DunedinDragon

I have no idea whether you should buy another guitar. Only you can decide that. The only relevant point I've been trying to make is the Helix is only as good as the output device you're using with it whether that be headphones, studio monitors, or FRFR live speakers.

Quite frankly I'm not sure you're ready for a Helix quite yet. Since you're just starting out you might be a whole lot better off with a modeling amp to help you get used to the idea of how to build signal chains with different amps and effects. Something like the Line 6 Spider V 120 would be a very good starter amp with a lot of the same things as a Helix, but less complicated to set up and use. But a lot of what you would use and learn on a Spider V would translate directly to something more sophisticated like a Helix eventually as your guitar and technical skills grow. It's also quite sufficient if you would want to start playing in a band or jamming with other people. It's kind of the same reasoning that would say that someone just getting started driving probably shouldn't dive into a Lamborghini...something smaller and simpler would be best until you've driven for a while.

If it's purely for home use I'm not sure it matters that much as long as we're comparing apples to apples. There are a ton of headphones on the market, most of which are oriented toward the consumer market as compared to the pro market. The difference being that the consumer market tends to add a lot of coloration to the sound to give it more appeal to people that want a thumping bass and so forth. A very popular headphone that I and many others use is the Beyerdynamic DT770 Studio 80 ohm version. It compares very nicely to the Yamaha HS7 speakers I have. The only thing that may factor into your decision is having some output system you could use if you wanted to jam with someone.

That really depends on what your use is for the Helix. If it's predominantly studio work or just low volume in home practice, a pair of studio monitors would probably be the best choice. If it includes live performance then a FRFR style powered speaker would be the best choice. I'm assuming you mean the Yamaha HS5 studio monitor. I've used Yamaha HS7 speakers in my studio and home work for probably 8 years and have been very happy, but you do need to be careful about placement of them relative to walls due to their rear facing bass reflex port as well as your position relative to the speakers to get the optimum separation and effect. But that's the case with pretty much all studio monitors. As far as live performance, there are quite a few folks that use and are happy with the Headrush speakers. Depending on the situation I use mostly my Yamaha DXR12, but also can use my Electro Voice ZLX-12p or QSC CP8 depending on the situation and size of the room and PA situation I'm dealing with. The Headrush is basically the lowest price option, but it has very limited speaker DSP (Digital Signal Processing) tuning options to optimize it for how it's being used and how it's being positioned compared to the higher priced powered speakers. Warranty is another area to consider in these speakers since they'll get moved around a lot. For example I just had a DXR12 that I've had for 4 1/2 years that needed to get the amp replaced. That was done for free under warranty because Yamaha provides a six year warranty on those speakers. But that' would be considered to be a premium price and quality speaker compared to many of the lower priced speakers in the market. Basically, you get what you pay for.

If you're using the Twin Harmony and you're playing the song in key of Eb, then you set Eb in Voice 1 key. You don't change the key for the harmony note. The correct harmony note is determined by the shift (+3) which is the harmony on the 3rd above the tonic note in the Eb minor scale.

THIS is the statement that suggests you're not talking about snapshots, but are talking about presets. Why? Well because THERE IS NO FUNCTION FOR PASTING A SNAPSHOT. Regardless of whether you have your unit setup for 8 snapshot mode or stomp mode or a mixed mode, if you define all the things you want to have in snapshot 1, they AUTOMATICALLY appear in snapshots 2 - 8. There's not reason to paste anything. Once you've defined it in snapshot one, you simply select snapshot 2 and define what actions will happen in that snapshot with all of those blocks you defined in snapshot 1 and save it as snapshot 2 in the same preset. The same with snapshots 3 through 8. No pasting because they already exist AND ARE A PART OF THE SAME PRESET. If you define something new in snapshot 8, it will automatically be defined in snapshot 1 - 7. If you delete something in snapshot 1, it's automatically deleted in snapshots 2 - 8. Because snapshots are all a part of the same preset.

That would probably sound about the same as recording a voice without a mic. The fact is, the vast majority of people that listen to music or go to concerts have never heard the "amp in the room". They've only heard the mic'd image of the amp. Only the person standing next to an amp while playing the guitar ever hears the amp in the room, and that sound changes drastically depending on where you're standing relative to the speaker and cabinet, just like it changes when you move the mic. The vast majority of your audience has never heard it and probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference other than the mic'd sound is more like what they're used to hearing.

Although I can't say I've ever done such a thing....or even considered doing it, my guess is at best it would be very similar to the sound you get from an acoustic guitar with a piezo as compared to a guitar recorded by a microphone. One is dull, static and lifeless and one is full of ambience and character. Guess which one is which??

Don't get me wrong, I don't fault anyone for marketing the benefits of their products. But in my opinion what would best lay at rest that the modeling process is nothing more than "sounds good to me" is a clear explanation of the technical processes used to model things. I don't think it needs to be over people's heads at all. Modeling in all it's forms whether it's musical gear or modeling the performance of an aircraft or a car in CAD is just a mathematical expression of how things in the real world interact within their environment based on their design. The only implication of such an understanding by the masses would possibly be that we would no longer have to endure 3 billion different video comparisons between two different modelers. I don't see that as a negative at all.

I think you'd probably find the fundamentals of modeling to be pretty redundant. This article tends to focus more on finding the right configuration and setup of a piece of gear in order to actually do the modeling. The actual process of modeling is described somewhat abstractly in about one paragraph. To me this article is more about blowing their own horn about how meticulously they approach getting the gear configured and really less about the meat and potatoes process of actually building the mathematical models of the circuits which doesn't really change much between different modeling companies and the things they model.

I had this happen to me very early on with my Helix about 4 years ago. Sent it in and they had it back to me in five days fixed. The culprit was a solder point that came loose.

Given I have two completely different Helix floor units plugged into two completely different computers each getting the same message, I'm thoroughly convinced this is a phantom message based on the fact that the driver isn't registered with Microsoft and isn't searchable and available for download from Microsoft's driver database which is what Windows refers to if it can't identify a device signature, and has nothing to do with the functionality of the Helix interacting with the PC. The fact is, the message doesn't even get written into the Windows event log it's so insignificant.

Yeah I have the same thing. It never affects any operations. I suspect it has to do with Line 6 not registering their driver with Microsoft.

I don't know how much better "quality PA" you can have than a QSC KLA12 line array with KW181 subs which is the band's normal system. But even when we play at outside venues, 9 times out of 10 we'll be using that venues line array of one form or another. There certainly are some systems still out there that are deficient, particularly the old style big passive horn and speaker boxes being driven by simple amps and crossovers. But those will most likely have problems with lack of clarity in mid-frequencies at the crossover point, not so much in the high frequency range.

Wait!!! Are you saying you may need to add to your knowledge in order to master new technologies???!!!! Maybe even do some research and learn some new things???!!!! Say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!!

I check our sound every time we play and generally it sounds as I expect it to. Honestly I don't really check my guitar by itself in the audience all that often, just normally with the band. But I do know there are a couple of things that can affect how it sounds. The first thing is you have to be far enough away from the stage to isolate yourself from the stage bleed in order to hear what the audience hears accurately. A lot depends on how you have your stage monitor placed and how you have your speaker configured. I place my speaker behind me in the backline as I would if it were a physical amp, but raised on a half height pole with my DSP contouring turned off (on a Yamaha DXR12). This pretty much gives me a very accurate representation of what comes out of the FOH since that's how the FOH speakers are placed and configured. If you're using a FRFR type speaker and have it placed in a floor monitor position and haven't corrected for floor monitor contouring you could very well have a difference with the FOH in that your stage speaker will be darker due to bass coupling with the floor. This could potentially be made worse if the floor monitor is reflecting off of a wall behind you adding a bit of mud to the sound. If you're using a cabinet based FRFR like a Powercab, there's likely to be some differences depending on where you stand on stage relative to the cabinet since it isn't like a FRFR speaker that is designed to have consistency across a very wide horizontal axis (with the speaker in an upright position). So what you hear on stage will likely be flavored by how off-axis you are from the cabinet. Another BIG factor can be if you've cut off too much of the high end when dialing in a FRFR system due to standing too close to the speaker when dialing in presets. High frequencies dissipate quickly in space, the opposite of low frequencies which don't. When I dial in my patches I make sure I listen to my patches from at least 6 feet away and often listen with my back turned to the FRFR and/or stand off-axis from the speaker. That gives me a MUCH more accurate feel for what the audience will hear from the FOH. When I'm checking the full band mix I can't say I'm surprised by any differences in my sound, but I've been with this band for 10 years now and I pretty much know where my tone needs to be to blend correctly with the other instruments and voices. Even with all of that I sometimes have to make some corrections for my sound in the mix because it's too dark and not mixing right. It doesn't happen often, but once in a while on a specific preset (particularly higher gain tones) I may have to make some corrections at the gig.

This is why reading the manual is a pretty good idea. I know that sort of thing is out of vogue in this YouTube age, but it still avoids these sort of things.

Helix provides the same data stream on any DAW, what varies is the quality of the DAW in reproducing a recording of it. It's likely a difference in how Reaper, Ableton and Cubase have been configured.

It sounds like you don't have a snapshot selected so you're just saving the preset. Do you have any buttons that say "Snapshot 1" and "Shapshot 2" displayed above a button?

Select Snapshot 1, turn off OD, press the save button. Select Shapshot 2, turn on OD, press the save button. Select Snapshot 1 and OD should be off. Select Shapshot 2 and OD should be on.

First, the 5/6 and 7/8 stereo inputs are generally used for audio inputs which likely uses audio line signal levels which are different from the Line or Mic levels offered by the Helix meant for connections to a PA. You might be able to get it to work but I'm not sure what would happen to the quality of the signal. This mixer arrangement is no different than any other mixer in that it's really a 4 channel mixer as far as live inputs which are channels 1 - 4. So to produce a stereo image you would use either your L/R 1/4" ouputs or your L/R XLR outputs from the Helix taking up two of the live input channels on the mixer. I'm pretty much with rd2rk on Behringer products. They've made some improvements in some areas of their product line recently, but this particular unit is from the dark days and there's a reason it's been discontinued. The fact that it's using passive (non-amplified) speakers tells me it's using a centralized amplifier with a built-in crossover from the mixer which almost always means you're going to have a dip in the mid frequencies of the crossover which will likely cause the Helix signal to not having much punch in the mid-range. Personally you couldn't pay me to run my Helix through this unit. I'd rather set up a decent powered speaker behind me on a pole in my backline and I'm sure I could cover the room way better than this 360 watt RMS unit.

I've heard a lot of good comments about this pack, but it's hard to evaluate without knowing the styles and genres of music you play. But it covers a nice selection of cabs that are fairly useful in a lot of rock and potentially other genres so it's likely a good set and you can fill in with others later if you want to.

When you download HX Edit from Line 6, it installs a very small runnable program that, when executed, downloads and installs the HX Edit program and all the necessary components to the computer. Theoretically you could save that small executable for Windows 7 and 10 to a thumb drive and execute that to download and install HX Edit and all the components to the computer. You may have to enter your ID and Password for Line 6 which theoretically could end up being stored on that computer though.

As cruisinon2 says, they are very different speakers designed to do very different things. That being said, many people are able to adjust and accommodate the differences. First understand that studio monitors are designed to provide an accurate representation in the fairly intimate environment of a room using walls and bass reflex designs to help fill in the sound. They also are designed in such a way that there is an optimal position for the listener to be positioned between the speakers, and being off-axis from that position will have an effect on the sound you hear. Live powered speakers are designed to provide a consistent sound across a very large space regardless of where any audience member is positioned. I have both a live powered speaker (Yamaha DXR12) that I use for dialing in my patches and studio speakers (Yamaha HS7) for working with my DAW. Over time I've come to understand the differences such that a preset I dial in with my DXR12 will sound reasonably decent on my HS7. It's not the same sound on each, but it will work well for each. The thing is, a live speaker will always sound more harsh than a studio monitor, especially up close. If you try and dial in a tone similar to what you would shoot for in a studio monitor you'll find that tone will likely get lost in the mix with other instruments in the band, and it will certainly be swallowed up in a recording using studio monitors. The fact is the very first frequencies to drop out in a large environment are the higher frequencies as they don't project as far as lower frequencies. If you were to stand close to any PA speaker you'd probably think it was too harsh, until you back away far enough so that the highs blend in with the rest of the sound. But if you stand back from the speaker a few feet and/or are off-axis from the speaker, and/or have your back turned to it, it will sound great. What happens when you try and cut too much of the highs you lose articulation and clarity in a live environment. When I dial in my tones at home using my DXR12 I play it at normal performance levels and I check my tone from different areas of the room and standing off axis in order to get a good feel for what it will REALLY sound like in a live performance. I would even go so far as to say many people might consider my highs to be a little harsh if they were in the room where I dial in my tones, but that's not a very big room and it has wood floors and a wood ceiling. But when I get the patch with the band the sound is perfect and mixes very well (with an eight person band). I'm also able to take that same patch, often with no modifications, directly into my DAW and it works quite well in the recording and is very easy to mix and not lose any of it's texture. Quite frankly the two things we hear people complain about is their patches sound too harsh through a powered PA speaker so the cut the HECK out of the highs, and then they complain their guitar gets lost in the live mix. Maybe they're related??? The reality I've come to understand is that Fletcher-Munson is only ONE of the factors to take into account, but the difference in design of the speakers is just as much a factor so you have to account for both if you want to get something that works well in both situations. It's very important when you listen to your tones through the PA that you listen from where the audience will be listening and with the rest of the band to get an accurate representation of what the guitar sounds like in the mix.

To get back to your original question, the problem you will always have with downloadable presets or packs that others create is there are things such as what kind of guitar you're using, what kind of pickups you have, the type of strings you have on it and the output device you're using that can have a significant impact on the sound of any given patch. As mentioned you can probably learn a lot by dissecting a downloaded patch, and even modifying it, but patches are always so unique to what each person thinks "sounds good" you may be a lot better off learning to build your own. As far as IRs, that refers to Impulse Response files that are simply an alternative to the stock cabinets in the Helix. These are created by taking a sonic "picture" of the way a given cabinet, speakers, mics, and mic placements reproduce any sound sent to them therefore simulating a given cabinet setup. The disadvantage to IR's compared to stock cabinets is you can't change the setup on an IR. If you want a different mic setup you select a different IR as compared to a Helix stock cabinet where you can change the parameters on the fly. The advantage to IRs is they're much easier to use and audition within a patch than the stock cabinets as you can simply scroll through the one's you have loaded on the Helix to see how they affect the sound. Otherwise you can get whatever sound you want out of either. I personally prefer IRs simply because I build a LOT of preset, so it's a real time saver for me. However, you can get totally lost in all the possible variations of IRs trying to find what variations you tend to like as a typical IR pack if you don't know what mic setups are most likely to work best for you as most packs have hundreds of different variations.