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Helios Presets
- Thread starter Kev
- Start date
Wow, I was just thinking the same thing yesterday!
I tried them all out, and could guess the intended use of a couple of them (I was only looking for a starting point for guitar setting), but even then I'm not 100% sure what UA had in mind. When I get back home, I'll look at them again.
I tried them all out, and could guess the intended use of a couple of them (I was only looking for a starting point for guitar setting), but even then I'm not 100% sure what UA had in mind. When I get back home, I'll look at them again.
Dave Bourke
Active Member
I don't believe this! I was about to make this exact post just now. Wow! Talk about coincidence...
Anyway, the Helios preset names mean absolutely nothing to me either. I'm not an engineer, I'm a composer still learning how to use all these great plug-ins. So for me, while a preset named, say, \"Bass Grungifier\" is immediately apparent as regards its possible applications, \"Skank Da 69,\" \"Heliolingus,\" or \"Red Dwarf\" are not.
A \"translation\" would sure be appreciated.
Kind regards.
Anyway, the Helios preset names mean absolutely nothing to me either. I'm not an engineer, I'm a composer still learning how to use all these great plug-ins. So for me, while a preset named, say, \"Bass Grungifier\" is immediately apparent as regards its possible applications, \"Skank Da 69,\" \"Heliolingus,\" or \"Red Dwarf\" are not.
A \"translation\" would sure be appreciated.
Kind regards.
Dave Bourke
Active Member
You could be right, RW, but we shouldn't have to become detectives to find out what applications a preset named \"Swettenham's Glory\" is suitable for, should we?
I'd still appreciate a \"translation\" from UA. The way things stand at the moment means it's an awful lot less likely I'll reach for the Helios 69 when I want to try out something quick and dirty.
Kind regards.
I'd still appreciate a \"translation\" from UA. The way things stand at the moment means it's an awful lot less likely I'll reach for the Helios 69 when I want to try out something quick and dirty.
Kind regards.
Maybe this should be treated like a puzzle - an Easter egg hunt!
As far as Swettenham's Glory goes, would that be a reference to this?
\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit_(band)\"
...not that it helps explain how to use it.
In the long run the presets are ignored anyway, so I guess I'll get over it.
As far as Swettenham's Glory goes, would that be a reference to this?
\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit_(band)\"
...not that it helps explain how to use it.
In the long run the presets are ignored anyway, so I guess I'll get over it.
I think the presets in general only really exist to show you HOW different settings affect something. I can't say ever actually reached for one in a mix situation. There are far too many variables to depend on them.
However - try the Helios on kick. The absolute best and cleanest low end/snap using the low and high shelves.
However - try the Helios on kick. The absolute best and cleanest low end/snap using the low and high shelves.
bröselmind
Member
Play dice (one for every parameter) and save it as a preset everytime. So you will have a full bank of very usefull presets.
Dave Bourke
Active Member
As I've said, I'm not a pro engineer but a lowly composer. For me, presets are extremely useful learning tools – when they're named informatively. Thus, the Helios presets are no help to me in learning the plug-in quickly.BTLG said:
So, because of the fanciful preset names, I will have to try and find the free time to sit down with the Helios and learn from a blank slate. And I simply do not have that free time. So my Helios 69 goes largely ignored...
Kind regards.
Same goes for me - I was excited to get the Helios after the good reviews, but the preset names are a major deterrent to me using it (just last week I was trying to work with it, and thinking to myself how much I hated the preset names). I am a musician who is still learning how to properly use EQ's and compressors and I rely on presets to get me started with a particular plugin. I have read the manual, and have a general idea of what the controls do, but I still need help in learning the plugin.Dave Bourke said:
- Chris
The thing is that an EQ is just that, an EQ. I'm trying to be helpful when I say this - if you want more treble in something, you add it. If you want less, you take it out.
The point is that an \"electric guitar\" preset is basically useless if it's not the same guitar track that the preset was written with. Everything you do is going to sound entirely different in almost any possible way from the guy who wrote the preset.
Generally speaking, if you have a grasp on how to use one type of EQ then going to another variety really involves the same exact skills.
The point is that an \"electric guitar\" preset is basically useless if it's not the same guitar track that the preset was written with. Everything you do is going to sound entirely different in almost any possible way from the guy who wrote the preset.
Generally speaking, if you have a grasp on how to use one type of EQ then going to another variety really involves the same exact skills.
LFranco
Venerated Member
You're a composer, right? Don't you have any friends who are real engineers that may help you understand how an EQ works? Once you get a basic grasp on what an EQ does, you can get an idea of what the EQ is doing simply by selecting a preset and looking at the controls!Dave Bourke said:
That said, I can't help you with the presets on the Helios (or any of the plugins for that matter, since I have this silly personal ethical rule to never ever use a preset).
Richard Hunter
Active Member
in my experience, personal ethical rules can get dangerous!
anyway, if you are having trouble with the helios presets, forget about the EQ for a second, and listen to your track...then put the helios on, and flip through the presets and listen some more. when you find a sound you like, look at the knob settings, and experiment moving them and see how they change the sound.
who cares if you use Family Man preset (which is for bass i think) on a acoustic guitar and it sounds good...who cares?
use the presets to see how the eq works. once you've become familiar with how the different knobs affect the sound on different sources youll be able to ditch the presets and work on your own.
and no need to go seek out an engineer friend for help...i mean that's what these forums are for, right guys/gals?
anyway, if you are having trouble with the helios presets, forget about the EQ for a second, and listen to your track...then put the helios on, and flip through the presets and listen some more. when you find a sound you like, look at the knob settings, and experiment moving them and see how they change the sound.
who cares if you use Family Man preset (which is for bass i think) on a acoustic guitar and it sounds good...who cares?
use the presets to see how the eq works. once you've become familiar with how the different knobs affect the sound on different sources youll be able to ditch the presets and work on your own.
and no need to go seek out an engineer friend for help...i mean that's what these forums are for, right guys/gals?
LFranco
Venerated Member
Well, anything written can only go so far in helping someone to use something you're supposed to listen to, besides, c'mon man, you basically gave him the same advice I did, except you just came into the post to say that you believe in personal ethical rules are dangerous - okay - check this out: I think playing in the street is dangerous, there, anyone else care to comment on what they think is dangerous? hahahaha.Richard Hunter said:
Also, having an engineer who you know and can come over to your place and help you understand something WHILE listening is in my own humble and personal opinion, better than any forum.
Respectfully yours and all that good stuff...geez, lol!
replicant
Active Member
For getting a better feel for the Helios I'd recommend spending the 9 minutes it takes to watch this video,
http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2007/april/index7.html
It'll give you a much better idea of how to use it, IMHO.
While you're there, remember to grab the presets at the bottom of the page :wink:
http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2007/april/index7.html
It'll give you a much better idea of how to use it, IMHO.
While you're there, remember to grab the presets at the bottom of the page :wink:
Dave Bourke
Active Member
Many thanks to all those kind people who have responded with advice and tips for people like me who suffer from tech-dyslexia and chronic time deficiency.
Because I'm a writer, I use synths and samplers exclusively – 10 hardware devices and too many software noisemakers to count right now. So I never need to record any live instruments except vocals. My studio is a converted room in my home and is for my own personal use.
When I lay down, say, a sampled bass track, I can open a Neve 1073 and find presets named \"INST – DI Bass Warmer,\" \"INST – Slap Bass Enhancer,\" and INST – Bass Pick.\" I can listen to the effect of these on my bass, compare and contrast the settings of each one, and yank the knobs to hear the results.
In other words, I'm instantly in the ball-park for the type of sound I'm dealing with and my personal \"learning mode\" is enabled.
There are no such cues for the Helios 69. So not only can I not get into any ball-park straight away, I'm unsure whether what I'm looking at and listening to is a ball-park at all, or whether it's really a show-jumping arena, a swimming pool, a ski run, or an athletics stadium.
It's a piss-poor analogy but I think you get the gist of it.
I realise that I can sit down with tones and noise and teach myself this stuff. The problem is that without fail there's always something new on my doorstep every single day that demands my attention NOW and there simply aren't enough hours to cope with it all.
So the last thing I need is UA making things more difficult for me than they need be for the sake of some obscure musical in-jokes and clever-cloggery. That's all I really want to point out.
Kind regards.
Because I'm a writer, I use synths and samplers exclusively – 10 hardware devices and too many software noisemakers to count right now. So I never need to record any live instruments except vocals. My studio is a converted room in my home and is for my own personal use.
When I lay down, say, a sampled bass track, I can open a Neve 1073 and find presets named \"INST – DI Bass Warmer,\" \"INST – Slap Bass Enhancer,\" and INST – Bass Pick.\" I can listen to the effect of these on my bass, compare and contrast the settings of each one, and yank the knobs to hear the results.
In other words, I'm instantly in the ball-park for the type of sound I'm dealing with and my personal \"learning mode\" is enabled.
There are no such cues for the Helios 69. So not only can I not get into any ball-park straight away, I'm unsure whether what I'm looking at and listening to is a ball-park at all, or whether it's really a show-jumping arena, a swimming pool, a ski run, or an athletics stadium.
It's a piss-poor analogy but I think you get the gist of it.
I realise that I can sit down with tones and noise and teach myself this stuff. The problem is that without fail there's always something new on my doorstep every single day that demands my attention NOW and there simply aren't enough hours to cope with it all.
So the last thing I need is UA making things more difficult for me than they need be for the sake of some obscure musical in-jokes and clever-cloggery. That's all I really want to point out.
Kind regards.