jabak

Thanks for your reply. I understand what you are trying to shed light on. And yes I've never been satisfied with my playing. I threw away my guitar for 15 years when I hit a brick wall I just couldn't break through no matter what. 15 years later and a lot wiser I guess i picked up my guitar and the first thing i did was to try to understand what was wrong with my old technique. I didn't want to go down the same road again. But sometimes I just cant help wondering if what I'm doing is good or not so good. Watching Allan Holdsworth, Guthrie Govan and the likes is certainly very inspiring and teaches you a thing or two btw. I agree.

Can you elaborate on that? I kinda rebooted and started from scratch two years ago in an attempt to clean up my playing and rectify especially my bad picking hand technique. Finally after two years I'm starting to see real improvements. Still I'm not sure if my practice schedule is optimal or if I'm missing out on something. A simple thing like how long a practice session should last, for example? How long should breaks between session last? How much tension is ok in the picking hand? To little tension and I lose control and to much just kills everything. I do a a lot of 3 and 4 notes per string exercises, string skipping exercises and speed burst exercises on a daily basis. How about alternate picking vs. economy picking. i would like to spend some time learning economy picking but should I get my alternate picking up to a certain level before taking on economy picking? So what are your daily routines? What has helped you the most?

Do you know what programming language is used by your developers for the helix unit itself and the helix edit application for windows.. just out of interest?

I have a pair of JBL LSR305. I use them for both guitar and bass in a small room (11 square meter). Even in a room around 20 square meters I think they would be adequate.

I've been playing around with the Allure pack for an hour or so. I'm in to the high gain metal stuff. The 59 Tweed is just to week for any crunch IMO. But it actually sounds nice when used in clean tones. It kinda take out the low end in a good way. Testaments 80's clean tones comes to mind. The cali v30 is also good for clean tones and is ok for crunch but does miss some punch. The A30 is ok for crunch - a bit dark but well defined. It sounds like some of the OH's. The USDeluxe reminds me of Rosen digitals MESA Rectifier but with less low. The Greenback is not my cup of tea at all. The whowatt I liked mostly for clean tones. All in all a very versatile collection IMO.

I'm considering buying the MG10XU. The mixer, that is equipped with an on/off switch btw, comes with some added value or at least some extras if you will. Cubase AI and an SPX effect processor with 24 programs. Do you think it is worth the extra $60 or should I go for the MG10?

I rigged up my 10+ years old Behringer mixer and I could not hear any difference at all. So you're right. Only problem is that I'm so happy with my new setup that I'm already considering buying a new mixer with some extra features (including an on/off button..doh!). Nice artists tones btw. I liked the fade-to-black a alot. How would an EMG81 sound versus the DiMarzio Blaze?

Ahhh yes the mic level in the global settings. That was the key setting to get the levels down. JBL already set to +4 but thanks for confirming.Everything is now just the way I wanted it to be. Thank you.

Ran the signal through my mixer this morning: Helix -> Mixer -> Monitors. WOW! The volume level is now at the other end of the spectrum. It's loud and clear but way to loud. Now the question is: should I lower the volume of the helix (knob at noon right now) or should I lower JBL volume (8 out of 10) or a combination of the two? I remember seeing someone talking about the signal-to-noise ratio and how it will suffer if setting the helix output level too low. Btw. The mixer doesn't seem to affect the tone at all. I do not have "golden ears" or anything but my A/B test didn't reveal any discrepancies.

I'll give my mixer a try then and do some A/B testing as well. Thanks to ya all.

Thanks for sharing. That's certainly also an option. My point exactly. It's a quick fix for controlling various sources with varying volume levels. Does the MG10XU affect the Helix output tone noticeably?

Actually I started out using the Helix as the primary audio device for the computer. But the side effect is that the volume knob on the helix then controls the volume level of my computer as well. Watching CNN news at 80 decibel while working on some grinding riff aren't exactly my definition of quality time with my guitar :D But you are right - if a mixer colors the sound to much then i will go back to using the helix as my audio device. It's better than having the volume knob set at 17.00

I've had my Helix for about a year now. My helix is connected to a pair of JBL monitors using XLR -> XLR cables. When the Helix editor was released I decided to connect my computer to the JBL's using mini-jack -> y-split -> jack L/R. Recently I became aware that the dual input sources had affected the volume level quite dramatically. As far as i can tell the volume level is reduced approx. 50% when both helix and the computer is connected to the JBL's at the same time. Unplugging either will raise the volume level immediately. I'm no expert so I have no understanding of why that is but maybe it's some kind of built-in overload protection. Anyway I was thinking of connecting my helix/computer to a small mixer (behringer something) and then connecting the mixer to my studio monitors. But i'm worried about how much "FRFR" is lost going through the mixer due to coloring vs. the helix directly connected to the monitors. Also my behringer mixer has jack only output - no XLRs. Should I avoid that a buy a more expensive mixer with XLR output or just abandon the whole idea. Thanks.

Very nice tone.

I'm considering buying a Variax now. So what's holding me back then? The famous palm mute issue (if it's still an isssue?) and a seven string being top of my wish list.

It sure did. ;)

This all great news. Allure pack, helix native and new firmware. WOW!

It's a great addition to the Helix family. More helix customers means more incentive for Line 6 to push forward. It's a no brainer.

Nope. I love the unit for it's connectivity, ZERO latency monitoring (out of the box) and all the foot switches which i use when practising.

Any news regarding the Dan Boul IR's ?

:)

Ahhhh they've fixed the link. Anyway it's a nice addition to the Helix family. I much prefer the hardware version as an all-in-one solution with all it's built-in connectivity capabilities..

Helix native -> Amplify 30 ????

You are not alone when it comes to praising the Archetype amp. It's truly awesome.

I see no reason to go either way exclusively. I'm using both IRs and stock cabs. Arguably the stock cabs does sound good and are easy to adjust. On the other hand browsing through a 500 IR lib takes time but when you find the few IRs to your taste it makes things so much easier. ​Listening to the test i actually liked the 3SA IRs the most. It's all about options.