subseauk

No you got iy right to start with but your comments opened up some further thoughts. I had the helix floor but then bought the helix native as it was being offered for $99 which seemed to good to pass up. So I will be looking into the various options regarding recording etc.

Any into on various methods to go from guitar via Floor unit and Native and what further equipment would be needed would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers & Merry Xmas

That got it, cheers Bud

Much appreciated for your time.

Hi, thanks for taking the time. I have had a look at your previous post but the required files and check marks appear to be selected / present. I would note that the video again refers to an older version of GB and therefore I find it difficult ( tech dummy ) to transpose to latest version. Any chance of doing a newer video?

Thanks again

Hi all.   Just purchased Native to run on my MacBook Pro & iMac but can't see how to set it up with Garage Band as the instructions on Line 6 seem to relate to older versions of Garage Band. Can anyone one help with this please?

Garage Band Ver 10.3.3

OS Catalina 10.15.2

Cheers

Hi all, Many thanks to all those who sent suggestions, after speaking with the supplier and Line 6 I had enough confidence to really put some weight into the pedal and lo and behold after performing a full reset of the Helix and pressing the FS9 and FS10 switches whilst powering up I have apparently cured the issue.

Once again a big thanks to all who contributed to resolving this issue.

18 hours ago, rd2rk said:

 

Figure? Do you mean the Scribble strip? Never seen dots....could you clarify?

Not in the scribble strip, in the window above the pedal ( it shows Exp1 in a Dot matrix and Exp2 in solid white figures!!

9 hours ago, HonestOpinion said:

 

I suspect that barring some problem with the upgrade the issue is both pressing the switch down hard enough as rd2rk mentioned as well as something funky in the assignments for the wah.  As recommended clear the volume and wah blocks and start again. First create a 'Volume'(NOT a 'Gain') block and then create a wah block. Don't do anything with the assignments and just accept the default (EXP 2= Volume and EXP 1 = Wah). Also in case you have one, don't plug in an external expression pedal for the duration of the test.

 

 

I don't think he is hitting a bug or hardware problem although it is possible. It sounds more like a problem with the expression pedal assignments such that the pedal is not controlling the block and therefor not reading any percentage change.

His guys, I am totally new to the Helix and am struggling to get to grips with setting things up, it doesn't seem as intuitive as many make out, I don't have a second pedal. I will create a pathway as you suggest and post how I get on. 

I have also raised a ticket with Line6 and here is the response ( I must admit the suggestion to get a second pedal seems a bit of a cop out );

Hello subseauk. Your Line 6 Support Ticket was updated with the following message:

Hi,
please backup your user presets, then perform a reset in your Helix and try again :
-backup your presets via HX Edit
-switch off Helix
-press and hold the two lower middle footswitches FS9+FS10 and switch on your Helix
-you will see "Resetting Globals, Presets,...." and Helix boots normally after the reset
-please try again if you still got the same problem

-the toe/footswitch needs to be pressed with some force . But it is easier when standing and putting your weight in , it is more difficult when sitting or with your hand (if you have you Helix on
a table and use with your hands this can be difficult)

A dotted EXP or EXP means that it is not the active pedal, the solid shown EXP is the active pedal
(so you know which pedal you are controlling at the moment)

if you don't like using the footswitch you could add a 2nd external expression pedal

if you absolutely cannot activate the toeswitch the Helix should be checked by service
(please contact your reseller then)

Best regards,
Christoph Dégardin

Line 6 Technical Support Europe

15 hours ago, Peter said:

In the scribble strip? Then something is wrong. Maybe a firmeware bug, I hope no hardware problem.

I think you should see an % increase at the scribble strip even if the wah block is not activated.

...But you can control the volume with the pedal???

Have you tried the Bypass Assign settings > You can also activate the pedal without the TOE switch. (you can specify % value for activation)

Hi, Yes the foot pedal controls the volume. Not in the scribble strip in the window above the pedal itself.  I can't see and therefore don't know how to assign the pedal is there anywhere where the setup can be shown without being a rocket scientist? It might sound dumb but I seem to have a mental block on this area!!

Thanks

On 8/10/2019 at 8:45 AM, Peter said:

 

That's correct.

I remember that the TOE Switch had to be pressed very hard the first time when my Helix was new.

So I guess he has not noticed the Toe switch yet.

Hi all

Quick update, I was messing around with the Helix this morning and created a simple setup with a Way at the front of the line followed by a stock Amp+Cab and still not getting the Was effect!!

I then noticed that the Exp 1 figure was not solid ( more like dots ) and that Exp 2 was solid !! I tried the pedal and no increase on the % was seen. I checked all the settings on the Helix and they look OK but I don't seem to be able to get the Wah/Vol Toe switch  to work, just how hard is this on a new Helix as this seems to be a ridiculous problem and I don't want to cause any further issues?

Update in use is 2.81

Cheers

Hi all, just thought I would throw this out there as I don't have vast amount of experience with the Helix. It seems to me that mine has become super sensitive on the rotary dials since the 2.81 upgrade. I now seems as if I only have to touch the block selector dial and It changes or  moves block !! Is this me or has anyone else come across this??

Thanks

Thanks for all the replies guys, I am away from the Helix for a couple of days but will try out all your suggestions and let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the help it is much appreciated.

Kev

Hi guys, just to let you all know it seems to have been the presence of old presets within Helix Edit that caused the rebuilding. I am currently going through them and removing stuff  that I never used or that didn't work.

Cheers to all that helped.

Hi guys firstly I would like to say what an awesome group you guys all are as I have been getting help on a few things recently. 

As a total newb to the world of Helix I am having lots of beginner issues!!  One of these is how to get the Wah pedal to work!  I have a basic patch with a Wah in first block followed by the Amp+Cab option but no matter what I do the pedal just seems to activate volume control.  I have read through the manual but can't seem to find out what I am doing wrong, I think It may be in the setup of the Helix rather than a Wah setting as such. Can any point me in the right direction.

Cheers

Thanks to all for the replies, I think the ones which mention changing / updating presets are spot on as I had chosen a user group rather than the presets!!!  This I am thinking is what caused the rebuild!!

Cheers all

Hi all, well after updating to 2.81 and the initial preset rebuilding for a couple of times after switching the Helix unit on everything seemed to settle down. Now, after no intervention from me and some period of time ( good few days), the floor unit has started rebuilding the presets again on startup which Is a pain for time its taking  for the 900 or so slots considering I have not done anything!!

Any thoughts?

2 hours ago, patrick2099 said:

Oh yah! Very good point. If it was an amp+cab block and you stuck an additional ir in their, it's probably not going to work well. 

Thanks guys, I was sticking the IR straight in as I thought it was a complete setup replacing anything already there, I will go off and check it all again Doh!!!

1 hour ago, codamedia said:

So much great info provided already in this thread.. especially @silverhead's comment a post or two above. 

 

 

I'm going to try and tackle this one :) 

 

You are monitoring through headphones... therefore the guitar has "zero" interaction with any volume. Sustain is often the result of an amp being turned up, and the guitar interacting with that amp. If you monitor the Helix through an FRFR (or similar) and get it up to levels similar to a "real amp", then it will sound and feel more like a "real amp". (This is partly because you will setup the amp model in a more realistic way was well)

 

There are tricks to simulate this type of interaction through IEM (headphones) or at lower volumes, but those tricks won't be implemented in any presets... you would need to learn how to add those yourself. There isn't really a "one trick fits all". Boosts, pre-amps, compression, overdrives, EQ, delay, reverb, etc... etc... can all help provide depth, loudness and sustain... how it is applied will change from tone to tone.

 

Just my 2 cents....

Thanks for the repsonse Codamedia, all input is welcomed

1 hour ago, datacommando said:

 

Hi again,

 

This might seem like stating the bleeding obvious, but you can find what the the real amps and FX the Line 6 models are based on in the the Helix Owners Manual. Oops!

 

Ok you might find this link useful in figuring out not only what the Amps and FX are based on, but also lots of tips for the common amp and FX settings. Plus all the Factory Reset info should you ever need it.

 

https://helixhelp.netlify.com/

 

Have fun.

 

Thanks for the response DC and the link 

5 hours ago, patrick2099 said:

I tried the Helix at Guitar Center, and it sounded awful. I knew Helix sounded great, as I tried Helix Native, at home. I added a low cut at 100 hz, a high cut at 8k to the cab block. That helped. I added a second cab, with the same cuts, and a different mic (first was condenser, second was a ribbon). This made it better. 

 

I still wasn't fully happy with the tone, though. I think the Alto speaker they had it running through (I think it was branded Headrush, but I'm pretty sure they are the same thing). I bought the unit, despite how it sounded, in the store. 

 

I bought the unit and tried it at home, with my Xitone MBritt, frfr cab, and it sounded amazingly good, even on the 2.30 firmware. I didn't really mess around with it for too long, since I am sending it back to get a new one, rather than the used one I was sold as new, but in about 30 minutes, I had plexi, jcm800, ac30, and fender deluxe sounds I was happy with. 30m for four patches is pretty impressive -- especially being a former hd500x user. 

 

Even using IRs, try making the cuts I mentioned. I still think what the sound is going out of makes a huge difference, though. 

Cheers Patrick

21 hours ago, rsvette12 said:

Get Equalizer APO if on a pc - huge difference in sound capabilities especially gain (volume) also eq - I use this with peace addon also with my amps really boosts the sound stage

 

Equalizer APO - free

 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/

 

Peace addon - free

 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/peace-equalizer-apo-extension/

 

If your on a mac your out of luck nothing comes close to this on mac side of things and its only for a pc and its free :)

Wouldn't you believe it I run a Mac system :- (    oh well

22 hours ago, DunedinDragon said:

The first thing that pops out at me is where do you have your Helix master volume set (big knob on the floor unit)?  That kind of determines the output of all of your presets.  Bear in mind there's no guarantee that any preset you might download or that comes with the Helix will be built with a specific master volume setting, so you may have to adjust each amp's channel volume so they match up appropriately with YOUR specific master volume setting.  Where people set their master volume is up to each person.  Line 6 recommends running it full open, but that's not practical for most people.  For myself I keep mine at around 3 o'clock when developing patches and around 12 o'clock when I'm playing through my FRFR monitor on stage.  The main thing is to be consistent so your patches can be consistent.  In my experience, the higher you set the master volume on the Helix, the more consistent the amp settings will be with their real world counterparts for achieving a given volume.

 

As far as IRs, those are just an alternative to the stock cabinets in the Helix.  Typically you'll use one or the other, but in both cases it's just a specific cabinet with a specific set of mics positioned in specific locations on the cabinet.  Stock cabinets or IRs can be used on any amp block and will affect the overall sound of that amp in the same way as different cabinets, speakers, and mics do in the real world.  They really don't affect things like sustain which would be controlled by the amp gain or potentially master volume on whatever amp you're using.  They only affect the overall tone of the amp.

Cheers mate, playing via Bose headphones at the moment so can't compare output through an amp but I was under the impression you would get the effect of the amp via the modler without the need of an external amp or am I expecting too much!

16 hours ago, BBD_123 said:

 

Hello mate - fwiw, another UK Helix user, but more to the point, main guitars are a Strat and an LP (wow, sooo adventurous, aren't we?). And my first impressions of Helix were... meh.

 

I'd spent the previous few years using the Line 6 HD500 so not unused to modeling, but I naively expected Helix to sound better out of the box than a fully set up HD500... daft in hindsight, but there you go.

 

Please, be patient and get to grips with the unit. As others have said, the time spent pays off in spades. Helix is very, very good, but a classic case of you get back what you put in.

 

All I would suggest is that you keep it simple for now. No third party IRs. Just a handful of amps that you like, a bit of reverb, and plenty of time spent dialling in basic, foundation tones that you are happy with. First walk, then run :-)

 

Enjoy!

Cheers BBD, I can see me having to do just that. I understand the reasoning behind it but is there anywhere that the names provided by line6 shows what they units are in the real world ?

22 hours ago, DunedinDragon said:

The first thing that pops out at me is where do you have your Helix master volume set (big knob on the floor unit)?  That kind of determines the output of all of your presets.  Bear in mind there's no guarantee that any preset you might download or that comes with the Helix will be built with a specific master volume setting, so you may have to adjust each amp's channel volume so they match up appropriately with YOUR specific master volume setting.  Where people set their master volume is up to each person.  Line 6 recommends running it full open, but that's not practical for most people.  For myself I keep mine at around 3 o'clock when developing patches and around 12 o'clock when I'm playing through my FRFR monitor on stage.  The main thing is to be consistent so your patches can be consistent.  In my experience, the higher you set the master volume on the Helix, the more consistent the amp settings will be with their real world counterparts for achieving a given volume.

 

As far as IRs, those are just an alternative to the stock cabinets in the Helix.  Typically you'll use one or the other, but in both cases it's just a specific cabinet with a specific set of mics positioned in specific locations on the cabinet.  Stock cabinets or IRs can be used on any amp block and will affect the overall sound of that amp in the same way as different cabinets, speakers, and mics do in the real world.  They really don't affect things like sustain which would be controlled by the amp gain or potentially master volume on whatever amp you're using.  They only affect the overall tone of the amp.

Hi mate, the master volume dial makes no difference as far as I can tell as I am only using headphones at the moment but the feedback is appreciated.

Cheers DC

Cheers Spikey, It may seem obvious to some but I didn't want to "mess" with what was a good sound on the IR I had downloaded as I thought that was what you were basically paying for, ie the setup, I didn't know you would need to alter the amp settings say!!!

Thanks for the input and just to be clear we are talking about the Helix inline Block Amp settings :-)