amsdenj

Convolution is the expensive algorithm. But reverbs create more challenges because you need high-definition samples and long samples to get the richness of reverbs. Perhaps a compromise could be created. Interpolation is a common mathematical and programming approach to reducing samples and simplifying algorithms. A custom IR processor could segment an otherwise long IR into a sequence of short segments, and use simpler 1st order filtering in between them. That might not work for speaker cabinets which have shorter impulse responses, but more rapid transients. But it might work well for reverbs which decay more gradually.

A wide range of things can work well for bass from direct input, Tech 21 Sansamp, Bass PODXT, Helix and, oh a good bass amp. I find that bass doesn't benefit as much from the contribution of certain effects or speakers (or speaker models). These tend to make low end become indistinct and muddy, creating more challenges with other instruments that might be competing for the same sonic space. Bass can benefit a lot from a good pickup choice and position, good wound strings to provide some high frequency content and definition, finding the sweet spot for picking, etc. as much or more than amp and cab models. I've struggled over the years to get a good bass tone when tracking. I've come to realize that a Tech 21 Sansamp is often a simple and very effective choice. The rest is in the player's hands. Bass strings are big and create wide range of frequency content, more than a guitar. Letting that come through can often produce pretty good result. That said, I do have a number of bass and combination bass and electric guitar patches I use for rehearsal that I quite like. But I probably wouldn't track that in a recording session.

It depends on your amp settings. If the amp is clipping heavily, EQ before the distortion has less impact because there's no gain left to boost/cut. You can take advantage of this. Bass cut and treble boost before distortion followed by bass boost and treble cut after distortion can be an interesting sound. You can use the bass cut before distortion to remove mud. Treble boost before distortion doesn't have much impact because it gets clipped. Bass boost after distortion brings the bass back, but without the mud since it isn't clipped. Treble cut after distortion removes ice-pick/fizz. But the cool think is this can make the volume control on your guitar work very well. With the volume all the way up, you get just the distortion you want. As you turn the volume on your guitar down, the clipping is reduced and the bass cut/bass boost and treble boost/treble cut tend to cancel out giving you your regular clean amp sound. You're using the non-linear characteristics of the distortion blocks to your advantage to voice the tone into and out of distortion while having this effectively canceled out as you turn your volume control down giving you the nice clean tone too.

I love it! I think a Variax will produce something similar, but maybe with not quite the same attack and definition. Wonder what Michael Hedges would have done with these technologies had he lived.

48?! You're just a young pup. I'm 67! But after all these years I'm back playing in a good rock band with a bunch of tech professionals just like me (I work for IBM), and having the time of my life. Helix is so flexible and convenient. It's a game changer for guitar modeling processors. I was committed to using S-Gear, but that MIDI pedal, Audio/MIDI interface and computer were just too complicated and unreliable to use live. You need to be paying attention to the audience and the music when playing live, not the gear. Helix just works, all day, every day. A wide range of patches work well. I typically use only one with lots of effects. And Helix effects are way better that most that are available as plugins. BIAS FX distortions effects are pretty good, but many of the others (Octavia, UniVibe, Tremolo) aren't really usable. These same effects in Helix are nearly perfect. I use three guitars on gigs - a Strat Deluxe with Tom Anderson stacked hum-buckers, my 50 year old Les Paul with Tom Holmes pickups and coil taps, and a Variax Standard that I did a lot of work on. All these into Helix provide a fantastic platform for making great music live without a lot of distractions. Thanks Line6 for a fantastic product. So bottom line, don't let age be a barrier to living.

This is a process control problem. The error in pitch is proportional to the delta in pitch, how the pitch changes over time (integral), and how fast the pitch is changing (derivative). A PID algorithm (Porportional/Integral/Derivitive) can be used to tame the jumping around and make it easier to slowly zero in on the correct pitch. Line6 just needs to adjust the algorithm they are using to dampen the display changes into something that is more controllable. One of the best tuners for guitar I've ever used is the one in S-Gear. It has the sensitivity and accuracy down to 1cent, but has a damping algorithm that makes it easy to tune. I suspect Line6 will get to this in a future update. We're making progress.

I use a TRS cable from the headphone output into the input of my Haffler Transnova P3000 power amp that is use as my stage amp. That way I have separate controls for what I send to FOA from the Helix XLR outs and my stage amp. I run both in stereo, but only because of chorus, delay and reverb stereo (after the amp) effects. This has little impact on what people hear if they're positioned near one of the FOH speakers, but adds a little depth to the overall sound without adding too much mud.

FS 10 & 11 makes a lot of sense. When you upgrade Helix, it rebuilds all the patches automatically on the first reboot after upgrade. But if the update requires an FX 9 & 10 global reset, then all the patches that were just potentially updated/rebuilt are immediately deleted! If you import them back in, it would seem that the import operation would address any patch migration issues, but it might not. Depends on how import is implemented. Using FS 10 & 11 after you've done all the patch imports would ensure that the patches were migrated. Possible making a small edit in each patch and re-saving might have similar results.

The goto guitar models I use are the Tele, Strat and Les Paul models. I wasn't really happy with any of them. They were usable, but not inspiring. So I used Workbench HD to see what I could do to improve the tones. Adjusting the string volume helped a lot. But the biggest improvement came from changing the body style for all three guitars to the Masonite body model. There's something about that model that improves sustain, makes the guitar models fuller and richer, but without loosing the unique character of the pickups. This one change has made my Variax Standard into a much more usable instrument. I had a similar experience with my old Varizx 300 with the same model and it appears to have translated to the HD models as well.

I have a Variax Standard I use with Helix. Its great for fast switching to different guitars, pickups and tunings. But I don't love the models. I hope Line6 doesn't abandon this technology and there's be some refreshes on the models at some point.

I followed all these instructions carefully, restored all my patches and IRs. I am occasionally getting Helix freezes when editing a patch. Audio works, but the display and buttons become unresponsive. Have to reboot to recover. This doesn't seem to be a timing issue, I've left the Helix on for a number of hours with no problems, And it's never frozen just playing. Only when editing my old patches. There could be bugs lingering, and it might be a good idea rebuild the patches from scratch in some cases.

I don't think those cables will work with a Variax 700 Acoustic or Variax Standard and Helix.

Try these blog posts: Creating a Helix Acoustic Guitar Patch and Creating an Acoustic Guitar Impulse Response for Line6 Helix

I think if you only use one XLR or 1/4" out cable, Helix automatically switches to mono, so you don't need the mono block.

I use the multi-input with my Strat, and the VDI input with my Variax Standard. I just turn the volume down on the guitar I'm not using.

The dispersion of the horn can also be an advantage for monitoring. If you put your typical PA speaker on its side on the floor in front of you, with the speaker tilted back, then the horn is actually turned on its side. That means you now get the wide dispersion vertically and the narrow dispersion horizontally. And that's exactly what you want for a monitor in front of you. Wide dispersion vertically ensures you can hear the monitor on the floor, somewhat close to you. Narrow dispersion horizontally ensures you hear your monitor and not someone else's giving you the monitor mix you want separate from the other band members. Having a FRFR monitor in front of you vs. a guitar amp behind you is quite a different experience. It will be a lot brighter and more present, not as warm. And there's more chance of damaging your ears. Manage appropriately. It will also interact differently with your guitar, changing how the guitar reacts to the acoustic reinforcement that comes from more direct acoustic coupling. It can take a while to get use to this, but it can be worth it in terms of a more accurate picture of your actual guitar tone and better interaction with your guitar.

I agree its very low. Line6 says its unity gain, but that doesn't seem right to me either.

I'd suspect power issues too that may have caused Helix to crash. I've had this happen a couple of times at home while editing patches, but so far, never at a gig. With all the benefits of Helix, I still think its important to bring a backup setup. For me thats an iPad with BIAS FX and a Blueboard. I have to have the iPad for other things anyway, and with a small cable adapter for the output, I can use the same TRS cable that goes to my stage amp or into the PA. I haven't used that yet except for testing at rehearsal, but it works pretty well.

This is only a guess, but here's what might be happening. Sag controls how the power amp responds to being pushed hard. As the amp is pushed, it puts more demand for current from the power supply. When pushed harder, the power supply voltage might "sag" because it can't keep up with the demand. How a power supply reacts to demand depends on the amount of DC resistance in the power transformer, how much iron there is in the core, whether a tube rectifier or diodes are used for rectification, and the size of the filter capacitors. Power supply sag is manifest by a drop in voltage on the filter caps as they discharge in order to meet demand. Then the caps recharge from the rest of the power supply and the amplitude comes back up. At very high sag settings in Helix, you might be getting into a situation where the power amp is essentially oscillating as it tries to keep up with the demand and the filter caps are constantly discharging and recharging. The time constant of this oscillation is determined by the filter cap values and voltage drop resistors. If that's the case, then simply reducing the sag will eliminate the problem. But let's think a bit more about what you're tying to accomplish with high sag settings. Sag generally has little to do with amp tone, and more to do with feel. Sag essentially results in a unique kind of compression that unlike a compressor in front of an amp, still works even when the power amp is clipping. This is the magic of sag. Higher sag settings will result in more compression. This can have an impact on pick transients and rapid djent playing since the compression attack and release can cut off pick attack. Generally metal tones require amps with power supplies that don't have much sag. Blues tones typically benefit from more sag as that playing style works better with power amp compression. So why do you think you need such high sag settings?

Why not pull the in-ear input from your PA monitor mix? That way you would have pretty complete control of what you hear and where you hear it from the whole mix, it would be consistent no matter what the rest of the monitor setup might be, and wouldn't require any mic.

With interfaces that have a gain control, we're often tempted to run them hot. This isn't a good idea because any resulting digital clipping anywhere in the computer signal chain will be very bad. The fact that the Helix direct outs are fixed at unity gain is a good thing as it ensures no clipping and you can do anything you need in a DAW these days.

My observation is that this is pretty subtle, and when the alternate tunings are on, the tone control has no effect for the acoustic models.

When using Helix as a direct USB input device into apps like S-Gear or BIAS FX, you want to be sure those apps are being driven sufficiently so that they are in their sweet spot. That is, they are expecting a certain level and the drive and amp distortion models are designed for that input. Helix SPD/IF and USB direct are unity gain. But compared to other interfaces that have a gain control, it seems to have lower output. S-Gear and BIAS FX can compensate for this, but some other apps may not.

My experience is 1) it seems accurate enough for tuning a guitar for gigs - I use it a lot and have never noticed it to produce something I'd consider out of tune and 2) its resolution is sufficient to tune a guitar quickly without being so sensitive that you never get there. Could it be improved? I suppose. But its not a problem at all for me. I use it, it tunes a guitar OK, and it tunes it quickly. That's all I'm looking for on a gig.

If you really like your guitar amp, its distortion, tone, power amp and speakers, then why not keep it simple and just use Helix as a front of the amp pedal board?