Running a mic and guitar into HX Effects then out to PA

Longtallronnie · February 2023

Thinking of restarting my solo acoustic gigs which used to involve running a Line 6 M9 in the fx send/return of the mixer so I could apply fx and looping to guitar and vox.
Now I've got an HX Effects I was considering running the mic into one channel and the guitar in the other. With the HX's routing I'd be able to apply fx globally or separately if needed and it would be easier to set up - balancing channel volume with the send & return was always a pita.

My question is...

Would I need a preamp or something between the mic and HX FX as I'd have to use an XLR to 1/4" jack?

Or

Would I be better off with a 2 channel DI box on the outputs of the HX FX and run 2 x XLR cables to the mixer? With something like this? Behringer ULTRA-DI DI20 Professional Active 2-Channel DI-Box/Splitter : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

Cheers
Ronnie

Musicwolf · February 2023

The HX Effects is as far as I am aware a stereo effects unit, not a 2 channel device. There is no way to process the two inputs differently.

The inputs are Hi Z instrument or line level - so you would need to put a mic through a pre-amp before the effects.

As an aside - The Behringer Ultra DI20 is without question the worst piece of kit that I have ever had the misfortune to pass an audio signal through. Noisy as hell. There are much better DI's available and I would recommend something from Orchid Electronics such as this.

PolarityMan · February 2023

I wouldnt bother with the helix for vocal effects either, we tried it on a full fat one and the effects sound gash on vocals.

Longtallronnie · February 2023

I know it’s a stereo unit but I think you can split the signals and add different fx to each. Been a while since I played with it though tbh so I might be talking fluent bollocks. Actually, I’m not sure how you can route the outputs so this might all be moot anyway!

I’d used the M9 on vocals and for what I needed, it was fine, not looking to to do anything crazy with it, probably just a bit of compression and delay/verb.

Musicwolf · February 2023

Longtallronnie said:

I know it’s a stereo unit but I think you can split the signals and add different fx to each.

You can split the signal path for parallel routing but you can't process two different inputs separately. The signal comes in, either mono or stereo, then you can set a dual path so that a portion of that signal goes down Path A and a portion down Path B. It is not possible to send the left signal down one path and the right down the other. On the Full-Fat Helix you can process two signals separately, and it has a mic input, but not the HX Effects I’m afraid.

As has been pointed out, the effects aren’t geared towards vocals anyway. I have a TC Electronics VoiceLive 2 which is probably more the sort of thing that you are looking for. This is a vocal effects processor (it can generate harmonies as well as the usual vocal effects) but it can also process guitars.

Longtallronnie · February 2023

Ok, I think I've sussed it.
Set up path B in signal flow and move the split to far left then pan path A hard left and B hard right. Move the mixer block to the end and pan A & B accordingly. I've quickly tried it with one guitar in L input and one in R then sending the L & R outputs to separate channels on my mixer and I've got two paths with different fx on each.

Again, I know it's not meant for vocals but for the type of gigs I'll be doing (mostly small pubs) it'll be more than adequate. I managed with an M9 before so I know it'll do what I need - not looking for multiple harmonies or anything too sophistimacated.

It's less about adding fx to the vocals and more so I can use the looper on guitar and vox and add fx to the guitar without adding them to the vocals. Although having the option to add a bit of delay etc is a bonus. Tbh, I didn't really explain that bit properly before so apologies for that.

I'm guessing I'll still need a preamp for the mic although I did come across an adaptor that converts the mic signal to Hi Z.
Audix T50K Impedance Matching Transformer at Gear4music
Would that be worth using? Would it be an either/or with a preamp? Would I still benefit from a dual DI box on the output? How many questions is too many?

Musicwolf · February 2023

Longtallronnie said:

Ok, I think I've sussed it.
Set up path B in signal flow and move the split to far left then pan path A hard left and B hard right. Move the mixer block to the end and pan A & B accordingly. I've quickly tried it with one guitar in L input and one in R then sending the L & R outputs to separate channels on my mixer and I've got two paths with different fx on each.

Some good creative thinking there

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Running a mic and guitar into HX Effects then out to PA

Comments