Line 6 Poly Capo vs. Digitech Drop | Does It Bass? Ep.4 | Blind Test
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
- #Line6Helix #DigitechDrop #HelixForBas
Today we compare the new Line 6 Helix Poly Capo from the 3.0 update against what is probably the most popular pedal of its kind - The Digitech The Drop.
Can you tell the difference? Play along!
We hear it on bass and guitar in a mix, as well as isolated bass.
Results after the isolated bass test.
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Intro 00:00
Digitech The Drop/Line 6 Helix 01:00
Booboo 02:15
What are we doing? 02:45
Ideas/HX Stomp 03:10
The usual spiel 03.41
How am I testing? 04:04
AB.1 - In a mix 04:46
AB.2 - Isolated bass 05:55
RESULTS 07:03
Conclusion 07:25
Request to Line 6 08:07
Fin. 08:15 - เพลง
Thanks for watching!
Let me know if you answer correctly, and also, what you preffered!
@Jagger Billy What a crap way of advertising...
Giving a HUGE +1 for a new Variax bass. I've been asked them for YEARS!!! Great video, I need to play more with this. I have the same situations. I did try the poly on bass at the beginning of the signal chain but didn't sound right (in tune) at all. I'll give it another go after watching this. Thank you 👍🏼
Hey Dan! Thank you for the feedback! Yeah give it a go - if anything, try changing your input impedance and maybe give it a slight volume bump going into the Poly Capo as well. Should give a bit of help! It's not for everyone, but it works for me. Stay tuned for my Poly-pitch shifting mega rig with an HX Stomp in the rack ;)
Great will look forward to the mega rig video and thanks for the advice, I'll give it a go.
I have the Drop on my bass pedalboard and it's been my experience that it has limitations. You can go 2 tones down and sound good. Anything more than that and you lose sound crispness and integrity.
I'd agree to a point but thankfully I don't go lower than a semitone on bass live as I use a 5 string so I don't see that issue. I find though that it can mud up if the bass is heavy on the low frequency from the output, but taking some of that low out if you have an active preamp helps - because the drop adds some mud back in after anyway haha
So I used to have a drop for church when i would have to play Eb. But my question now is that do you think I'd be fine if I used this to go from Drop G# down to Drop F?
i thought about doing this for my band, we play in drop g but i dont like usiong a five string, bass i was gonna use my four string thats in drop c n use the pitch shift, this video helped alot
I have one and use it for all the various bass tunings in a cover band. I absolutely love it, but it does have limitations on bass. Realistically, it's only good for 2 half steps down on bass (which covers everything I need it to do with a 5 string bass). I also wish Digitech designed this pedal with a level knob to address the volume loss.
That’s where Line 6 take the ball and run with this effect. You can make a volume adjustment on the unit, but since I have a Digitech again I’m feeling you on it.
How good is the Poly Capo if you DON'T use a rack? Like going straight into a bass amp. How does it work then?
I’m going to try this pedal to tune to drop g on my Multiscale Ibanez. 35.5’ B string. Hope I can get a clear note.
I think it will be ok - I get decent results going from B to F on the bass but i've not tried it properly. Let me know how you get on!
Ive been using PolyCapo and Polypitch on my Hx stomp sometimes the eq will make it worst. What i didnt like about them is sometimes you will hear this kind of weird semi tones sound i dont know how to explain I never experience it with my Drop pedal. I always run out of DSP too so yea
Yeah the DSP has been seen to be an issue, however, it depends entirely on how you use it and what for. Some will need the DSP for the pitch, amp and effects so I see the limitation. If you are using outboard effects on top of the Stomp I can't see it being much of an issue, however but, everyone uses them differently which is never a bad thing!
Great video! Quick question, does Poly Capo support tuning up? For example, I have C standard tuning and want to have C#
Yes
Will D standard and C# be okay with this, Im trying to cover Black Sabbath Tracks and some low nirvana
I don't see why not. I found it starts to give a little mud after 5 positions down
I was correct. And I like B better sounded cleaner/more natural to my ear. Which is a relief cause I just picked one up to run with my HX effects
It's probably the best hardware standalone pitch effect put there. Great choice!
@@DarrenSMusic since this post I have moved the Drop over to my other guitar players board and started using the Poly Capo. First rehearsal was last night and it worked great. Cheers 🍻
Sweeeet. I'm back on the Drop myself - only due to getting a HX Stomp board instead... I'm old with a bad back so carting a Helix or Rack and controller is a no go these days
@@DarrenSMusic due to DSP on the helix?
@Matthew Ellis Yeah the DSP on my main presets don't allow for the Poly capo, plus i only need to go a semi tone or whole tone these days so the Drop works fine for that. On my Helix Rack I just had a present for every down tune all the way down to A. Home jamming i just flick the switch. If my back gets better with Physiotherapy I'll go back up to a Helix Rack setup for live use, but honestly the HX Stomp board is doing just fine for every gig I do
I'm interested in getting a bass down to a low F#, and I'm wondering if I would get decent results by tuning a four string up a whole step and then digitally dropping it an octave. Would the higher pitch provide the drop pedal more pitch stability? Or would it just sound like butthole?
If you're tuning up and then back down all with pitch shifting you'll likely get a tone of digital artefacts in your signal and even a severe loss of low end - BUT - in. mix it may well be different however in isolation it will sound bad. But - trial end error! Let me know how you get on!
Nope, it sound suck
Better buying proper bass for that and proper string. I play on A# and down tune to F and sound suck even from C. I use poly from helix and neural darkglass. But if u play from C to A# it will be great sound.
why cant i find this pedal for sale? could you post the link to order?
The Digitech Drop? Or the Poly Capo?
The Digitech Drop is readily available from most online retailers. The Poly Capo is an effect on Line 6 HX Products
@DarrenSmusic i am planning to buy the drop pedal and Use it on C# Tunning ,You think it will be alright?. Thanks
I have the drop and use it to go from E to C#. It works well.
Where do you get the poly capo? I can’t find it anywhere
Hey Craig!
The Poly Capo is a model on the Line 6 Helix & HX products. It became available in the 3.0 updates :)
Hey Darren.
My band and I are looking to buy a pitch pedal for our bass guitar during practice sessions and live shows. We do however have a couple of concerns. 1. I imagine these pedals pitch down using digital processing, is there any latency because of this?
And 2. Many bassists on the various forums online have been complaining about loss of tone when they down pitch.
Is there a pitch pedal that you can recommend that doesn't cause these issues?
I can't speak to this as a bass player because I play guitar but I've used the drop pedal for many years now and I've not experienced any latency.
FOMOfx Virtual Jeff Pro, amazing pedal
Latency - yes. Noticeable in a live or recorded context? Not really.
The only thing I'd advise is to to not go too low. That's when you lose tone and it gets muddy. The L6 models can compensate, but there's only so much it can do when down low.
@@DarrenSMusic
That’s just it.
We’re shooting for the brown notes.
That’s okay though.
We’ve already managed to discover that.
Since I first left this comment on your video, our bassist managed to purchase a multi-scale 5 string Dingwall bass and with a slight modification of the string gauge, that bass can both carry the tuning with good string tension, and without compromising on tone.
@jakesternmusic Apologies for the late reply in that case 😅
However - 100% the right decision going for a Dingwall 5 string.
Alright there boyo? I play in a tech metal band and have crafted a nice djenty tone which I quite like. I used to use the Digitech drop in order to prevent the guitar swap that my smaller guitar brothers do. I got the hx stomp once the poly shift release came out as this was a necessity for my love rig. I've found however when turning on the poly capo the tone starts to sound erratic and far too synthy. I am dealing with tunings down to F# which could be the issue. Can you recommend any settings that may help with this?
S'appenin pal? haha!
What tuning is your axe in to begin with?
The main thing I'd say is that any more than 5 semi-tones may start to degrade slightly, but ensuring the Poly Capo, or any pitch shifter for that matter, is the very first thing in your chain. The input impedance may also play a part in that, so what you could try is adding a 2nd command to your Poly Capo switch to change the impedance as soon as you hit that switch to whatever works best. It'll then switch off when you turn the Poly Capo off and return to your normal, unaffected tuning
Oh, also, make sure that you use the Auto EQ as well. It makes up for any potential EQ loss.
@@DarrenSMusic Firstly, let's all laugh at my wonderful typo of "love rig".
Tuning is GCGCFBb, so drop C (with regular fifths) with an additional low G. I only need to take it down half a step to get the second tuning the guitarists use. I've begged them often to just keep the similar key but deaf ears etc. I did run the Digitech at the front of the pedal board but was advised to move it in the Helix chain behind my noise gate and compressor. I'll try popping it at the front. I don't know how to set the impedance, so that's something worth looking into. The Auto EQ I just left at 7 as I have no idea what increasing or decreasing this does.
@@EifAeon From everything you've said, I'd say it's the position within your chain. Think of a pitch shifter as the guitar itself, just a downtuned guitar. A gate and compressor will limit the level of clean signal getting to the Drop or Poly Capo which would explain the weirdness you mentioned. But 100% it needs to be the first thing that hits any of your stomboxes or blocks on the HX Stomp. The auto EQ essentially adds top end back in that can get lost with downtuning via a pitch shifter. Keeping mine at 7 usually gives a happy medium, but for lower tunings you may wanna bump it up. In all these cases, don't worry about the impedance.
How did you get on, dude?
Late to the game, but I'm genuinely confused why you picked a riff where only B got to play clear high notes, and A only got to play low notes. Honestly confused that this wouldn't have been rethought for an A B test.
Agreed. I found that very frustrating.
Thanks for the pointer! I’m not sure on why I chose particular riffs for the tests. Maybe it’s worth a revisit!
Of Course Its Bass..Nicely Done ...
Indeed my friend, and thank you!
I think the drop sounded more natural, retained more of the original tone. One thing I don't like about the Helix is the pitch shifting effects
That’s a fair point. The advantage of the HX effect is the presets for me, but I’ll get an HX One for that soon! Thanks for watching!
I havent even found a picture of that poly capo pedal online much less found the actual pedal. Where can you get one?
Hey Johnny. The Poly Capo is only available as a block within Line 6 Helix/HX products. It's not available as a standalone hardware unit, but the Digitech Drop or even the Whammy type products will do the same.
The only way I managed to get rid of some of the wobbliness and artifacts of the line 6 capo was with the horizon gate, without that it's just unbearable. I haven't used the Drop but if it's similar it's not worth buying, I'll stick with the line 6 version.
It's similar enough to not warrant getting the Digitech. Plus, the Helix/HXZ Poly Pitch has more control and you needn't bend over on stage to change settings!
interesting I thought the A was a bit more not muddy but not as solid as B i actually though B was going to be the Line 6 lol
It surprised me, to be honest, but in terms of using either - the Poly effects on the L6 we're more convenient for me (at the time). I'm back to a Digitech Drop now as I have gone to an HX Stomp XL and the DSP won't allow for poly effects with everything else in one preset
Was there any difference in latency?
Minimal and nothing that you can hear or really feel unless you go more than 3 or 4 steps on an already dropped instrument
Lovely, no interestingly enough I preferred B on the first listen through. Felt there was a bit more character and “ngggugghn” in there. I only gave it the once through and probably should have rewound before getting the results delivered. Same result for me both in the mix and solo, B held it but I’d wonder if there was a volume difference in the end between the two ??
Definitely a volume difference in my ears and the Poly Capo lost more volume the further down it went, whereas The Drop wasn't as severe. The Drop seemed to lose more too end than the Poly Capo, though
The Poly Cap not only lost volume, but lost a fair bit of the high end as well. You will also lose a bit of high end with the Drop, but nearly nearly as much. Quite surprised anybody would prefer A here. Sounds almost objectively worse in my opinion.
The tracking on the Poly Capo sounds slower, giving the impression sloppy playing. To my ears Drop sounds better and the tracking is accurate.
🤟🏻☺️🤟🏻
Rock n roll my friend!
Make sense. But still the Drop for me.
Yeah it's all preference, really. I prefer the Stomp overall for the ability adjust the EQ in the effect as well as change pitch/tunings via MIDI (see my HELIX MEGA RIG video 😀)
i prefer B! and i have the drop for many years, maybe i am biased.
The Drop is amazing and will always hold a place in my heart - but the biggest convenience for me with the L6 is that I can switch pitch via midi.
Exactly the same, on the bind test, even If I eared the Drop errors/artefacts I preferred the bite of the drop
I preferred B in this test (the Drop). However, I own a Drop, and dislike what it does to my bass sound.
They both make the signal muddier sounding, but the Line 6 is so much worse. It sounds like you have the tone knob turned all the way down with the Helix.
It does get muddier the lower down you go, but the Line 6 model has a tone-esque featuer which helps to compensate. It works well when set correctly.
Digitech drop no doubts. More attack and natural sound behaivor. BOTH goes unatural after 3+ tune down step
Agreed. I've gone back to the Drop on my latest board
Digitech sounds better.
It does sound great, but to my ears, especially with the added EQ control, the Poly Capo takes it for me
Sounds like Shit! Don’t want one.
Which one? Digitech or Line 6?
I need a drop pedal, and I was happy to see the video. Unfortunately, for more than half of the entire video, you felt that necessary to run your mouth.
Do the comparison and let us decide.
Hey man. Thanks for the comment and the view. Look, I’m no pro and I think that’s obvious. I talk about stuffs. I’m not paid to make videos. I did them for my enjoyment and turns out other people like them too. This one had a lot to cover and was more than just a comparison. It had explanations. If it’s not for you then it’s all good - but if I run my mouth in my videos you can feel free to not watch and that’s all good too.
Dude, you need to take a college class that would teach you how to do a proper comparison video.
It’s probably worth mentioning that I’m a certified trainer in my day job.
The tracking on the Poly Capo sounds slower, giving the impression sloppy playing. To my ears Drop sounds better and the tracking is accurate.