PeterHamm

I used to use a full pedalboard with my HD 500. It looked like this.

I used all the buffer, volume pedal and gain/comp/distortion stuff before the input. Put the POG2 in the loop, turned it on with a footswitch.

POD HD worked with external pedals really well imho. That EP booster was my "secret sauce". Might get another one again...

Yes. I have noticed this, the first day I was messing around.

But, now that I know the unit pretty well, since I never use a "full amp"... ever... it hasn't affected me.

The Bias controls is your friend. It's different on every amp, Simply turn it till it sounds good.

All amps are capable of that fizz. What you're hearing is really on the original amp! But you CAN get rid of it.

Am I the ONLY guy who just adores the IRs that are already in the box? the Z cab, the 4 x 10 bassman... mmm... mmm... I could be happy most days with just those two.

pluggwd in my zoom G3 today and the problem is nowhere near as bad as with the helix. Almost unnoticeable which makes me think it's not something wrong with the wiring of the house.

Makes me think it IS. Because your G3 probably has a 2-prong power plug. This still sounds like a grounding issue to me.

...Why wouldn't the helix control have an expression pedal on it but have the same price point on it?...

If the control has an expression pedal, it won't fit in a 2sp rack drawer. Simple really.

The Rack/Control unit has no expression pedal and of course no scribble strip for the EXP. It should be noted that if you have volume pedals and existing EXP pedals, they MAY work just fine with Helix, but if you get the rack and must have an EXP with a toe switch, you have to buy the Mission above. Mission makes good stuff, so don't sweat it.

The Floor unit does not have Word Clock in. If you don't know what that means, I seriously doubt you need or want it.

That's all.

As of the forthcoming firmware 1.0.6, even patches will be shareable between them.

If you don't need the 1/4" output for anything else I agree completely

Even then, you can go "through" the D.I. if you want.

I can NOT hear the difference between using a DI out from the 1/4" output and using the XLR out on Helix.

On HD 500 I could hear a difference, but I liked the 1/4" output better.

imho, if you're stuck with a mixer with phantom power, you probably already have a DI lying around. Just use it.

I will say this. I read the whole manual the week before Helix arrived in my hot little hands.

After sitting down with it for a day or two and then referring the manual about 2 or 3 times... I have not had to look again, and in fact, I'm not sure where I put my printout I made. I lost it... because I don't need it.

But I do recall that every function in the entire unit was in there in all the detail you need to actually use the unit.

Anderton has the right idea I've learned. Reading that manual was a waste of time for me, except that as a beta tester I felt compelled to so I would be able to point out anything that might be "off" in it... (there isn't).

...And why the hell would they have put protection on the now inferior HD500, but not the flagship Helix?...

The HD 500 was mic level, basically two built in D.I. boxes. the Helix is line level. Different.

There are so many ways you can do this... I use an EXP (you can also use a footswitch) to change all the parameters of the amp from clean (heel down) to dirty (toe down) and it works great, and it sounds "cohesive" with the same amp and cab.

...the aim of helix is to need no extrernal devices...and if it still does, that fails...

No, it is not. I disagree.

​I am not sure I know of a current product in this category that has more potential to work great with external devices as Helix, with it's 4 send/returns, CV control, and Amp switching control.

Yes, maybe you're like me and you don't need any external devices (I didn't the last year I used HD 500 either)... but now that I see the potential... who knows... maybe I need to GET some external devices now!

I think i've narrowed it down to 60 cycle hum but it seems to be much more pronounced than any of my other gear and I am using humbuckers as well. 

 

I had similar problems with my fx pedals until I got a dedicated isolated power supply (hot stone deluxe) and then it was silent. You would think that there would be good power filtering inside something as high end as Helix. 

 

The problem is much worse with high gain amps but even with a JC120 model it's still very noticable when i'm not touching the strings. 

You definitely need to check that wiring in your house, or have you already?

With all due respect, for a product costing this much with so many features and parameters, that is a pathetic view for the manufacturer to take.

Seriously? I strongly disagree.

This is a tool for guitarists. No doubt LIne 6 knows that 95% of them probably would say "System Exclusive of what?"

It's not a synthesizer made for rocket scientist computer genius keyboard players after all.

I really seriously doubt that many people are pining away for 3rd party Editor/Librarians for their guitar processor.

I also have run through all of the Line 6 modeler's, AX212, to Pod XT, X3 Live, HD500 and HD500x and Helix.  I found the HELIX immediately had better feel and the amps were much more responsive to guitar and playing style.  The only thing that is still a little elusive for me is a good acoustic sound using a JTV Variax.  I had a good one dialed in on the HD500X but for whatever reason haven't been able to dial it in on the HELIX yet.

Try one of those Taylor IRs floating around. but don't set the mix at 100% with Variax, you might not need it all.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view

I have to say, I never turn on phantom power for a device that doesn't absolutely need it. That's kind of audio engineering 101 stuff.

And Helix isn't the only device out there that has a problem with phantom power.

Sorry, fellas, I think it got left out of the manual by accident, and I don't think there's  story here.

When everyone and their mom owned Mackie Digital 8•Buses, Mackie announced they had stopped working on Version 4.0 software and that it would never be released. The internet blew up, everyone freaked out, and the next week they released 5.0. Completely skipped 4.0, just to be trolls.

 

Maybe the next Helix firmware will be "42.0.0", followed by "9.Pi", followed by "Million.Steve".

I always suspected that those guys at Mackie had a deranged sense of humor though...

Does it go to 11?

Don't even look at it...

I did a trick like this with HD 500 live with my looper and it worked fantastically. I bet the Helix does it just as well, but I haven't messed with it yet.

There is some good stuff on YouTube, but I think you'll see fewer tutorials for this than other products because once you learn the interface, it's so easy to learn.

I was more comfortable with Helix after a couple hours than I was with the HD 500 after a week. Now I feel like I know every nook and cranny of it.

Ceiling fans are often the culprit. Dimmer switches can be a disaster too...I've got both in my "music cave", lol. Makes using single coil pickups interesting sometimes.

Dimmer switches are Satan's tools of destruction. I will never have one ever.

Fluorescent lights, even those nasty CFLs... just as satanic, evil, bad and evil.

Just spend some time with the Divided by 13 the last two nights.  Damn that's awesome.

It was wonderful in HD 500 too. Haven't found a guitar that can't sound good through it.

Yes, check in a different room or even building if you can. That sounds like a wiring ground problem in the house.

Thanks guys for your reply and great knowledge. Much appreciated.

 

Just a comment, Helix is a complex box -  a computer combined with DSP´s

and a  operating system. A proper reference manual would probably enable another

level of programming possibilities as well as enable opensource programmers

to make an editor interface that Line6 may not want to share / or offer resources 

for.  Likewise the open source (free) editor software for Roland GR-55 Guitar Synth.

 

Thanks again. ;)

It's not that kind of product I don't think. I'm fairly certain that there isn't another level of programming in the box that would do much for the kind of guitarist that is going to use it. When you see all the parameters, for instance, that you can program in a given amp... what else are you hoping for?

As far as an editor goes, the unit is so easy to learn and use that the only thing the eventual computer editor is going to get you is the same interface on a laptop or iOs screen or some such so that you don't have to bend down as much.

XLR it is then, thank you and I apologize if I hijacked this thread. :)

On the contrary, your questions worked pretty well with the title and I'm assuming original intent of the post.