DunedinDragon

Without knowing what you're using for your output of the Helix signal this would likely only produce uneducated guesses about what's happening with your setup. It sounds a bit like clipping in your MP3, but that could just as easily be coming from your recording setup. What does your output signal level look like when you select the output block?

It may be an okay idea, I'm just not sure it's a widespread need among the way the vast majority of people use the Helix. I get the sense from various user polls I've seen that the biggest portion of the users use a range of different amps and cabinets for different situations and that's specifically why they bought a Helix. I'm more at the extreme end maybe, but not that far off from the norm but it's not a function that would be attractive or even interesting to me at all. I would suspect a key element of what Line 6 considers when adding a feature is how much "bang for the buck" they'll get from investing in the development of a feature that would be useful to the most number of users.

Well that explains a lot. What you're EQ'ing if you place the high/lo cut before the amp is the tone of the raw bass signal, NOT the output signal of the amp. Assuming you're using an Amp+cab block, place the EQ after that.

You have a much better chance of finding out what the weather will be like on March 22, 2039 than uncovering what amp models Line 6 is considering in the next release.

That doesn't surprise me at all since what's happening with spillover is it's using the second DSP unit to load and initialize the new preset while your original preset is continuing to process the looper. Once the new preset is loaded and becomes active it's has no idea what that external looper is currently doing and the looper has no idea it's part of a new preset, so the confusion is probably what crashes the system. I would imagine it would work fine if the looper was first stopped then you selected the new preset.

There's really no chance of doing dual path on the stomp since that requires an additional DSP chip. If that's what you want you'd need to upgrade to a full unit LT or Floor or Rack.

The real question here is, does the sound of preset change?

Looks like it failed while backing up IRs due to inability to verify the license. Did you buy some IRs from the marketplace?

First, this isn't the place to promote an idea. Line 6 has IdeaScale oddly named for that purpose. Secondly, what you want is a standalone program which isn't what HX Edit is. HX Edit has no brains in and of itself as it relies entirely on the Helix to provide the intelligence on what you can and can't do and simply helps you navigate the environment. Were they to build the intelligence of modeling into HX Edit you would have, guess what.....Native. I have no idea what "over compressed crap" you're talking about, but apparently whatever you're doing you're doing it wrong. I personally don't need all of the amps and effects built into the Helix, but then I'm pretty sure Helix wasn't built specifically to make me happy. And if your overall signal chain building skills aren't significantly improved by watching Jason Sadites videos, I might suggest maybe Helix isn't the environment for you. In over 50 years of playing on stage and in studios I've never had any piece of equipment that made it as easy and was as complete in providing solutions as the Helix. But everyone's different and maybe you'd be happier with something like this:

Just pointing out that the LAST thing you would ever want on a FRFR powered speaker is one voiced for guitar. The whole point of those type of speakers is to give you an honest representation of your sound coming out of the FOH PA system..in other words what your audience is hearing. In your case since you're not playing live that's probably not important. For someone that is playing live it's critical to avoid having to tweak their homemade patches when to get to the gig.

I couldn't agree more. Apple should be doing a better job with their integration testing of 3rd party compatible software BEFORE releasing their OS for general distribution. Maybe someday they'll grow up and learn to play well with others....

The Command Center is just another way of assigning actions to stomps or snapshots, but they still use the same physical Helix button assignments. The only differences are there are some instantaneous commands that automatically execute when you open up the preset and you can assign actions to any of the buttons including the tempo/tuner, mode, up and down preset buttons and so forth. I'm not even sure YouTube controls have the ability to operate and send the appropriate MIDI commands to the Helix. My understanding is it's just keyboard shortcuts primarily for navigating YouTube but I'm really not all that familiar with it.

This is exactly the way I have my studio Helix Floor connected with my Yamaha HS7 speakers...great sound for both playing guitar and music on the PC.

I'd agree with most of what's been said here about studio monitors. They just don't sound like a great fit based on your description as they're really designed for critical listening at more controlled levels in a controlled environment with you and the speakers arranged fairly precisely. In my house I have both setups, a set of studio monitors (Yamaha HS7) and a "live performance" system using Yamaha DXR12 speakers. They are different experiences, but they're designed specifically to be different. In real life a PA will always sound different than headphones or studio speakers because they're designed specifically for even coverage across a large area. They will always sound better and more natural the further you are away from them because they're designed for projection. For me, that works perfectly because I use my DXR12 speaker setup to help me dial in tones that will be heard by my audience in a live situation and I sometimes play at higher volumes to get a sense of "live performance", but that is different than what you're describing as an immersive experience. Maybe the right situation for you might be using something like a Line 6 Powercab in conjunction with your F1 setup to give you more of that on stage immersive experience that really requires a cabinet.

Well this all makes a lot of sense given you're using an Alto 315 for your PA which is just as bass heaver if not heavier than a Headrush. I'm not sure how you'll overcome the problem with the Harbinger since changing the EQ on the Harbinger won't change what you send to the Alto 315 on your PA. It will be just as easy to deceive you as the Headrush if you don't have a decently flat performance speaker. Codamedia is exactly right. If either the Headrush or Alto315 have the contour buttons turned on (depressed), that's a HUGE boost to the low end frequencies.

Generally speaking, most equipment taking in mic and line level inputs can be adjusted up or down to accommodate the difference either via a switch or a preamp gain input knob. The general guideline is, for direct to live powered speakers you would normally send Line level, although many powered speakers have a switch that will allow you to send Mic level which is used when you want to use a microphone direct into the speaker. For direct input to a mixing board you would normally send Mic level. The mixer will almost always send a Line level signal to the speakers after passing through the mixing process.

It depends on how accurately you want your home/practice speaker to represent what you'll get from a professional PA system rather than be surprised when you show up at a gig and need to adjust things. In my opinion THAT is the value of having a decent live powered speaker at home for practice and dialing in presets. I personally make heavy use of Yamaha DXR12 speakers as I have six of them. I have one dedicated to my live setup at home and it's never failed to give me an accurate representation of what I can expect from a professional PA output. I'm sure I could do the same with QSC K.2 series or possibly other higher end speakers. I've even got a a EV ZLX-12P I might use in a pinch, but I've made head to head comparisons between the ZLX-12P and my DXR12 and the DXR is still more representative of what I'll get live from a professional PA. Another example of the benefits of a higher end powered speaker is what I've been doing this week. I've recently made the decision to get rid of the last of our on stage amps so that all instruments will be going direct to the mixing board. As far as instrumentation we have drums, bass, acoustic guitar or banjo, and lead guitar, banjo, resonator, keyboard, or acoustic through the Helix. I purchased a MXR M80 Bass preamp DI pedal, a Zoom AC-2 acoustic preamp DI and a QSC KS-112 sub. I already have a Beat Buddy drum pedal for drums. I was able to hook all of those up through my QSC TM-30 mixer with my DXR12 attached as output (which we use for floor monitors) and test all the various instruments and gain stage them so that I can be assured I'll have a good mix when the band gets together this weekend and we can make that amp-less stage setup with confidence that it will work fine, not only through our stage monitors but also through the FOH which is often two stacks of QSC KLA-12 line array speakers and KW-181 subs. I would never feel confident doing that with something like a Harbinger or a Headrush. I doubt the Harbinger would sound terrible, but chances are good that you may be disappointed once you show up at a gig and find you need to make modifications to your presets which I absolutely hate it when that happens.

If you insist on connecting bargain basement speakers to your premium quality modeler I doubt you're ever going to find a satisfying solution. In this modern era of DSP powered live speaker systems, you get what you pay for. A couple of serious things to consider. Wattage is never a good indication of loudness. You can't hear wattage, you and every other human being with ears can only hear sound pressure. That's why the only thing that matters in the real world of loudness is SPL, or Sound Pressure Level...which is a specification cited on all speakers which is much more consistent in it's measurement than wattage. Wattage can be measured in a number of ways from peak power to RMS. It can also be reported as is common in many powered speaker designs that use a speaker and a horn as the accumulated wattage of the dual amps that drive those individual speakers. It's also important to understand that the days of your stage volume being the most important factor in a live performance are long over. Most live performance bands depend on a PA system for sound coverage in the venue for both vocals and instruments. If anything, too much stage volume gets in the way of a good live performance sound more than it helps anything. The target for good live performance stage sound is that each performer can hear themselves and everyone else well enough to ensure everyone in the band can blend together well to produce the best performance. That's why in ear systems are so popular on professional stages. The bottom line is the sound quality you get is just as dependent on the quality of the guitar and the output system as it is on the Helix. You really have to ask yourself a very simple question. Why is it that speakers such as those like the QSC K12.2 or Yamaha DXR12 are used in many situations as a primary main PA speakers for entire bands in medium to smaller venues whereas you never see that with Headrush, Alto or Harbinger? The reason Harbinger has EQ dials is because they don't invest in the technology necessary to produce a consistent, high quality, desirable output that's been researched and developed and dialed in at a sound lab and has proven itself successful in all types of live applications. For example the QSC K12.2 has the ability to adjust the contour of the sound not at random based on EQ dials, but hard wired and selected as a speaker options based on how it's being used whether as a stage monitor, a front PA speaker for live music, or a front PA speaker for spoken voice, or simply playing recorded music, or used in conjunction with a subwoofer...all designed and engineered by actual engineers in an acoustic research lab. That's why they continue to be broadly revered in the real world of real live performance despite their higher cost.

As far as I know the Helix doesn't provide any MIDI over USB facilities. All MIDI functions are done through the MIDI in/out ports.

I can't say I've ever experienced this, but then I rarely ever adjust my output block and prefer to adjust my volume using the channel volume of the amp model. That being said, were I to run into the problem my first reaction would be to set the output level, save the preset, then export the preset to a file, then import it and see if it stays changed.

I've had my two Helix Floor units for 5 years now and they're used pretty much daily and used in shows every weekend. Although everything you cite "could" be related to the Helix, they also could just as easily be related to your 4CM setup and the particulars of how you've dialed in your specific presets and tones. The biggest difference between my setup and yours is I exclusively use FRFR powered speakers for my output and everything is dead silent in terms of hum or noise. This is consistent on both Helix units, on every upgrade and will all the different guitars I use (Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Gretsch hollow body, Gretsch resonator, banjo, and acoustic guitar). There are some amp models such as the Litigator that can produce a very minor hiss when dialed in certain ways, but hardly enough to be heard above the noise floor in a public setting. But I attribute that to the model accurately replicating the circuits of the Litigator. As far as volume differences, all amp models behave differently in terms of their volume because all the circuits of the real amps do as well, so they're just accurately representing the behaviors of the amps being modeled. My normal home setup for my live rig is to route my Helix output through a QSC TM30 mixer with a Yamaha DXR12 powered speaker and a QS KS112 sub. I do this for pre-gain staging all my presets for a consistent level. So I know without a shred of doubt there are no volume fluxuations on any of my presets because that would be indicated on the signal meters of the TM30 mixer channel. The only major flaw in volume consistency are my human ears which may be more or less sensitive depending on the time of day or the amount of use (ear fatigue). In order for you to definitively say your problems are all related to the Helix, you would need to isolate your Helix from any other possible sources of the problems either by a setup similar to mine, or at least through headphones. I understand there are problems people have encountered that were the result of a bad installation of firmware, although I've never experienced such a thing in my 5 years of use and upgrading, but I suppose it's a possibility. This is especially true in the case of 4CM setups which can be notoriously glitchy due to various integration issues.

Well the fact that he doesn't even know he can't close a topic speaks volumes about why he hasn't been able to master the technical aspects of building Helix presets and getting great tones out of it...like the 99.999% of us other users out here.....

Latency from GarageBand because you're monitoring the playback of the source material that you're actively recording through GarageBand rather than directly from the Helix as most people do. Can't help you with how to set this up in GarageBand as I don't use it.

You're trying to compare apples and oranges. The speakers models you're referring to are representations or models of physical passive guitar cabinets using specific microphone and microphone placements which create specific tonal characteristics like they would in the real world. Modern powered live speaker cabinets (or FRFR if you like) such as the QSC K.2 or Yamaha DXR series are purely engineered and tuned for accurately representing the sonic characteristics of whatever signal they receive using some very advanced cabinet design, circuitry, and DSP engineering which is specific tuned to whatever speaker and high frequency driver is being used in that speaker cabinet. All of that advanced engineering is a big part of what you pay for in those those speakers, that's why you tend to get what you pay for in those type of speakers. And that's also why, when you examine the frequency response graph of a 8 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch speaker unit, they're almost exactly the same. The key difference in the size of a powered speaker cabinet is how well it tends to fill a space efficiently and effectively. For example, I own six DXR12's which I use for a variety of purposes both as FOH speakers and standard stage monitors and they work well in all sorts of situations. I also have a QSC CP8 which I've used as stage monitor in the past in smaller situations. That works okay in a more intimate setting, but would get lost on a bigger stage even with more volume. It's not that the sound is different so much as it just doesn't envelope the stage in the same way as a DXR12. As far as the DSP options for tuning, the QSC K.2 series probably has the most complete options of the ones you've mentioned. Quite frankly I've worked with bass players that are perfectly happy with the sound they've gotten out of the DXR12 monitors with the low cut filter turned off when going direct to the board using just a Tech21 Sansamp. I almost always go direct from my Helix to the mixing board nowadays and rely on my DXR12 stage monitor mix and am perfectly content with the sound I get when finger picking Chet Atkins or James Taylor type stuff on my Gretsch Silver Falcon...or anything else for that matter. I would say that investing in a sub for for the mains is more than enough to help fill in any low end produced by the bass or even kick drum since a subwoofer is non directional anyway so there's no real benefit to having it as a monitor.

I suspect you don't find complaints because the vast majority of us here are technically competent at using a modeler efficiently and effectively, so we don't experience such aggravations. That's what allows us to spend our time actually playing our guitars and creating music rather than whining like a 3 year old.