codamedia

I'm pretty sure he was just trying to point out that there were more options coming in case you weren't aware of them.

^^^ this ^^^ A good tech knows that "mic choice and position" is 99% of the battle to getting that "amp in the room" to translate to a great tone at the FOH (PA) or onto a recording. Studio engineers in particular obsess with mic choice and position.... for very good reason. In the past, guitar players usually never had to worry about that stuff... but with the Helix (or any modeler) it is in their best interest to LEARN IT! Choosing the right cab/mic/position or IR (based on the same) virtually eliminates the need for any "corrective" EQ. Jason Sadites videos are great... in particular, the back end of his signal paths... what he does after the cabinet. That's the studio chain... the stuff guitar players have never thought about in the past. He pays close attention to MIC choices and position (during the cabinet). He takes the time to get that right. He adds some reverb/delay after that cab, just as a tech would do. This is always adjusted to taste. He's got a parametric eq in the chain (as DunedinDragon says above)... but usually only uses it for filters! He treats that like the guitar strip on a console.. and is usually very subtle in applying it. He's got an LA Studio Compressor near the end.... just like studio engineers would add to the guitar track during mix down. A little goes a long way with this one.

A lot of players do not realize that the limited frequency range (that we desire) of an amp is NOT the amp, it is the cabinet/speakers. Plug a Marshall/Vox/Fender directly into a full range speaker and watch the paint peel from the walls - LOL! I have always maintained that the stock cabinets are the weak point of the Helix, not because they are not accurate (they actually are quite accurate) but because they lack versatility. They don't give you the ability to move a mic from CENTER to EDGE on a speaker cone. We are stuck with center position.... while every 1" toward the edge gets warmer and warmer... eventually to mud :) We get around that existing limitation with IR's... and/or with extensive high cuts and/or EQ. Not to stir the pot here, but I do have high hopes for the TILT EQ which is coming in version 2.8. Knowing how tilt EQ's work, I have a hunch that it may be an acceptable alternative to moving the mic from center to edge.

They do... well, the cabinets do, because that is really where the cuts are happening in real life Remember, the Helix is not "amp in the room" tone, it is "miced up amp" tone... which is very different. You cannot compare a Helix through an FRFR to an Amp sitting in the room. You need to compare it to that same amp, with a mic on it, pumped back through that same FRFR. When you do that, you will find the Helix to be remarkably accurate.

FYI: None of the Helix Models including the flagships allow you to SEND without using up a block... the only difference is that the flagships have so many blocks it's not usually an issue. The layout you posted (with the IR on the bottom path) along with PANNING and SEND LEVELS on the output accomplish what you are after as a template, without using up an additional block.... PROVIDING you don't need stereo :) IMO... If you keep a rough template (with merge levels and pans set) you can just copy that as a starting point for the rest of your patches. LEFT is always AMP, RIGHT is always DIRECT .... or vice versa.

This is nothing fancy going on in term of delay. Choose a tape echo (there are a few in the Helix) and try to avoid any modulation or wow/flutter. Dial it in for 250ms - 350ms.... set it for 3-4 repeats, and keep it fairly low in the blend. It will smear the notes, but won't be an obvious delay unless you hit a staccato note.

I was going to say.... in your original image/routing you NEEDED to put the EQ to split the path, but why not just put the IR to the lower path? Glad you figured that out :) As for your LINE/Instrument level difference... that's easy to work around. The difference in the two is "levels".... the merge allow you to control both L/R output levels separately. Set the output to LINE Attenuate the signal going to the amp accordingly. It is likely somewhere around -20db to match the instrument level, maybe a little more. Note: I would always attenuate rather than boost. That's why I suggest setting it to line, then cutting the volume to the amp rather than setting it to instrument and boosting the volume to the mixer.

I don't change anything I am doing in the Helix from how I use to do it on a traditional pedal board and amp. My thought is... I didn't need EQ's to cut through the mix when I used an amp, why would I need it now? The "general tone" should be achievable without the use the any EQ. Find the amp character you like (eg: choose an amp), sprinkle in a few effects and from the amps controls alone you should get a great tone. Like you... I may use a little LPF/HPF but that's about it. Just EQ the amp to find your place in the spectrum. The next stage it cutting through on a solo. I do that in two ways. For cleaner tones I run a boost (eg: Kinky boost, or even just a gain block) at the end of my chain to increase the overall volume by about 3db. For dirty tones I goose the overdrive tone with a Tube Screamer or variant... any overdrive with a perceived mid boost. YMMV... there are many ways to do this. I'm just sharing my approach :)

Line 6 provides a pretty decent "knowledge base" already that most people don't realize exists. From this very forum... in the above menu click on "knowledge base", then under "effects/controllers" choose Helix. Here's a short cut to get you there. https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effects-controllers/helix/ One of example of an item in that list above is this article. https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effects-controllers/helix/helix-tutorials-by-jason-sadites-r891/

Well... this just won't happen :) You might as well put that 10 year old in the cockpit of a Cessna and wish him luck! Sound engineers don't gain their knowledge out of the gate... it's an accumulation of knowledge gained over a large number of years. Their knowledge is universal, not Helix specific. They know what they want, and they dig in to find a way to do it. Learning the Helix is specific. What do the buttons do? How do I insert an amp? How do I insert an effect? How to I move those around? How do I adjust the amps controls, how do I SAVE, etc... etc... ALL OF THAT is relatively easy to learn. It's like figuring out a new smart TV, Phone, or Tablet. Next comes the general knowledge (this is what the engineers know... and guitar players know to varying degrees).... NONE of this is specific to the HELIX, the HELIX is just a tool that allows you to do all of this in one box. What do the different amps sound like What do the different cabinets sound like What does each microphone choice sound like What do different mic placements sound like What effects do I need... and where in the chain should I put it How should I route the guitar <this list never ends.... it just goes on and on and on.....> For basic HELIX knowledge, check out the "IDIOTS GUIDE TO HELIX" video series on You Tube. For GENERAL KNOWLEDGE and how to apply it with a Helix.... JASON SADITES videos on You Tube will give you months if not years of training. For GENERAL KNOWLEDGE not specific to the Helix.... look at videos of the real gear. EG: If you don't know what a VOX AC30 sounds like, or how/when/why to use it. Look it up! Then apply that knowledge to the AC30's within the Helix. Repeat for every amp and effect the Helix offers.

Are you aware of the Line 6 Knowledge Base? It's in the menu at the upper left of this very page. "knowledge base" > "effects/controllers" > "helix" Here is a direct link to that page.... https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effects-controllers/helix/ Check out "Helix tutorial videos" for some basic knowledge or "Helix Tutorials by Jason Sadites" for more advanced knowledge. Don't stop there... as there should be other pages of interest as well. IMO... This is an extremely useful video (shortcuts). If you can understand these, it makes using the Helix faster, easier and more fun.

Your rant reminds me of my father holding a multi function remote control :) The helix interface is DEEP, not difficult. In order to access the thousands of options everything needs to be multi function. Read the cheat sheet Learn the shortcuts Do yourself a favor and download HX Edit. That will give you a larger visual of what is going on. Familiarity is the key... LOGIC is Apple, iPhone is Apple, iPad is Apple. All of your examples are Apple! I take it you are familiar with Apple. Helix is not Apple... so there are some things you need to get familiar with. Once you do, ALL Line 6 products will make sense. What Helix model do you own? The FLOOR should always return home to the signal flow page. The LT's home button also returns instantly to the Signal Flow page... but the LT also has performance mode button to display the "Presets/Snaps/Stomps" since it doesn't have scribble strips to show those. If you have an LT, don't confuse what is actually considered "home". There is no shortage of videos on you tube... head there and search for "An Idiots Guide to Line 6 Helix"... it's a decent little primer series for the product. Once you get past the basic knowledge look up "Jason Sadites helix" to dig deeper. Be prepared to spend some time on this thing... it's worth it.

I'm usually very good and watching for / picking up on resurrected threads... and avoiding them or approaching them very differently. I completed overlooked the date on this one. Sorry about that!

My post was in reference to the OP and the initial question/concern he had. You are talking about one reply from a different user. This post got derailed from something useful into a completely different issue (par for any forum I guess - LOL).... I was trying to steer it back on topic. Sorry if I confused the matter :)

This doesn't effect me in any way... but I can understand the need for a feature like this. It's so practical I can't understand how it was overlooked. This has nothing to do with tuning stability... guitars need to be tuned and sometimes they need to be tuned at the worst of times. I don't know any guitar player that has been immune to that scenario.

What happens if you set it to global. Do the presets and snapshots all see the pedal, or do they still lose it?

Yes... the helix backpack will work nicely with the HD500 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HelixBP--line-6-helix-backpack

Unless you changed it.... "Global > Preferences > EXP2/EXTAmp" defaults to EXP2... there should never be a reasons to mess around with that setting unless you need it to control your amps instead. More importantly, what is "Global > EXP Pedals > EXP 2 Pedal Position" set to? Based on your description, you should likely have that set to global. Every patch you go to will use the "current position" of the pedal, rather than a pre-defined value that needs a pedal refresh to break free from.

In a computer world you are right, but a Variax is NOT ethernet and neither are other Line 6 products. They just re-purpose CAT 5 for their own products.

That's your problem. You need to run the same versions of each. If you don't want to upgrade your Helix, downgrade your version of HX Edit.

This is what I would do.... YMMV. Create two paths... upper for electric, lower for acoustic Set the upper path input to "guitar" (plug you electric in here) Set the lower path input to "aux" (plug your acoustic in here) Using the mixer.... PAN the UPPER path to the left (send the left out to your amp) Using the mixer... PAN the LOWER path to the right (send the right side to the PA or to an Acoustic amp) IMPORTANT: If you use an XLR to send to the PA you MUST plug a dummy jack into the 1/4" RIGHT output. Put any number of effects into the two paths that you want... but save one effect block for the next step In the first block (before the paths slip) insert a LOOP and set the mix level to be 50%. Run a cable from the SEND to the VOICETONE (NOTE: You will need a STEREO to MONO cable for this... the STEREO end plugs into the SEND of the HD) This is what you end up with... Electric guitar path on the UPPER Path... outputting to the LEFT output Acoustic guitar path on the LOWER Path... outputting to the RIGHT output Both guitars use the SEND to feed the VOICETONE. It is the DRY guitar tone from either the acoustic or the electric. Now you can use your imagination to finish the patches using that template. For primary electric patches.... throw all the effects in the upper path. For an acoustic patch, toss a few effects in the lower path. You can "auto mute" the guitar you don't use in a patch by simply setting it's input to VARIAX (eg: on the electric patch, set the lower path input to VARIAX and the acoustic will be muted when you select that patch). Everything is now programmable... no A/B boxes, no swapping cables, etc... etc...

Just to clarify what seems to be a misunderstanding... (and it is a common misunderstanding) They are not "controlling apps in tablets via USB", they would be "controlling apps in tablets via MIDI over USB". Understanding that, "rd2rk" has already addressed everything that matters.

I had to read that a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly.... USB Output to the PC has latency Headphone Output to MIC Input on the PC has latency NOTE: why didn't you expand this and try the headphone output to the amp input.... that would have had no latency 1/4" out to the AMP has no latency NOTE: why didn't you expand this and try the 1/4" output to the MIC input on the computer... that would have produced latency. I hate to sound like a broken record, but everything you run into your PC has latency.... it's the PC that has latency, not the HD. Furthermore... this is actually normal.

NOTE: This only works if you don't use the global EQ... (I did a search and didn't see anything, but if this has been discussed before I apologize) Scenario... XLR out > FOH (PA) 1/4" outs to personal FRFR Volume control is disengaged from the XLR so you can adjust your stage volume without changing the level to the FOH (PA). The XLR outputs can be set to MIC or LINE in the global settings, but they don't have a PAD which is common on most DI boxes. Even set to MIC, when the volume knob is disengaged the signal can be borderline hot. What do you do when the tech yells out "Can you PAD the DI"? GLOBAL EQ to the rescue. Turn it on Make sure the EQ options are flat (no cuts or boosts) Assign it to JUST THE XLR outputs Turn the volume down in the Global EQ to -10 or -20 (somewhere in that range will always make the tech happy) The global EQ is now acting as a variable DI PAD across all patches... exactly what I needed. NOTE: Since the Global EQ and the Volume can be assigned to different outputs independently you are not limited to just my example.

Wow... those rings are what I rely on in the sun and they have worked for me. The scribble strips disappeared on me in the sun.