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Helix Community LEGENDS! Oh my gosh! This update is killing me.... ;( I followed the instructions on the website to update my Helix to v3. I backed up first but unfortunately during the update there was an error now my Helix won't get beyond the "Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!" when I turn it on (picture attached). ***Another strange thing happened on the update - my computer asked me to hit the key next to shift to recognise the keyboard??? That happened on both my main computer and laptop. The Helix won't connect to the direct USB inputs of my Mac computer (nor my laptop). I have swapped USB cables. I have re-installed software, I have tried installing an older version in case that helped. Can anyone please help me, I sent a ticket to support about 4-5 days ago but haven't heard anything and I have spent hours reading forums and trying to problem solve. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance! IMG_6611.HEIC

When running Native as a plug-in within a large DAW recording project, there's often a trade-off between monitoring through the plug-in/DAW vs latency (delay between playing the guitar and hearing the guitar through the software/hardware). In Logic, I often have to set my buffer up pretty high in order to prevent audio glitches if I want to monitor through Helix Native when recording a new guitar track. For me, its important to hear the sound of a guitar modeler and its effects in order to get the mojo of the track while recording. Yeah, I can use a guitar modeler in my Apollo Twin DSP, and monitor that in real-time, but its not the same. It's workable but not ideal. That's a big trade-off. I recently bought a copy of S-Gear (another popular amp/cabinet and effects modeler). Its not as extensive as Helix Native, but for the included amps I actually prefer its tone and response. But the HUGE benefit is that the software includes a stand-alone application identical to the DAW plug-in. Now I can set up routing through my audio interface so that I can monitor the sound of the S-Gear amps and effects through the standalone app with very low latency (8.5 ms), while recording the guitar along with my existing Logic tracks. I can leave my Logic buffer set high for large track and virtual instrument counts, and still have low latency when monitoring my amped guitar. Its delicious. And, like Native, I can choose to record the raw track, or the S-Gear processed track. Sadly, Helix Native does not include a standalone app. If there was one (and it would need to be a low-latency application), users would be able to 1) monitor their guitar modeling with near zero latency when recording tracks and 2) play through the app without having to fire up their DAW, load the plug-in, etc. P.S. There are standalone apps that will host plug-ins out there. That might work for this usage, but I haven't tested it. Worth a try!

Hey gang! I made a short video recently about how I set my presets to make them as dummy-proofed as possible. I've taken my Helix on the road many times so far, and here are some of the recommendations that I have.

This is brilliant...

You can if you make it idiot proof like I did. Fast, no guessing, never a wrong connection. Some custom length cabling. Some coloured heat-shrink. Some coloured nuts. Took me about 2-1/2 hours to fabricate once I got all the stuff needed to make the snake.

If you are clocking the tempo I'd program a MIDI track with all the PC and CC you need for the song.

I use the simple/basic little GAIN block at the front of every preset to manage input differences. It's very light on resources and adds no color to your tone. Unlike boost pedals, the gain block can also cut signals which is handy for those really loud instruments. No tone change, just volume.