New Rig Day!

[CatchAsCatch]

So far, I have only run mine into a PA using the TRS to XLR adapter and coming into the PA on a XLR cable. I don't have any issues that I can perceive with latency.

Something to keep in mind if you are running it direct into the PA: You can't compare what you are hearing to standing on stage in front of your amp. You have to compare it to what you would hear standing in front of the stage coming though the mains from your guitar mic's, or if you were listening to a recording of your guitar through the board.

I think that is what a lot of people have a hard time getting over. I think the negative reviews come from people who are plugging these things in and expecting it to sound like standing in front of their Marshall. It's not trying to do that. It is giving you the sound of what your audience hears when you play with a mic'd up cabinet through your main speakers.

The thing that I have not tried yet, is going from the effects send of the pedal, into the effects return of an amp and into a cabinet. I haven't tried that, because that isn't the reason I got it. I got it so I don't have to bring an amp with me, so it seems pointless to me to invest energy into configuring the pedal this way.

Hope that helps.

Awesome. That's helpful and something I hadn't really thought about.

What you're describing sounds similar to my early experiences playing plugged in acoustic through a PA vs. using an acoustic amp. It's a little disorienting because your hearing it in a different way. But ultimately better results (at least for me).

[nobozos]

Awesome. That's helpful and something I hadn't really thought about.

What you're describing sounds similar to my early experiences playing plugged in acoustic through a PA vs. using an acoustic amp. It's a little disorienting because your hearing it in a different way. But ultimately better results (at least for me).

I actually see it as a huge advantage. Years ago, I was playing in a bar and walked out in front of the stage with my wireless to do the whole "playing the guitar in the audience" thing. I was horrified with the guitar tone I was hearing in the mains. I asked our sound guy, and he said that is how I always sounded. I brought him to the stage and stood him where I stand and said, " This is what it should sound like out front".

I got an education that day.

He pointed to my amp and said, "Where are the speakers pointing as compared to where your ears are? Now, where is the microphone compared to the speaker? How far are your ears from the speaker as compared to the microphone? How many ears do you have? How many speakers do you have? How many Mic's do you have?"

All of these things never occurred to me, so I had him adjust my amp on stage while I played in front of the mains, giving him a thumbs up when each adjustment was where I wanted it. When it sounded good through the mains, I went back up on stage and it sounded horrible to me.

I asked him, "How can it sound so good out front in the mix, and sound so bad on stage?"

More education. He said, "You probably sit in your basement and adjust your amp to the tone you want, with lots of bass in the tone to get a nice, thick full sound. The problem is that the bass in your tone is competing for the same sonic space with the bass guitar and the bass drum in the mix, so your guitar sounds weak and washed out in the mix. What sounds harsh and thin to you in front of your amp, mixes great with the other instruments when you put it all together in the mix."

Again, never really thought of that.

Anyway, I see it as a benefit to know exactly what my guitar tone is going to sound like coming out of the mains, and having the ability to make those adjustments on the pedal.

[CatchAsCatch]

The Helix is a modeling amp right? And the Friedman is basically the preamp section of an amp? One digital and one analog? Or is that not right?

[nobozos]

The Helix is a modeling amp right? And the Friedman is basically the preamp section of an amp? One digital and one analog? Or is that not right?

The Friedman is an actual high voltage, Tube pre-amp mated with a digital back end that contains the Impulse Response for Power Amp, Speaker cabinet and Mic emulation. It is not trying to sound like anything other than a Friedman, or modeling any other amp.

[Jedi McFly]

The Helix is a modeling amp right?

The Helix models everything. Effects, amps, cabs or IRs, all in one box. The HX Stomp is their smallest fully featured offering, but with less processing power. So it's good for rigs where's your integrating it with other pedals.