eboulin Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Hi there, I recently purchased an hx stomp for playing at home. I send the stomp signal into a Scarlett 212 audio interface. Then the signal is Is sent to my headphones and my studio monitors ( iloud mtm). I’m pretty happy with the tone and sound I get with headphones but when playing through the studio monitors the sound is uninspiring. It just sounds dull. I’m thinking about buying a small set of pa speakers for home use but I’m not sure if this is a good solution for my problem. I really wanna feel the crunch of the guitar when I play Metallica songs. Has anyone tried to use small pa speakers at home with their helix? If so, how is it? is this a viable option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Depends on the size of your room and the SPL required for you to "feel the crunch". A proper (not the cheapest crap) set of 5-8" Studio Monitors gets it for most small to mid-size rooms. For larger rooms and the ability to take it out for jams, the Headrush FRFR108 speakers are popular. Bigger and more expensive speakers with DSP = MORE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eboulin Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 @rd2rk my room is pretty small. I live in a small apartment and I am using a small office as my studio. The office opens into my bedroom so there is a little more room there. Do you think the speakers I bought are Cheap crap? I paid C$800 for them. I have no problem spending more if I need to. Here is a link to what I have. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iLoudMTM--ik-multimedia-iloud-mtm-powered-studio-monitor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 18 hours ago, eboulin said: Hi there, I recently purchased an hx stomp for playing at home. I send the stomp signal into a Scarlett 212 audio interface. Then the signal is Is sent to my headphones and my studio monitors ( iloud mtm). I’m pretty happy with the tone and sound I get with headphones but when playing through the studio monitors the sound is uninspiring. It just sounds dull. Different output = different tone, and headphones and studio monitors are very different beasts. With monitors, the sound is bouncing all over the room. High end frequencies dissipate readily with increasing distance from the source, and they also tend be absorbed by anything that's not hard, flat, and reflective...carpeting, big poofy couches, etc etc. So it doesn't surprise me that your monitors sound "dull" compared to the headphones. The cans are right on top of your ears, and the high end will seem more pronounced as a result. You'll notice the same thing if you stick your head right up next to a guitar cabinet. Up close it's chainsaw-shrill... but off-axis just a couple of feet away, and all that high end ripping your head off disappears. Generally speaking, when switching between two very different kinds of outputs, you're gonna have to do some EQing, and this will be true no matter what monitors or PA speakers you buy. The simplest solution is keeping different setlists for each intended use... yes, it's more work up front, but you only have to do it once... otherwise you'll be constantly tweaking back and forth every time you switch from cans to monitors. Quote I’m thinking about buying a small set of pa speakers for home use but I’m not sure if this is a good solution for my problem. It's not likely to be a magic bullet, for the various reasons listed above. If you're dialing in your patches with headphones, they're gonna sound different through anything else... and vice versa. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot...depending on the patch and the volume at which you're listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eboulin Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 @cruisinon2 Great response. Thank you. I really don't know much about EQ but it sounds like I need to learn what it is and how to do it. Any tips on how to get good at it? Just practice I suppose? I am really new to this world and my ears are not developed enough to know which levers to adjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 8 hours ago, eboulin said: @cruisinon2 Great response. Thank you. I really don't know much about EQ but it sounds like I need to learn what it is and how to do it. Any tips on how to get good at it? Just practice I suppose? I am really new to this world and my ears are not developed enough to know which levers to adjust. It sounds to me like you're struggling with a couple of different issues. The first involves a lack of familiarity with different output devices and the other with technical familiarity with the fundamentals of how to use the facilities of the Helix for dialing in tones. The second one is easily addressed by simply spending some time on YouTube watching some of Jason Sadites excellent "Dialing In" series of videos where you can learn all the ins and outs of EQ, amps models, cabinet and mic placement, etc. That will jumpstart your knowledge and give you some confidence on how to address getting the sound you want out of the Helix. https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonSadites/playlists None of that knowledge will do you any good without first understanding the different type of output devices and what will work best for your situation. A good pair of studio monitors can be more than sufficient for using the Helix as are a good set of headphones. The issues come into play in understanding what would be "pro" gear versus "consumer" gear. I'm not familiar with the IK Multimedia line, but their reputation tends to be more in the consumer market than in the pro market. The pro market studio monitors that tend to be popular among Helix users would be brands like JBL, Yamaha, Presonus, etc. The difference is in getting a flat response that would be used for evaluating playback in a recording studio versus simply playing music for your enjoyment. The same would be doubly true with headphones many of which color the sounds to make them sound better to a consumer versus studio use for evaluating studio production. The more popular brand among Helix uses tend to be the Beyerdynamic DT770 pro in the 80ohm or higher range. The real key for you at this point might be a good understanding of the different TYPE of devices such as headphones, studio monitors and powered PA speakers and their pro's and con's for your situation. Studio monitors and PA speakers are similar but are designed for different uses. Studio monitors are designed specifically to be used in a smaller setting such as a studio or office area and work best when both the speaker and the listener are positioned correctly and precisely. Powered PA speakers aren't as reliant on proper positioning and are designed to cover larger areas evenly and consistently. As mentioned previously the Headrush tends to be quite popular but it's popularity is also based to some degree on it's bargain price. As in most things you get what you pay for and that's VERY true when it comes to powered speakers. You can end up spending a LOT of money in this area, but I think you can also get some very professional quality speakers nowadays at a reasonable price. Some of the favorites in this area are the Electro Voice ZLX series, the QSC CP series, and the Yamaha DBR series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datacommando Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, eboulin said: I really don't know much about EQ but it sounds like I need to learn what it is and how to do it. Any tips on how to get good at it? Hi, Well, you probably do need to learn a bit more about Equalisation, although as I understand it, the iLoud speakers can be calibrated for you listening environment. Not sure how you arrived at the decision to buy those, or maybe you were sold them, slight difference. You say that you’re in a small office space in a small apartment. That can have a big impact on your listening experience depending on how it’s furnished. Hard bare walls in a small space can give lots of harsh audio reflections. Some people pay big bucks for reverb units that produce that sound, but the advantage of that is it can be turned off! Throw some soft furnishings around the place to absorb some of that stuff. Pillows, cushions and a duvet would be handy items. Plus you said that you like the sound from your headphones, although you don’t mention the brand or model number. A thing that I noticed with my cans and monitor speakers is while listening on the phones, if I lift them off and cross reference the main speakers, there is no real discernible difference to the audio, they seem very accurate for my needs. You could try setting the EQ on your monitors, while checking through your headphones to get them sounding as close as possible. Of course your headphones will be isolating you from the sound of the room therefore the soft furnishing cheap acoustic treatment will get you nearer. In your small apartment larger speaker might be the wrong thing entirely. You don’t want to upset the neighbours. Hope this helps/makes sense. Edited January 22, 2021 by datacommando Typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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