DunedinDragon

You only have one processor on the Stomp unlike the Floor or the LT.

So you are talking about consolidating it under the Helix rather than the actual amp, right? That's what I was assuming when I answered it. I thought the Deluxe you were mentioning was the Helix amp model. I just noticed the Iridium you mentioned which has IR emulations so it all still applies in terms of cabinet and mics. Headphones (particularly consumer rather the pro studio) do a pretty good job of masking cabinet effects whereas the speakers like the QSC give you precisely what you send it.

I use a QSC K10.2 as my personal floor monitor when playing live. I go direct to the mixer with no on stage amp and it has the full band mix coming from the mixer but customized for my specific needs. It's mounted just off the stage in a floor monitor position but sitting on a plastic open air milk crate (non solid). I find the best results just leaving it set to Live or Default since it's not really set on a floor, but I generally prefer the Default setting. I keep the gain set at about 1:00 o'clock and the input set to Line level since it's coming from the mixing board Aux output. It works perfectly for my needs and I can hear everything (including my Helix and my vocals) very clearly and in a good band mix with the rest of the instruments and vocals. I actually dial in my tones at home using a Yamaha DXR12 and need no adjustments when I go live through the QSC. I don't think the QSC has any kind of hyped high midrange at all as my monitor mix is very comparable to the main front of house mix coming out of either Yamaha DXR12 or QSC KLA12 Line Arrays. What may be happening is one of several things. First, if your dialing in your tones at home you need to give the speaker a certain amount of clearance like around 5 or 6 feet in order to not be overwhelmed by the horn or the speaker. It's takes about that much space for it to produce it's actual room tone. That's why people don't typically sit right in front of speakers like these. If you're trying to compare the tone to a traditional guitar cabinet it's going to be a problem in that the tone from a guitar cabinet changes dramatically depending on where you stand in relationship to it (toward one side or another or the direction the speaker is tilted). That doesn't happen with a modern powered speaker like the K.2 series. Once you're positioned away from close proximity you can move around the room and even turn your back to it and you'll get a pretty accurate representation of the sound because of the way they're designed to cover large spaces and audiences. You'll hear lots of people talking about high and low cuts and various EQ approaches on these types of speakers to take out the harshness, but in reality if you get the right cab/IR with an appropriate mic combination and positioning you typically don't need a lot of EQ tweeking. I generally use IRs myself just for convenience but I can get the same sounds from stock cabs, it just takes a little longer to dial them in and set them up. My most common mic combination is a R121 ribbon mic and a MD412 dynamic mic, but I also use R121's by themselves. Once you get the cab and mic situations sounding right you shouldn't need much EQ. Most of the time the only EQ I might use is a final parametric EQ with a high cut of 8 to 10 khz and a low cut of maybe 100 to 140 hz. I'll sometimes use a post amp/cab low/high shelf EQ block as demonstrated by Jason Sadites in all his various YouTube videos if I feel I need to boost or lower overall highs and lows across the whole preset. The one thing I do often adjust on single coil pickups is to slice out a small 1 or 2 db reduction in the area around 4.3 mhz on the parametric eq if I want to reduce the twanginess.

I'm completely with you with my failing eyesight. I generally need my readers for more intricate editing operations on my Floor unit, but I don't need glasses at all to see the scribble scripts when performing. I can't answer for the LT but I would assume there would be at least one of the display modes that would work for you.

I went ahead with ordering the aforementioned order except I chose to go with the Westone AM Pro 30's which have the ambient feature which tends to address the point spaceatl brought up of limited bass response so I can hear the subwoofers. It also allows me to bring in some of the ambient environment which I think will also help with not feeling so isolated behind the in ears. I was just really concerned about the few responses I'd seen on forums about Westone durability, but reading user reviews I think made me feel better about the choice. I guess we'll see what happens when they all arrive next week.

I've been spending a good part of the day researching an in-ear setup for myself and boy is there a lot of pro's and con's with each and every option out there. But what I've finally come down to is the following: Xvive U4 wireless transmitter/receiver Westone Audio Pro X30 3 driver in ear monitors I'm choosing to go with the Xvive because I'm currently using their wireless mic system and it's been working out very well, so I'm pretty confident in what they have. The Westone in ear monitors is more of a big guess. They appear to have the "big" name in the industry, but a lot of discussions have also centered around them having QA problems with the units breaking down after a short period. But like everything there are just as many people saying they've never had any problems with them. I guess I'm at the point where I'm guessing most of the breakdowns could just as easily be associated with people abusing them. I don't know if that's true or not and maybe I'm just rationalizing because I'm OCD when it comes to taking good care of my gear. At any rate I have a lot of respect for many of the folks that frequent this forum so I'm interesting what you guys may be able to add for my consideration in my quest. Any and all responses/personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I actually appreciate the fact that I don't have to carry the DSP burden of the Archetype Lead amp when all I need for a song is the Archetype clean for example.

That's what makes it worth having a mixer for blending vocals and guitar. You don't want to try adjusting your vocal channel volume and EQ and effects on the Helix for each preset either....

The one thing I see as a major reality in the Helix marketplace is the user community is somewhat divided as to how important having greater DSP power is. A large number of Helix users who develop presets on a song by song basis or whose presets are generally pretty simple have very little concern regarding limited DSP availability. But there's also a large group that tends to focus on building more complex multi-use presets and are constantly battling available DSP levels. It makes me wonder if the next generation might be the step that provides the answer for the second group even though that won't be all that important to the first group. As long as the updates are consistent across the entire Helix family I don't see where that would be much of a problem for anyone but might be a boost in broadening the market for those wanting more power for more complexity. Another area that could easily fall into this category could potentially be areas such as automation. Although the current platform is adequate for simple functions it's far from adequate for more complex applications as is evidenced by the number of folks using MIDI controllers with the Helix. Perhaps these two areas of functionality could be integrated in some way in a more complex unit or add on unit. Just spit-balling ideas here.

Just for clarifying purposes. There is really only one way to absolutely verify the HX Edit and Helix versions and that is to select the 'About HX Edit' option under the Help menu in HX Edit. That will present a popup screen. On the top of the popup screen it will display in bold letters the type of Helix unit and it's version of firmware such as "Helix Floor 3.15". At the bottom of the popup screen it will say "Hx Edit 3.15"

Actually this is an example of how "silent stage" can be taken too far. My band has gone to what might be called "silent stage", but in reality is simply an isolated stage sound. Everything is plugged directly into the mixing board but we use very high quality stage monitors (Yamaha DXR12 and QSC K10.2) rather than in ears. We came from being a traditional band with with stage amps mic'd behind us, and eventually incorporating modelers with their own FRFR speakers, and finally to where we are now with an isolated set of stage monitors connected to and mixed on a modern digital mixing board (QSC TM-30). And by all accounts from our audiences over the last 10 years we have the best sound and presentation we've ever had with exactly the same manageability of a pure silent stage with more room on stage and limited to no interference with the audience sound. The difference being our stage sound has equally good speakers as most FOH systems and they're dialed in specifically for each individual on stage according to their needs, but the overall loudness is controlled and limited to the stage. Everything the audience hears comes from the FOH speakers without any significant stage bleed, which is very hard to do when you have amps or even powered speakers behind you facing the audience. We get every bit of the energy one should get from playing live because we hear everyone equally well with our own instruments slightly louder in the mix and can better blend our sound dynamically with each other which I don't think you could really accomplish with in ears. I've played with in ears before in other bands and it's a pleasant experience very similar to working with a live band in a studio, but something is missing in my opinion when you use them live.

Congrats on the new band. I'd strongly suggest you meticulously go through this particular YouTube video from Jason Sadites who's been a key guru and influencer for many years in the Helix community. This is his revised 'Getting a Great Tone' for 2022 and will give you a good understanding of key elements that will make a HUGE difference in your efforts. Yes, it's somewhat technical, but Jason describes things very well to help you understand each block and how you might use it. His templates are available online or you can just pause the video and copy/create the template and it's settings on HX Edit while you watch. I think this can go a LONG way to overcoming your digital sound anxiety once you begin to understand all the power contained in the Helix and how you can use it. As with any new technology it comes with some effort on your part to understand how to best use it if you want to get the best out of it. Jason has TONS of videos on YouTube all of which can be helpful in dialing in specific amps or effects along with guidance on how to gain stage your presets for live performances. Have fun and learn a lot!!!! You'll be glad you did. Jason Sadites How to Create a Great Tone 2022

Given that it came from Customtone it could also just as easily be the person that built the presets overdid the distortion/gain which is not all that uncommon.

The issues tend to be related more to how human hearing works than how the Helix works. As mentioned about the Fletcher-Munson curve is a very real thing and can deceive you in terms of dialing in your tones. Over the years I've found that an SPL reading of around 90db at 6 ft or so tends to be adequate for getting a good representation that won't vary much in a live performance which is in the range of a food blender or hair dryer or maybe slightly above that. If you think that may be too much for your living conditions then your best option would be a good set of reference headphones (not consumer headphones). A popular choice is the Beyerdynamic DT770. I use the 80ohm model in my studio and it gives a fair representation of my presets. It's not as accurate as my Yamaha DXR12 (which actually IS a PA speaker) which is what I use most when dialing in my presets, but it might suffice until you can tweak things at a good rehearsal space. The more important consideration for going silent stage is getting your presets gain staged accurately and consistently. I have a pretty involved process at home in which I run my Helix through an actual mixing board (QSC TM-30) and then into the DXR12. This allows me to get an accurate signal level reading of my presets so they will always be consistent on any modern mixing board. As a matter of course I have my Helix global ins/outs configured so that the XLR output is disengaged from the Helix master volume knob and set to Mic signal level. This sends my preset at a signal level most used on mixing board inputs and at full volume. I then manage the output levels within the Helix presets by adjusting either the channel volume on the amp model in my preset or on the output block as I monitor the PA signal meter neither of which will affect the tone of your preset. Although this is a fairly involved process, much of it can be done by simply selecting the output block on the Helix preset which gives you the output signal level and keep it in the 60 to 65% range. If you have a final compressor such as the LA Studio compressor you can also get a gain reduction indicator on the Helix by selecting that block to help manage the peaks in your signal. The value in all of this is a huge savings in time at sound checks by only having to check a single preset as the adjustments the soundman makes on one preset will be consistent across all your presets. If you gig every week like I do that's incredibly important.

All of the drivers you need for the Helix are downloaded when you download and install HX Edit. As far as impedance, that affects the signal coming into the Helix from your guitar and that becomes part of the digital signal chain as it moves through the modeling you've setup. You're outputting directly from the digital signal output, so whatever affect it has on your guitar will still be there. The general rule is that hotter pickups tend to have problems with impedance affecting the behavior of certain blocks.

Unpackage it and let it warm up in the room for an hour or so if you're worried.

That's because it's not either of those circuits. It's an entirely different circuit that encompasses design aspects of both.

Well XLR is certainly the most prevalent input when it comes to mixing boards and that's primarily because of the low noise on XLR over long distances, but I'm not sure if a ground lift would help that much in any case other than if there's a ground loop problem in the electric outlets the equipment is plugged into. But it's not a sure thing it would fix it because the ground loop could potentially be in the difference between the Stomp and the Mixer for example.

I would suspect as long as you set your Helix 1/4" output to Instrument it should work fine. I can't imagine how valuable it would be for any real use since it's just a simple consumer product other than maybe jamming along with some bluetooth tracks on your phone. That seems like a lot of setup work just for that though.

The headphone output is separate from anything else you may be doing in your signal chain that's normal.

Helix Native, HX Stomp and Helix Floor are all Helix and are all compatible. The only difference with HX Stomp (other than the number of footswitches) is the limitation in the number of blocks that you can have in a preset which is roughly half that of what the full Helix Floor can have. If, as you say, you only need simple chains it should work fine for you.

Well apparently not all the support people at Sweetwater are on the same page. I left a phone message for my assigned Sweetwater representative explaining the situations and that i needed a new activation code...and...he just sent me the exact same original code....ugh.... I guess I'll have to wait a few hours in the phone queue for a support rep. Not a good experience for me....

As far as adding DSP that's pretty much limited by the very nature of what DSP is all about which has historically been referred to as "real time processing" but probably more accurately referred to as low latency processing. However that fits into the same category as the CPU in your computer which really has to have direct access to the bus in order to be efficient as does the DSP processor. Until you see the day you can upgrade your computer CPU via an external connection, I wouldn't expect you'll see anything such as you're describing. I have recently come to my own conclusion about any Helix upgrades that may be in the offing at some point. It appears to me that with the huge investment Line 6 is making in the HX technology and even now incorporating it into a stand alone amp, I would highly suspect the next generation of Helix may have better and more processing, but wouldn't likely outdate the current products. There may be some upgrades that would be limited to a more powerful version, but I think it would be very hard to sunset the range of products they're continuing to introduce without alienating a bunch of customers.

Exactly!! It's a bit different with Ableton since it has a Session View which allows me to have the entire lineup of songs in memory, but essentially when I started out I was doing things very similar to how you're doing it. I was having so many little bugs showing up for various reasons I went to the setup I have and it's been pretty much bulletproof. A lot of my problems were my own misunderstanding of Helix's MIDI implementation and I was also fairly new to Ableton. But I quickly ran into a number of situations where I needed to do multiple MIDI interactions at a single point in time, and that's really not a strong point for Helix as a MIDI controller. That's what lead me to using the Morningstar MC8 which is really the centerpiece of all my automation actions because I can trigger it from either Ableton or from the Helix and it works well either way. It also allows me to move to any song in the lineup quickly since they're all represented as different Banks and that immediately synchronize my Ableton and my Helix and any other devices that may be song specific. It also provides an easy way to do things like jump to a specific point in a song or do a repeat of a phrase until I signal it to continue through on the next cycle. MUCH more power in using a dedicated MIDI controller like the MC8.

I use a very similar stage automation system. I currently use a Morningstar MC8 MIDI controller to manage things now, but originally i did it all through the Helix. The big difference in my approach from yours is the selection of the preset and the starting of the song are two distinct and individually controlled MIDI operations that I control. In fact, those are the ONLY things I actually control, Ableton takes care of all the other MIDI interactions in the course of playing the song. I think because of this my setup runs perfectly regardless of which song/preset I choose. As I remember when I used the Helix for those interactions I used the command center and used an instant command so that when I changed presets on the Helix it sent the MIDI command to Ableton about which track to use so they were sync'd up (preset and session track). I then used a separate stomp button to send the appropriate CC command to Ableton to start playing. One of the key reasons I switched to the MC8 is the Helix instant commands would sometimes get out of sync if I had more than one instant commands and wasn't careful about how I defined them and saved them. Also it was very clumsy to have multiple MIDI commands defined behind a single button interaction. Moving to an external, dedicated MIDI controller gave me a MUCH more robust, trouble free system with a greater range of MIDI options which was really necessary once I wanted to incorporate automation of other elements in the performance such as a BeatBuddy drums and stage lighting and so forth. In my current system with the MC8 I still have two independent physical actions I physically execute for selecting the song, and starting the song. When I select the song's bank on the MC8 it selects the appropriate preset on the Helix, and selects the appropriate BeatBuddy drum song, and so forth. That allows me to visually see that everything is sync'd up. When I then press the Start function on the MC8 it starts the playback of the appropriate Ableton track, and sends the start command also to the BeatBuddy as well as any other startup interactions in need to take at the beginning of a song. From there, the Ableton track controls all other interactions throughout the song by sending a single MIDI command through the MC8 which may then incorporate several MIDI interactions in one button press. So, for example, when the backing track reaches the point where the song goes into a bridge, Ableton has a single MIDI command it sends to the MC8 to fire off the Bridge preset which then might change the Helix preset, do a fill on the BeatBuddy and change the lighting controller. I can't specifically tell you what might be occurring in your case other than to tell you that I had all sorts of anomalous behaviours that plagued me trying to use the Helix as my MIDI controller which were all easily solved by using a full featured MIDI controller rather than the limited and sometimes arcane methods used on the Helix.