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Line 6 HX Stomp

A decade ago, people would absorb a new product's press release, feature bullets, launch video, and/or sometimes even the Owner's Manual before discussing it. Now there's this insatiable need to critique before grokking what the product (or film or book or TV show or video game) is. See also: HX One.
Do you have any insights into those demos of the Punch (1:30) and Deep (3:00) settings? I'm trying to dial those tones in with my HX through my PA with no luck.
 
Doesn't seem to have anywhere near the functionality of the Stomp
of course... the point I was making is that if you need a handful of sounds, or a combination of such, this is perfect. Or even if you just wanted the SVT or B15 amp sim and cab with minimal tweaking this would be great.
 
Do you have any insights into those demos of the Punch (1:30) and Deep (3:00) settings? I'm trying to dial those tones in with my HX through my PA with no luck.


are you also using a PJ; specifically a BB bass? Those basses might be just as big a part of what's going on there

Listening to the examples through your PA? PJ sounds very different from a P typically.
Also, GZRs have a significantly different tone than BBs in my experience. Using bright strings? Pretty low action? Fairly strong attack. All that to say, you should be able to get in the ballpark, but don't expect that exact sounds to come out of your pa without the same player on the same bass..... And the same post processing.
 
From the POD Express manual, the defaults for "Punch" are the GK 800RB amp and Ampeg 410HLF cab. Dial that combination up on the Stomp (G Cougar 800 & 4x10 Ampeg Pro), increase the Bass and Low Mid, to my ears at least, it's pretty close to the video even just using a P bass.
As Rickplaysbass mentioned, a low action helps to get the string rattle.
 
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Listening to the examples through your PA? PJ sounds very different from a P typically.
Also, GZRs have a significantly different tone than BBs in my experience. Using bright strings? Pretty low action? Fairly strong attack. All that to say, you should be able to get in the ballpark, but don't expect that exact sounds to come out of your pa without the same player on the same bass..... And the same post processing.
Yes I’m listening through my PA and it sound really good. I’m not expecting to nail the tone but trying to get close. I spent several hours on it yesterday with little luck. Halfway down the rabbit hole and I aborted the quest. I ended up tweaking my current settings on the SVT model and will live with it for the time being.
 
From the POD Express manual, the defaults for "Punch" are the GK 800RB with Ampeg 410HLF cab. Dial that combination up on the Stomp (G Cougar 800 & 4x10 Ampeg Pro), increase the Bass and Low Mid, to my ears at least, it's pretty close to the video even just using a P bass.
As Rickplaysbass mentioned, a low action helps to get the string rattle.
Yes I was using that combo of amp and cab as well as the Mesa and cab combo for the Deep patch. String rattle…I thought that was coming from one of the available drives. Thanks for the tip.
 
Do you have any insights into those demos of the Punch (1:30) and Deep (3:00) settings? I'm trying to dial those tones in with my HX through my PA with no luck.


I have used the GK and Boogie models alot so I instantly recognized those. Sounds like the mids are pushed a fair bit. Default cab is usually the Ampeg 8x10 for everything/everyone; I might suggest you try the Eden cab. It's a little more open sounding (I usually use a dual cab with the Eden and 1x15 Ampeg; the 6x10 Mesa is also good).

You'll just have to play around with the settings till you find what you're after. Just go through every slider and pay close attention to how its changing the tone. Cabs too...the mics on them are vital if youre trying to copy something. That said, matching a YouTube video perdectly is nearly impossible with the amount of compression applied to the video. With that in mind I might suggest running a Deluxe or Rochester comp at the start of your chain, and the LA comp at the end.

I'm actually looking for a mid gain drive in the stomp still and that Vintage setting sounds good. I dont know how to approximate that.
 
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Newbie question here.... If I download a preset(patch) from someone, do I need to go in and tweak the volume levels of the comps and amp/cabs (I'm sure I'll do this anyway to my liking, but assume I won't), or do I simply go to the end of the chain, click "preset level", and get everything in unity with the signal going into the stomp itself. I'm sure I could do both, but which yields best results? Thanks!
 
Newbie question here.... If I download a preset(patch) from someone, do I need to go in and tweak the volume levels of the comps and amp/cabs (I'm sure I'll do this anyway to my liking, but assume I won't), or do I simply go to the end of the chain, click "preset level", and get everything in unity with the signal going into the stomp itself. I'm sure I could do both, but which yields best results? Thanks!

They likely dialed in the gain and level settings on each block and it may impact how they play off each other. I'd dial in the level at the input or output and not at each block until you really want to dive in and start shaping the sound to your liking.

The IMA presets were way too loud with my active Spector
 
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Newbie question here.... If I download a preset(patch) from someone, do I need to go in and tweak the volume levels of the comps and amp/cabs (I'm sure I'll do this anyway to my liking, but assume I won't), or do I simply go to the end of the chain, click "preset level", and get everything in unity with the signal going into the stomp itself. I'm sure I could do both, but which yields best results? Thanks!

Make sure you are on unity gain on all blocks. Of course not if you use a boost or crunch/drive/fuzz block when you will rock the kasbah :bassist:
 
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Besides by ear, is there a better way to evaluate gain? Can I measure that a little easier by decibels in a program like RockBand on Mac? I know there's a pedal out there, but it's$200.
Level is a challenge. A decibel meter doesn’t necessarily do it all either. Some patches sound louder or softer even if they aren’t by the meter.
 
Besides by ear, is there a better way to evaluate gain? Can I measure that a little easier by decibels in a program like RockBand on Mac? I know there's a pedal out there, but it's$200.
Yes, you could measure this in any DAW. To be clear a measurement in the digital environment will be in DBFS, which stands for decibels full scale, or decibels from full scale. There's no real-world, analog correlation between these values that can be easily derived, however you can tell if two presets are of comparable amplitude. For instance, if two presets peak around -6dbfs they're likely of similar amplitude. That said, amplitude doesn't tell you much in terms of actual perceived output. Assuming an identical large amplitude; 40hz will sound significantly quieter than 400hz, and will be blisteringly loud at 4khz. Meters are a fine starting point, but your ears are the best reference and the only one that really matters.
 
Speaking of metering, any folks out there using LUFS for leveling? What target do you set for live use?
LUFS is an interesting way to go about it since it’s not an instantaneous measurement but rather an integrated measurement over time. To compare two presets via LUFS you’d need to play the same passage, write down the integrated result, then do the same again on the next preset and compare. Admittedly that might be a good way to go but seems a little impractical in execution if you’re trying to make a decision on a gig. At home pre-gig it could be just the thing.
 
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