PeterHamm

Does Helix completely replace that combination?

 

Also, can it be used to update the firmware for a Spider Valve MkII?

 Not crazy about using a really new product with no backup, but I haven't needed my HD 500 since Helix arrived, so my HD 500 might be on the block, too (I can use Mainstage as a backup if things really go badly I guess).

Does the Spider Valve MkII only update firmware over MIDI? If so, it might work just fine, since it's a class compliant MIDI interface.

I use both the internal and an external expression pedal.

When I change the preset, then the actual position of my internal ex-pedal is used as start value in the preset.

This is behaviour is set in the global setting. (footswitch)

 

But when I use the external expression pedal, that pedal start value is always set to the minimum value independent of the actual position

of the pedal. Therefore I have to move the pedal.

I want to use the external pedal for adjusting my global volume, but here I have always to touch the pedal to get my desired volume.

 

Can anybody confirm this ? 

Thank you

What FW are you running? I do find on SOME patches, that I have to rock my pedal because even though it's set to global, sometimes one of the pedals gets "fiddly". I chalk it up to the fact that Helix is trying to figure out what my three COMPLETELY DIFFERENT expression pedals are every time I turn it on. Maybe I should be calling this a bug. It doesn't affect me much because I am likely to use only one patch for an entire set of music, but you are not alone.

Hello, and thank you in advance for any information you can provide.

 

I am selling all of my pedals for the purchase of a Helix but there are two questions that I cannot find the answer to on forums or in the user manual.

 

1. Does the Helix do the drop tuning thing?  I want to be able to drop my guitar down at least a 1/2 step like the Digitech Drop pedal can do.  I saw the video of Glen DuLaune where he had a button he hit for "Eb" tuning.  Looking in the manual the Helix can do harmony stuff, but it is really intended for drop tuning and does it track as good as the Digitech pedal?

 

2. Does the Helix save global presets for FX and amps?  For example, if I set the phaser a specific way I like it, can I set it globally so that whenever I pick that phaser on another patch it comes up exactly how I like it?  Pete Thorn mentioned something about this in his demo of the Helix but I did not see how to do it in the Manual.  I would also like it to do this for the amp settings.

 

These too things are kind of important. I will probably get the Helix no matter what, but for the price the FX8 is looking pretty good.

1. It depends on the user. Some find a 1/2 or whole step drop tune with the pitch shifting in Helix (or HD 500 for that matter) to be okay. I find it unacceptable, myself for any real-world music-making. ymmv. The Variax, however, did this AMAZINGLY well, but that would mean another purchase in addition to helix.

2. although you can't set global presets for FX and amps, you can copy a whole block from one patch to another. This is new from the HD 500 and has REALLY made my life way easier. I love it. That said, I wish you could dial up a phaser and then select one of 3 or 4 (or heck, even just one) "default state". But it doesn't work that way at this point.

btw, two-voice with the helix is da bomb.

https://pietrosquared.wordpress.com/helix-2-voice-guitar/

Here's a sample with an electric that has a piezo.

I finally just put piezos in all my electrics and got rid of the ones that don't have it.

I tried (just a little) to simulate with the electric guitar signal, but didn't even want to bother. Just didn't like it.

That said, a piezo + IR in Helix makes for some amazing acoustic tones.

Here's my take.  I'm not paying anymore than $500 for anything - electronics get cheaper.  Line6 can re-vamp the 500x into the 600x for the same price point.  Then include a little better processor, user installable IRs, and more and better sounding amps/cabs.  Oh and maybe create some decent presets before shipping it out.

I totally understand (and used to agree with) this statement.

Fact is, if I had to get by with my HD 500, I could. And I'd still sound great.

Frankly, I'm not sure how high up on the priority list making a replacement for the 500X really SHOULD be with Line 6.

That said... a 750-dollar version that had HX amp modeling, but the same HD FX and routing...? that would NOT be horrible.

how the listening is compared with a pair of near field monitor? Do you have to equalize to match the monitors? I've tried several headphones (about 70$ models) and what I've found is that there is a lack of low frecuencies.

The biggest problem with using headphones or IEMs instead of speakers is not EQ, imho.

It is levels of compression, mix ratio for delays, and amounts of gain.

But eq is an issue, too.

There isn't, in my experience, a "fix" for this. You HAVE to do your final tweaks with a speaker if you want it to sound good through a speaker.

Oh, and headphones for mixing? No. Just no. Simple basic mix start? Sure, final critical mix? Never.

"outside the range of human hearing". Hogwash. Maybe they are there, but that's probably true (depending on the human being measured) for a LOT of current pro headphones from AKG, AT, Sennheiser and others, but 7506s are NOT somehow a "gold standard". They are popular imho mostly because they are quite loud, and yes, they do, in fact, sound very good, and are comfortable for long stretches. I like them, but don't own a pair because I prefer other things.

They're not bad, on the contrary... and I suspect they'd be a great match for Helix.

Was that in March yes you are correct sir, or April yes you are correct sir?  :P

Yer thinkin' too much...

Headphones are always a compromise. Always. Because you're not moving air.

That said, I've had good luck with my IEMs (Shure SE215s) and also with my Sennheiser HD 380s.

But if you program patches with these and then expect them to sound right "live" through speakers, imho, you will always be disappointed.

So after this side trip to the school of law and business.... the editor is coming out when?

Yes, you are correct, sir.

I deal with NDA's for a living.  Breaking one is NOT illegal; it is breach of contract and opens one up to liability from termination to litigation.  Nobody goes to jail for breaking an NDA unless they are under contract with a governmental entity and subject to criminal prosecution (ie treason or espionage).  HOWEVER, if one is licensed by the government and said liscensee breaks a fiduciary commitment (ie insider trading, violation of code of conduct, etc) then they can face punitive damages and possible criminal prosecution.

Thanks for that clarification.

I do NOT deal with NDA's for a living and would add that if you are the kind of guy that breaks one, you may not go to jail, but you might, in fact, be a lollipop.

I guess a better question would be which Line6 competitors are offering something in between 500x and Helix ( both in quality and price ) ?

therein lies the problem. Between the price point of HD 500 and Helix is, I think, exactly one product, Amplifire, and it's kinda different isn't it.

Exactly. And it is not a Dry Signal, but if you would like a dry signal beside your processed signal, you can just you one of the Sends in the unit. 

it's getting confused in here. according to the manual, "GUITAR THRU OUT Passes the signal received at the front panel Guitar In with no A/D/A conversion." very simple.

If you would goto the "Sweetwater" site, they show a Helix Rack unit from the back side. On the top right side in the back of the Helix Rack, you will see a 1/4" out called Guitar Thru "Buffered".

 

I am hoping this is a dry guitar signal output.

It is exactly that, buffered, so that if you ran a longer cable, you would probably not experience noticeable signal loss.

I do very very little programming "at the gig". I might have my rack on a stand during a rehearsal, and definitely when programming, but during a "gig" (church service in my case) it's down on the floor, just as hard to get to as the floor unit is.

And that's okay by me.
 

Again, the editor made the HD 500 EASIER to program (in many ways, although I prefer the actual unit for about 90% of editing functions), but I suspect, because of the layout (especially those 6 multi-function knobs and some of the stuff you can do by soft-touching the foot pedals) I actually think people might complain that the editor is HARDER to use for Helix (except perhaps on touch-screens, which, alas, Apple is too stupid to implement).

It'll still help with your back, though, won't it...

re-install the latest firmware if you can. I think this happened to me once on the rack. I couldn't duplicate it, but it never happened again and that was way before the final FW release for it.

With a loud band, you need at least a 12" driver on an FRFR, regardless of wattage, cause you want to move a lot of air.

But, with a loud band (like loud enough where I get to wear ear plugs) nothing beats a nice big "real" amp or two. If I were doing that today, I'd get a tube power amp and 2 x 12 speaker cab.

And just how "historically" do you know that? Are you kin to the CEO at Yamaha Hamm?  ;)

 

Just wondering how you can make such a flat statement, or was this just another opinion as mine was?

Only based on knowing a few people in the industry and managing the keyboard at one of the larger music stores in the country back when Yamaha owned Korg.

Probably true but they don't have to be in California to write SW for Line6 products.  I work for a company that is part in California, part in Colorado, and part in Japan.  We all work on common products and firmware.

yes, but L6 is owned by Yamaha, not necessarily part of yamaha.

Years ago when they owned Korg, Korg maintained its own identity. You didn't see Yamaha SPX stuff suddenly make its way into Korg products.

I suspect it's the same here, but I suspect that Frank and Eric and all the rest of 'em can't talk about it anyway.

Using Helix Control with the non-rack Helix isn't possible as far as I know.

It is not and never will be.

"CALABASAS, CA – 20.Dec 2013 - Yamaha Corporation and Line 6, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for Yamaha to acquire Line 6, a leading manufacturer of innovative solutions for musicians. The acquisition expands Yamaha’s portfolio of modeling guitar processing products as well as pro-audio equipment, and offers new and exciting opportunities for accelerated growth for both companies."

 

 

Without knowing specifics they in my opinion have the resources. What they at Yamaha decide to do with those resources is a whole other thing...

Yamaha does not micro-manage or "run" companies that they own, historically. You can't just put a bunch of Yamaha software engineers on a plane for California. I really doubt it works anything remotely like that.

Your tone will rawk so hard that she will melt with desire for your awesome manliness...

Sounds to me (Electronics background for 40+ years) like your QA dept. needs more time for "Quality Assurance" to check the board's soldering temps and product status as they come off the line, and less time for the sales dept. to run the show, so to speak...

With all due respect... The QA and sales people are probably totally different peeps. The performance of one doesn't directly correllate to the performance of the other.

And we haven't heard bunches of stories of this failure, so it's pretty safe to guess that it is an isolated occurrence. There are a lot of Helices out there in the wild now. It appears most people are having a trouble free existence with it.

Honestly, no matter how well it is made, there will be an occasional issue and component failure. That is the universe we live in.