PeterHamm

There continues to be a lot of misinformation about how this all works.

If you need the "amp in the room" for some reason (and you don't alway, even if you think you do), then you need an amp and a room. And yes a power amp into a standard guitar cab will often do the trick, but an FRFR will never be this. Ever.

If you need the "amp in the next room, miked up and coming through the PA or monitors", then a real amp in the room obviously won't give you that, and can sometimes be the wrong choice for the gig or the environment. For this you want the best FRFR you can get, and no the Alto or Headrush is never this.

On 2/28/2023 at 9:55 AM, screwjack said:

Many thanks Peter - upgraded to HX Edit 3.1 and problem solved.  

 

 

If you don't mean 3.5.1, you should. The new cabs and features in 3.5's firmware are amazing.

On 2/28/2023 at 8:41 AM, screwjack said:

Did a factory reset - still have the same issue - no graphical cone/mic, just the mic/distance sliders.  

 

I'm choosing the Princess and the 1X10 Princess cab to be sure not to grab a legacy item.   Is there a way to reinstall the software?

 

Something else I noticed after the reset - on the Factory presets the cabs are missing - so for preset 1, the US Double Nrm, The chain is Wah/Vol/Dyn/Delay/Amp/<space>/Mod.

 

It's like the new cabs were disappeared.....

 

This isn't a bug report, btw, but a technical support issue. You need to be doubly and triply sure that both the firmware and the HX Edit are on the latest. What you describe is what happens then they are not.

On 2/15/2023 at 2:49 PM, indiehead80 said:

hi guys, any fender IR's? Fender deluxe reverb, twin reverb etc... ? where can i get them? thanks

As mentioned above, you REALLY owe it to yourself to try the new 3.5 firmware cabs, they are extraordinary.

On 12/29/2022 at 11:13 PM, dbudday said:

I had an idea for acoustic guitars that I think a lot of players would love.  I know that there are quite a few players that run acoustic guitars through their Helix...with tremendous results.

I am imagining a block in HX edit - maybe even a separate Helix - for acoustics - that models acoustics like amps.  You could choose different body types or models of acoustics - and they would all be modeled.  You could even adjust the mics like you would at the neck and soundhole - much like the speakers and mics in the amp models.

Just like the amps are studied and modeled - different models of acoustics could be done the same way and then those models made available in an "acoustic designer" block.

I figure - this way you can pick your acoustic model - then add any effects - and use the acoustic model/block in place of amps when you have an acoustic plugged in.

This is very Variax-like. And I'd love something like this. I do something like it with IR now, but to have some already set, like the new built-in cabinets, would be wonderful.

On 11/30/2022 at 12:41 PM, Maksim19691990 said:

Hi everyone. Sometimes after turning on helix lt, the volume drops greatly. But everything is decided if you stick and pull out the cord of the guitar in.

Check Globals:EXP Pedals and see if your position might be set to snapshot or preset. That could easily cause what you are experiencing.

On 7/21/2022 at 4:58 AM, maxmonno said:

Greetings.
I know this is an old conversation, but I want to say my idea anyway, because I use the looper a lot.
Many argue that the maximum loop time is not an important issue. For me it is not true.
I use the looper essentially to play solos on structures that I recorded while the singer sings the song.
For example, in the first chorus the singer sings the song, I play the chords and record the loop. In the second chorus I loop the recording and do a solo. It is typical in jazz oriented.

The average structure of a song has 32 bars. If I imagine the 60bpm time of a ballad, we will have 4 seconds per beat, which in 32 is 128 seconds, more than the maximum allowed.
This means that I cannot use it to improvise on every song, and on many I will be dangerously at risk of sudden stop (this in mono and at half speed ...).

As far as I'm concerned, the increase of a few seconds would be enough to make it usable.
Instead at the moment I am forced to wire another additional pedal, which is what I would NOT want to do, having a machine like Helix available.

Some folks need a dedicated looper like those from Boss. Your situation is a perfect example of that.

On 7/8/2022 at 9:17 AM, acousticglue said:

Helix Native can a VST3 plugin be added via what is Send/Return that would be like hardware unit? Be nice to insert VST3 plugins anywhere in chain.

It would be awesome to have this capability imho.

It's not a perfect simulation. It's good, but not perfect. That kinda answers it all.

And miking a guitar in the studio, when done right, will always have a magic that a piezo through an IR doesn't have.

On 4/29/2022 at 1:54 AM, plittlefield said:

I was always of the opinion that IR's couldn't make THAT much of a difference in tone.  Then I tried out these Allure IRs. 

 

Wow.  Just Wow. 

 

I tried pairing the fender deluxe 1x12 tone with all the 1x12 models in the helix and I couldn't get ANY of them to even come close to the sound I got from the Allure IR.  I highly recommend giving these a shot, they will transform your tone.  And the price seems very reasonable (free).  If IRs make such a huge difference, it's such a substantial  difference that I don't think ANYONE would argue with, wonder why the Line 6 folks still model amp cabs and speakers.  Maybe time for a change?

First off... the guilt-in cabs ARE IR, but there a bunch of things you can alter about them, so they're "programmable" IRs.

Second, for most of us, you can take hours auditioning piles of IR until you find the "right one" or spend hours (it doesn't take me hours, tho) tweaking something that is built-in that is closest to what you are looking for.

For every user who can only find their tone with a certain 3rd party IR... there is one like me who actually finds their tone with a particular built-in cab (I have the same 3 or 4 I go to every time).

If Line 6 knew what they were doing, they'd give us both options... uh... wait... I think that's what they actually DID...

I think favorites should store more info. Like if I copy and paste an amp block where I've set a footswitch to change settings, it copies that footswitch info, but favorites doesn't store that info.

That seems like a no-brainer to me. Vote here. 

https://line6.ideascale.com/c/idea/1042738

On 4/1/2022 at 12:02 PM, ech0FX said:

Does anyone else has noises when using any Pitch changer preset? Doesnt matter if simple or poly-Pitch. If you down-Pitch even by 1 Semitone, i get a wobbly noise.

 

Use it for bass. You can hear it at lot in super low tunings but even from a simple D->C is noticable.

I was using the Simple-Pitch for Years now, but since 3.15 it makes those noises.

The lower the more noticable.

Are you putting the pitch change FIRST in the chain?

3 minutes ago, jfk049 said:

I play a Taylor 224Ce Koa, which I truly adore for fingerstyle, but with the Koa wood it's challenging to get a bright/airy strum sound from it.  Eq'ing it (high/low shelf mostly) has helped, but I just bought an IR package called "The Holy Grail" from "Worship Tutorials" and am very pleased with them.  FYI, I'm not affiliated with them at all, nor am I even particularly religious. for that matter.  They're just the best acoustic IR's I've used yet, so wanted to share that here.  Cheers.

I made some of my own (which I use in presets I sell at MarketPlace) and I also love the ones from 3 Sigma.

I really want to try those Worship Tutorials ones.

18 minutes ago, DunedinDragon said:

The one thing I see as a major reality in the Helix marketplace is the user community is somewhat divided as to how important having greater DSP power is.  A large number of Helix users who develop presets on a song by song basis or whose presets are generally pretty simple have very little concern regarding limited DSP availability.  But there's also a large group that tends to focus on building more complex multi-use presets and are constantly battling available DSP levels.  It makes me wonder if the next generation might be the step that provides the answer for the second group even though that won't be all that important to the first group.  As long as the updates are consistent across the entire Helix family I don't see where that would be much of a problem for anyone but might be a boost in broadening the market for those wanting more power for more complexity.

Another area that could easily fall into this category could potentially be areas such as automation.  Although the current platform is adequate for simple functions it's far from adequate for more complex applications as is evidenced by the number of folks using MIDI controllers with the Helix.  Perhaps these two areas of functionality could be integrated in some way in a more complex unit or add on unit.  Just spit-balling ideas here.

 

WhatEVER they do come out with, they are probably developing now or soon, right? Helix was in development for 3 years before it came out, iirc.

As far beyond HD 500 as Helix was, I expect a similar leap with the "next thing," whatever it's called. (I always vote for "WhizBang 2000 XL Mk iii SE"... which is why nobody has ever hired me in their marketing department...)

11 hours ago, codamedia said:

 

It already exists, it's just not "labeled" as such.  You can use any one of the RETURNS on a Helix as an input... each can be set as Instrument or Line level... along with a little fine tuning of each. 

 

Yes, and I do this with my 2-voice guitars... BUT... you can't use the Auto-Z feature on a Return input, AND... you can't use the tuner if the instrument you are tuning is only connected there.

I think this is a great idea!

13 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

Fwiw, this is precisely how myths spread.

all due respect, I don't measure crap like that, but you are not arguing with my opinion on this, you are arguing with my experience. And, it's not only mine, as I've learned. Others have tried both, too.

I shared my experience, and in my experience, there is a difference, and in my experience, the 1/4" -> DI solution has worked in environments where going XLR direct was problematic. Probably a half-dozen to a dozen environments where I've been able to test

That's my experience. Maybe not yours. But you can't say my experience didn't happen.

And less than 2 weeks before Christmas, (I work in a church) I am neither setting all this crap up to measure, nor am I engaging this thread anymore... just don't have the time.

4 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

So, I gather you have measured their impedance?

I don't have time for that kind of thing when I find something that always works I just kinda stick with it.

20 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Different as in? Please elaborate.

The level/impedance are lower enough that I have never had a problem plugging into any mixer this way (I use a pair of Whirlwind IMP2 passive DI).

I can't say the same for the XLR outs, regardless of Line/Mic setting.

3 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Others than the phantom power issue, there's not exactly a logical explanation for that. Having said that, as soon as I knew it'd be safe to use the XLR out (after ensuring there's no PP running), I never even once had a problem with the XLR outs.

Sure there is, the signal coming from my DI is a totally different kind of signal than what comes from those balanced outputs. 

1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Err, you could run into the same leveling issues as on the XLR out and there's no risk of impedance mismatching when using the XLR outs, either. They're really nothing else but a built in DI - just with added phantom power issues.

Disagree.

In my experiences connecting Helix to a PA, sometimes with XLR out, other times with a DI, I have had to futz and take up more of the sound guy's time than I wanted to connecting XLR every single time. With the DI, he just gets the level he's looking for, and I've literally never had an issue.

13 minutes ago, mtyrrell1982 said:

Why is this? I XLR out to the desk, am I doing it wrong?

Wrong? No.

BUT... if you aren't sure what the sound guy is doing, or if they know what they are doing, and it's an unfamiliar room, you can easily have problems with phantom power, impedance, and level that the sound guy can't figure out (because he doesn't know about the mic/line switch, the pad, or maybe the desk has mic-only inputs, there are tons of things that can go wonky.

All of that is basically mitigated or eliminated by going 1/4" out to a quality DI, and you will sound just as good.

1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

And fwiw, in case you were refering to my "rant" (which it actually isn't, but let's not get into that), for obvious reasons this should be repeated - it's the only way Line 6 might one day respond (or not, but in that case it's obvious what their preferences are).

I get that, and you are not, imho, anywhere near 100% off base.

EXP Pedal? It's why I have the rack (which is, imho, the true "pro" solution anyway), so I can choose my own.

Phantom Power? I think that everyone in a live environment should be using the 1/4" out to a DI anyway, solves more than just phantom power issues. But I'll bet money that problem goes away the next time around in some form or fashion.

iOS or Android editor? Nah. Just another platform for them to support. BT was too slow when it was being developed, and I bet few enough users want or need this to make it worth upping the price of the unit to support it. WiFi? Yeah, probably, I could see that.

Global Blocks? EXCELLENT idea. They should incorporate this if they can. But I know I'll never use it, because I don't ever want all my presets to change automatically, but I can see this as super useful.

We need cantankerous souls like you to think of the stuff that we all want but don't know it yet, so keep on keepin' on.

8 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

- Professional hardware. The current HX line is flawed with too many things that were simply chosen to save some bucks (in case someone's interested, I'd elaborate).

- Any kind of a "global block" functionality. It's one of the main reasons why I will likely switch to another modeler at one point in time.

- A mobile editing option. Crawling on the floor to adjust things simply s***s and I don't want to carry around a laptop all the time. I have at least one mobile device with me all the time anyway, so it's about time. At least give us an option to connect whatever apps. Fwiw, for me it'd likely be fine if such an option required a USB connection, but BT/Wifi would be welcomed.

Wow, I'm bypassing some of your post to focus on this.

1. How the heck is HX stuff not pro hardware? (I'm kinda calling BS on this)
2. "Favorites" isn't good enough to achieve this? What does it better? (I'm generally curious on this one)
3. It has been discussed to death why this isn't happening... (And neither Kemper nor Fractal nor QC has this, right?)

22 hours ago, Svenisak said:

I'm waiting for the Helix 2 (or be forced to buy something else). There is no way that I'm wasting money on the Helix' outdated technology! And judging from this thread, I'm not alone. 

Nothing wrong with that, wait away.

That said, people who need to make music are the ones who buy what is available, either because it's their job, or they have music in them they have to get out and literally can't wait (neither can their audiences).

Collectors and aficionados wait because they always have to have the next big thing. nothing wrong with that, perhaps that describes you. But Helix is a pro-level piece of equipment, and loads of folks are using it to make great music, entertain and love their audiences, and make the world a better place.

The Helix is still selling well, still has a lot of life left in it with updates, and even if it never got any, I could still use it for another 10 years.

Line 6 isn't worried about niche players that sell through only their own store or through only one outlet.

And they aren't worried about sub-standard copycats either.

When there needs to be a next flagship processor for guitarists, I will bet you that they have something ready, and I'll bet that it's something that they are working on now, but haven't told us about, because they can't.