codamedia

I am wondering if anyone is using the Stage Source L2t speaker with their Helix ... and if so what are your thoughts of it. I'd be using it live... most often just as a stage monitor for myself while the Helix goes direct to FOH, but at times I may need to fill a small room from the stage. There is a used one for sale in my local classifieds for about half the price of a standard L6 Power Cab (not the plus).... from what i can tell that's a heck of a price for one of these.

IMO... with the effort they just made to update the core with 2.8 I don't believe a new piece of hardware would re-write that book again. IE: I suspect the underlying architecture would remain even if a new piece of hardware was released. The Helix Floor is a heck of a design with tremendous options and flexibility that still surpass any of the competitors 4 years after it's release. Even the "brand new" Kemper Stage can't touch the feature list of the Helix Floor, actually - IMO as a hardware unit it's quite archaic in comparison. (that has nothing to do with it's tonal quality... my comment is based on features and ease of use). There is very little missing in the Helix that can't be updated via firmware. Maybe Bluetooth and/or wifi, a touch screen, more dsp power or more memory. None of those are things that would prevent me from buying a new Helix today! I don't believe the scaled back versions (LT, Stomp, Effects) are in play with this conversation. If they didn't have the features you want you would naturally look to the next product up the ladder... ultimately the Floor.

Install a midi monitor on the ipad and log the outputs. There are several available. Alternatively... you can connect your HD MIDI Through to your computer... and run a mini monitor on the computer. Again... there are several available. Since the midi thru is also the midi out on the HD, this may inadvertently pickup HD messages as well.

Exactly... I like to make it so they never have to deal with anything extreme... just subtle adjustments. I'm a multi-instrumentalist so I also run a pedal steel, baritone, dobro, acoustic, mandolin, 5-string banjo and a Variax (constant change) down that one line. Techs panic when they first realize that.... but by the end of the first set/show they realize I've got it all balanced they way it should be... leaving them to just make minor adjustments here and there.

These are just a few suggestions... there are already some great ones provided above, I'm just lending my 2 cents. There is nothing wrong with Rockit 5s.... it's a good start. I'd suggest you setup your tones "as loud as you are allowed to" on those rockits. They should get you to about 90db in a small room and that is enough (likely a little more than enough) to simulate stage volume. Set your tones up on the Rockits, and test them in the headphones. Better yet... test them in the buds you use for your IEM's. The trick is making them sound good in BOTH the Rockits and the headphones... not one or the other. Neither of those is how the audience hears it, that's why you don't optimize the tones for just one set. Get the tones sounding good in both! As for initial levels... trust meters, not your ears (ears come in the next paragraph). The more gain a guitar has the louder it appears, but it is actually quieter and often needs to be turned up. When you use meters you will be surprised at how loud a heavily over-driven guitar needs to be to match a cleaner/crunchier guitar. With clean tones, compression will play the same trick on the ears. Don't let your ears trick you or your lead tones will be far too quiet when you need them most on a stage. Once the tones are taken to the rehearsal room or stage... that is where you fine tune the levels with your ears. A small tweak here and there should be all that is needed. Keep note of these tweaks for when you create new tones and you will soon get quite adept at setting up patches at home and taking them directly to a stage. FWIW... I set my tones up on two sets of monitors in my home studio. One set is studio grade near field monitors with 6.5" woofer, the other is a 3 way set of consumer grade speakers with a 10" woofer. When I get my tones working on BOTH (as I described earlier) the tones never fail to translate to every FOH and Monitor system I encounter. Techs are usually surprised at how FLAT they get to keep my guitar strip!

You probably know all of this, but just to make sure... Double check all of your global settings... they get completely reset during the update. Also - make sure you do a reboot after the update is complete so the patches get rebuilt in the new format.

If the light on the DI did not turn green... are you sure the DI XPS is working properly? You say you tested the cable and you say you looked inside the Bass... but you don't mention anything about fully testing the DI XPS box. When you tested the cable, did you check for voltage or just continuity? It should have voltage (roughly 9v) on the ring/sleeve when connected to the DI box.

I'm not sure what you use for an amp... or whether or not this is an option... but why not put a full range coax speaker in your amp? I put an Eminence Beta 12LTA into my old Peavey Bandit and plug into the power amp input of that amp. It's not a true FRFR, but it does give me full range and balances my stage tone better with my direct FOH tone (eg: I can use the same tones). https://www.parts-express.com/eminence-beta-12lta-12-full-range-pa-driver--290-409 Admittedly, that is not my primary setup... usually I just use the stage monitors (or "in ears") with my own mix. But when I do need some stage re-enforcement, my little pseudo FRFR gets the job done nicely and cost me next to nothing.

The Global EQ is at the end of the chain, not the beginning. It won't have anything to do with the gain staging of your patch, it is used to effect only the output it is assigned to. This shouldn't be used as part of your patches... it's purpose is to correct the assigned output for a challenging room or environment. The input pad is a "digitally controlled analog pad" that happens prior to the A/D conversion at the input. The Master Volume is the global volume of the entire Helix... applied at the end of the chain. As for your problem with your patch... is there any chance we can hear what you have come up with. I can load that patch but I don't use that pickup set so any tones I get from it are really irrelevant.

Mic choice will make a huge difference... combined with the distance set. Take the time to really try the different mics and distances.... there is a reason engineers and producers spend most of their time getting those choices right! If you are running 2.8 there is another option, but you will have to sacrifice one of your blocks to do it on a Stomp. Insert the TILT EQ after the amp/cab block Set the x-over frequency to 2.5k or even 3k Lower the "tilt".... and don't be afraid to go as low as you need. I often take it to somewhere in the "dark 60 - dark 80" range. I find this really removed the "shrill" from some mic's / cabinets, yet still retains the character of that mic/cab.

No, a send requires the use of a block.

The stomp has two paths... you just need to move the IR to the 2nd path then adjust the output block. Place the IR as the last block in the chain, then DROP It to Path B. Leave the split block at it's default settings (split Y)... it should work fine. On the output block... pan Path A to Output Left and pan Path B to Output Right Plug Output Left (no IR) to your amp plug Output right (w/IR) to a DI to FOH

That's odd.... I thought this was suppose to be one of the features/fixes with 2.8.... That behavior has been there all along, but 2.8 was suppose to make it truly transparent. From the 2.8 release notes... The Global Settings > Preferences > Tap Tempo Pitch (Authentic, Transparent) setting now also affects tempo changes taking place across snapshot changes, not just when pressing the TAP switch

@datacommando... Great video, thanks for posting that. I didn't realize that they (for the most part) manually create these models.... I though it was more automated than it is. I got into a heck of a debate a while back about volume... I was trying to explain that whenever I feel disconnected with my tone I would turn up my monitor a little louder and that solved my problem. The other party insisted that the modeler doesn't change with volume and was adamant that I had no clue about what I was talking about. Myself? I knew that I simply wasn't conveying what I actually meant but I couldn't figure out how to explain it. Confirmation bias alert! @12:17 of this video that topic comes up and it is described perfectly. Finally... re-enforcement from the model creator himself that I have not lost my mind (yet) and I am not reacting to some placebo effect. With your monitoring turned up to a natural level it directs you to set the amp models more like the real amp... and forces you to play with more dynamics as you naturally would.

Not that this matters, but out of experience.... I used to own an HX Effects (with scribble strips) and now own an LT (performance view) and I don't miss the scribble strips at all. Others may differ in opinion, but I feel scribble strips would be one of the least important reasons to choose a Floor over an LT. One caveat to that statement.... Stomp Mode in performance view is a thing of beauty on most stages, but is difficult to view in the sunlight.

I suspect there are unexpected midi messages being sent by the iPad causing erratic behavior at various times. Connect it all up at home and monitor the communications between "setlistMaker / iPad" and the HD. If you are just changing sounds (I assume you mean presets) the iPad should only be sending PC messages... if you see other types (CC's in particular)... that's the problem.

Thanks for the info.... this is how I would approach it. PATH A: Guitar The normal Guitar output > Input L > Effects in Path A > Send 1 to Amp (Dry out) > wet effects in HX effects > Output L (Wet Out) PATH B: Bass The Guitars bass output > Input R > Effects in Path B for Bass > Output R (to bass amp). Make sure your input split is set so INPUT L & R are routed only to their paths (A & B respectively) Make sure your Output Merge is set so PATH A & B are routed only to their outputs (L&R respectively). There are certainly limits to this type of setup... and some additional steps may need to be done to fully suit your needs.

Any feature requests need to be done at ideascale, they don't accept them here because these are user forms. http://line6.ideascale.com That said, I'm not understanding your setup based on what you are saying.... In what way are you forced to use stereo effects? Wet Dry is certainly possible if you utilize a SEND (dry out) wherever you want in the path. Please clarify the "guitar path" you would like... maybe there are already options to free up path B for the bass only.

Here is what the floor has over the LT.... if you want or need any of these you should get the floor, if you don't think you will ever need these then the LT will get it done. Floor has an AUX Input. Floor as a MIC input (XLR) w/phantom power Floor has 2 additional Loops (sends/returns). The LT has 2, the floor has 4. Floor has spdif in/out Floor has 2 external EXP jacks, LT has 1 Floor has dedicated amp ctrl jack (lt is shared with it's 1 exp jack) Floor has a dedicated headphone volume The floor has the option to re-assign the "bank buttons" to stomps. Floor has scribble strips... the LT gets around that with Performance View on the big screen which the floor does not have. Floor is a stronger build, but that's not to say the LT is cheap or weak... the floor is just really heavy duty. IMO.. if money is not a concern then there is no need not to get the floor. You never know when you might need the extra features. BUT - if you (like me) has to watch the cash flow and can get by without the extras the LT is a great option that doesn't compromise tone in any way. Under the hood they are the same.

Did the videos get swapped out since you posted this? They don't sound bad at all on my setup... the first one is actually quite good. The tone in the intro... and the solo beginning at 2:58 in the first video you posted? I don't use my HD500 anymore since I got a Helix... I can point you in the direction I would go. That's a warm, thick, beefy tone.... immediately reminiscent of early Van Halen. Try some of the Van Halen "Brown Sound" patches that are available... they will get you close to this.

Your setup is already a decent way to do this. Their are two things to watch for.... Make sure you pan the paths LEFT/RIGHT accordingly and use the correct outs for the correct locations Make sure you plug a dummy plug into the unused 1/4" output otherwise both sides will SUM to the one you are using. This does not happen with the XLR outs, just the 1/4" outs. If the amp models are nothing special and you are generating most of your tone from the effects prior.... you can do away with the "pre-amp model" and just plug that side directly into the front of your amp. That will give you full volume/tone control on stage without the need to bend over and edit the HD. This is all dependent on how you are using it.

#2.... If you don't use the effects loops you can use the returns as 2nd and 3rd inputs. You can place the blocks anywhere in the chain you want them... including on a different path. You don't get variable impedance or a noise gate but they do have a variable input level that can be cut or boost. I use my returns in this manner - they work great.

I'm seeing a trend with some of the problems people are reporting. Many of them are problems that have been reported with the HX Stomp and HX Effects in the past which were built on the new core to begin with. With this update, the Floor/Rack/LT users seem to be inheriting their bugs. As I mentioned earlier in this thread - the disappearing path used to occur on the HX Effects. Even if it loaded properly.... as soon as you used the tuner the path would disappear. I'm sure the Stomp also had this problem but with only 6 blocks even fewer people would split paths on it.

Aha moment... It all begins to make sense now! I didn't realize you were using a STOMP. The STOMP and EFFECTS were built on the new core and they just updated the Floor/Rack/LT to use that core with this update. We now have your bugs! Come to think of it... when I had the HX Effects, Path B would sometimes go silent - which is another BUG some users are reporting on the Floor/Rack/LT with this update.

I suspect the other owner broke the USB jack.... slid it back in place and shipped it to you like that. First use is fine... then the jack "appeared" to break when you removed the cable. As for the modeling not working... It sounded like you didn't have a cab. Are you accidentally loading the "pre-amp" versions of the modeling rather than the full versions. Without a cab loaded it will sound like crap direct.