Rethinking Multi-Effects

[Acoustic356]

I am an audiophile. I play best when I hear the tone "in my head."

Now that I'm getting less time to sound check, I find that I need to simplify my board. I have both the Helix HX Stomp and the Headrush MX5.

I hate the way they sound alone.
I hate the tone that I hear.
I love the way they sound in the mix.

My set up time and consistency of tone regardless of venue has reduced dramatically.

I just need to suck it up...

 

[jeffb28451]

I have two big boards and one “little” (comp, chorus, phase) but miss my old Digitech 1000.
After two years of being scared to play with it, I just dug in and programmed it for bass. Wayyyy too complex
And way too many mutations, but pick 3-5 setups to stick with and I miss it.

 

[Gothic]

I am an audiophile. I play best when I hear the tone "in my head."

Now that I'm getting less time to sound check, I find that I need to simplify my board. I have both the Helix HX Stomp and the Headrush MX5.

I hate the way they sound alone.
I hate the tone that I hear.
I love the way they sound in the mix.

My set up time and consistency of tone regardless of venue has reduced dramatically.

I just need to suck it up...

Why do you hate them, then?

And I'm assuming you meant your tone consistency has increased, right?

 

[smo]

Best thing I ever did was to pop a Pre-amp pedal last in line on my board.
I get my tone everywhere I go, my gain stages work well, supplied backline or not.
Where I live, it's usually a quick line check and GO!

You should be able to get a pretty consistent setup with an HX-stomp. But I would suggest staying away from IR's going into an amp tho, only for FOH.

 

[Acoustic356]

Why do you hate them, then?

And I'm assuming you meant your tone consistency has increased, right?

There is a difference between

• The tone you hear when you’re playing
• The tone you hear during playback from a board recording
• The tone you hear from a field recorder in the house

I am not a fan of the tone that I hear in my in-ears with the multi-effect units.

 

[bassbrad]

Multi-effects and single effects each have their places, strengths and weaknesses, I use both as needed. I think of my pedalboard as a tool box that I take to play music and enhance my sounds. I have to decide which sounds I need specialized tools for and which I can use a multi-tool for. Some sounds are creations only possible with a multi-effect by combining several effects at once then saving that for recall.

>Some sounds I want or need a specialized tool for. For me that is a drive, synth or envelope.
>Some sounds are a combination of tools I use all the time that work best with my bass and amp and I rely on that sound to be the same, for those sounds a multi-effect is perfect.

 

[Acoustic356]

I have found happiness with the zoom b6

 

[Scott Shaw]

I have found happiness with the zoom b6

Got one coming. Can't wait.