DunedinDragon

I'm going to post an entry in IdeaScale. Something to the effect of, "Can you please wire up the Helix so that if someone tries to use Global EQ for anything other than adjusting for the room they'll get a nasty shock every time they touch their guitar?"

It sounds to me like you're struggling with a couple of different issues. The first involves a lack of familiarity with different output devices and the other with technical familiarity with the fundamentals of how to use the facilities of the Helix for dialing in tones. The second one is easily addressed by simply spending some time on YouTube watching some of Jason Sadites excellent "Dialing In" series of videos where you can learn all the ins and outs of EQ, amps models, cabinet and mic placement, etc. That will jumpstart your knowledge and give you some confidence on how to address getting the sound you want out of the Helix. https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonSadites/playlists None of that knowledge will do you any good without first understanding the different type of output devices and what will work best for your situation. A good pair of studio monitors can be more than sufficient for using the Helix as are a good set of headphones. The issues come into play in understanding what would be "pro" gear versus "consumer" gear. I'm not familiar with the IK Multimedia line, but their reputation tends to be more in the consumer market than in the pro market. The pro market studio monitors that tend to be popular among Helix users would be brands like JBL, Yamaha, Presonus, etc. The difference is in getting a flat response that would be used for evaluating playback in a recording studio versus simply playing music for your enjoyment. The same would be doubly true with headphones many of which color the sounds to make them sound better to a consumer versus studio use for evaluating studio production. The more popular brand among Helix uses tend to be the Beyerdynamic DT770 pro in the 80ohm or higher range. The real key for you at this point might be a good understanding of the different TYPE of devices such as headphones, studio monitors and powered PA speakers and their pro's and con's for your situation. Studio monitors and PA speakers are similar but are designed for different uses. Studio monitors are designed specifically to be used in a smaller setting such as a studio or office area and work best when both the speaker and the listener are positioned correctly and precisely. Powered PA speakers aren't as reliant on proper positioning and are designed to cover larger areas evenly and consistently. As mentioned previously the Headrush tends to be quite popular but it's popularity is also based to some degree on it's bargain price. As in most things you get what you pay for and that's VERY true when it comes to powered speakers. You can end up spending a LOT of money in this area, but I think you can also get some very professional quality speakers nowadays at a reasonable price. Some of the favorites in this area are the Electro Voice ZLX series, the QSC CP series, and the Yamaha DBR series.

Quite frankly I haven't used it with the acoustic sim at this point as we have a full time acoustic guitar player in the band now.

I personally use the 3Sigma set of acoustic IRs when I need to do something like that.

I've owned the Boss AC-3 in the past and have used the acoustic sim on the Helix and the only time I would ever use either of them is in the course of a song that has a section that requires acoustic, but is mainly an electric guitar song. Otherwise I use a real acoustic guitar on a preset designed for acoustic guitar. An acoustic simulation is good in a pinch, but not sufficient on it's own and I wouldn't expect it to be.

Oddly enough, I've never felt encumbered or constrained in any way with the reverbs in Helix over the last 5 years and 300 plus presets. But, that's probably because I play guitar...not effects.

I also have never experienced any latency problems using the Helix as the audio interface, and I use a pretty wide range of VST plugins like True Piano, some various session drum kits, and whole range of EQ and vocal stuff. But again I'm dealing with a pretty powerful setup on my desktop PC.

I sold my old audio interface and just use the Helix directly connected to the DAW with the studio monitors attached to it. It actually greatly simplified my workflow when recording.

I use a Beat Buddy now in every performance each week along with my Helix. The difference is I use the Helix to control the Beat Buddy and send the Beat Buddy signal direct to the mixing board on it's own separate line using the L/Mono 1/4" out. In your case, if you're wanting the Beat Buddy to go through the Helix to the PowerCab all you would need to do is have a MIDI cable from the Helix going from MIDI Out to the MIDI in on the Beat Buddy (if you want tight integration with the Helix), and one return block for the 1/4" L/Mono out (or use both outs to a dual stereo return) from the Beat Buddy probably located at the very end of the signal chain so it comes in after all the amp and effects blocks and is just mixed with the finished guitar signal. For tight MIDI integration between the two you'll need to order the special MIDI cable for the Beat Buddy input which converts a traditional MDI to a PS1 style MIDI which can be purchased from Singular Sound. So you'll need a one traditional MIDI cable (MIDI out from the Helix) and one special MIDI converter cable for the Beat Buddy. You can easily program the Helix to control pretty much all aspect of the Beat Buddy and the MIDI cvommsnfd are documented at the following link: https://singularsound.com/downloadable/BeatBuddy-MIDISettings-Firmware-v1.77.pdf My process is relatively simple. I have a separate Beat Buddy project specific to each preset and I use the Beat Buddy Manager to create the beats for each preset and save that project to the SD card I plug into the Beat Buddy. In the Helix Command Center I create an instantaneous command which sends the Program Change to the Beat Buddy to select the specific drum song that matches the preset when I move to that preset. From there it's simply a matter of using the command center to define and assign the CC commands on the Helix for starting, ending, playing fills, etc. on the Beat Buddy. That's a very tight integration between the Beat Buddy and the Helix for live performances. You can, of course, do it all manually on the Beat Buddy if you prefer to avoid the MIDI stuff.

The first thing that pops into my head is are your kids ready for this? We see a ton of people that come in here that have a hard time adapting and understanding the technical nature of what a modeler does and how you use one. With only 2 years of experience yourself, I wonder how much guidance you'll be able to give them in how to effectively use the modeling environment which can sometimes be daunting for many people that have been playing for years. Quite frankly I'd suggest you dive into it yourself and get plenty of experience and then see if they truly are interested in learning what can be a pretty daunting technical environment. It takes some patience to get comfortable with everything, and kids aren't often very patient animals. The mostly want it NOW!!!

Basically the signal meter is only telling me if I'm in the same ballpark with different presets. My ears still need to make the final decision by comparing the them.

This is one of the key reasons I use both my ears and a signal meter to make sure I don't fool myself. It's very easy to do if you're level setting by ear only.

Did you download and then Run the HX Edit from Line 6? Downloading alone doesn't actually install it.

There's no doubt you'd be way better off with the LT rather than a combo of Stomp and FX. Especially if you're hoping to use presets from Customtone. It's not simply a matter of recreating a Customtone patch with a piece of software since getting them to work together consistently across two units would require setting up loops between the two and synchronizing the patches on both units. This can be problematic since you can have different effects in different parts of a signal chain on an LT. Not to mention the difference in stomp or snapshot assignments.

I'd suggest you stop doing this before your mommy and daddy take away your internet access....

Here's what I'd do. Go into global ins/outs and set XLR level to Line level, and set Master Volume Knob to 1/4" only. That sets the XLR outs to full volume as if the master volume knob is turned all the way up. If that configuration is low level then you likely have a problem with your XLR outs.

I agree with RD2K that your clip doesn't sound awful at all...just way over modulated which makes it sound harsh. Especially in comparison to the video you posted where the output appears to be much more controlled and managed. I'm listening to it on my studio monitors which are Yamaha HS7's. Of course the main difference once I turn your clip down to a comparative level with the video, is the brightness of your guitar compared to his. I don't know how your guitar and pickups compare to what he's using, but there's clearly some difference there. That, of course can be remedied by either EQ or possibly just a different setup on the cabinet/mic/mic placement used in the amp model.

Well you're going to be waiting a very long time if you want to get specs on the next firmware release. That just doesn't happen in today's marketplace whether it's Line 6 or anyone else. So you'll just have to make your buying decisions on your own instincts and due diligence like the rest of us. It either fits your needs or it doesn't...no one here wants to "force" you to do anything. We're musicians, not used car salesmen.

Well that's a pretty thorough explanation of the problem...other than the fact you haven't said a single word about what your output device is and how you have it set up. If the Helix is showing green, the Helix probably isn't clipping or distorting the signal because the signal is within the tolerances of the system, so it's likely happening at your output device.

Or...there's always this little option... http://rollingbender.com/admin/

First, I don't think focusing on the cables as the culprit in these situations resolves anything. I have never had any problems with the USB connection on either of the Helix Floor units and I've never paid one moment of attention to what kind of cable I used. In the case of my studio PC connected to my Helix I use a 15 foot USB cable that I dug out of my cable drawer and which has probably been in there 10 years. What I have paid attention to is to make sure the USB port I'm using is connected to the motherboard and not to any form of internal hub circuit. I've always used a traditional port and not a high speed port. The mere fact that something works, or doesn't work, or intermittently works tells you nothing unless it's backed up by some form of event in the event log. Everything else is just a guess. I'd research this topic if I ever had a failure of my USB connection, but I never have, so I wouldn't have an error or warning log entry. If you have the desire to track something like this down I'd suggest hooking up a cable that fails intermittently, and when it does, take note of the system time, then open the event log and look for suspicious entries in the system log around that time. Maybe then we might discover something useful.

Actually it has nothing to do with the artist and everything to do with the mastering phase of recording which is there to establish the master blend between the instruments/voices so they all fit together correctly. I adjust presence all the time on various different amps depending on the style and tone of the song as it sometimes makes a significant difference how I sit in a live mix. But I'm playing against a live mix of instruments and voices, not a mastered recording.

I can't say I've run into this particular issue even though every week I go through something relatively similar when I'm doing the final gain staging of my presets for the weekend performances, and I've been doing it for several years without incident including using the current FW release. But again, I'm selecting the preset (using the footswitch) playing it for a few seconds to check volume and signal levels on my mixing board (possibly making some minor adjustments on the preset) then going to the next preset until i've gone through all the presets for the show. It's not super fast, but I'm done in a couple of minutes usually.

If you try hard enough you can break anything. If this is normally happening at home when you're searching for something, use the preset dial rather than the buttons and I doubt it will replicate. Alternatively use HX Edit to select the preset. Although Line 6 may document this as a bug, that's only a single consideration. The impact and potential frequency of occurrence of the bug will determine where it sits in their bug priority list. I'm guessing not very high.

I'm certain that doesn't apply to any and all SD cards. I commonly have my HXEdit open with my BeatBuddy SD card inserted in the PC. So it may be something associated with your particular SD card.