DunedinDragon

I can't speak to Logic Pro/MainStage amp sim as I don't use those products, but in the case of Helix, it's designed such that every component, amp or effect, is modeled after the real world behaviors of that actual device and how that device will influence the sound based on how it's used within a given signal chain. If, for example, you're not getting a lot of range in you dynamic response, that can be due to a number of factors such as how much you're overdriving the signal as distortion by definition reduces the dynamic response of the amp. But it could also be related to where you place the compressor in the signal chain (pre amp or post amp), and which compressor is used because they're all designed to behave differently. All of this is designed to allow you the maximum flexibility in defining the particular sound and behaviors you want for a given preset. It's likely the Mainstage amp sim is designed for a more simple and common usage without the flexibility and makes it easier to apply but not as versatile.

I think what makes this feel odd to you is that the idea of a preset is confined to Helix Native, not to the DAW or the project, and that's consistent behavior across ALL Helix products. In fact it's pretty much consistent with the vast majority of plugins. This simply mirrors the behavior across all Helix products and allows Helix Native to behave consistently with all other Helix units and be a part of the Helix eco system. But the fact is this behavior is consistent with most plugins used in the DAW world, it's just handled differently. Most plugins provide for users to create their own presets outside of the manufacturers presets and they're referenced by the name the user gives it. If you change the behaviors but not the name, those behaviors will change for all projects that use that named preset. This is because plugins have no inherent knowledge regarding what DAW projects they're used in. If you create a new preset under a new name that will only be used in each DAW project that uses that new renamed preset.

Since many of us know what polyphonic is and what a swell is, it's not very clear what YOU mean by a polyphonic swell. Maybe starting there will get you more answers.

I couldn't agree more with @rd2rkin that even though it's not something I'd be interested in, it's been mentioned enough that your voice should be added to it through ideascale because Line 6 is clearly influenced by popular vote count and everyone is different in how they use their Helix. For me I just don't think it would make enough difference for my audience. They simply wouldn't know or care that I was creating my own power stack. There's more than enough versatility in the models they've given us to keep my audiences happy with my performance and for me to tailor any sound I need to match whatever type of song I need to play.

I have pretty much the same setup as you except with HS7 monitors. In my global settings I disable the big volume knob which effectively makes it on full all the time. I do it that way for two reasons: 1) that's how I use it when I play live and I control my volume levels solely within my presets using the amp model channel volume and/or the level of the output block so my signal strength is always consistent preset to preset going into the mixing board or in this case going to the speakers and 2) I just hate messing with that knob because it's too easy to get bumped and moved. In my studio setup I leave my speakers set to noon just as you describe as that's unity and I control my volume based on the volume control of my PC or more likely the volume levels of my DAW when using it. Your tones are going to be fine regardless because they're controlled by the preset. All the big knob does is convert the digital signal within the modeling environment to an analog output signal to your speakers. The work of your tone is being done in the preset. If you're recording that really doesn't matter because you should be sending your recorded tone to your DAW via the USB connection so it's all a digital signal.

I'm not sure I'd get any particular benefit from it. I can't even remember the last time I played anything through my Helix that wasn't at or above 90dbSPL where the Fletcher Munson curve starts to flatten out. In my studio I do occasionally play at lower volumes, but if I'm going to be doing it for the purpose of mixing I'm again going to be in that 90db range or on a headset with the volume at that range. In addition to all of this, my Helix master volume knob is always disabled as many do because I always go direct to the mixing board from my Helix so I control my levels from within my presets so I can count on them to be gain staged equally and correctly going into any mixing board despite using different amp models and such. If I did want to play at a lower volume such as early in the morning I'd just turn down the master fader on the mixer and not worry too much about Fletcher Munson.

I don't know about you guys but I now feel sooooooooo unprofessional changing presets between every song playing live every weekend on my Helix since getting it in 2015 before we even had snapshots.

This is how the Teemah defines the modes: Up: Asymmetrical clipping with moderate saturation and slight compression for a wide, dynamic range of sounds. Center: Symmetrical clipping with light saturation, high headroom, and high definition for a big sound. Down: Symmetrical clipping with heavy saturation and low headroom.

I suppose it's possible, but you would need to submit it to the Helix Ideascale where users can vote on the idea. That's what Line 6 looks at as far as adding capabilities. I'm skeptical about it since it's such a specialty area and it really is kind of a separate thing from being a guitar processor. Most functional drum looper/machines need multiple functions and actions to simulate the main beat, the transitional patterns and the ending pattern at a minimum that are controlled by the user. Not to mention requiring a library of drum patterns in different time signatures and styles. I suppose they could do something similar to what they do with the simple looper, but I personally think that would be pretty lame and not sound very "real".

Normally you want to assign this as a momentary switch so that it stays on while the button is depressed. Does your PBC6x have that ability to engage until you release the button?

I think what you're looking for is some kind of pedal that simulates the pitch wheel on a standard MIDI keyboard but operates as a foot pedal. If you're not familiar with it, the pitch wheel on a MIDI keyboard always returns to center whether you roll it up or roll it down and you would normally assign it to modulate the pitch of a note or chord up or down, but you can assign it to anything that responds to changes in a MIDI value. It would seem like there would be something like this on the market, but I couldn't find one. You might have better luck. You could possible use any kind of MIDI pedalboard such as a Morningstar unit and program that kind of behavior so that pressing and holding the pedal rolls the value up or down and returns to zero when released. That would be a pretty easy implementation on a Helix.

I see this as further evidence that Line 6 is recognizing the realities of the modern guitar playing audience which is simple and portable. I think we've been through a bit more than than two decades of self-indulgence when it comes to our guitar processors which culminated in the original Helix line. A powerful do-it-all processor for any modeling job you can think of born in the age of massive floor pedal units. But those days are trending out I believe. Don't get me wrong. I love my Helix Floor and I'll never replace it because it does everything I want or need it to do, and I ask a lot of it. In reality my Helix is now more of a stage performance control unit nowadays than it is a pure floor modeler. After I get it set up I don't touch it other than to use the volume pedal to turn it down while I switch guitars because all other actions on my Helix are controlled externally. The vast majority of my presets are relatively simple because the requirements of each song are not terribly daunting. The role of guitar in music has clearly diminished from where it was when the Helix was introduced and not a lot of younger players want to cart around a unit that has great capabilities out of which they only need a simple few. Even my own time on guitar has diminished considerably as I tend to focus much more time on my keyboard work. But that's just the natural situation dictated by the music environment of the times, and that fits me because I'm also ready to move into new adventures and challenges beyond just the guitar which I find limiting given modern music tastes. I think Line 6 recognizes these kind of changes and are adapting to it because they're a VERY wise company having been successful for a very long time. Of course music trends are commonly cyclical, and things may change back at some point. Having been a musician my entire life and turning 72 this year, I'm ready for something new to challenge me for however much time I've got left on this rock.

Quite frankly you're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. We've been doing what you're describing for a few years now with the bass player and myself going direct to the mixing board and depending entirely on the floor monitors for our stage sound. He goes direct from his DI box, I go direct from my Helix L/mono out. Both instruments plus our vocals and backing tracks are sent directly to the mixer and fed back to us via the stage monitors. That is a completely separate thing than where I set my BIG KNOB volume. I disable my Helix main volume knob which sends my full signal from the Helix to the mixing board at Mic level. I control the volume levels of each of my presets by adjusting the amp model channel volume and/or main output block volume in each preset so my signal is at a consistent level on all presets going to the mixing board and is comparable to all other inputs (bass, vocals, backing track) on the mixing board and is gain staged in a normal fashion with all other inputs and mixed appropriately for the front speakers and the monitor speakers. The last thing you want to be doing is depending on a setting of the Helix main volume knob which can get bumped and moved around during the performance.

The problem you ran into was an errant firmware problem that specifically plagued the K10.2 speaker which was subsequently fixed. However it has caused a lack of faith in the speaker causing people to move on to other vendors. But there's no reason you can't get appropriate coverage across all the frequencies you need with an appropriate higher end powered speaker and there's plenty of them out there. Headrush isn't one of them. When it comes to these type of speakers you truly get what you pay for. And you want one that has enough built in DSP configuration possibilities to match the sonic profile you need for multiple instruments. Our band uses Yamaha DXR12's for our on stage monitors, the older version not the newer one, and it works perfectly for all of the instruments we push through it including drums, bass, electric or acoustic guitar, keyboards including all sorts of realistic sample libraries for orchestras, horns, choirs, synths...you name it. And there are better and more versatile options available these days than these speakers which are now 12 years old. I would suggest you go with 12 inch speakers to get the best stage results whether that's Yamaha, RCF, QSC, EV or several others and don't scrimp by using the bargain basement brands. Any of these could easily keep up with non professional bands that don't have the skills to manage their sound levels.

Famous last words...............

The place to start is to use a MIDI monitor so you can see what's being sent and the timing of it to determine if the problem is in the MC6 or the HX FX. I've been using a MC8 for years to control everything on my Helix Floor with no problems.

I don't have any real reason to avoid upgrading to Windows 11 other than there are no real compelling reasons to do it. The main feature they tout is the ability to run android apps with Windows. I use precious little android apps on my phone and the reason I do is because I have my phone with me all the time. My computer is in it's own area of my house so the only android apps I run at home are the ones I use in my bedroom like the alarm clock or Audible and occasionally my Alexa app. So it's not compelling to me. Their new security model is a reason to not upgrade, but there might be a marginal benefit from their service and background processing improvement. The only thing driving me to eventually upgrade is the idea of moving from my traditional desktop unit to a miniPC platform which could improve my overall performance and simplify my connectivity mess in my studio, so I'll probably make the move at some point late this year or next. It finally appears to be pretty stable at this point, but I always worry that the kind of applications I depend on are so far out of the mainstream of applications used by most users that I may encounter problems which will make the upgrade process daunting to say the least. To me Windows 11 was never designed with super compelling reasons to adopt it. I just wish they'd stop hassling me sending notifications about upgrading every time I get an update to my Windows 10.

None of that is relevant in this case as we're talking about a Helix hardware unit with dedicated firmware DSP processors, not a DAW or computer based processing of plugins.

I have multiple keyboards along with my Helix connected to my computer all through USB connections. The difference it I use a dedicated USB on my PC for the Helix to ensure I don't run into problems with firmware upgrades, but I also use it within my DAW for recording. My studio monitors are run off of an audio interface as well. As far as keyboards I have one keyboard similar to the workstation you're talking about and can connect it through an audio interface using it's 1/4" line outs or USB through a USB hub for recording MIDI in my DAW. The two other keyboards are MIDI controllers only so they're both connected to the hub as well but are only used for DAW input and their interfaces are defined in the DAW. You'd have to look into the way the Kronos defines it's USB connections and if it acts in a similar way to the Helix in having certain channels as audio outputs. In my experience most of the newer generation of keyboards tend to use WASAPI interfaces either shared or exclusive rather than ASIO.

You can run directly out of your XLR L/Mono into the XLR Input on the Tech 21 then plug a separate XLR cable out of the XLR out on the Tech 21 into the XLR Input on the 2nd Tech 21. That's not a "crossover" it's simply daisy chaining the two Tech 21's. That will send the same signal out to both but you still have to adjust the volume and settings independently on each Tech 21. If you want to send a stereo signal to the two speakers such as if you were to use a ping pong delay in your preset you would use your XLR Left Out on the Helix to one and XLR Right Output to the other.

It's also important to know the Firmware your Helix is on. If it's not the most current version you might want to make sure it is so you have the full range of effects, amps and cabs available to you. When these units hit the stores they don't automatically keep them updated

What signal level are you sending and what signal level is expected in your amp?

To each their own but this runs counter-intuitive to the notion that the audience should hear the same tone and mix that you're producing on stage.

There are a number of us that came to the Helix from the POD HD when it was first released. I would say that technology jump was not exactly a sea change in capabilities. It solved a few aggravations we had with the POD HD, but the Helix is now a VERY different animal. In my estimation it's only just now beginning to show it's true potential after the last few firmware updates. That's why even were your biggest fear of a new "Helix" to come to pass you wouldn't have really lost much because the features and capabilities in the Helix these days are so numerous and extraordinary over the POD HD, its still money well spent I would say. I honestly don't think this is about having the newest, shiniest object as much as it is a system capable of allowing you to achieve the current state of the art in modeling especially comparing it to the POD HD. More DSP? Not even a consideration for me as I rarely run into that problem. Built-in WiFi or Bluetooth, been there and done that and had to have lose my whole unit for maintenance when they broke and I'm fine with using a workaround if I have to as long as my unit remains available. Touch screen? I have touch screen on my laptop I don't use, and touch screen on my QSC TM30 mixer I barely make use of preferring the real dials and buttons, touch screen on my tablet that's absolutely aggravating and annoying to have to use. Even touch screen on my new car, which is literally dangerous to try and use if you're driving. They may sound cool but I've yet to run into an instance that makes me more productive than a keyboard and a mouse. But I'll admit it's good marketing fluff for people that like shiny, new objects. Personally I think the whole "shiny new object" innovations are more based on the fact that the DSP chips being used today in the Helix are just as capable as anything newer, and that's likely to be the case for a while. So until that happens (which would REALLY be a sea change), I'll be fine with this unit.

Since I have no idea what or how your PX8 works I'll just refer you to the key Helix MIDI reference in the Helixhelp web site. This has a separate section on the Stomp but read through it all as this will give you a complete understanding of how to control your Helix via MIDI interactions. https://helixhelp.com/tips-and-guides/universal/midi