DunedinDragon

I use the dual harmony effect quite often, and did so as well on the HD500. I do find the quality of the harmonies depends a lot on how you have your lead tone set up and where you place the harmony effect in the signal chain. Generally speaking I have found that placing the dual harmony after the amp and cab gives it much better articulation and clarity than if you place it before or right after your overdrive pedal. It sometimes takes a bit of experimentation with the mix parameters to get it just right, but it's not hard. I use the dual harmony across a fairly wide range of genres from Joe Walsh Eagles style, to Charlie Daniels southern rock style, to Brian May Queen sounds with no problem at all. You just have to make sure your technique is very clean and precise as transient notes can be pretty disruptive.

A lot of this depends on your output device which you didn't mention. Most often this has a LOT more to do with your sound than does the Helix. Aside from that there are several ways you can address too much treble. Given you have a relatively flat response output device, changing the mic setup on the cabinet model can sometimes make a big difference. With my Elite Strat with rosewood neck I very often use a dual cabinet and mix a 421 and a 121 ribbon mic both set 6 to 8 iinches away with a considerable amount of early reflections. That tends to soften some of the harsher tones. Alternatively you can try other cabinets as well as IR's. I personally like the Celestion Redback 2x12 closed back IR using the Hi-Gn 421+121 mix for my Strat. It gives me a nice beefy feel without too much high end. Depending on the amp I'm using I sometimes use a parametric EQ to dial down some of the response in the 4200 hz range to flatten out the Strat's response. Although there are some minor differences with different strats I think you're going to find they all have pretty similar tone characteristics if you're using single coils cabinets, mics, and mic positions tend to be pretty decent at taming a lot of the harshness.

I'm assuming when you say line out you're talking about the 1/4" line output and the XLR output. If you have your output block set to 'multi' they will both be available without any interaction from you. The only thing you have to concern yourself with is what signal level you want each of them to send. This is how many of us that use on stage monitors and direct lines to the mixing boards set things up. In the ins/outs settings in global settings you have the option of setting the 1/4" output and XLR outputs separately. So a lot of us set the 1/4" output to 'Line" and the XLR output to 'Mic' as that's the most common arrangement. Once you've set things up that way you can choose either of the outputs or both (one to the onstage monitor and one to the mixing board). As PeterHamm mentioned you want to make sure the PA isn't sending phantom power to the channel you're using on the board as that will affect your sound quality. One thing I do to make sure that doesn't happen is I use a phantom power blocker on my XLR output. They're relatively cheap and great insurance against a soundman inadvertantly plugging you into a channel with phantom power. They're available in several places on the internet, but I got mine from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Sescom-SES-IL-PPB-Phantom-Blocker-Sescom/dp/B00A6ZE7A8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504784452&sr=8-1&keywords=phantom+power+blocker

In the Global ins/outs area is where you find the setting for XLR and 1/4" which you can set it to line level or mic level. Mic level tends to work best for PA mixing boards. Not sure what the Firehawk is expecting.

They NEED to have some justification for spending twice the amount and getting less functionality. ;)

I just picked up a Spider V 120 for my band's rhythm guitar player and have been dialing presets in all week. So I decided to write a review of the Spider V on Amazon and pinged Line 6 pretty hard for not having a dependable Android editor and no PC Editor...therefore no way to back up your presets. Wouldn't you know the day after I submitted the review Line 6 announced the PC/Windows based editor for the Spider V. And it works really well!! Although I feel bad about my review and I'll probably go and update it today, some of the blame lies with Line 6 in not at least letting us know an editor was on the way. There's good and bad about pre-announcing....and negative reviews are part of the bad I guess.

In the Helix the ducking delay is an entirely different delay, so I doubt it would simply be an option. Most everything I see in the Spider V draws from the design and approach of the Helix from what I can see.

You can call me Mr. DXR12...since I own 4 of them. I can't speak to the Alto as I've only heard them demo'd and they sound pretty decent. I just love the versatility and accuracy of the DXR's. But I think this has a lot to do with the type of music you play. I love them because we play such a wide range of styles and I use a wide range of instruments, so I need a speaker that brings out the individual qualities of the different instruments and vocals I put through it. I use it to support different presets where I'm playing a Tele, a Strat, a Les Paul, a Gretsch hollow body, an acoustic guitar, a banjo, and a keyboard across a wide range of musical genres using about 80 different presets. If I were doing a more limited range of styles I'm not sure I'd be so quick to choose the Yamaha DXR over the Alto to be honest,

Honestly I think what you're referring to has more to do with what you're playing the Helix through than the Helix itself. The Helix will accurately produce the same response as any amp would have. If you play it through a standard guitar amp cabinet, the articulation and clarity will not be that of a precision full range style speaker such as a Yamaha, QSC, or Alto so small technical messups won't be as obvious. The Roland, Soldano Clean, or Archetype clean will probably make them even more obvious, but you can rest assured they'll still be there with more overdriven sounds through one of these types of speakers as well.

I doubt it's going to give you a very accurate representation of your sound, but it's really not designed for that. It's a very simple monitor system designed more for convenience than accuracy or precision. Might be a convenient home practice tool though.

Yes. This is the one I use.

Or, get a second Helix as a dedicated audio interface that can serve as a backup to the live unit, then you have no need for Native..you've got something better. I can live without a backup audio interface...I can't live without a backup live Helix unit.

I might opt for "amateurish" rather than "unreasonable"....but that might be too harsh. But then again...maybe not.

I use a Gretsch (Silver Falcon), a Tele, a Strat, and a Les Paul commonly across all of our songs. It actually makes a lot of sense to do so if you cover a lot of different genres and styles as we do. It's easy for me because I have a preset for each song, so there's never a problem. I'll always use the same guitar on the same song because that preset/song was designed for that particular guitar. As far as volume differences I take that into account when I'm building my presets. When I'm building the presets I have the L/Mono XLR out going into a small Alesys mixer which displays signal strength. I keep my Helix master volume set at the same place (about 11 o'clock) and the gain on the Alesys channel I'm going into at the constant setting of 12 o'clock. I dial in my preset normally and then finally adjust my output via the channel volume on the amp model, the output level on the cabinet or IR, or the output level on the output block until the signal meter is at a constant level of -6 with peaks no more than -3. The advantage to this is that when I show up to the gig I only have to gain stage any single song because I know every song/preset will be at a constant level. One trick I've discovered for keeping things straight is that the name of the preset is stored as meta data in the file when the preset is exported. Therefore I can rename the actual filename and it won't affect the name of the preset. So, for example, if I have a preset called "Start Me Up" which is designed for the Tele, I export it as a file to "Start Me Up - Tele". The preset name will always remain "Start Me Up", but I know it's built for the Telecaster.

Here's another informative tutorial from RedWirez that might be useful to you: http://www.redwirez.com/ir/DialingInYourTone.pdf As you can see from this info it's not just about mics and cabinets, it's just as much about placement. Although some of this doesn't apply directly to stock Helix cabs, a lot of the same effects can be achieved through the distance and early reflections parameters. I'm afraid you're not going to get much more in the way of specifics than this. The rest is up to your ear and your personal preferences. If you're like most of us you'll eventually settle on certain mic combinations and settings that tend to work best for you.

Because we're talking entirely different technologies. Something like a DXR12 is designed to be capable of operating as a FOH PA speaker in a medium to large room, and filling it with sound. The reasons are numerous, but it comes down to efficiency and preservation of sound energy. All of the energy is directed forward in a fairly tight rectangular area, whereas a traditional 4x12 cabinet projects widely in a conical pattern. So in the case of a 4x12 cabinet lots of sound energy gets expended and lost in the ceiling and in the floor and dissipates fairly rapidly across distance, whereas a speaker like a DXR12 projects in a wider pattern horizontally but a tighter spread vertically. And it's really not just a 1x10 or a 1x12. The power of the amp is allocated between the two speakers(horn with a compression driver and the 1x12) based on the frequency ranges they'll be responsible for and how efficient those speakers project across distance. There are actually quite a few factors when it comes to the difference between a passive cabinet arrangement and an integrated power amp arrangement, but suffice it to say I've easily kept up on stage with Marshalls and Orange amps with just a single DXR12. In practice, in a room where the instruments aren't mic'd, a DXR12 will lose much less sound energy and will retain it's volume better even at the back of the room. This is one of many reasons why you would never use a 4x12 guitar cabinet for a PA speaker but a DXR12 would not be out of place at all.

In addition to using the hi/lo cut parameters on the cabinets/IRs, you might want to also experiment with the mic and mic placement. What most people are referring to as "fizz" is actually the same sound you would get out of a traditional amp cabinet if it's mic'd near the cap of the speaker. You just didn't hear it as much because you were hearing the cabinet, not the mic'd version of the cabinet. Very often you can affect that sound by increasing the distance on the cabinet mic and turning up early reflections. If you're using an IR you can mediate it by using a version of the IR with the mic placed further out in the cone area. I would do those things first before applying hi/lo cuts as it very often can affect how much (if any) you need to cut. As Zooey pointed out, stay away from using global high and low cuts. Not all high and low cuts are appropriate for every amp, cab/IR, mic, and mic placement. You're better off setting those things up first then applying high and low cuts by ear specific to the setup you're using.

If you're good at following directions then you should probably follow the directions on downloading the most recent Helix app (ver. 2.21) as that's where everything starts, and follow it very precisely...every step. If you do, you'll notice the Helix app is what's responsible for downloading the appropriate version of the Line 6 Updater so I suspect your problem lies with you downloading the Updater separately and you overwrote the correct version of the Updater that had been previously loaded with the download of the Helix app that was there.

I had something similar happen to me years ago when I bought a Porsche because I thought they were really awesome. But I loved the sound and feel of the 327 in my Camaro and I didn't want to waste it, so I dropped that into the Porsche. Somehow the Porsche just wasn't the same...... ;)

The only time I would consider going through the general PA stage monitor is if everyone else is doing the same (including drums), and in that case most often people are using in-ear monitors. If everyone is using their own amps I think you're going to be at a disadvantage trying to use the PA stage monitor in that you're going to start interfering with the ability to hear vocals on stage. That's whymany of us choose to use our own dedicated PA speaker/monitor on stage often referred to as FRFR monitors. This has a number of advantages. First, you can use this monitor at home to dial in your patches so that it's representative of how you will sound on stage and coming out of the FOH, and you can do it at a volume representative of your stage sound. Likewise in practice/rehearsal you can more easily adjust volumes and EQ if your blend is off a bit to better mix with the band. This can be a bit more involved sometimes trying to get all your patches to be at a consistent volume. I personally use a small mixer that I plug the Helix into so I can dial in my patches to have a consistent signal strength at a specific setting on my master volume knob. That way I only have to adjust the master volume once I'm at rehearsal to match the rest of the band's volume levels. However, we've been together long enough that I pretty much know exactly where I'm going to match with the rest of the band, so it's pretty much down to a science. What people are telling you is spot on with not using the global EQ. Especially in your case. I have to believe if you're playing blues, rock, and reggae you're likely using different amps and cabinets on different genres and styles. No one EQ adjustment is going to be optimal for everything, so you're better off adjusting for each patch. The amount you adjust is going to be highly dependent on the amp you use, the cabinet setup, the mic setup you use, and the mic placements...not to mention if you happen to be using different guitars. You can use a general guideline for adjusting but ultimately you need to trust your ears, and that's why having a powered PA speaker/monitor that you can use at home makes sense for adjusting such things so that you're not surprised when you plug into the PA. As far as stage placement of that dedicated monitor, that varies person to person. I place mine behind me in a floor monitor position in the same fashion as I would a traditional amp. I do that so that everyone in the band can hear me in the same way as I can hear them, and I can better adjust my volumes to match everyone else to get the right mix for stage sound. I've seen people place the monitor in front of them in a traditional fashion, or behind them on a pole. It all depends on what works best for you and the band.

I'm pretty sure you'll see the next FW update when Line 6 feels that it's ready. Good luck finding out any more than that....

Are you sending anything to the FOH sound board or is this all just stage sound only?

Here's where the disconnect happens typically because many musicians have little understanding about FOH and room EQ. Literally there's very little reason for FOH to be messing with a single instrument EQ if what you're sending FOH is a direct line consisting of the tone you're happy with and has worked well with the band during rehearsal. Typically you hear the argument that he needs to EQ it for the room, but if that's true the same acoustic applies to every instrument and voice going through the FOH, not just your instrument. Why would he be adjusting your EQ when he has the ability to adjust the global output via a single graphic EQ. That's where things SHOULD be adjusted for the room, not channel by channel. There's no doubt the FOH sound man needs to adjust signal levels coming into the board (called gain staging) in order to get the right blend of instruments and voices. And there is a case to be often made for adjusting mic'd amplifiers and voices because the mic has an effect on the tone and all voices are different. But if you're sending the board a direct signal that you have EQ's appropriately to mix with the band, he has no reason to touch it. In fact, if he's smart he'll use that as the one constant coming into the board that sounds the way it's designed to sound and he should be adjustomg things to match it. Of course that all depends on how well you've done your job of EQ'ing the signal to match and blend correctly with the rest of the band. If you put together your tone just for yourself and not considering how it matches with the rest of the band, then the soundman will have to make the adjustments.

You might be better off having them apply the cost of the LT to a new full Helix. That one's built like a tank. Apparently the LT pedal isn't up to the kind of usage you hand out, but I'm sure the full Helix is.

Absolutely. I think the term "FRFR" originated in the marketplace of users rather than a term used by manufacturers. The term is almost as deceptive as it is descriptive. The problem being that in my experience guitarists are generally lacking in any background and understanding of PA equipment and how it all works. Once you go past a traditional amp cabinet it's all a big mystery to most of them...thus a lot of misperceptions and misunderstandings.