Not necessarily true. You can do both of these with the HX Effects. I am not a magic box guy, but I recently got an HX Effects and it seamlessly replaced my entire board. Well worth the price of admission.
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This or that: multi-FX vs standalone pedals
- Thread starter modularblur
- Start date
Line 6 is pretty adamant there is no difference when using the balanced 1/4" to XLR. Personally I just use the XLR out from my amp when using the Stomp, I have zero interest in ever gigging ampless.
I use 2 dirt pedals, a chorus pedal, a compressor and a preamp in my ampless rig. I wanted to run everything through the new Noble Model on the Line 6 Helix platform so I decided to go with the Stomp XL. I could never get any of the dirt pedals in the XL to sound just right even using parallel paths. in the end I went back to analog pedals but picked up the new HX One just to use the Noble model in it. (YES it’s worth the $300!).
My chain is now:
Shure GLXD16 > Seymour Bass Comp (always on) > Damnation MBD3 (always on) > Darkglass B3K v2 > Hardwire CR 7 Chorus > HX One Regal DI (always on) > Radial JDI.
Couldn’t be happier!
IF I need to use an amp and cab on stage I just drop the output of the JDI into the return on my Mesa D800+ and into my Subway 212. I’ve only had to do that 1 time this past year.
My chain is now:
Shure GLXD16 > Seymour Bass Comp (always on) > Damnation MBD3 (always on) > Darkglass B3K v2 > Hardwire CR 7 Chorus > HX One Regal DI (always on) > Radial JDI.
Couldn’t be happier!
IF I need to use an amp and cab on stage I just drop the output of the JDI into the return on my Mesa D800+ and into my Subway 212. I’ve only had to do that 1 time this past year.
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Awesome, glad to see there are better options than then one I tried.
Multi-FX and a good one...and I don't know what that is. I use a Zoom B3n but, if going big-time, I'd shell-out the extra coin for a top-tier unit which I can stuff in my gig bag. I've gotten old and lazy and no longer feel like toting around my PedalTrain board and briefcase.
Riis
Riis
Believe me I was pleasantly surprised with this unit; I'm a multi-effects unit doubter from way back...
I recently acquired a Helix LT. It took about two weeks to figure out the settings and really start using it, but its been super cool to work with so far. Aside from the sound quality improvement from previous digital stuff I've tried, the absolute best thing about the HX stuff is the free computer interface. You can mix and match your signal chain and set the board up as a stompbox style or preset/snapshot (I prefer stompbox style), and move them around directly on the screen with your mouse. Practically infinite possibilities that you can iterate through with a few clicks...
Maybe I'd enjoy spending thousands of dollars trying out various pedals. But its pretty cool to cycle through hundreds of pedals and rearrange the pedal board on my computer screen and get immediate results to compare. For my budget, it was a no-brainer.
As soon as I saw they have a Noble preamp model and that they regularly update the models with bass players in mind, I was sold. I fairly blindly set up a stomp box approximating my pedalboard before a rehearsal and it was crazily seamless.
The Noble model is cool. Found out about it when I got my HX One. I use that preamp for about 5-6 songs every gig now.
I love the collecting game, so its individuals for me.
Dollars wasted be damned.
Dollars wasted be damned.
Some people like multi fx exclusively, I for one care less for them (excuse the Zappa half-quote!).
My answer is not an anti-effects pedal post, but… I’d advice you choose your weapon(s).
I’m, again, rethinking my pedal board and a rational, basic but very logical question came to me : what do I really use? And the sub-question: what do I keep just because it’s there?
To mess your mind even more I would suggest you ask yourself if you really need a complicated multi effect unit or if you’re happy with a few nice pedals, really
there’s no good answer… you have the right to happiness whatever the path is
My answer is not an anti-effects pedal post, but… I’d advice you choose your weapon(s).
I’m, again, rethinking my pedal board and a rational, basic but very logical question came to me : what do I really use? And the sub-question: what do I keep just because it’s there?
To mess your mind even more I would suggest you ask yourself if you really need a complicated multi effect unit or if you’re happy with a few nice pedals, really
there’s no good answer… you have the right to happiness whatever the path is
Will you be using this setup at home, for recording, for gigging... if the latter, what scale/type of sound reinforcement/type of gig?
Salud!
I fell down the same rabbit hole and opted for the digital multieffects (Zoom B3, then B6). It's more than enough for live use (or recording, I've just recorded some tracks with the B6+amp mic to great satisfaction from the producer). But ultimately, it's a totally personal issue.
I fell down the same rabbit hole and opted for the digital multieffects (Zoom B3, then B6). It's more than enough for live use (or recording, I've just recorded some tracks with the B6+amp mic to great satisfaction from the producer). But ultimately, it's a totally personal issue.
The stomp can be configured to a full looper or a one button looper. Besides all the effects and stuff the configuration capabilities are what I think is its greatest feature you can make it do anything you want. The buttons can be configured to do anything you can think of.
I prefer individual pedals, but a lot of that is due to the fact that I’ve been using them for a long time. If I was starting out today, I’d be tempted to give the HX Stomp a try. If it doesn’t work out, you can always switch to individual pedals.
I've gone from a few pedals to a lot of pedals to digital multi, back to a lot of pedals.
Here's my take on that:
Both offer certain convenient parts and both have a certain room for wrecking your nerves.
The HX Stomp is full of potential and it works great integrated in a pedal board as well as a standalone unit.
In a digital scenario, you will spend a lot of time working out the sounds and how you place your patches and how you make it all work in certain scenarios. Once you've set it up and fine tuned it, you can leave it alone and it'll work just like that every single time.
The problem is that when you run a chain of a couple of things inside the stomp and you understand that you need a small adjustment to the third item in the chain, it can be a PITA to get that sorted in an instant.
On a pedal board with single pedals you just lean down and twist the one knob you're looking for.
On a pedal board, however, you're carrying around a board with boxes stuck on with velcro, connected by patch cables and power cables. It's a big, rather fragile thing and we've all experienced that the output was not what it was supposed to be. It might be due to a twisted knob. It might be because one of the many connections wiggled loose.
If you enjoy hunting tone, and trying out combinations of effects and swapping out several components to see what happens, digital is not for you.
If you think "I'd like a phaser on that song", and that starts three weeks of research leading to the purchase of several pedals until you are sure you've found the phaser for doing the sound you have in your head, then you're a single pedal person.
If you think "I'd like a phaser on that song" then proceed and get a phaser and just make it work without thinking thrice, you most likely will appreciate the convenience of owning a box that has basically all the pedals there are built right in. You won't be able to select from all the phasers there are, but you'll save yourself three weeks of research because you just hop into the software, select one of the three phasers that are in there, set it up and be done with it.
Both approaches have their merits, it simply depends on how you are built.
Here's my take on that:
Both offer certain convenient parts and both have a certain room for wrecking your nerves.
The HX Stomp is full of potential and it works great integrated in a pedal board as well as a standalone unit.
In a digital scenario, you will spend a lot of time working out the sounds and how you place your patches and how you make it all work in certain scenarios. Once you've set it up and fine tuned it, you can leave it alone and it'll work just like that every single time.
The problem is that when you run a chain of a couple of things inside the stomp and you understand that you need a small adjustment to the third item in the chain, it can be a PITA to get that sorted in an instant.
On a pedal board with single pedals you just lean down and twist the one knob you're looking for.
On a pedal board, however, you're carrying around a board with boxes stuck on with velcro, connected by patch cables and power cables. It's a big, rather fragile thing and we've all experienced that the output was not what it was supposed to be. It might be due to a twisted knob. It might be because one of the many connections wiggled loose.
If you enjoy hunting tone, and trying out combinations of effects and swapping out several components to see what happens, digital is not for you.
If you think "I'd like a phaser on that song", and that starts three weeks of research leading to the purchase of several pedals until you are sure you've found the phaser for doing the sound you have in your head, then you're a single pedal person.
If you think "I'd like a phaser on that song" then proceed and get a phaser and just make it work without thinking thrice, you most likely will appreciate the convenience of owning a box that has basically all the pedals there are built right in. You won't be able to select from all the phasers there are, but you'll save yourself three weeks of research because you just hop into the software, select one of the three phasers that are in there, set it up and be done with it.
Both approaches have their merits, it simply depends on how you are built.
I switch basses quite a bit, and my pedals react very differently to them. I like having instant access to all the controls on each effect and being able to see at a glance how they are set. I hate hate hate nested digital menu hopping. That said, a multi-FX is much less expensive and allows a much smaller board. Individual pedal auditioning can be a deeeeeep financial rabbit hole, not to mention the hassle and time costs. Only the individual can decide how the pros and cons align for his specific case.
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