FUNDAMENTALS for Getting GOOD Tones from Guitar Plugins like Neural DSP and Helix Native

Have you got other tips for getting decent tones and results from plugins?

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

2:04 Plugins are the future BUT
3:24 IMPEDANCE - what you need to know
5:25 No "Hi-Z" no problem
6:48 LATENCY - the hardest problem to fix
9:59 Get SIGNAL levels right BEFORE recording

[johnnathancordy]

One point on Latency as well - Drivers can actually make a huge difference to this - so if you haven't checked that you're using the latest Drivers for your Audio Interface - this might be worth investigating to get better performance?

[jasonstewart]

One thing that tripped me up when I started experimenting with guitar plugins was noise from the guitar pickups being too close to the computer. This was another thing I was surprised the plugin companies don't mention. A computer puts out an electromagnetic field (EMF), and when I'm sitting right next to mine so that I can use my mouse to twiddle settings, my guitar picks up a lot of noise from the PC. With high gain settings, this is incredibly noisy. I just needed to back away from the PC and then maybe rotate around a bit to get much lower noise, but that didn't occur to me right away.

[dhaefele]

Another reason for the hx stomp. It works really great as an audio interface. It even has the possibility to record your dry signal alongside the processed signal.

[horizontalblanking]

Always good advice about latency/drivers. Once I’m done with all my tracking, I will often set the buffer to maximum. This gives my the most options as I add plug-ins to my tracks and/or master buss. You don’t need low latency when mixing.

[benjaminvillarreal]

a thing to consider. there's latency in real amps as well. the further away you are from it, the longer it takes the sound to hit your ears. if you're playing with headphones or sitting directly in front of your monitors then SOME latency won't hurt. I find 64 with monitors and 128 with headphones to be fine.

To clarify latency comes from Turning a signal from analog to digital and processing that. Latency shows itself as a delay, a side effect of latency. You won't have latency with an analog gear but you will have delay depending on how far away you are from it simply because the speed of sound (analog sound from your amp) is drastically slower than the speed of light (analog signal going to your amp). John I'm confident you know this I'm simply putting the information here for people still learning.

Mathematically, for every meter (~3 feet) you are from your analog amp you're adding ~3 Ms of delay from when your amp makes noise to when you hear it. so if you're at 5ms of latency in a VST and it's in your headphones, in theory it could be FASTER than a regular amp that you're several feet away from. Sorry if this is too much info.

[ji]

The Waves PRS Amp plugin actually tells you on startup that you should put a guitar pedal with a buffer in the signal chain.

[tommydplayskeys]

For anyone whose computer is struggling to handle those small buffer sizes for low latency, it might be worth monitoring the guitar separately. A cheap passive DI box would allow you to split the signal - link/jack output goes to a guitar amp (or digital multi-fx etc) just for your monitoring, while the XLR output goes to your audio interface. This also means you're sorted if your interface lacks a Hi-Z input since the DI box goes to a mic input.

[miguelnavarroangulo]

I was giving up Helix Native because I could not find a way to make it sound good through my Yamaha mixer/interface. The latency issue and the always on dry signal made the Native frustrating…I didn’t want to use the Helix Floor all the time for logistic reasons and everything. Well, I decided to get a Focusrite 3g and WOW! That was exactly what I needed. An interface with very little to no latency, pure wet signal and the focus on the plug-in, which was what I wanted. Great plug-in, I even use it to rehearse at home because voices sound amazing too…great video. Thanks!

[ErebosGR]

To clarify something about amp sim input controls, they're not there to adjust the signal level (almost always they are level-compensating) but to emulate pickup output.
If you're doing proper level calibration for each guitar using your audio interface's input gain control, all of the D.I. tracks should be of similar level regardless of the actual output of the pickups.
That's where the amp sims' Input control comes in to re-adjust those levels. So, turn the Input control down to emulate low-output pickups and up to emulate high-output pickups. What that does is change how hard the signal hits the amp sim's preamp.

[DestoTrading]

Pro tip for gain staging is to check with a palm mute as bass frequencies take up more headroom, therefore you may set it to not clip by hitting a bar chord hard, but then the moment you palm mute it goes to red.

[sasmitha]

The last tip is GOLD. Last month was when I realised that the Green light on my interface indicates healthy levels, NOT clipping haha. Good stuff John!

[ctbarker]

Hi John, I'm glad you are discussing the software side of things and would like to see more. You should really try to get a hold of a IKMultimedia AXE I/O USB device. It has a few features geared toward guitarists that are unique. It includes a variable impedence knob for dialing in the sound of your guitar. I think a followup video would be worthwhile. Great content.

[ConstantineM]

I didn't know about impedance with bypassed pedal into interface. Such MASSIVE difference. Thanks

[kraMt]

Also, if your PC has a powerful CPU, it might be in low clocks and causing pops/stutters. Set your PC power mode to High Performance and they'll all go away, as this stops the CPU downclocking.

[ty-kun]

I was hoping you'd go into your process for dialing in a preset. Great content per usual. Cheers.

[ilmisxx]

All valid points and once you get all of them in order but still struggle to achieve inspiring results, try this (given that you are trying to replicate something that's happening in the physical world and not trying to create something new):
1) Low/High pass filters are your friends. 50-120 Hz for High pass and 6-11 kHz for low pass usually give me best results but don't be afraid to experiment and trust your ear.
2) Reverb/Delay. Dry simulations sound unnatural since our brain is not conditioned to hear things that do not occur in nature so use reverb or delay. I myself usually have a block of somewhat subtle room reverb or plate reverb at the end of the chain (even if the chain has other reverbs or delays) to simulate the room. Again, try with big rooms and tiny ones, see what sounds best and trust your ear.
3) Compression. Add a block of compression after the cabinet simulation with very subtle settings. It should not be noticeable while playing and barely compress, this is done to simulate a loud cabinet in the room.
4) Panning. If you are using a stereo signal, pan it slightly to the left and right so it sounds a bit wider and not so directional since, in the real world, sound bounces off the walls and other objects. Again, trust your ear, but if you pan them out too much it will sound closer to a recording than an amp in the room. I sometimes like panning one side slightly more than the other to simulate an amp being a bit to the side, relative to my head.

[oludhe]

I came for the plugins, I stayed for the playing. Dude your taste is exquisite. Can you do a course, and if not, could you suggest resources to learn to play as you do

[Aced]

one thing i notice all by myself by accident is the fact that, in order to get your desired tone you have to spent countless hours trying to create your own sound, adjusting the mics height and the distance between the cab

so what worked for me and it did open "new horizons" was the fact that by accident, one day i open my DAW, added my tracks and i wanted to mount them as usual with my archetype petrucci plugin
all of a sudden i missclicked on one specific track and i did put a different plugin (i think it was the gojira one) and that was basicly it

now i do have such a thick and tight metal sound for my Drop B tuning :) i am happy, best mistake of my life tho

[subbu_creates]

When you pulled up the behringer with the 6.5mm adapter I was looking at mine cause it is exactly the same!!

[Lamarro]

another tip for SOME plugins would be a highpass filter ... i sometimes get way better results with a 6 dB rolloff at around 75 Hz with my DI