rd2rk

"I'm pretty interested in this Alto TS210 ($299). THis is a FRFR? Do you play with it in a group setting?" I just got this rig, and I'm not currently in a band. I can only tell you that based on previous experience, in bands and with tube amps, the Alto is going to sound GREAT. It WILL be replacing my Engl AND my Warwick Bass amp (I may need to get the TS215 for that if I get into a LOUD band). As for FRFR, there's no such thing, it's a myth. If it sounds good, use it! That said, the Alto doesn't seem to color the sound, it's very clear and clean. For more $ you could get something with DSP, EV or the Line6 L2m or L3m come to mind, I haven't tried either, the EV is $500 and the L6 is outrageous. Maybe they're better, but I'm totally happy with the Alto.

DunedinDragon said: I would say there are far more that have gone the route of the Helix either direct into a PA or into a FRFR rig and direct into a PA. If you examine the outputs that come with the Helix it's obvious it was designed with that in mind. ------------------------------------- This is the way to go - Helix to FRFR to FOH. I'm running into an Alto TS210 ($299), and it's scary how good it sounds! I haven't sold my Engl yet - I still can't see it as a nail :) , but it's time is coming.

What model Marshall are you using? Which Helix distortions?

That all assumes that the Helix Ins/Outs are set to MULTI.

Try this, it's called the 4cm (4 cable method): Using shielded (instrument) cables, plug your guitar into the Helix. Take Helix Send 1 to the amp's Input. Take the amp's FX LOOP SEND to the Helix Return 1. Take the Helix LEFT(MONO) 1/4" OUT to the amp's FX LOOP Return. Go to a new preset on the Helix. Insert an FX LOOP BLOCK set to FX LOOP 1. Put compressors, distortions, wah, BEFORE the FX LOOP BLOCK. Put your delay, reverb and other time based effects AFTER the FX LOOP BLOCK. If you want to try some Helix amps, put the amp/cab block after the FX LOOP BLOCK (before works too). With the FX LOOP set ON and the AMP BLOCK set OFF, assign both to one button. Now you have a choice of FX(distortion, wah)=>Marshall Preamp=>Helix delay/reverb=>Marshall Power Amp OR a straight Helix signal path thru FX(distortion, wah)=> Helix Amp=>Delay/Reverb=>Marshall Power Amp - at the touch of a button! Don't expect it to sound perfect out of the gate. Even with identical Presets on the Helix, your Marshall is going to sound different than my Engl, but this is the right way to WIRE it for what you're doing. NOTE: There's no right way to order effects. What a said above is the order most commonly recommended and the one I use (sometimes - more or less).

Never mind...don't know why I thought that the looper volume would be ON by default..... there's probably LOTS of people want to record silent loops.....just wish I hadn't undone all the silent loops I recorded while I was figuring this out, there was some great stuff there!

BUMP before I try Tech Support?

About 15 minutes later I did just that, everything imported just fine, it just didn't feel like telling me it was done!

Imported 36 Impulses, Helix screen says Transferring Data. Over 30 minutes now, I'm thinking there's a problem, not sure how to proceed....?

Well, it seems I had it all figured out without the manual, BUT....while the looper screen seems to be responding as expected, the buttons on the FBV (RECORD/PLAY) aren't lighting up as they should, and when I hit PLAY or PLAY ONCE nothing plays. PLAY ONCE and UNDO light up as expected, but no sound. I must be missing something.

Unlike the HD500, the FBV buttons aren't labelled for looper use. Which button does what? How to get it into looper mode? If there's a section of either device's manual that details this, I couldn't find it (DOH!?).

How do I get this to work?

The people who'll claim to notice it the most will be the unemployed guitar players at the back of the hall, and they'll most likely say how much better it would sound if you had a REAL tube amp like a Marshall, Fender, etc. I thought that the biggest difference was in the cleans, and that, through the clean channel, the POD ODs and distortions sounded much better than through the POD amps. That said, I thought that the ht5c distortion channel sounded awful. I now have an Engl Gigmaster head with a closed back vht112. An all around major improvement with the el84s and closed back cab. Even the POD amps, run into the Engl fx return w/o fx loop, sound much better. Likewise, the Engl distortion channel sounds great. However, this rig is neither small nor cheap. If you're happy with your sound thru the Behringers, see if you can't borrow someone's tube amp to try it out first.

Stealing is bad. A diet of sour grapes will make you ill. I paid for mine when it came out. I didn't HAVE to - I WANTED it. NOW! So I paid for it. Now Line6 is giving it away as incentive to spur sales. SO WHAT? Companies do it all the time. Though, it would be nice if the next upgrade were more than wishful thinking, and FREE......

What exactly is "Windows 10 Digital Audio Interface". If you're using the laptop's onboard audio, that could be the problem, it's not made for this application. If you're using some type of external audio interface (what kind?), and you're using the XLR outs on the HD, they output a lower signal than the 1/4" out. You can also try raising the mixer levels on the POD. I'm not familiar with Audacity, so maybe someone who is could chime in, that's all I can think of for now.

My Win10 box has no problem with the driver, nor does my laptop. Have you got all the latest Win10 patches installed? When I went to Win10 from 8.1, I had all sorts of problems until I wiped the HD, did a clean install of 8, patched it, then went to 8.1, patched it, THEN went to 10, patched it, THEN reinstalled my applications. This was on my newish i5 laptop. My ancient diy Core2 Duo upgraded perfectly first try. Go figure!

Oh, and you might also try disabling wireless networking., another common optimizing suggestion.

Not at all uncommon for USB interfaces (not just the POD) to need to be restarted (or the computer rebooted) after sleep or, for that matter, after long periods of inactivity. I've tried most every computer optimizing scheme out there, it still happens, seemingly randomly in the case of periods of inactivity. One thing ALL of the optimizing schemes say, DON'T allow sleep mode, and make sure that the USB hub (in Device Manager/USB Root Hub/Properties/Power Mangagement if you're using Windows) doesn't allow the hub to shut down "To Save Power".

"...send a preset WITH cabinet simulation to the XLR output and simulatniously send the same preset WITHOUT cabinet simulation to the 1/4 jack outputs." No. I've never tried this, but seems like if you can set up a dual amp rig and keep the signal paths separate, you might be able to send WITH CAB > Left and WITHOUT CAB > Right. Non stereo, DSP allowing. This is the kind of need that sells HELIX. "...does this mean that the hd pro x contains all amp model packs aswell ?" No

For $140, if your goal is to keep your rig simple, it's an expensive 1 for 1 swap. If the goal is to clear floor space, then go for it!

After a quick look at your amp's (minimal) manual, it looks like a standard electrical switch. The POD, unfortunately, doesn't do this. I could be wrong, though, so try Mesa support for a definitive answer.

The POD already has that capability. You can assign MIDI commands to the POD's footswitches, which you then "map" to the DAW's controls. I don't use Studio One, and Presonus has chosen to hide it's user guide in the software, rather than provide a pdf version. You didn't mention what version you have, but I found an "Unofficial" guide to v3 here: http://www.studio-one.expert/studio-one-blog/free-studio-one-pdf-user-manual I didn't spend a lot of time looking, but instructions for controlling the software with a MIDI device start on page 255. A cursory look causes me to think that it's a PITA, but you should be able to set up the MIDI functions of the POD to work it. If you don't know how to use the POD as a MIDI controller, see page 117 of the advanced user guide. In Looper mode the control buttons also send MIDI, so you might want to use those to map to the DAW Transport controls. Just turn off the volume on the POD Looper when you're using it for that purpose. If you can't figure it out in Studio One, and their support and forums can't help, you may need to get a different DAW. I use Ableton Live and Cakewalk Sonar, and I've read that it can be done with Reaper, too.

PRE type fx like distortions usually go BEFORE the amp/fx loop, POST type fx like delays go AFTER. Putting all the fx before the amp/amp model is like having all of your real world fx on a pedalboard in front of a real amp with no fx loop.I think I read somewhere in here that when using a complete POD amp with cabinet combo (vs preamp only) that the effects that you place after the amp model are actually between the preamp and amp sections, like a virtual fx loop. Not sure about that. If you're toggling between real amp and amp model I don't expect that amp/fx loop or fx loop/amp order matters, but it might if you're using the POD fx loop to insert real fx (as opposed to toggling between a real amp and an amp model). Along the lines of "whatever sounds best", whether you use full amps or preamps, with or without cabinets, with whatever mode (direct, combo front, etc) is really up to you. I've gotten good sounds using non-standard combinations where the obvious choices sounded like crap (to me).

I usually set the fx loop before the amp, with the "PRE" type fx before the fx loop and the "POST" type fx after the amp. Then you set a footswitch button to control both the amp and fx loop and save the preset with one ON and the other OFF, depending on which configuration you want as the default. Pressing the assigned footswitch will toggle the amp/fxloop.

Plug one end of a cat5 network cable into the fbv. Plug the other end into the HD pro. Done! If the functions aren't obvious, RTM.