DunedinDragon

Better yet, reading the manual seems to be the most efficient method of answering operational questions about the Helix...in spite of the lengths that some people go to avoid it.......

It's obvious to me the problem lies in the bluetooth transmitter since it responds the same way on the Helix phone jack and your mixer phone jack, and if the Helix doesn't lag on a wired connection it has nothing to do with the Helix...the Helix did it's job. Bluetooth isn't the most efficient method of wireless operations due to the overhead involved. Traditional wireless stage gear doesn't have the same problem generally because the connections is solely based on establishing a connection via a specific frequency rather than the rather bulky protocol of pairing.

I appreciate all the feedback. As I expected there are a few gotcha's with the Variax...some expected, some not. After considering all the input here and thinking about how I intend to use it...and doing a lot of online shopping I came to my decision and just ordered the following from Sweetwater: Gretsch Resonator Guitar It's a Gretsch G9221 electro acoustic resonator. Aside from the possible issues with the Variax what really convinced me is that what's really driving my interest here is learning how to play a genuine resonator style. Without significant changes to the Variax I don't think I'd really get the true resonator experience or really be able to explore the techniques completely in an authentic fashion. Since I know the Gretsch name and build quality I feel really comfortable with this being the way to go and I can't tell you how excited I am to be starting on a new journey like this at the young age of 65... ;) So thanks again for all the feedback in helping me come to my decision on this. I blame all of this on going to see that Keb' Mo' concert on Wednesday. I should have factored this into the price I paid to go to that concert. I should have seen that coming.....

Appreciate the feedback. I think we may be somewhat similar in what we expect from our guitars and in how we use them, so I appreciate the honesty. I think based on what you're saying I might get some benefit in terms of workflow, but I'm not sure that will be sufficient to overcome my frustrations with the sound and feel. This is one of the reasons I've stayed with my traditional guitars (Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Gretsch hollow body, and acoustic). I already have a Gold Tone banjo guitar which I can get by with, so it's off to shop for Resonators I think.

I've had my Helix floor for some time now and use several different guitars with it. But I started considering a resonator and am now thinking maybe it's time to look at a Variax for use mainly with special applications such as the resonator, banjo, and special tunings. I haven't paid a lot of attention to Variax posts, but I do kind of remember of couple of things that have been problematic so I figured I'd get some lowdown on here from some of you Variax/Helix users. My intentions would be to use it with the VDI. I seem to remember some issues with Variax and palm muting. Is this an issue? As a resonator I'll be using finger picking almost exclusively. This has always concerned me with the Variax given string spacing on the neck. Does anyone here use the variax with finger picking or hybrid picking and how does it compare to something like a Gretsch hollow body? Also any other gotcha's that you've run into using the Variax with the Helix.

The "best" way to go varies with your circumstances. I go direct XLR out from the Helix to the board but use an inline phantom power blocker just to be safe. In the global ins/outs I specified that the master volume doesn't affect my XLR out and that the XLR out is set to Mic level, which would be the normal level that goes into a mixing board. This accomplishes the same thing as you're doing but also has a couple of other advantages. By disconnecting the master volume from the XLR out, the XLR out sends a full signal (as if the master volume was turned all the way up) to the board, but it still allows me to use the master volume to control the on stage level to my monitor which is connected via the 1/4" out on the Helix. As far as PFL'ing your signal that depends on your gain staging strategy at the board. In my case I prefer to adjust gains/trims so that all channel inputs are just below unity on the signal meter and make mixing adjustments at the faders. The amount you have to adjust the gain on the trim knob is irrelevant as long as you have a consistent signal level on the meters at the board and it stays consistent across all of your presets or snapshots. I do this when I dial in my patches using the signal meter on my mixing board to ensure it's consistent across all patches and snapshots.

In the digital age S/N ratios have kind of become inconsequential and meaningless. Except, of course, for my mother when I was a teenager and who could hear me grumbling up in my room behind a closed door when she was downstairs in the kitchen....

I made the transition over to Helix almost 3 years ago and it's not only my complete live rig, but it's also my total recording rig. However, I have to say I've been playing around in the modeling world for several years now, so it's not a real surprise to me and I (more or less) know what I'm doing. There's a LOT of really good observations above regarding subjective impressions of what's organic, as well as the complexity of modeling in general. The two things somewhat relate when it comes to this technology. I wouldn't say I've been looking for an "organic" sound as much as I've been pursuing a sound that's consistent with professionally recorded sounds in my live environment. I think some people use the term "organic" to describe the raw sound of a traditional rig on stage with all it's warts and pimples. If that's what you're after you may very well be disappointed. My goal with the Helix was to do better than that and achieve the same level of quality sound production achieved by major artists in their concert presentations, which is consistent with the sound quality of their recordings...because that's what audiences expect to hear nowadays. That's very different from what you would normally hear in a bar or club unless it's a high end club such as a theater or cruise ship show or big vegas show act. It's about precision, clarity, definition and polish. That's what I was after and that's what I got with the Helix. And when that's applied in a ,more typical club environment it differentiates you from the crowd...at least in my opinion and a lot of the folks that are fans of my band. I'm not saying you can't get the more typical live stage sound with the Helix..many people do. But that's not really getting the optimum result from the Helix IMHO. In terms of complexity, it's complexity that's easy to use due to the interface. But the complexity comes in understanding a broader range of technical disciplines than what's typically required in a traditional rig. I've always said it's far more consistent with understanding the technical aspects used in a recording studio than the general plug in and play of amps and pedals. You're dealing with a LOT more detail regarding how you lay out your signal chain, splitting and mixing signal chains, not just amp modeling, but dual amp blending, cabinet modeling, cabinet blending, microphone modeling, and microphone placement modeling, not to mention effects layering and precision EQ and compression. You don't HAVE to understand all of it, but the more you understand the more you can accomplish in terms of precision, clarity, definition and polish with your sound. IMHO many people get turned off from modeling in many cases because they don't really understand the potential or aren't willing to put in the effort to learn all the technical aspects to get the sound they want. In short, my rule of thumb with Helix, or any other high end modeler, is it's only as good as the knowledge and skills of the person using it.

As far as the warranty stuff goes I'd give the Line 6 support line a call and get the info directly from them. Every once in a while a knowledgeable Line 6 staff member or two might show up here, but generally this is a user supported forum and the questions you have are really something you should get directly from Line 6.. As far as technical differences between Axe and Helix, at this level they're all pretty marginal. The major differences come in your skills of understanding how to best apply the features to get what you want. Both will do an excellent job if you understand modeling and how to build an effective signal chain, and both will do a lousy job if you don't. No piece of gear is going to turn you into a guitar god. That's pretty much up to you and your understanding of building a signal chain and using the DSP resources effectively. As far as making your own IRs that's great as long as you have access to all the different cabinets and microphones you would need to shoot the IR not to mention the acoustically treated room and technical skills in knowing how to best place the microphones for capture. In the meantime there's a boatload of good free IR's as well as the built-in stock cabs in the Helix not to mention the professional IRs that cost next to nothing that were shot by trained professionals. I guess my question would be why would I spend the money on a premium modeler only to short change myself using an amateur IR? You're FAR better off understanding how to best select a cabinet, mic, mic placement or mic/cabinet mixes to get the sound you want for a specific amp setup and signal chain. If you don't know that kind of stuff, an IR you shot for yourself won't matter much anyway. As I said before the technical minutiae is irrelevant compared to the necessity of understanding the technical details of how to build and use the features effectively.

I think you left out another major player with the EV ZLX-12 and 10P. Fairly prominent in many of these discussions.

Yes there are plastic covers on all of the LED labels as well.

As Digital Igloo just pointed out in another thread, the Helix was designed to the the centerpiece of a person's rig, not a replacement for every effect out there. I think it's reasonable to assume that for many if not most of us the reverbs in the Helix are sufficient for our needs. If a highly specialized and notable effect like BigSky is a major part of your needs the Helix provides adequate ways to integrate it and that's what you should do. We already have tons of reverbs available and ways to layer them. We don't have some pretty useful things like signal metering and several other highly sought after features where Line6 could more productively spend it's development resources.

What's actually worse than all of that is that if you're lucky maybe 1 or 2 people might even notice you're playing stereo. Most people in clubs are way too busy drinking and trying to pick up someone to care that much about the music.

If you build your patches as stereo patches using the appropriate effects you would have a separation were you to go directly from your XLR L and R directly to the powered speakers. The further you separate those speakers, the wider the stereo field. Likewise you can adjust it the same way somewhat from a mixer using panning to widen the stereo effect. But this is all going to be dependent on the room and the placement of your fronts so you'll just have to use your ears. As you noted it would be best to hook up your K12s at home direct to the XLR L and R outputs to dial in your tones. The mixer wouldn't be necessary but it's small enough that you could do it without too much problem if you wanted to get a good feel for how you want to use panning. The question in my mind is how you get your stereo sound monitored on stage. Easy to do if using in ears. A bit more trouble using speakers. The important thing when it comes to managing volume is to have consistency in your signal strength that goes to the board. I personally use a small mixer which I route into at home and with my master volume set at the same place (11 o'clock) I try to get all of my patches and snapshots to have roughly the same levels on the signal meters when PFL'ing them. High and low pass filters will generally be different for each patch and will be highly dependent upon the style of song, amp, cabinet or IR, mic and mic placement. I generally prefer to only adjust those kind of EQ things at the end of my chain using a parametric EQ block.

The question is NOT whether the DSP can handle a formant effect, the question is whether or not users are wanting it more than they want other things. So I checked out IdeaScale and saw that the Voice Box and Formant effects have a grand total of about 50 votes combined, compared to 1530 votes for signal metering, 1149 votes for digital clipping indicator, and about 300 higher ranking suggestions. I believe that may have something to do with it not being there. You may have to wait a while......

Sorry...I don't download files from anyone on the Internet. Post it somewhere on the Internet and send a web link. It would probably be even more useful to know what your setup is, (FRFR, 4CM. studio monitors, headsets) as that has a pretty big impact on how the sound comes out.

I suspect since this effect wouldn't apply across the entire Helix family given the lack of microphone input on the LT and therefore would negate the practice of having one consistent firmware update across all the various units, you should probably plan on buying this vocal effect separately.

Yeah...it's pretty amazing that there's so many of us that have been happily using our Helix units for well over two years, gigging each week, doing productive studio work and having the best tone and performances we've ever had in almost 5 decades of being a musician, getting extraordinary value out of our investment and in doing so and haven't missed not having a formant filter!!!! What in the world is going on????!!!! How in the world are we going to play that small handful of songs that might require it??? Gosh, I invested a whole $1500!!! For that price I'm entitled to get anything and everything my little heart has ever desired, regardless of whether or not I've actually taken the time to write it up in IdeaScale for other users to vote on!!!!! I think I need to find me a safe space and do some serious crying......or maybe just hold my breath and stomp my feet until Line 6 gives ME everything I want whether anyone else wants it or not!!!!! HINT: Voice Box is in the legacy section of Filter blocks if you bothered to look.

Well heck, I bet he'll go out of his mind if you ever start using more than 10% of the Helix's capabilities!!!! LOL

It depends on how you have the contour set, but I have all the contour options set to off and no low cut on which is certain cases with certain amp, cab and mic combinations can produce a pretty big bass sound which I have to tone down either by using a low cut in my parametric EQ or using a split block per Jason Sadites examples in his YouTube videos. The only time I've experienced any kind of distortion is when I had enough bass going that it caused some rattling from something in the room over by the speaker. I'd look for that first and look to see if there's something loose on the cabinet itself. But that's the only experience I've had with any unexpected "distortion".

It definitely sounds like the compressor is getting in the way. I would normally suggest lowering the attack, but since the Red Squeeze kind of combines attack and release into sensitivity you may be stuck with just adjusting that. My impression is the the attack is dulling out the note in the arpeggio, particularly if it's faster picking. You might be able to refine things better with the Deluxe comp as you have more control over parameters like threshold, attack, release, etc. I kind of doubt it would be in the LA Comp since it's toward the end of the chain, but it's possible the two compressors are working against each other in some way. Try turning off one and seeing what happens.

Probably the best starting place is to get a bit more information about your setup such as the type of guitar and the type of studio monitors and such. All of that can make a difference in the results you want to achieve. Bear in mind the vast majority of the presets that come with the Helix are primarily demonstrations of various capabilities and may not be applicable to what you're after. But you probably need to first decide what your main purpose is for the Helix i.e. home recording, live performance, or just playing at home or jamming. This will factor into the type of setup you want to pursue. In general there are two different types of setups people tend to use. Most of us likely use full range powered speakers of some sort whether they be studio monitors, live powered speakers such as an Alto, Yamaha, or QSC or specialized amps such as the Line 6 Powercab. But a lot of people prefer to use more traditional amps and use either a 4 cable method (4CM) or simply use the power amp and cab of their traditional amp by sending the Helix into an effects return or some bypass of the preamp and tone stack. The important factor here is that these two different methods will generally require different approaches to how your presets are designed and built. In the case of full range speakers such as studio monitors you generally use the full range of blocks in your signal chain such as an amp, a cabinet or IR, a mic and mic placement and of course various effects. When using an traditional amp setup you typically only use a preamp block and effects possibly combined with a separate signal chain that includes an amp, cab, and mic that would be routed to a PA (which is treated the same as a full range powered speaker setup). The important thing about full range powered speaker setups is that the frequency response profile is quite a bit wider than what you would normally get in a traditional amp and cabinet setup, so you'd likely want to make some adjustments using high and low cuts to confine the response so as not to be as shrill or boomy. This can also be adjusted using different cabinet or IR setups with different mics and mic placements. The real bottom line with the Helix or any high end modeler is that building presets has far more in common with working in a studio environment than simply plugging into an amp and playing. Not everyone is comfortable with this paradigm, but if you can adapt you can get stunningly higher fidelity in your live playing with greater articulation and clarity than would be possible with a traditional amp setup. But a great starting point is to go and watch some of Jason Sadites videos as mentioned previously as he goes through how to build presets in great detail and does a great job of educating people on how to get the most out of the Helix.

I doubt this is Line 6's code as it appears to be a new commercial forum software package from someplace called Invision Community they started using. This has been a pain from the moment it was brought in with different problems. What I don't understand is there are plenty of well-known and proven forum packages, but this seems to be a one-off brand which isn't very stable. You would think they'd just go along with what works everywhere else rather than take a chance on a something like this. I hope they saved a lot of money on it because early indications are they'll be spending a lot of manhours trying to get it to behave correctly.

I personally would love the idea. I don't really care whether it's displayed on the Helix or not, but the ability to attach performance and freeform technical notes to a patch as part of the patch itself would be very useful. Probably moreso in HXEdit than on the Helix screen. I personally would use it to document what guitar it's designed for, maybe guitar settings, particulars about special tunings, or if I'm using a second path for something special such as an acoustic, even modification history. Having it on a pad wouldn't be nearly as useful in that regard as it's not connected directly to the patch. Seems like something very simple to add with a LOT of value.

I'm sure there are some that still use global high and low cuts out there in spite of it being a really TERRIBLE idea for a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason is because the high and low cuts vary considerably depending on a wide number of things such as, the amp model you use, the settings on the amp model, the cabinet or IR you use, the mics being used and their placement on the cabinet, as well as what guitar you're using, what type of output device your using in your setup, and ultimately the sound of the song. If you were only going to use one preset with one configuration of these things then it might be okay. But then the question is, why in the world did you think you needed a Helix? The other main reason is the global EQ settings were specifically designed so you can adjust the Helix to the acoustics of different rooms when you're performing live. But to give you an example and answer your question, I have about 100 presets I've built that I commonly use. The settings for my high cuts and low cuts vary from 0 to as high as 120 Hz on the low cuts, and none to as low as 6 kHz on the high cuts and all the spaces in between. This is because of all of the differences cited above. High and low cuts are one of the very last things I address when building a preset and I do it with a parametric EQ toward the end of my signal chain where I'm making any final tweaks to the overall sound. These are simply things no one can give you specifics on to any degree of certainty and you have to trust your ears to tell you what sounds good.