DunedinDragon

Well there's not much in your preset to suggest anything other than a volume pedal going to a multi output block. The only thing I can think of is some setting in your global settings affecting your big Helix output knob such as disabling it for the 1/4" output so it's at a constant output volume. I can certainly see the value of the output moving through the entire range in HX Edit when I change my footpedal, but that doesn't mean anything depending on how you're setup your Helix. First thing I would do is disable global settings and see if there's something in there affecting the output on the 1/4". Can you adjust the volume levels for both XLR and 1/4" by turning the big Helix volume knob? Other than signal levels you might be assigning differently to the 1/4" nothing jumps out at me. I would certainly think you would want your 1/4" output set to Instrument level for going into the front of the amp.

How are you physically hooked up to the amp? Effects loop? Direct input? Coming out of which output port on the Helix?

Just to make sure your workflow is correct...when you're editing IRs on the unit you first add the IR block, then you select the length of the IR. After that you use the first knob below the screen to scroll through the different IRs you have loaded.

The thing you have to get clear in your head about snapshots and presets is that snapshots are ALWAYS a subset of functions WITHIN a given preset. If you were to do as rd2rk mentioned above you would be, in effect, changing the preset and using that presets snapshot. But you would still incur the lag time involved in switching the preset unless you were using spillover.

A couple of things worth mentioning here because you really didn't go into the situation you play in. It's very possible to get a satisfying and great tone from either a real cabinet or from a powered speaker. As themetalkid mentioned above, he gets great results simply going direct to the PA which is, in effect, going to FRFR style powered speakers. But I'm sure if you asked him how easy that journey was, he would be the first to admit it took a while to master it. But there are more than enough threads on this topic to help in understanding the differences. What I want to point out is the "why bother" part of it. That really comes down to how you intend to be generally be using your Helix. Using a traditional cabinet is very easy but becomes a little more problematic if you play in larger situations in which all instrument go through the PA. When playing alone or jamming they sound on stage is the sound. But to take that sound into a PA it will either have to be mic'd or go direct to the mixing board and may not easily translate to the sound you're getting from the cabinet. There are a lot of various configuration tricks for how to do this successfully, but it will always add complexity to your setup and to the way you build your presets. Personally I'm so used to dialing in my presets to be "PA friendly" that I don't really think about it much, I just do it and can do it pretty quickly. But it really is dependent upon you having a rehearsal space where you can dial it in effectively and develop an ear for achieving the "live studio sound" that goes direct to the mixing board. I live alone in my own house so volume isn't an issue so I have a permanent rehearsal space which simulates a live PA. My Helix is plugged into a mixer which is then plugged into my Yamaha DXR12 speaker which is mounted about chest height and I typically stand about 6 feet away from the speaker to really get an understanding of how it will sound live. I'm also constantly moving my position relative to that speaker to ensure my sound is consistent. I probably play at around 85 to 90db which isn't really all that loud, but is loud enough to overcome any Fletcher-Munson effects, and I alway play against a mix with drums and other instruments. This configuration also allows me to very precisely gain stage and equalize the volumes on all of my presets so they're ready to simply plug directly into any PA and will be consistent for the entire performance. The "why do I do this" is really a result of understanding that I would rather put in the work at home on my schedule than have to do it when I show up to the performance which is typically every week. That's the point where I don't want to be wasting any time. I don't fault anyone for doing things differently because they have to be happy with their situation. And I'm the first to admit I'm a bit overboard when it comes to my preparation. But for me it pays off week after week through all different changes in band personnel across 6 or 7 years now, and all performance situations so that's all I can ask for.

Actually I think the entire industry is pretty robust with underachieving first line support people who, at best, can navigate a checklist of common problems and solutions. If you're lucky enough to get past them to 2nd level support you might stand a chance of someone knowing how to isolate and identify error conditions occurring within the operating system to clarify where the problems lie. This is even generally true in corporate IT departments. Most of us that built the core of these systems are long retired so there's a pretty significant brain drain that's occurred in both companies.

I know most people with Macs love them, but the unfortunate truth is the Mac is clearly designed for the consumer market pretty much exclusively rather than the broad market including corporate desktops which means it doesn't provide a lot of access to diagnostic and performance logging tools that you can use to identify the source of many of the various problems you might encounter in the world outside of Apple.

HX Edit is a simple console program and requires very little in terms of memory or computational capacity. If the laptop is running Windows and has a USB port you should be fine. Just make sure you have enough disk space to make backups.

There is one way to do it, which I've used occasionally, but it requires some programming in JSON. I keep all my presets stored individually on my hard drive, but it wouldn't matter if it was an individual preset or a setlist or a backup. It's all in stored in JSON structures, so you can programmatically cycle through them as files and make bulk changes. Don't ask me any of the technical details because it was years ago and I've slept since then....LOL

I have to say I have to agree with what rd3rk said in his response to you in the other thread. You already have a way of controlling the volume level going to the PA so if you want to get a signal prior to the main mix setup, you've got the XLR output under your control. Most importantly, the more complexity you add in the setup the greater the likelihood of something getting messed up during the performance. Even if it doesn't get messed up, it certainly isn't likely to be any kind of accurate representation of what the audience is hearing if you bypass the output of your main channel while listening to your own personal mix. The soundman could be way off in his interpretation of how your guitar should sound in the mix and you'd never know it. The reason for the mixing board providing both FOH and monitor mixes is meant to provide a dialog between the band and the soundman. Your input about the tone of the guitar in the mix is just as valuable in getting things right as is your need for how prominently you need to hear it in your mix. In working as a soundman I can't begin to tell you how many times someone pointed out something on stage in the mix that I had overlooked and was able to fix due to their input prior to going live with the mix.

I've often thought about this and there is one instance in which HX Edit interacts with local storage such as exporting a preset. That would be a great place to store and retrieve memo data associated with any preset. Of course that would apply to backups and restore as well. I guess I should submit that on Ideascale, huh?

The question comes down to, when you switch back to the clean snapshot are the original clean values in your signal chain blocks the same, or did they change somehow to something else?

You could always search the internet for "guitar feedback clips" and insert those into your recording.

MIDI keyboard controllers typically plug directly into the PC via USB, not through the Helix. In my case my Helix is plugged into my PC via USB and operates as an audio interface for Ableton Live and Kontakt or any other music output from the PC. But MIDI controllers are different than electronic pianos like the SP-5600 as they don't have any built in instruments and rely solely on the instruments provided by the DAW. I actually have a separate Casio Privia 88 key electronic piano which I can play independently directly to the DAW as a MIDI keyboard, or as a standalone keyboard through the Helix as an audio device on the Helix. But I typically don't use that as much for working with Ableton and Kontakt. I mostly use my 25 key Novation Launchkey 25 as it has all sorts of custom controls and pads for integrating with the DAW and its plugins which the electronic keyboard doesn't have. But if I want to use my Casio for directly recording MIDI I just plug it directly into the PC via a MIDI cable and select it as an input device in my DAW. If I want to just use the electronic piano to record audio output to the DAW I have it plugged into my Helix via 1/4" inputs and I use the built-in instruments in the keyboard along with the volume pedal of the Helix. In either case of using the Casio or the Novation MIDI controller, the resulting sound is always routed through the Helix as an audio device which has my studio speakers attached to it.

No matter how you decide to do it, my sympathies go to your soundman who's going to spend all night trying to manage your gain staging on the mixing board.

Probably the best source is Craig Anderton's Big Book of Helix Tips and Tricks available via download from Sweetwater.

It may not be exactly the same chip, but it's the same amount of processing capability. It might be a slightly newer version of the same chip, but it's still the same architecture and would process equivalently to the floor. From what I understand, the noise/hiss is pretty manageable but I have no direct experience.

I took out the Line 6 extended warranty on my Helix Floor within the first two years of having it which was almost 8 years ago. I've gigged every week (other than a few months break during COVID lockedown) with it and never had any reason to use the warranty and still don't. One of the footswitches can be problematic once in a while, but I can just use the self-cleaning process of holding it down and twisting it back and forth several times to clean it. I don't think I baby it but I do transport it in a hard case wherever it goes. At this point and for the last year or so it doesn't get used that hard since I've started using a stage automation system with my band so it's pretty much always controlled totally by a MIDI controller. Even though I never had a reason to use the extended warranty I don't see it as a loss since I was dealing with a brand new technology that had only been on the market a short time.

Why not simply add a final send block set to Instrument level on each preset and set your normal 1/4" global output to Line level, then just plug into whichever one is needed for that gig?

I'm afraid he has his specific reasons for doing that configuration specific to his needs which are clearly different than yours that he doesn't go into. You're probably at the point now where you need to find some way of testing your ideas for how you want to configure things in your situation. Since I don't specifically use that kind of configuration for my setup I would only be guessing what will work best for you. You've got all the basics concepts of how it works now. I would invest in a small (cheap) mixing board, maybe just a couple of channels, so you can test out the configuration you might want to use, and if you get one with a USB you can always use it as an audio interface for recording later on.

Pretty much. But a couple of qualifiers. You don't have to send a stereo output via XLR unless you want to. A lot of sound engineers prefer to only allocate a single channel to guitar and you only get true stereo if you use stereo blocks in your signal chain. In either case you won't likely be getting a stereo monitor output coming back from the mixer, just a mono 1/4" line. It does get much simpler if you don't sing as all you'll need is to split off a separate signal chain with a 1/4 receive (as shown in the video you posted) into which you plug in the signal coming back from the mixing board as a normal monitor input which you would monitor through the headphone output. Quite frankly the biggest risk I see in you attempting this is you have no way of testing it before you take it live unless you have a mixing board of some sort to check it for functionality and make sure you don't create a feedback loop. That spells disaster in my mind.

Both the vocal and the guitar are sent to the mixer on separate sends so they go to different channels on the mixer in a normal fashion where they are mixed with all other channels and sent to the main speakers. The mixer would also send you your own personalized mix of channels in exactly the same manner as they would send it to a floor monitor, but you'd plug that into a receive input on the Helix as he demonstrated and you use your headphone output to listen on IEMs.

The concept he uses is actually pretty simple and very elegant. Pay attention to the sends and returns because that's where all the important stuff happens. In essence he uses a send of his vocals to the mixing board very early in the signal chain before any of his guitar stuff and sends his guitar separately to the mixing board through a separate send. The creative part is the middle signal path which he demonstrates with the backing track. That middle signal path would be the return of his audio mix of both guitar, vocal, the rest of the band's channels and, if necessary, a backing track/click track/audio cues coming back through a separate return on the Helix which he uses as his headphone output. Don't get confused by his use of the phone. In essence that middle path is just the stage mix that would normally be sent to a floor monitor, but he handles it on the Helix rather than it going to a traditional floor monitor. An important item to take note of is he doesn't use either of the normal 1/4" or XLR outputs. The reason for that in his typical setup he's never plugged directly into the mixer. He plugs into DI boxes for whatever signals he sends to the different channels on the mixing board (vocal and guitar), and he receives his monitor output from the mixer through separate DI boxes with 1/4" line outputs from the Aux outputs of the mixer after the sound tech mixes his signals with the rest of the band. What makes this video confusing is he spends a lot of time on his guitar rig setup and not much time at all on how his sends and returns work in conjunction with the mixer. Most of the real work of mixing his in ear monitor mix comes from the mixer.

Honestly, if your stage volume is relatively contained, you might do well with just carrying along a decent little practice amp like a Positive Grid Spark and place it in front of you. You could use a send from the Helix to the Spark prior to any amps and effects in the Helix signal chain so your amps and effects would go correctly to the audience, but you could have a fairly decent sound on stage from the guitar amp and just use the wedge for everything else.

Well an unpowered wedge is about as far from an FRFR as you can possibly get, but in your case with your limitations it's probably about as good as you'll get. The problem with unpowered wedges (which modern powered speakers correct) is they use a very simple crossover circuit between the speaker and the horn for low and high frequencies. Unfortunately that creates a dropout in the frequencies where the crossover is situated which is generally right around the area of frequencies most commonly prevalent in guitar sound. A neutral amp can't correct that, but without adding more equipment to the mix I'm not sure there's any answer for it.