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Line 6 HX Stomp

#9,821
ReeV0 said:
I've attached my main preset
Click to expand...
On a quick look using Helix Native and the automatic "Bass Player" in Logic, I've noticed that the output of your preset is very "hot" and may cause digital clipping on Main Out: the Mixer block level path A is +5.4dB, and its total level another +7.8dB. You should avoid this. If you want your sound to be louder, turn up the master volume knob on your hardware power amp… ;)

Other than that, in headphones it sound very bass-heavy to me. My own presets are way more mid-range. (But frankly, I play mostly blues, jazz, and occasionally with a pop-rock band, so I have different priorities.)

Also, what are you using the Cab block for? Currently it's disabled in your preset. When enabled, the overall sound gets thin massively. Also, the Sennheiser 421 mic model is not exactly the best choice for a bass guitar cab. Back in the day when I was working as a live sound engineer, we'd use them for guitar cabs or for toms, exactly because it's weak in the bass frequence range.
 
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#9,822
PNC7 said:
I've done a bit of searching but haven't really landed on an answer (and many of the posts are old) - is the consensus that Global EQ should be left on or off? I've seen some folks say you can use it to adapt to a certain room or venue - does this mean that it should be left off, and turned on case by case? Or always have it on and flat, and just tweaked case by case?
Click to expand...
Always on, set flat and tweak to the room. That’s what I do.
 
#9,823
ReeV0 said:
Thanks a lot with trying to help me troubleshoot this. I've attached my main preset, which is the one I was adjusting last night.
Click to expand...
@loukash is right about gain staging - you've got a lot of blocks that are boosting the output, and you're getting on for a +30dB increase overall! Generally, a good starting point is to set each block to unity gain. Switch all the blocks off, then check them one-at-a-time by toggling them on an off and setting the output to sound roughly the same in either state. In particular I would look at:
- Deluxe Comp
- Cali Bass
- Mixer block (where the split re-joins)
- Kinky Boost; to me it didn't sound like this was doing much in the way of "drive" - just making the high split path louder than the low one. You may be able to achieve the same thing by adjusting the mixer block
- Cab (this one's too _quiet_ when enabled)

Some things I noticed:
- Both the Clawthorne Drive and Obsidian 7000 in your high path are pretty bass-friendly and would probably work fine without a crossover
- Between the Cali Bass massively boosting the very low lows (~40Hz) and the Kinky Boost making the high path louder (> ~400Hz), you've got quite a scoop right in some of the most important frequencies - ~80Hz - 250Hz
- The threshold of the compressor is incredibly low and sounds bananas with my bass, but that's particular to the instrument, playing style, etc. - so it's not necessarily wrong 😄

Hope that helps!
 
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#9,824
Thanks for the deep dive analysis into my preset, I appreciate it! To try and answer some of the questions:
- In order to match the volume of the preset *without* the crossover enabled, and to match the volume of all my other presets, I had to boost the output of the mixer. I boosted the Path A because of the perceived lack of bass I was hearing.
- The cab sim is only there for when I am playing through headphones or DI recording on Logic. Without it, the distortion can sound too harsh. I always have it deactivated when playing live.

But everything you both mention is really great, and I have definitely learned a lot. I will do some work on it this evening to see how to improve it.
 
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#9,825
ReeV0 said:
to match the volume of all my other presets, I had to boost the output of the mixer.
Click to expand...
Then your other presets are likely too hot, too.
But that's OK: in my early days with the Stomp I was making the same mistake at first… :)
As @MartinB said:
MartinB said:
a good starting point is to set each block to unity gain. Switch all the blocks off, then check them one-at-a-time by toggling them on an off and setting the output to sound roughly the same in either state.
Click to expand...
However, sometimes you may want to deliberately boost a block output. For example, to get more overdrive from the Amp block, in some presets one of my footswitches additionally increases the output level of the Compressor block in front of it while reducing the output level of the Amp block to compensate.
 
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#9,826
To expand on the block unity gain: the benefit of it is that in case something goes havoc in a live situation and you either have to go into the True Bypass mode or even switch to an "emergency DI box" (surely everyone has one in the bag, right? ;)), then the sound volume change won't be as dramatic as with such brutal gain staging. After all, we're in the digital domain where "louder ≠ better". And if you really need digital clipping as an effect, use the Bit Crusher… :)
 
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#9,830
melodiaopus said:
Just out of curiosity. How many of y’all are moving or plan to move from the HX Stomp over to the Darkglass Anagram?
Click to expand...
I’ve got one on order, should be here the first week of June. I’ve been looking at the Quad Cortex for a while, but the idea of a bass-specific pedal is appealing to me. The demos I’ve watched were impressive and will meet my requirements while reducing my overall pedal footprint. I got a great deal on it as well, so if I don’t like it, I’ll sell for more than I paid. 🤓

I have 2 Stomp XLs and plan to sell only one of them.
 
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#9,832
I think it’s just too expensive right now for me. I just bought a bass. My stomp is fine. Paid for. Presets purchased. I think the Anagram is cool, and maybe down the road when my stomp doesn’t work or whatever I’ll explore other avenues.
 
#9,833
The Anagram doesn't really interest me either. The bells and whistles would be fun, but it just seems like another in the usual pattern of Darkglass' iterations. If I were even remotely interested, I'd go for the Quad Cortex for just a little more cash. But I agree, they're both still too expensive. And I've also learned my lesson too many times with Darkglass stuff. They sound great in demos, but I've tried almost every flavor and never really vibed with any in person.

The jump from the M Series to the Helix line was pretty impressive, and I've enjoyed my Stomp (and HX Effects before that) for a lot of years, so the thought of new hardware from Line 6 interests me much more than anything from Darkglass. I guess that's what I'm holding out for.

5sg.
 
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#9,834
I was really excited when it came out and I wanted to jump in immediately. However, after some thought, I kept rocking my HX Stomp. Line 6 has proven to be very reliable and they have updated their hardware for many years. My biggest fear is that, after some initial excitement, the Anagram was left by Darkglass. The competition is really high and I thought about taking another direction (Darkglass, Headrush and Neural mainly) but I feel pretty comfortable with the Line 6 ecosystem
 
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#9,835
I'm hoping people will jump across so there might be some cheaper HXS's come available! I'd love a 2nd so I don't have to keep moving mine between my small and large board. :laugh:

Further to this, I am in Japan on holiday later in the week. Does anyone know of any wild or different colored HX Stomp finishes that came out in Japan only? I'd love to pick one up if the opportunity presented.
 
#9,838
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This is what I ended up with routing wise - electric goes into the compressor and then into the L input. EUB goes into the R return. The other method of splitting the paths worked great, but I ended up wanting to use the crossover split on the EUB preset, so this ended up being the better solution in the end.

I know it looks silly to have the Stomp only running a drive pedal and octave, but I also use the gate on the input, and it acts as an A/B that brings the levels of the two basses to unity AND I have a completely different path for the EUB, so it saves me an entire second board and DI in a way. I end up using more blocks for different projects, but this gig has reasonably minimal need for that kinda stuff.
 
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#9,840
So I may be falling under the category of underutilizing the abilities of the HXS, but I found a great tone just using three blocks. LowCut/HiCut into the CaliEQ into the Studio Tube pre! Sounds amazing though my Katana 210. The Humboldt does it’s magic, and gives me a nice tight compression, and the rest is just pure fretless bliss.
 
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