codamedia

I second the words of @k-grimm403 I bought an HX Effects when they first came out and the returns had a noise issue. That issue has since been addressed by Line 6, but some stores could be sitting on old (original) stock. https://line6.com/support/topic/32964-hx-effects-audio-artifacts/

Page 20 of the Boss IR-200 manual gives you it's midi implementation. From there, simply program the HX Effects to control the parameters you want. It can send almost any message you need it to.

That is your problem.... the HD and the Helix are NOT the same so you cannot set them the same to expect the same results. Do yourself a favor, and learn how to dial in tones on the Helix.... only use your old settings as a general guide, nothing more.

IMO... it's easier to just buy the right product for your needs than worry about stuff like this. It doesn't matter if it's theoretically possible or not.... you nailed it with your opening line.

Don't disregard the manual. There are a lot of things this unit will do that you might not stumble on without reading through it... or reading through sections of it. Even though the Helix dominates You Tube, there are still plenty of HX Effects tutorials to be found. Keep in mind that many of the Helix or HX Stomp videos are interchangeable with the HX Effects other than the amp models and some of the programmability. Once you know you way around the HX Effects there are a lot of tricks to be learned from the videos on those other models. An then there is the Line 6 videos.... listed in a small section on this page. https://line6.com/support/page/kb/tutorial-videos/line-6-video-tutorials-r202/

Just an FYI... if you went from Windows 10 to Windows 11, software will "sometimes" see that as a new computer and need to re-authorize - thereby consuming another license. The same could apply to a hardware update within a computer. Every company uses a different strategy for identifying a system.

Nobody here will know... L6 has a place to put feature requests, that's your best bet. https://line6.ideascale.com/ Yes... something big is on it's way in regards to an update. As always... it will get some people excited, it will disappoint others, and within a week of it's release someone will ask where the next update is.

That is why I suggesting taking notes with every change. In a studio, producers/engineers spend more time selecting and placing mics than anything else. They will get out of their chairs 30 times to adjust a mic a 1/2" before they will reach for an EQ knob. This is a world many guitar players know little about, but it's worth taking the time to learn.

Think about it for a moment... that's how you hear your favorite guitar players tones as well. You aren't hearing their "amp in the room" sounds, but you still strive to achieve them because you love them. It takes time, but eventually you will learn how it's done. Yes and no. A good IR is a blend of speaker, cab, mic choice and placement. You need to understand how all of those work together before you dive into the rabbit hole or you may end up with nothing but ear fatigue. IMO... if this is new to you, experiment with the stock cabs to get a feel of how it works. You will quickly develop some favorite choices. Start with choosing a trusted cab model... one that suits the genre of music you play. Now change the MIC and take note of the tone differences. Seriously, "take notes... as in... write down the difference" as you encounter it. Repeat step 2 for each mic in the Helix toolkit. Next.... play with the "distance" and again, take notes. The further away the mic is, the more "air/ambience" will be introduced to the tone. In some mic's you will notice a drop in low end due to the proximity effect of that particular mic. Don't touch "early reflections" or the "hi/low cuts" yet. Figure those out AFTER you get the mic's and distance sorted out. IE: One step at a time. Once you begin forming an opinion on which mics you like & at what distances.... the IR rabbit hole isn't nearly as deep and/or you may find you are quite happy with the stock cabs.

It doesn't have to process audio, it needs to process the information for the tuner graphics. My cheesy BOSS GT-1 editor doesn't process audio either... but the tuner works quite well. It's just getting it's info from the GT-1 itself and displaying it. I get it... there is obviously a reason they can't do it. Maybe it's because of the USB communication but it may also be as simple as "why bother, just turn around and look at your helix" :)

I'm going from the OP's mention of the Journeyman album which was the late 80's... I didn't think to ask the OP which tones from the album - LOL! "Before You Accuse Me" certainly has the sound you are referencing... but I was thinking more about the big hits from the album... BAD LOVE and PRETENDING in particular. On those tunes I'm clearing hearing Wah (often fixed position), Chorus OR rotary/vibe & overdrive on the core tone... then compressor, delay, reverb applied during the mix.

Half true... There is also an option that uses the "1st active block" when set to auto. That was introduced in a relatively recent update, but I'm not sure which one. Keep in mind it's the guitar that is affected by the input impedance not the effect directly. The effect only changes because the guitar tone did. A demonstration provided by me and my guitar will not show you how yours's will sound. Watch the videos that already exist on this subject, and use them as a general reference.

For the comp... just insert the LA Studio comp near the end of the chain and forget it... it will impart a little magic but for the most part you won't really notice it. For a chorus I'd try the "Legacy > Dimension" with all switches (1-4) OFF. It will be a very subtle chorus tone. Not washy, but present. Use the blend/mix to fine tune the amount of effect you dial in.

Reverb has never been a part of my sound. I have a basic hall reverb on my presets... but it's only there for a touch of ambience. It's not enough to interfere with the natural reverb of a room, nor will it interfere with how a tech might want to process the mix. But it does give me a little space when I'm in a bone dry room, monitoring with IEM's, or practicing at home.

Sounds like you have the amps to produce the overdrive.... in that case all I would do is kick on a Tube Screamer for solos. On it's own the TS is not noisy, but it will increase the noise of your guitar. It's important to recognize where noise comes from. Also... (IMO) the default settings of the TS models are way too hot, you will likely want to decrease the gain and/or level once you add it.

What AMP are you plugging the HX Effects into? As for effects.... in that era he used Chorus, delay, compression (studio style, not stomp) and wah.... If your amp is not providing the overdrive, I'd use a combination of the Heir Apparent (always on) goosed with a Tube Screamer for solo's.

Just an FYI.... I loaded up your preset (and chose an IR of my own) and like the others I don't hear anything out of the ordinary in regards to sustain. Using a vintage output Tele everything sounded normal with the +12 gain block turned off..... with it on I was in Santana territory. FWIW... I leave my input imp set to 1M (fixed). So yeah.... either something is wrong with your Helix and/or it's global settings, or we have a very different understanding of what sustain is. That's why I had hoped to hear an audio sample of what you are hearing.

Silly question... but are you "choosing an IR" after you "load the IR block"? You can't just load the IR block.... you have to open that block then choose an IR. Can you provide us a better description of your set up? I'm getting lost with that statement.

It doesn't work, or you didn't try? The latest version of HX Edit indeed works with Windows 11.... even if the website has not included "Windows 11" in it's drop down menu yet.

Input impedance only matters to the guitar.... the JHS will not be fighting with the input imp of the Helix. With that test you just gave the guitar something different to look at... if nothing changed, then there is nothing to take away from the test :) (actually, that's a good thing) Can you post an audio example of your preset so we can hear what you are hearing? Nobody that has tried it seems to hear a problem, but we haven't actually "heard" your problem to compare it to.

Sorry for the "is it plugged in" tech question :) It's probably nothing... but I notice in all your screen shots that the Pattern Trem in the Helix is turned off. Can we assume that's just the moment that you took the screen shot?

That's just not right... Here is a couple things I would try if you haven't already. Earlier in the thread you say you have your input impedance set to "Auto (first on)". Have you tried the 1M fixed value yet during your tests? If you have a Boss pedal laying around (single pedal, not the multi-fx)... try placing it before the Helix but leave it turned off. This changes the buffer your guitar/cable is seeing... and is worth noting if it makes a difference. (not meant as a cure, just for troubleshooting) I will load up your preset today now that my Helix is back home from it's weekend gigs. I could have loaded it into Helix Native but that's an entirely different input chain on my setup.

Thanks for the detailed response.... obviously you've been troubleshooting effectively and that's the key start. This is the one that makes no sense to me.... it shouldn't be needed. Sure - use it as another gain shaping tool "at times" if you want, but it shouldn't be needed "all of the time". EG: I already find that many overdrives/compressors and amps have inherently more gain than the hardware models I've owned, I can't imaging hitting those with 12db extra out of the gate. Nothing down chain would react as expected any longer. I can't help but think something is being overlooked somewhere. Playing through my Helix is equally as natural as playing through one of my amps... there is no inherent loss of sustain. Let's keep that in perspective... it's ONE of Richie's presets, not what he runs on ALL his presets. Let's also keep something else in perspective... Comfortably Numb has never been a normal amount of sustain :)

What are you monitoring your Helix through and at what volume? Those "long notes held forever" are often the result of volume... at least enough to regenerate through the pickups. I can coax out most of the sustain I need from my Tele using IEM's (in ear monitors... aka ear buds... ie: no volume on stage) by finding the right amount of overdrive and/or compression, but I cannot do the "notes held forever" without a cabinet to lean my guitar into. Many of us are keeping a "feedbacker / sustainer" on our wishlist for a future update. Do you set your pickups too high? Magnetic pickups (including the Fishman Fluence) pull on the strings.... the higher they are set the louder your signal will be but it will be at the expense of sustain. Lowering your pickups will result in more sustain and IMO, a nicer overall tone. As you lower the pickups are you lowering them ALL a little at a time. You can't lower just one pickup because any other pickup in the guitar is still pulling on the string as well.

I have the Scream 808 loaded on every electric preset. I set it the EXACT same way I set any Tube Screamer I've ever owned in my life and it performs the same with minor tonal variances aside. It is not part of my core tone, I use it to "goose" the overdrive that follows.... which may sometimes be an overdrive model and sometime it may be the amp model. FWIW, my experience with Tube Screamers goes back to the date of their initial release. They all sound a little different and the SCREAM 808 is just another variant. It won't sound exactly like any other Tube Screamer... but it does sound and behave like a Tube Screamer. Maybe you just don't like the particular unit Line 6 modelled. I was in a studio not long ago that had a nice collection of TS boxes.... I rolled through all of them until I found the one I liked best for that recording. NONE were the same! Think about it... those vintage boxes (and even some newer models) used components with up to 20% tolerance.... that means values could be UP TO 40% different from pedal to pedal... exponentially multiplied by the amount of components in the pedal.