MikeTGreen

Latest Update and personal opinion: Sorry, I haven't read, responded or posted in a while. I'm a busy professional and only a part time musician so I don't spend time on forums. So here's my take and personal review on the Helix and PowerCab to replace my tube amps and pedals. This gear rocks! I own two regular PowerCabs now and run my Helix in stereo. I like a traditional setup with no IR's or cab sims cause to me it sounds and feels real. I feel air blowing my pants leg and pounding my chest. I use the Vintage 30 in one cab and the Creamback 65 speaker in the other. My favorite is the Vintage 30 if I'm just using one cab. It sounds great with all my patches and different amps. Now just because I'm not a professional musician doesn't mean I don't have an ear for tone cause I do. Tone is in the ear of the beholder anyway. What sounds good to me, may not sound good to you, vice versa. But so far nobody came up to me and said my tone sucks, only sounds good. I'm 55 and played in a few bands years ago. I know tone starts with ability and in the fingers. I'm a self proclaimed tone snob and have snubbed my nose to modeling gear ever since my nightmare years ago. That's why I currently own five top of the line hand wired boutique amps and three full pedal boards ranging from small to big with top of the line pedals from Klon, Landgraff, King of Tone, Strymon, etc. And I have a bad case of GAS. I've started listing some for sale now cause the Helix sounds that good to me. I'll put it up against all my gear any day. I've found dialing up an amp with pedals to be as fast and easy as a traditional setup cause the interface is so intuitive and the models are so good. I've hardly read the manual and got most of the info I need from YouTube and these forums. Thanks everyone! I have not yet tried to run direct with cab sims &/or IR's so I cannot comment on that. I have tried the IR's &/or cabs in flat mode or FRFR mode with the PowerCab but was not very happy with the tones. I'm sure with more time spent tweaking they would fine but I don't want to spend that much time tweaking. So if anyone is wanting that amp in the room sound and feel, you may want to try it this way. One PowerCab work will just fine.

Thanks, that's kinda what I thought or may have read at one point and why I leave it off right now as I'm building. I also read that some only use it to make adjustments when playing in different rooms or venues so as to not change the individual patches. So I may try that when I test this live on stage.

Thanks, I did not know that. But then again there's still a lot to learn. Maybe I should revisit the global EQ. Do you know of a good tutorial explaining each parameter of the global EQ and some recommended start points? I can let my ears do the final touch.

I didn't go back to 2.71. Instead I read a post about using it in HF OFF = NO LED mode. I guess this is similar to the FRFR but without the high frequency tweeter driver thingy. So far this actually sounds better than any other way I've used it. Now it's almost like an amp in the room to my ears and good enough to keep working with. I don't use the Global EQ, just Ir's. I may or may not make minor adjustments the high cut and low cut in the Ir itself.

I have a regular PowerCab to keep things as simple as possible. My goal was to run this like a pedal board and amp only with more options if needed. I just read several post about using the PowerCab in HF mode off. So I tried that and it sounds good again. But, I'm pretty sure I've triad all that before without satisfactory result. But who knows, I'm loosing it in my old age. I have one preset that I don't use an IR and use the cream speaker mode on the Powercab which sounds really good too. I'll leave it like this and see if it starts sounding bad again. If it does, I'll try going back to 2.71 before I give up and sell it all. I'll keep everyone posted.

I did a backup, I restored it. I played through it again and made some to tweaks to high and low cuts. It was fine for a while. But it seams to get progressively worse everyday. Today it sounds like muddy, fizzy crap again. I'm tired of tweaking and adjusting. I need to play. All this seamed to happen after Firmware 2.80 and 2.81.

I bought a Helix and Powercab (regular non plus) in April 2019. I was quite impressed with the tones at first. Then firmware 2.8 came out and like others I've read, didn't quite follow directions, had problems and had to reboot and reset to get things right again. I've also updated to 2.81 recently. One day everything was sounding so good I almost was going to sell my tube amps and pedals. Then all of a sudden tone gremlins came and everything sounds crappy. I have tried to do factory resets and high cut low cut, global EQ, etc. I'm not interested in how it sounds with head phones, FOH or in a computer DAW. This is strictly for live use and I'm trying to get tones as close as possible to that amp in the room sound without fizzy, farty, grainy sounding overdrives. Has anyone else had this problem and do you have suggestions on settings for the Helix into the powercab to get good amp in the room tones? Thanks for any help.

My distance is less than 10'. I'm using a 10' Mogami Gold instrument cable and it sounds great to me. But, I will definetely try the standard XLR as you all have suggested. Thanks for all the great suggestions. BTW everybody, I currently own 5 high end handwired tube amps, four pedal boards consisting of all the top name best pedals money can buy. I'm completely blown away at how good the Helix sounds running into my Powercab.

Awesome, thanks for your response!

Hi everyone, I just got a used Helix last week and can't believe how good it sounds. For the past week I've been running straight into my tube amps till my powercab comes in tomorrow. It's the regular version, not plus. I noticed in the manual it says I need a 1/4" Balance TRS cable. So I assume I can't hook into it with a standard 1/4 instrument cable, is that correct? Thanks, Mike

Hi everyone, I just got a used Helix last week and can't believe how good it sounds. For the past week I've been running straight into my tube amps till my powercab comes in tomorrow. It's the regular version, not plus. I noticed in the manual it says I need a 1/4" Balance TRS cable. So I assume I can't hook into it with a standard 1/4 instrument cable, is that correct? Thanks, Mike

Don't sweet it, it wasn't you, it was the process. I made my decision last year after having to spend more time tweeking than playing. That's why I started building the analog portion. I just figured I'd give it one more try. I sure don't want to discourage any others reading this post. I've heard You Tube demos and read other reviews of how awesome the HD500 is. I truely believe it is if you have the time and patience. The idea of having to carry just my guitar, HD500 to practice and Sunday morning Worship was very appealing. I'm a 49 year old family man with a stressful career. Time is one of my most valuable commodities.

Thanks for this input. This really confirms my decision to stick with my tube amp and pedal board. Way too much work to get where I want to be. Since most soundmen or women at churches are volunteers and learning, they would freak out if I laid all this on them.

The BlueSky is amazing and is what I use for most of my ambient swells. The only reverb I use in the HD500 is the particle verb. I can't find any other pedals that sound like that. After trying this out direct, I decided that it takes way too long to tweek and get tones I'm happy with. I don't enjoy tweeking, I enjoy playing. Getting the tone I want with the pedals and my amp is a breeze. Even the sound guy said lets stick with the amp and pedals and we worked out the volume issues so the HD500 is up for sale on Pensacola Craigslist. I will replace it with an M5 for the particle verb and buy one or two other pedals for the delays. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, Mike

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm sorry for the late response, but I'm not on the forums much. I'm currently still using my small tube amp and pedal board. As soon as I can get with the sound man on another day or days to try and work this out, I'll post the results. Attached is my current setup. I currently only use the HD500 for delays and particle verb. Thanks, Mike