DunedinDragon

Same for me in the Windows world. I have two different Helix units. One is permanently attached via USB and serves as my audio interface, the other is what I use for live performances and gets attached to my laptop during the week to save and update patches. I've never had a disconnect. Bad USB cable, using a USB hub rather than a direct connect, or bad software configurations on the computer are more likely the cultprits. Nothing Line 6 can fix with an update.

A lot of this comes down to how many of the Helix features you want to use and are important to you. Basically to take advantage of all of the features you need some form of neutral output that won't add additional coloration to the sound. That's why so many people choose to go direct to the PA or use a full range flat response stage monitor in a live environment. There are other options as well all of which place certain limitations constraints on the features in the Helix. Going through a traditional amp either 4CM or effect loop input will still allow you to use most of the features, but the amp cabinet will add it's own coloration to the sound as it's not a flat response style speaker, so you would lose the capability to employ different cabinets and mics and mic placements without some added coloration from the cabinet. Some people even go direct into the amp and purely use the Helix as an effects board, so it really depends on how much of the Helix capabilities you want to employ in your live environment.

Yep..had a failure on my first unit and I opened a ticket and it was repaired and sent back within a week. I got a second backup unit that I use in my recording studio and that mic unit has never failed.

Yes, your last statement is correct. It's not just bypass or on/off states but also parameter manipulation as well. Since it's a stomp all the things that were affected by the stomp will be returned to the initial state when the stomp is disengaged. It really does boil down to how you use your Helix and that varies from person to person. I think it's worth knowing both systems since if the only thing you know is a hammer everything starts to look like a nail. It's nice to have the ability to use either.

They really are fundamentally the same thing with snapshots simple being a bigger, implementation of what's always been available in stomp mode. Essentially they each have the same DSP limitations of a single preset. I've never felt a compelling need to use snapshots, but that's based on the way I use my Helix in live shows as compared to how others use it. I prefer to tailor my patches to specific songs rather than use generic configurations for clean, crunchy, dirt, heavy....etc across different songs. But that's also based on the fact that we cover a pretty wide range of material and genres and I use different guitars for different songs. The pause between patches is irrelevant to me because one song has ended and I'm going to another, so there's dead space anyway. In my case this keeps my patches very clean as I only assign buttons to things that need to change during that song which is typically very little and my patch name is descriptive of the song I'm playing. For complex changes involving multiple effects or changes to settings I use multiple assignments that are still just a one button change. Typically my patches have no more than 3 buttons and most often only one or two which is great for me as I prefer not to tap dance across a bunch of buttons while I'm playing. This is different from many folks that stay closer to a single, or just a few genres. In their case they might opt for patches that are genre specific but cover a wide range of differences in tone and are more comfortable with a single patch across a lot of songs. Particularly if there are no guitar changes. In short, the capabilities are no different between the two, but the practical application is more what determines what will work best for you.

As for me I keep things pretty simple. I've considered doing something like this myself but have been hesitant to take it on due to a lack of free time to monkey with it and the fact it would probably have a limited lifetime given that Line 6 will certainly be addressing this issue at some point or another. I viewed it simply as an analysis tool which could be pointed at a directory containing individual patches and at a directory containing IRs and give me a resulting list of exceptions...or IRs that have no references in any of the patches in the directory. Since I use the three digit naming convention, all I would need is a list of slot numbers containing unreferenced IR slots. That would be enough to figure out how I wanted to handle things. In my case this makes the most sense given that my setlists are totally dynamic as each patch is a different song, so my setlists are constantly changing. I'd be afraid anything more than that would eventually be completely wasted effort.

I think this comes down to a person's perspective of what you want to accomplish with different guitars. If it's a set of comparable guitars and you want to give them playing time I suppose it might be worth it. It's hard for me to imagine that since the importance of different guitars is what they bring to a song. The LAST thing in the world I would want would be to try and make my Telecaster sound like my Gretsch Silver Falcon. That would defeat the purpose.

You might want to make the suggestion in IdeaScale rather than here. Then it might get some actual consideration.

We're going to need a bit more info to figure out what's going on such as: What is your setup like for output (FRFR, Loop in on Amp, 4CM, etc.). Does this affect all presets including the ones from the factory? Did this just start or has it been this way from the beginning? When you say you LOOK at others with just an amp/cab block it sounds good, do you mean it sounds good on a video or on your system? There's not a whole lot to go on based on what you're describing here.

I can't imagine a single reason why it would benefit someone to do this. You do realize that these type of powered speakers system typically use DSP processing that tune the frequency response of the speakers and compression driver for best overall frequency response performance, right?? Changing the speaker would apply processing that's tuned for a speaker that responds differently. It's not like these speakers just have a simple crossover between the speaker and the compression driver. Unless you want to re-design the DSP processing also...

To be honest, the key here is for each service to be accountable and responsible for their own stuff as far as setting it up and putting it away. That's just basic consideration for each other. Wireless from the guitar to the Helix should be easy and there's plenty of good options. As far as wireless to the board, that's a bit different animal. You could probably use a Microphone wireless transmitter and receiver, but I'm not sure how much that might affect the sound, not to mention the complexity of the setup at the board or onstage. We've even stopped using wireless mic's simply because of dependability issues and I just got tired of troubleshooting them. Bottom line, if each group simply takes responsibility for setting up and putting away their own stuff, that's the cheapest and most efficient way to handle the situation.

What issues are you expecting to have with the FX loop? As long as you have a send/return block it should work fine on any preset or snapshot. The only limitations would be the number of send/return blocks you need (limit is two on LT) or if you would need to have a Mic input or Aux input for something like an acoustic guitar.

Boy that sounds like a support nightmare!!! 1,000 fingers pointing at each other when something breaks!!!!

Given all the permutations you're likely to go through in order to test a 4CM connection I'm not sure you wouldn't be better off just buying the Helix and having 30 (or more) days to test it in a real world test if you can possibly swing it. Even if you threw it on a credit card, were you to return it within 30 days it would cost you nothing and be a real test.

What's interesting in this regard is that, even though I agree with what you're saying in terms of live versus studio back in the day, it appears much of that is reversing itself more recently in their live performances. I think some of that may be due to the fact that the live systems have gotten so much better they can get a better reproduction of the original sound, which wasn't always very true until more recently. I've just noticed that more consistently with some of these classic band live performances particularly the Doobie Brothers but some others as well like ELO. I also know that back in the day more gain meant more excitement and it was more or less the expectation, and maybe not so much nowdays. I do think even now if you're dealing with getting people onto the dance floor, more gain can be useful. Although I also have to add overuse of higher gain is one of the more prominent issues I see in younger bands. It's just interesting to note how the trend seems to have reversed itself in the last few years with some of these acts.

This is where you're likely going to have to address the Pad on your EMGs. It's probably why you can't get the gain adjusted as you would expect. The signal coming in is just too hot.

Yes..Mic and Line signal levels are different. Generally speaking Mic signals are what are typical of signals that go to the mixing board from the stage. Line signals are much higher output and more typical of signals sent directly to a powered speaker. There are lots of very good technical documents on the internet that explain the details, but in short the signal level will be applied to both left and right when you set the global XLR output to Mic. If you want to avoid the phantom power issue the easiest and cheapest way to do this is with a phantom power blocker which you can get from Amazon and plugs into your XLR output in front of a normal XLR cable. Very cheap and effective. https://www.amazon.com/Sescom-Inline-Phantom-Blocker-Sescom/dp/B00A6ZE7A8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508972351&sr=8-1&keywords=phantom+power+blocker

Chances are what you're looking to achieve is what I refer to as the "strained" chunkiness like you hear in songs like the Doobie Brothers 'China Grove' riff. With a slight bit of bite and crunch but it sounds like it's kind of straining to get there. This typically comes from a moderate amount of gain on a humbucker guitar that has some compression added up front. Not a lot of compression, but just enough so you know it's there and it smooths out the punchiness. The way I normally achieve that is using a HiWatt since it has a bit more manageable and flexible gain, but you could probably get it with any amp. The key is to get just the right amount of gain, crunchy but with good clarity and articulation. I then use the LA Compressor in front of the amp and set the gain on that compressor around 4.5 to 5. Basically, you want to compress it to the point that the overall volume is roughly the same when the compressor is on or off so that you're left with just the compression and not and volume increase. I put the Peak Reduction up around 9.0 as well as the Mix up around 9.0. You can play around with raising the Emphasis as that can sometimes help with the effect depending on your tone. For lead lines I'll use the Teemah or Minotaur typically. The Screamer is good if you need more of a overdriven lead sound. The key to all of this is to manage the gain and not give in to making it sound too overdriven. Hope that helps..

The way I do it is I leave my Acoustic plugged into the Aux input and my Electric in the normal Guitar input. I make sure that the patches I'm using for electric have only the Guitar input enabled on the input block, and on the acoustic patch I only have the Aux input enabled on the input block. That way I know I can leave them both plugged in and neither will interfere with the other and all I have to do is select the correct patch for either the electric or acoustic. You'd likely need to incorporate an extra gain block on the Acoustic patch to get it up to a decent level. I'd also highly advise you to get some acoustic IR's like those from 3Sigma as they really make a big difference in maintaining the acoustic sound.

Yeah...it's a fairly short delay and you have to be ready to start adjusting it. Once you make an adjustment it will stay there till you're done and accept it.

+1000. This is the best way I know of ticking of management, sound personnel, and other people working in the bar. It's also a REALLY good way of causing channels to clip if they were gain staged at one level that suddenly the signal level goes up in volume later on. If the volume needs to come up because of crowd noise, that's what a master fader on mixing board is for...

Personally I just use a single cable. All of my presets have a volume pedal block. Since I'm changing presets whenever I change the guitar I simply select the preset which was saved with the volume pedal with a value of 0. I then unplug, change guitars, then push the volume pedal to full. I don't think it would really be that much faster with an A/B switch or with the guitars plugged in differently to the Helix. The main delay is physically changing the guitar. The rest takes a couple of seconds. I do try to organize the sets to minimize changes and keep songs that use the same guitar together as best I can. I've thought about using a Variax but there are two somewhat insurmountable issues in that I do a LOT of finger picking (Chet Atkins style) with the Gretsch and the Variax isn't really made well for that sort of technique. The other issue is string gauge. I use different string gauges on the Tele (lighter for chicken picking) and the Gretsch (heavier for a rounder sound for jazz and finger picking), which does make a considerable difference in sound, and the Variax can't model that sort of thing.

I agree that those Behringers will be exactly what you need for your purposes. You won't be rattling any windows with them, but they'll give you a pretty accurate representation of what's in your Helix signal chain which is what you want.

I try to get reasonably close. I think it makes a difference to the audience and if you're too far off from it, it's distracting. But if you're close everyone recognizes it and appreciates it. As far as the guitar used...absolutely. I use a patch per song and each patch is designed for a specific guitar. That's a key element in getting the sound right. In my case it will be either a Tele, a Strat, a Les Paul, or a Gretsch hollow body (Silver Falcon).

There have been instances of the Mic input going bad...mine did on one of my units. Easily replaceable under warranty. But if I'm understanding correctly you took a line level into the Mic input and it got recorded. If that's the case then the Mic input should be good. I don't remember right offhand if there's a global setting on the Mic input for Line or Mic, but you could check that. Mic level is way lower than line level which could account for what you're experiencing.