amsdenj

If your signal chain included Amp/Cab -> compressor -> output, then I would expect channel volume to have a significant impact on the feel since its controlling the level into the compressor. The higher the channel volume, the more compression. This would be true regardless of whether output level was adjusted for the same overall level or not.

Any DAW plugin or Helix block has a sweet spot for its input. If you drive the block outside this sweet spot, it might function fine, but its effects might not be optimal for typical settings. If you drive the block too hard, it might introduce unintended distortion. This is particularly true of many Helix effect blocks like the Leslie blocks, that were designed for front of the amp use with guitar input levels, but are often used after the amp in Helix signal chains. We don’t know the input levels the blocks were designed for, so finding the sweet spot would take some experimenting. And of course under or over driving the block could produce exactly the sound you’re looking for, optimized or not. But I find keeping each block close to unity gain is a good safe starting point, and provides a simple way of normalizing patch volumes. It also provides more predictable results if you copy a block to other presets to reuse its settings - the expected input and output levels will be consistent. If you keep all blocks unity gain, and send the full XLR output to FOH, you’ll be sending a typical signal level that won’t result in any surprises at the mixing board. I use a DAW to set the block to unity gain by adjusting so the level is close to the same when the block is on or bypassed. But you can do this close enough by just listening. A few dB isn’t going to make much difference. This will result in a pretty low level output from Helix. I keep my Powercab+ volume maxed out, and run Helix master (digital) output around 1-3 o-clock. This gives all the stage volume I need. I like the low output from Helix because this helps make sure there’s no potential for digital clipping at the A2D or D2A converters.

I see your point. If Teemah! and it bass and treble cut establishes your base tone, then Scream808 in front would retain that tone while providing additional saturation with a mid hump that isn’t going to give a lot of bass mud and treble ice-pick into the Teemah!. I like that idea. The reason I put the Scream808 after Teemah! is because I actually want it to dominate the tone as it’s mid hump is an iconic sound that fits a lot of songs. The point is to think about what you’re trying to achieve, and to realize that the last pedal in a chain is going to have the biggest impact on tone, while the ones before it will have the most impact on saturation. But its actually a pretty complex interaction, so you might find the logic doesn’t always work and you have to try different things and trust your ears.

Powercab for recording is a better idea than might first appear. If you’re using Helix, then its a fine audio interface, so is HX Stomp. But if you need an extra block with HX Stomp, you can use the speaker models or IRs in Powercab, and use it as an audio interface. But the real benefit is amp in the room for you, and your guitar, even though it’s not being recorded to the track. Having sound in the room that you and your guitar can interact with changes how you play, and how the guitar sustains and feels. So I like the idea of using Powercab in a recording session, even if its not being mic’d or used as an audio interface. What it does is establish a context in which to enhance the overall performance, and that’s often a lot more important than anything else.

I have had similar experience, and I think I know why. First the experience. The other guitar player in my band uses a Les Paul and Fender Blues Junior. That's a 15 W amp with 1x12 open back cabinet. I use a JTV-69S and Helix with a Powercab+. The constant feedback I get is that he's too loud and no-one can hear a note I'm playing. So I have to really force myself to turn up (while also trying to do my part to keep stage volume down). Now clearly a Les Paul is going to cut through the mix better than a Strat because of the double coil pickups. But I don't think that's all of it. I think the primary issue Tom is experiencing is headroom. If you tone match a Helix/Powercab+ with a 50W Marshall 4x12, you can get very close. The cleans will sound the same as well as the high gain tones. But the difference is headroom. That Marshall can't get its tone at low volume, it needs to be cranked and loud. But Helix/Powercab can get a good tone at low volume. So what tends to happen is that we run our Helix patches with lower Master and higher gain to get the distortion we need, while controlling the overall volume with channel volume or Powercab volume. This gets a great distorted tone, but has very little headroom, even if its putting out the same dB level as the Marshall. It's the headroom that delivers punch, pick attack, articulation and feel. It's power in Watts and speaker cone area that pushes this across a large room. I suspect if Helix were setup with the same headroom, power and speaker area, the outcome would be more similar. Note however that a FRFR needs to have roughly twice the power of a guitar amp to deliver the same distorted volume level. This is because the FRFR has to be run clean and a clipped signal is essentially a square wave which has 2x the area under the curve (which is power). A guitar amp rated at 50W is actually delivering 100W of power when it is heavily distorted.

Re: Teemah! And Scream808: when you stack distortion pedals, you can get different results depending on the order of the pedals. When stacking distortion pedals, the one at the end of the signal chain will often dominate the overall tone while the ones earlier drive more saturation. So I’d generally put Teemah! First, with some bass and treble cut to tailor a good overdrive tone. Then the Scream808 can come after to provide the mid boost and higher grit. Doing both has the Teemah! reducing the bass into the Screem808 a little, giving it even more mid focus and reducing the mud. But either way can work.

I use Powercab+, and if I want stereo, I'll use my two JBL EON610s in a wet-dry-wet setup. Still pretty portable. I use to use stereo all the time at gigs. But since getting Powercab+ I don't anymore, and I don't miss it at all.

If it was working well, and then changed all of a sudden, then its likely an issue with the strings and saddles. I have noticed on my JTV-69S that sometimes the bridge saddles tip badly. Looks like string vibrations cause the adjustments to change. This has happened a number of times so now I check before each gig. You may also have dirt in between the piezo pick and the saddle. You should gently blow this out with compressed air and a light brush.

I’d suspect input impedance differences, or maybe the pad is on.

I think the biggest advantage of Helix as an audio input device is the guitar input is designed and optimized for guitar. That probably won't be the case for a generic audio interface. The issues is audio bandwidth and input impedance.

I have not noticed any problems with phantom power with the Powercab XLR out either.

If you’re using Helix over USB, as your input, it is your sound device, and whatever other sound device you might have is not involved.

The power of your PC has nothing to do with clipping, it only determines how much latency your system and tolerate. If you are driving Reaper too hard, you just need to turn down the input level in the audio device, or use the drive switch in Helix.

Powercab+ can be operated in four different ways, the first two provide amp in the room tones, the last two don't. 1. As a plain 1x12 guitar cabinet: Use this as a powered guitar cabinet. Drive it with an amp model, but no cab or IR model. This will have amp in the room sound because that's exactly what it is, a plain guitar cabinet with no mic, and no processing. Get this with: Flat: LF Raw - just the raw 1/x12 speaker, no tweeter, XLR out is unprocessed (not suitable for direct FOH, needs additional processing) Flat: LF Flat - the 1x12 speaker with some EQ, no tweeter, XLR out is unprocessed Speaker Model: Natural - similar to LF Flat, but XLR out has speaker and mic model suitable for sending to FOH 2. As a 1x12 guitar cabinet with processing to sound like other speakers: Use this as a powered guitar cabinet with a choice of speakers, and to send speaker/mic processing for direct use in FOH. This is also amp in the room sound because there is no mic model involved in the 1x12 (only the XLR out) and no tweeter for any of these speaker models. 3. As a FRFR: Use this with amp and cab/IR models in Helix. XLR out is the same as the input and can be sent to FOH (because it has cab/IR and mic models from Helix). This use case provides support for a wide range of inputs and flexible processing from the device connected to Powercab. Also useful for acoustic guitar, keyboards, or anything that needs full range and flat response. Tweeter is on. This will not sound exactly like amp in the room for guitar because Powercab is reproducing a mic'd guitar cabinet. 4. As an IR processor: This kind of combines use cases 2 & 3: Powercab is a FRFR except instead of Powercab speaker models, it uses whatever IRs you installed. This provides additional tones, but not with amp in the room. Use this if your input device doesn't support IRs, or to save a block. More details (from a previous post): First Powercab is primarily intended to emulate various guitar speakers in a room, that is, speaker models without mic models, mic position and mic depth. It accomplishes this by using a coaxial speaker that can have the tweeter turned off in order to actually be a guitar speaker in the room. The woofer is a custom Eminence speaker, similar in construction to a Beta-12CX coaxial speaker, but likely using a cone material and construction to more close match a typical guitar speaker rather than a fuller range PA speaker. When you run Flat/FR Raw, you're using just that woofer with no EQ or any other processing - its literally a 1x12 guitar cabinet in the room. The tweeter provides additional flexibility for other purposes explained below. Flat mode has three voicings: FRFR, LF Raw and LF Flat. Flat/FRFR voicing uses the woofer and tweeter in the coaxial speaker with no EQ for a full range, flat response. Use this if you're using Helix (or HX Stomp) to provide the cab model or IR for the speaker model. Powercab just acts like a typical PA or monitor speaker in this mode. Flat/LF Raw voicing simply turns off the tweeter, and makes Powercab similar to any other 1x12, closed back guitar cabinet. Use only amp models in Helix or HX Stomp, no cab, or IRs for this mode/voicing. This should sound pretty close to a typical closed-back 1x12 guitar combo amp, with the specific characteristics of that custom Eminence speaker providing the speaker tone. Flat/LF Flat is a special voicing that also only uses the woofer, but uses an EQ to establish a consistent starting point for the guitar speaker models. All the speaker models are built off Flat/LF Flat, using different EQ and perhaps other custom processing to make the Eminence woofer sound like other speakers. There's no tweeter for these models, and no mic model or mic position. This is what can't be produced by Helix cab models or IRs and what makes Powercab unique. Helix cab models and IRs all involve mics, but Powercab speaker models are variations on a guitar speaker, not impulse responses of a mic'd guitar cabinet. XRL output in Flat mode is the same as the PowerCab input, there is no additional processing. Speaker models provide additional EQ on the Flat/LF Raw base voicing to model or mimic other speakers. The mic models and mic distance have no effect on the sound coming from the Powercab speaker, they only effect what's sent to the FOH or PA from the Powercab XLR output. Contrast with Helix where the cab models are sent to your FRFR monitor and FOH and all include mic models. Powercab XLR output needs additional mic processing that's missing from the speaker models to send to the FOH. What this means is that the guitar speaker models don't include any mic modeling in the Powercab speaker itself, making it sound more like an amp in the room. Speaker model/Natural is similar to Flat/LF Raw - the output from the Powercab speaker is the same, the Powercab tone is determined only by the Eminence woofer. But the Natural speaker model has the option of sending a mic model through the XLR output. User IR mode allows Powercab to essentially be set to Flat/FRFR voicing with additional processing provided by user IRs. In this case, the tweeter is on, and the IRs will include mic models. Use this mode if you're using HX Stomp, want to user your own IRs and need to save a block. There's probably less reason to use User IR mode if you're using Helix floor since its probably easier to just include the IR or cab model in Helix.

If you’re using a clean amp and no distortion pedals, you might find little difference in where the amp is placed. It when non-linearities (distortion) is introduced that you have be be more careful. Generally tone shaping (Wah, compressor, phaser, Uni-Vibe, etc.) work well before distortion, and time/frequency based effects (chorus. Flanger, delay, reverb) work well after distortion. This difference is whether you want to distort the effect or effect the distortion.

I take a hybrid approach that uses all of the above. I use a goto patch that has most of the effects I’d typically need before the amp (compressor, Wah, Uni-Vibe, Phasor, overdrive, distortion, etc.) and after the amp (chorus, delays, reverb, etc.) and use that patch for my own generic tone. I use it for almost all songs all night because its very flexible. I use one amp model, Litigator, and use a Drive footswitch to create something like an amp channel switch: it changes the drive, bass, presence, IR high cut and a few other things to switch from a clean to a driven amp tone. I don’t bother changing the IR, find a good one you like and stick with it. Consistency has its benefits. There are lots of amps in Helix that can do this including Cartographer, Derailed Ingrid, Cali Texas Ch2, Archon Lead... These amps have wide gain capabilities, and the Cab/IR block often has more to do with tone then the amp model. I use snapshots in this patch for big changes that might happen between or within a song, mostly changing Variax open tunings, a quick acoustic (turns off amp and cab models, changes EQ), configuring for a Leslie. Then I use different patches for things that are song specific and go outside what can be done with by goto patch. Summarizing: Foot switches are a very effective way of turning on/off various effects in a patch that you might use in different combinations. These are changed very often. Snapshots are a good way of making big changes in a patch for different sections in a song, reconfiguring the patch for a different purpose temporarily. Note you can change the snapshot, then switch back to stomp model to turn on/off effects in the context of that snapshot. I do this all the time. Snapshots are changed, less frequently, either for different songs, or different sections in a song. Patches are required if you need completely different blocks for special things for a song, musical style, etc. These are changed least often, only when you need a very different configuration of blocks for a unique purpose. That’s one way to use Helix. There are other ways. You can create a patch for every song, a snapshot for every section of a song, and use foot switches to change effects within the song section. That’s great, and might be especially useful in a situation where you’re playing in the orchestra pit for a play. I don’t do this because I like to have a consistent tone of my own, and a consistent layout of foot switches so I know where everything is in a live situation. Too many patches becomes a distraction for me, and inhibits creating my own tonal identity.

Richie Castellano's video provides a great answer to this question: You can also use similar techniques to get a two-channel amp tone out of a single amp block. What you need to do is map the drive, bass, treble, presence, cab/IR high cut, master and maybe channel volume to a foot switch. The off position uses the one set of settings and the on position another for the same amp. If you use a flexible amp model like Litigator, Archetype Dirty, Cartographer, Cali Texas Ch2, Derailed Ingrid or Placater Dirty, you can easily get two really different tones out of the same amp. For HX Stomp, this can also save you a block as you can probably configure the lead sound to have all the distortion you'd need from the amp, eliminating a distortion block.

I use a Variax JTV-69S for gigging with Helix floor and Powercab+. I changed the pickups to use SVL Daytonas and changed the neck to a Warmoth. Altogether this cost me about $1000 over the price of the Variax, which is quite an investment in Variax modifications. The end result is a very playable, very comfortable, very nice sounding guitar that has a lot of tonal options. I use it every gig, almost every song. The models don't sound that great, and I'd never record with them. They don't make me delight in their tones. But for live gigging in a cover band, they're impossible to beat. So what you do depends on what you're trying to do. This was a good solution for me, but your needs might be different.

Most of you are familiar with Helix snapshot and stomp modes. Snapshots can store up to 64 parameters and block bypass states, and a patch can have up to 8 snapshots. This is a great way to make big patch configuration changes in the middle of a song. I use snapshots for Variax open tunings, quick acoustic guitar configuration in an otherwise electric patch, switching in a post amp Leslie, changing a patch for a different guitar, etc. Stomp switches can control up to 8 things, block states, or parameter min/max values. You can configure Helix to support 10 stomp foot switches. So why would you use stomp vs snapshots since there's some overlap in their capabilities? Snapshots' big advantage is the number of parameters they can control, and that they can set the specific values of those parameters. However stomp switches have a couple of big advantages over snapshots you might want to consider when configuring your patches. First there can be 10 stomp foot switches, but only 8 snapshot foot switches. That might not seem like much, but my patches use all 10 of those foot switches all the time. The biggest advantage of stomp foot switches though is that they can be combined. Any of the 10 foot switches can be on or off allowing you to layer sounds on top of sounds. You could for example turn on a distortion block at the start of a solo, add another distortion block or boost party way through the solo, add an octavia, and/or Uni-Vibe, all by just turning foot switches on and off. But you can do more than that. A foot switch could be used to "channel switch" and amp by changing the min to max drive, turning down the bass and presence, lowering the high-cut on the cab or IR block, etc. Then you can turn on a distortion block with the the channel switch on or off to get different distortion levels and voicings, all while having all your other effects directly available on other foot switches. You can also combine these two approaches. Switch to snapshot mode to select the desired snapshot, then switch back to stomp mode to use foot switches to control things within the snapshot. That takes some tap dancing on the Mode switch, but its something that with a little practice and good shoes isn't too difficult. Ultimately Helix provides three levels of tone configuration: patches, snapshots within a patch, and foot switches to control thing within a snapshot. You can think about this in terms of patches for songs, snapshots for sections of songs, and foot switches for changing things within the section. This highlights the simplicity and flexibility of Helix for live performance.

You might also consider HX Effects for more buttons and blocks if you're not going to use the Stomp amp models. "Buttons and blocks", there's got to be a song in that.

I use IEMs with a Behringer P2 headphone amp on my belt. I use a standard XLR cable with a Y adapter to get stereo out of our SD16 digital snake head. I have not found the wire to be a problem as I’m connected to my Helix with a VDI cable anyway. My advice is to get good noise isolating earphones and don’t worry about the cable.

Make sure the piezo pickups are well seated in the bridge pieces and there's no dirt around them. Then make sure there's nothing else vibrating that might be getting picked up in the piezo pickups. Variax sensitive to anything that changes the pressure on those pickups. Any rattles are likely to cause a problem.

I really like this patch:

Yes. You'll need to use a dynamic mic, and a mic transformer such as https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Plus-Switchable-Transformer-MCT-1S/dp/B0018ST7CK/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=mic+transformer&qid=1552252595&s=gateway&sr=8-12. I recommend using one that has a short cable so that you don't have any long jacks plugged into HX Stomp that could get stepped on and break something.

Maybe that's what Powercab is. It provide a powered cabinet that you can plug any modeler into. That's more flexible than a Helix Amp would be.