Rewolf48

I agree as do many others. As we have had a Helix firmware release since Powercab came out there is either something else getting in the way or they are trying not to create the impression that it is a Helix only cab. I would like a Powercab, but I am waiting to see what happens.

I can’ see anyway for the Powercab 112 to do this; it has no connectivity options. The Powercab 112 Plus already supports this for Helix and any other modeller that has MIDI.

This is the place, (not a Line 6 site); you do need to register, but the admins are on here. https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=138.0 It is pointed to by the Sticky thread:

The forum is "Powered by Invision Community" so it is not really Line 6 software, and I very much doubt that anybody involved in Helix Native or any device embedded software has anything to do with the forum as they are completely different specialties. But I do agree; forgetting who I am all the time - often in the middle of a browsing session, but then remembering again after F5 refreshing a random number of times isn't good, and that Sign In process that dumps you out at the main Site rather than the forum page you were looking at is really bad.

There are loads of options and numerous discussions, and everybody’s opinions are different depending on circumstances and expectations. Probably the best prosumer product (not cheap consumer and not professional price) is the Atomic CLR; a major factor for it is the coaxial speaker configuration which you don’t get in general PA speakers intended for longer distance listening. This can be important if using the speaker as a stage monitor as within 6’ is too close for the woofer and tweeter to merge for such speakers. There are other coaxial speakers if you search but not many. One option that has to be recommended here if you want the speaker for use with Helix is the new Powercab which combines a guitar cab look with flat (guitar range) response and the option to simulate a range of guitar speakers. For Helix use unless you have PA requirements it should be tried before the L series PA speakers.

You only need a Send... no reason to return the guitar signal back from the vocal processor, but you might take the vocal signal into a different return/path to add synchronised effects and simplify control.

VDI is a digital connection with no loss of quality from guitar to effects unit. 1/4” Jack is analogue so there are two additional conversions and you introduce the cable which is never perfect; from an electronic circuit perspective it is an resistive capacitive filter and it will lose high frequencies... the longer the cable the higher the loss. VDI I believe includes a model of a high quality guitar lead with a small amount of loss, but any long or lower quality guitar lead will cut the high end frequencies and potentially add some noise. Use whatever sounds best to you, an EQ with a bit of high end cut will give you the same sort of effect and hum can be dialled in the amp models in helix if you want some of that. Personally the control from the floor unit is invaluable to me so I use VDI all the time.

It is switchable in the settings - perhaps you switched it off at some point before testing

Helix Floor does have phantom on XLR input!

The actual story is the Line 6 have formed the core of Yamaha Guitar Group... and get Ampeg on board too. and Variax was being pushed at NAMM; see the Stevic demo video. The possible move is a new generation of Variax modelling tech as there are hints of two or three new products being launched

If it remains after disconnecting USB then you have eliminated that as a primary cause. Are you running any audio cables close to any power cables and especially transformers? A poorly shielded or ungrounded cable can allow mains hum to be induced. Try starting from the absolute minimum and add things one at a time listening carefully. When you start to hear hum then you have found a contribution but not necessarily only cause start with just the amp and cab then patch Helix in then plug in helix power then switch on helix to an empty patch then plug in guitar - vary guitar volume and play then use a patch with amp then plug in usb... etc Also consider gain staging... the Helix volume should be as high as practical as a low level Helix out boosted at the amp only will magnify any induced hum. And another thing when you add the guitar is to look at the noise gate setting on the input. Final thing from back in the days when I ran a rack system is that sometimes you can get a ground loop between the rack and cases of the units.. if this is the case you can try patch cables with lifted ground or hum eliminating plugs (with isolation transformer)

They don’t change with Helix either... yet. Have you tried a MIDI connection?

You need to set up Cubase so that you can hear only the effected track. This link is not for LE but it might help: https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=87655

Variaxes are just guitars made of wood like any other; no two Strats sound or play identical, no two Les Pauls. Each lump of wood will resonate differently and any perfect factory setup is blown the moment you take it out of the box in a different temp and humidity, change the strings adjust the truss rod ....

All Presets Suck is an unofficial quote from Digital Igloo (Eric Klein who is Product Manager for the Helix) found regularly on the monster Helix thread on the gear page forums. It reflects the fact that no matter how much time they spend on making a patch sound perfect with their guitar players in their studio when creating the factory presets... it will sound wrong to everybody else using different gear in different locations.

The best way to tweak a variax using Workbench is an empty patch into flat speakers. Listen to just the guitar. When that sounds good then adjust the rig patches to suit the new character of the variax.

JTV + Helix is great with a good flat speaker, but for live use where you want the amp behind you experience you just need to add Powercab. It simulates 6 different speakers in a 1x12 and had a flat mode designed for Helix, and you can connect digitally taking a line from Powercab to PA when you need to. I use an L2t speaker which is good as I use a lot of acoustic models and can’t justify a Powercab yet. The part that you perhaps missed from the global string levels process was going into each model and boosting the patches back up to match the pickups. That would then be the basis for the adjustments you have done here. The best way I have heard it described is that as we know “all presets suck” (because of variations in the user scenario) why would you expect Variax to be any different? You should expect to tweak it to suit what you want it to do.

I have found myself requiring the ability to set the Tempo on Helix using MIDI - not as a simulated tap, tap tap, or as MIDI Clock (same thing) but rather explicitly updating as in "set tempo to 142 BPM" as a single message. It is a bit disappointing that the only way to achieve instant tempo changes is to dedicate snapshots to it as I use a single patch for everything and just want to set the tempo correctly to match the song (or section of song) so that the delays and modulation follow correctly without me having to tap in each time. Anybody else interested in this or should I be finding myself a device or app that can receive a tempo instruction and convert it to MIDI Clock?

I just got caught out by problems with snapshots and Switch based commands that I use to trigger OnSong which in turn triggers snapshot and fx switch changes - it had all worked perfectly until I swapped a couple of switch locations around then it went to hell with Helix associating what appeared to be random values; you fix it, save and then it changed again - seriously I watch in OnSong as it monitored the inbound values and pressing the same switch 3 times in a row Onsong recorded 3 different Note On events. I had tried editing on device, in editor, deleting all commands, saving, recreating; nothing worked. I even had saved the patch with one set of switch positions, then reloaded it and the switch positions all changed on me! My essential one-patch for the 2 hour gig patch was corrupted and unusable. In desperation as I have 2 gigs this weekend I looked at the .hlx file in an editor and noticed that the snapshots had overrides for the commands that I had never set; I copied the commands block from snapshot0 (correct values) over the equivalent section for the other snapshots, saved and reloaded the patch into Helix and there was sanity again. If you are comfortable working with JSON format files then this can save a lot of time if the patch gets confused. Don't try if you are not as I doubt that an invalid JSON file will work too well.

You press down and turn the knob used to select the variax model. Press and turn on any setting using those 6 knobs makes it snapshot controlled

Pages 20 and 21 of the Helix Owners Manual.

One thing to check: what is the gain set to on the two mixer channels? I remember reading somewhere that if they were turned up even with nothing plugged in that you might get hiss. Something I need to check on my L2t’s

I found that: 1/8 to 1/8 cable (with 1/4 adaptor) gave nasty hum 1/4 to rca (*2) gave nasty hum In both cases it sounds like a ground loop. But if I used the supplied 1/8 to rca cable there was no noise. So I bought a more suitable length cable for my needs, specifically this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LM2Y2WC and with a headphone 1/4 to 1/8 adaptor I plug the 1/8 end into the Helix Headphone output and the RCA into the iLouds. It sounds great and I use the headphone volume control on the Helix to control the playback volume of computer sound via USB to Helix mixed with guitar. I can play Helix alone without booting the computer, and if I want to play along with music on my phone or iPad I can use Bluetooth on the iLoud as well as the cable from Helix

I found that I got ground loop hum if I connected my Helix Floor to the iLouds using 1/4 to rca or stereo jack to stereo jack. What worked perfectly was Headphone out from helix into the rca or 1/4 to stereo jack. So I just got a 6 and 15 foot pair of headphone to rca cables and a jack adapter and run from the headphone out from the Helix. Short for laptop only, long for Helix. Works perfectly for sensible volumes, and if I need loud then I use xlr output to a pair of L2t or PA. The other option to remember is that the iLouds have Bluetooth always on so you can feed phone or tablet or computer to them directly without a cable being mixed with the wired connection. They are really great little speakers and kick out much more than you would expect, and are very portable.

USB output signal is what is expected in many plugins and effects - it is nominally -18dbfs. I find it a little low, but as it is 24bit resolution it still has 100 times more detail than CD at full scale. I would just record guitar into a completely empty patch. If that shows distortion then something’s wrong with hardware somewhere. Change guitars and cables, and if it is still happening then it is probably a faulty unit - it does happen and it should be replaced by the retailer.