changed within a snapshot or preset? For example, I have one snapshot that uses PC IR and the other uses FRFR with Helix IR, but I want the Helix IR with FRFR to have a wider stereo spread. IF the PC212 works like the PC112+, XLR Out sends the speaker emulation with a mic emulation if you're using "Speaker" Mode; In "FLAT" Mode it sends whatever signal is present at the Powercab INPUT - IOW, the Helix OUTPUT; If you're in USER IR Mode (IR on the Powercab) it sends the Helix Output through the Powercab IR. If, on the Powercab Tab, the GLOBAL settings include a "Spread" control, it should be assignable to Snapshots, as all the other settings are. Try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsdenj Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Powercab has a FRFR mode, but it might not work the same as a high-end PA speaker. Powercab212 is a 2x12 closed back cabinet. In FRFR mode, it's never going to sound exactly like a 4x12 cabinet, no matter what cab model or IR you use. Similarly, if you use the speaker models in Powercab, they're going to sound like those speakers in a 2x12 closed back cabinet - because that's what it is. So if you choose Powercab112 or 212, expect it to do a pretty good job on cab and IR models of 1x12 or 2x12 closed back cabinets, and to only approximate larger, smaller, or open back cabinets. If you really want 4x12 sound, you might need to either use pretty high end and large PA speakers, or use a 4x12 directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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