DunedinDragon

I really like that stand. I also have a DXR12 and I could see that being quite useful. Is it commercially available or did you build it yourself?

I was referring to powered stage monitors like an Alto or Yamaha. Naturally the studio monitors I was referring to are powered. It's almost impossible to find ones that aren't.

Given some of the recent history where FW updates have introduced NEW bugs, some of which, such as tempo problems, have been very problematic for a lot of people, I'd hedge on the side of quality over quantity in their future releases. Completeness over speed so to speak. The reality is, my Helix is a true production piece of equipment I really can't afford to lose. I depend on it weekly and it's doing a wonderful job. Things that come along now will simply be "extra" because all the holes are filled in what I need it to do as it sits. In other words, it's not a toy for me to play with new features. So new features take a back seat to keeping everything stable and solid. That being said things like tempo fixes will make things easier for me as likely will scenes. But in the real world of every week use, I'm doing fine and I'm happy to be patient if it ensures they get it right and keep everything solid and dependable.

The largest reverb I ever use is the chamber reverb. Hall reverbs in general sound way too mushy for my tastes. If I want a bigger/roomier sound I'lll simply combine a chamber reverb with a small tight delay which is a far more realistic representation of a large space than just reverb alone.

I would probably go with a nice set of studio monitors in that situation. That's going to give you the cleanest representation of the sounds from the Helix. Powered monitors would no doubt be overkill and there are no computer speakers that are "nice" enough for this type of pro work. Generally in the studio monitor business you get what you pay for so I wouldn't scrimp too much on price. If you're going to be recording you would need good monitors anyway.

Sheesh... Line 6 has 91 current products to support, Fractal has 8. Stop whining and be patient. The world doesn't revolve around you and your personal needs.

Here's exactly what I would do. Either borrow, or buy with a 30 or 60 day return policy, some type of decent powered monitor. Something in the range of a Yamaha or QSC as these will be the most likely to match the general attributes of most FOH systems. If you get your patches sounding right on one of those you'll be good to go for the tour.

My first question is, did you actually own an HD500 or did you just play around with one a few times? The reason I ask this is there are a number of us that owned and used HD500's quite successfully. But almost all of us would tell you we had to learn to tweak it quite a bit to get the sound we wanted. The vast majority of the tweaking disappeared on the Helix so that right out of the box everything sounded great.

I can see how this could be done in the case of scenes because you're not really re-initializing the signal chain or releasing the assets. But a patch is really starting all over with a fresh signal chain so the assets have to be released. I suppose a separate processor might work as a way of handing things off while the new patch loads, but that's certainly not a player in a FW updgrate....now you're talking hardware.

I'm not sure you can compare the two this way. Obviously the Helix has double the modeling processing power of the Firehawk, and the HX modeling is based on those extra capabilities and is far superior to the HD modeling used on the Firehawk. So on an amp by amp or effect by effect basis the Helix will be far superior in terms of authenticity, clarity, definition, responsiveness, articulation, etc. But that doesn't count in all the advanced signal chain routing, variety of cabs, IR's, mic's, and their placements on the Helix which are HUGE features for what you can do and the sounds you can get out of it that are simply not even possible on the Firehawk. Bear in mind, however, that ultimately the sound you get is dependent upon the output device you're using. If you want to hear the best of what the Helix can do you need a good speaker setup. Basically you're asking how well a Dodge Dart compares to a Mercedes.....

Does anyone do this? AxFx, Kemper, etc?? It seems to me the very definition of a patch change inhibits this sort of thing. A patch change clears everything from the signal chain to load up new things. You can't carry a tail over that transition if the object producing the tail is unloaded from memory.

I've never owned a Firehawk, but having come from the HD500X world, it suffered in many of the same ways as the Firehawk in terms of volume control. I will say the models and fx on the Helix seem to be much better out of the box for being close to the same volume, but even if they're off you have NUMEROUS ways of adjusting the volume within a patch. Of course the amps have their volume levels, but the cabinets all have volume levels as well, not to mention the output levels on each of the signal chains. So if you can't match up volume levels between patches it's certainly not because there's not enough ways available to do it. When I play I set my Helix master volume at one level and play all night switching patches...it's all the same volume. As far as Bluetooth...there's a thing that users requested over and over and honestly it makes no sense at all. Line 6 responded to those requests on some of their products, but it's a case of "be careful what you ask for...you just might get it". Helix, fortunately didn't get infected with that disaster and everything is done hardwired. It goes to show you that there's a BIG difference between a "cool" idea and an actual "useful" idea. By the way, it's not a fault of Line 6 that bluetooth is buggy. It's buggy on virtually every device I've tried to use it on. It's a very poorly designed protocol and connection scheme.

Two separate circuits isn't the issue, the interface between the objects is the issue. Look at it this way, we know the stand alone preamps have a standard input and output interface because they can take input from and push output to the signal chain in the Helix. We know the preamp/amp combos have an output interface to the signal chain, but they depend upon the preamp input from the signal chain which is then linked direclty into to the amp through some proprietary mechanism when used in this manner. So clearly the power amp portion of the amp has no direct input interface to the signal chain on it's own...one has to be built. And if it's going to be outfitted with it's own input interface, that interface has to be prepared to take the output from any object placed directly in front of it in the signal chain whether it's a preamp or not. And all of those amp only objects are different from the preamp/amp objects and those all have to be tested with all variations of possible inputs through the signal chain to ensure it's bug-free. You still think it's ZERO resources? Just because L6 can make it LOOK simple, doesn't mean it IS simple.

Because there are things that make MORE sense to spend the time and resources on.... i.e. Scenes, tempo bugs, bugs that turn the Helix into a brick until you re-boot, additional amps and effects.....should I go on??? Personally given all of the interdependencies between preamps and amps, I think this idea would literally result in a bug-fest when trying to match pre-amps to amps they've never encountered in the real world.

First of all, the Helix CAN handle it, just not on that amp model. I'm not saying it's a bug, it's just not a bug with the Helix. It's a bug in their modeling of an amp that doesn't exist in the real world. This doesn't surprise me though. As armsdenj points out there are a LOT of physical interactions in real world amps between the power supply and tubes in higher SAG settings. Since this is only a virtual amp I can easily imagine a scenario in which digital logic doesn't quite cover what would happen were there to be a real amp. Since you don't experience this on other amps (that are modeled ideally from real world situations) it's obvious to me where the problem lies. If it were me, I'd report the bug as relating to the Doom amp, and move on to a different amp to address my needs. There are plenty of them in there....

From everything I've heard here on this and other forums, Scenes seem to be the top update request. I'm personally skeptical whether this will be in the next FW update given the critical bug fixes that need to be addressed like the Tempo problem and some various instability issues that can only be fixed by power-cycling the Helix. It's possible we might see a new amp or two and maybe a couple of additional FX. One thing for sure, the sooner it comes out the less it will have in it.

Why is this exactly. We provide phantom power and it doesn't affect my unit at all that I can tell.

I use a Mic level coming out of mine, but either should work as long as the person running the sound understands how to gain stage the signal. You shouldn't need to do anything special with your patches. Some people freak out when the put together their patches using a 4CM or going through a guitar amp and then hear what they sound like on a PA because there will likely be a difference. If that happens just use your Global EQ and to dial in what sounds right on one patch and it should take care of the rest.

THIS is the most important statement you'll ever hear when it comes to this type of modeler!!!! Approach it this way and you'll be well ahead of the game.

No. The amps were all specifically modeled in a different manner (HX) as well as were the FX. A lot of the models are there, some aren't, and there are some additional ones not available on the HD. Same with the effects. But functionally everything you would normally have used is there. The architecture of the Helix is such that new amps and effects can be added, and will be from what I understand. Most likely the things you are used to on the HD are there or will be there soon. But the ones that are there far exceed the quality and authenticity of what what on the HD.

I'm in agreement with the dirty power. It sounds to me like there's something else plugged into that electrical circuit somewhere that causing transient spikes. Maybe try a plug that's on a different circuit.

I'm with everyone else here. I get absolutely gorgeous and very authentic sounds going through my DXR12's. It sounds very much like my studio monitors which are Yamaha HS7's. And it does it with little to no tweaking in comparison to what I went through with the POD HD500X. What little tweaking I do are just minor nuances that I like in my sound. I do quite a bit of overdrive and distortion as well as cleans and they all sound awesome. I've never had any "fizziness" on any of the higher gain amps like the Marshalls or Peavey. I find it hard to believe you're struggling so much with the EV's. I respect EV gear as one of the better ones out there. The thing I wonder about is whether you have everything set up correctly on the configuration of the Helix and on the ZLX12P which has a lot of DSP settings itself. Other than that it might just be you're ears are tuned so much to what a guitar cabinet sounds like live that you're rejecting the sound of the EV's for some reason.

I would assume you'd take dual XLR's out to the PA and your left (mono) 1/4" to the Power Engine, so yes..you'll be mono on stage and stereo through the PA. Since the Tech 21 is a basic powered cabinet I would also assume you would treat it like any powered monitor so you'd set your output to Line and not Amp.

That's pretty much my setup as well...DXR12. So you should be fine. As far as a sound meter, I just use a free one downloaded to my phone. It works fine.

I don't have any experience with the JBL's, but I just want to check that you have it set to line input and not mic input, and also, if it's on the floor you're using the mon setting and if it's vertical you're using the main setting. I don't know if that's what's causing the problem but it may be adding to it. Otherwise, you may have to do some tweaking to get your patches where you want them coming from a traditional amp to a powered monitor. I'm assuming you've made all the necessary global changes on the Helix for going to a powered speaker rather than a traditional amp. Most often "boxiness" is associated with frequencies in the 400hz to 1Khz range, and maybe it's just an attribute of that particular speaker that somehow accentuates that range. Try using a Parametric EQ to reduce a fairly broad sweep in that range and see if that's what it is. That would kind of be odd since most people's experience with FRFR speakers is they tend to be boomy (because of lower bass response) or harsh (due to higher frequency response) than typical guitar cabinets, but both of which can be dealt with using hi and/or lo cut filters. That's the typical difference most people notice. But having no experience with JBL's specifically, I don't know for sure. It has more to do with frequency response of the speaker/cabinet than anything to do with tube/solid state.