Creating HX Stomp presets with Helix Native

[gobygoo]

Hi,

 

I just installed Helix Native, and realized it would be great for creating and testing presets for HX Stomp without having to actually have it connected. I just had a few questions about that:

• I noticed that Helix Native is much more powerful in its DSP capabilities, and allows for way more blocks. That's great, but then, I don't want to create presets that HX Stomp refuses to run. Is there some option to tell it to enforce the limitations of HX stomp ?
• My only concern is the inputs of the HX stomp and my audio interface are not exactly the same. Is there a method/trick that I can somehow make sure they match ? I would like adjust the level of my audio interface input to the HX stomp.
• Is there some other concern I'm overlooking that might make the preset behave differently on the Stomp and the Native ?

 

Thanks!

[rd2rk]

In the lower left corner of the Native UI is a little gear icon. Click it, go to the HW Compatibility tab and select HX Stomp.

Instead of using your regular AI, set your host to use the HXS as your ASIO device, then plug your guitar into the HXS. Then you can set the Input impedance on the HXS to match whatever your first active effect is in Native. This is automatic when using FX on the HXS itself, but Native has no way to switch the impedance circuit. Of course, you need to know what impedance the effect is designed with, so here's the latest (AFAIK) list of those (attached). Or, if the effect isn't listed, you can just try different impedances until you find one that sounds best with your guitar.

Helix 2.90 Amp Cabs Effects Impedance List.xlsx

[gobygoo]

On 5/15/2023 at 7:43 PM, rd2rk said:

In the lower left corner of the Native UI is a little gear icon. Click it, go to the HW Compatibility tab and select HX Stomp.

Ah, nice, thanks!

On 5/15/2023 at 7:43 PM, rd2rk said:

Instead of using your regular AI, set your host to use the HXS as your ASIO device, then plug your guitar into the HXS.

Sorry, maybe I'm misunderstanding something. My goal is to not have the stomp in the chain at all when tweaking/testing the effect, so this is why I want to match the level of my AI input to the stomp input. the best I could think of is just strumming really hard on both and roughly match the peak levels

[rd2rk]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:28 AM, gobygoo said:

Ah, nice, thanks!

Sorry, maybe I'm misunderstanding something. My goal is to not have the stomp in the chain at all when tweaking/testing the effect, so this is why I want to match the level of my AI input to the stomp input. the best I could think of is just strumming really hard on both and roughly match the peak levels

 

The effect's designed input impedance loads your guitar's pickups in such a way as to contribute to the sound of the effect. If, for instance, your first active effect (using just HXS) is an Arbitrator fuzz, that has (ITRW) a low impedance input. HXS knows that and sets its input impedance to mimic the RW effect. If you're doing the same thing in Native your pickups will remain loaded at whatever impedance your AI's input is at (check its specs). Typically, modern AIs imitate plugging directly into an amp. Most amps have an input impedance of 1M. If you're using an Arbitrator (input impedance 10k) and your pickups are loaded at 1M it's not going to sound "authentic", and your tweaks will not translate to the HXS. Of course, if you only use FX with input impedance of 1M then this doesn't matter.

[gobygoo]

On 5/15/2023 at 9:08 PM, rd2rk said:

HXS knows that and sets its input impedance to mimic the RW effect.

 

I see. Had no idea that the HX input dynamically alters its input impedance this way. I checked and my audio interface indeed has a 1M instrument impedance.

I see mostly fuzz and distortion effects alter the input impedance, so for most things I guess it doesn't matter, but I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks, you've been super helpful!

[Anderton]

I develop HX Stomp presets in Native, and rd2rk's advice is spot on.

 

If you ever want to emulate how different input impedances affect your guitar, I wrote up a simple DIY project that lets you do that. 

[rd2rk]

Or just create a preset with nothing but an amp, then go to the Input Block and manually change the In-Z settings.