njglover

While you have the Helix plugged in, right click on the speaker icon in the tray and go to playback devices. You'll probably see that the Helix is set as default there. Set something else to default (while the Helix is plugged in) and it should stop doing that, I believe.

If you look in those old threads, you will see why this is not possible. In order to capture the sound of a cab, you need something to capture the sound with, ie a microphone. You could use the world's most accurate microphone with the world's flattest preamp and AD converters, but there will always be some coloration from all of that, the room it was in, how far the mic was from the cab, where the mic was in relation to the speaker, etc. One could argue that we know the frequency response of speakers, but we only know that because the companies measured it (with microphones). That also doesn't factor in what tone the cab adds. So, in short, there's just no way to get the sound of a cab without first having captured that sound, so there will always be a microphone involved. Even if there wasn't, your FRFR or PA system or whatever would still be coloring the sound, so it still wouldn't sound like the cab. It's just the way things have to be with modelers. They always have been and always will be aimed at capturing the sound of a miked cab..

Sometimes just refreshing the page will log me back in, so I don't think it's that I'm actually be kicked out, it's just that it isn't recognizing that I'm already logged in.

You also need to set the re-amp source. This is the part of the manual you want:

Right. If you are using the guitar input on the floor unit, the default setting is an auto impedence, so it will change depending on what you are using in your patch. Basically this means that the load on the guitar pickups will change depending on what you have set up, so your guitar may be brighter or duller with different amps. The Focusrite is fixed impedence, so you don't get as much flexibility in terms of matching the original amp design. Now, if you were going wireless, that would be different as the impedence matching wouldn't really do anything. Or if you are using active pickups. But going wired with passive pickups it absolutely can change your tone.

From the EP Booster manual, the switches are for a +3 dB boost and a bright switch.

Not really. If they are plugging the guitar into the floor unit, they'll be using whatever impedence setting is on the Helix. Native can't do that, so you are at the whims of whatever audio interface you are using. The hardware Helix units are much more flexible in that regard.

But that tone isn't necessarily the best tone for the song, as others have mentioned. You just need a tone that works, and if you already have one that is working then... you are done. Use it and move on.

I would be really interested to see a chart of all of this for each model. Not necessarily saying you have to do it all, but it would be interesting and might help when trying to nail something down. Mostly just the info you've presented here: each cab's signature, each mic's signature, and what the different parameters do with each cab (generally, not for each mic). Perhaps just an averaged frequency response chart for each cab (graphical version of the signature), same thing for the mics, and then just a description of what the parameters do. I suppose each cab chart could actually overlay a few different charts, one for average with minimum distance and one for average at maximum distance, etc. As a side note, from my own experience I am fairly certain the early reflections does add reverb. Like a small, short room reverb. It's more noticeable when you crank it way up. Not sure if that has anything to do with the boost.

So then use the tone that works better? Why spend hours tweaking if you've already got something that works? It sounds to me like you are trying to fix problems that weren't there and creating new problems along the way.

Regarding EQ, I think it depends on the tone. With the Helix, I find I don't usually need much, but it probably helps that I thoroughly vet my tones first and the other guy I've mixed is also very careful with his choices. When recording my other guitarist, who uses a real amp, I have to be more aggressive. For "good" tones, I will typically still cut everything below about 120 Hz (sometimes higher) and everything above about 7.3 kHz. I may be more aggressive with it depending on the song, but that's a good starting point. I have already done that on my patches on the Helix, so I can more or less skip that step for my tones. From there, I may boost or scoop the mids with fairly broad strokes, boost a tiny bit around 3 kHz perhaps for extra bite. Not much else required. This usually works fine on it's own, too, but sometimes it only works in the mix. The exact treatment depends on how the guitars fit into the mix. I've also used multiband compression in some cases where I really want to have consistent tone throughout a song. It's kinda like EQ, but it allows me to maintain a consistent amount of mids or presence or whatever regardless of how the part was played. My approach is largely the same for miked amps, but I may need to get surgical with notched bands on the EQ for weird resonances.

I definitely think you are overthinking it. Just figure out what tone you are trying to get and then tweak until you get something close. When I initially did that, it did take me a while, but only because I really wanted one specific tone. Everything else I've just messed around with until I got the sound I wanted. I tweak things occasionally if I learn something new (for example, bringing my high cut down to 7.3k instead of 11k recently), but otherwise I generally leave well enough alone. I think the trap people get into with the Helix is that because there is so much you CAN do with it, people think they HAVE to use that power. And you just don't. Sure, you can spend forever dialing in just the exact perfect tone for each and every song, but maybe that's not the best use of your time. Most great albums are probably recorded with one or two amps and probably not much changed from song to song. That also helps cement your own personal tone. For example, with only a few exceptions I use one IR for everything. Clean, dirty, doesn't matter. I found one I liked and I stick with it. Makes building new sounds very easy.

The Gizmo is a device to switch amp channels via MIDI, so OP would be able to control channel switching on the Dual Rec using MIDI from the Helix (instead of the 1/4" jacks, which is important since there are like 50 billion things to switch on a Dual Rec). The Helix would be able to control your channel switching in this scenario. I think you are also asking if you would be able to use both the preamp and power amp sections of the Dual Rec in some cases and just the power amp (with preamp tone provided by Helix) in other situations. This is probably possible using the 4 cable method, you would just control whether or not certain ins and outs are used on the Helix. I've not tried it and have not messed around with MIDI or really any of the external loops on the Helix, though. However, this kinda defeats the purpose of the Helix in the first place since the whole goal is to model the amps with the Helix instead. Indeed, the Dual Rec model on it is very good, IMO. It makes more sense to just run the output of the Helix into the FX return of the amp so you are only ever using the power amp of the amp, then there is no need to ever switch channels on the amp. Makes the amp kinda overkill for what you are using it for, but it sounds really good when I have done that.

Yeah, I think it internally drops the volume but the actual numbers stay at 0. It's confusing and I believe it's been talked about here before. Wish they would make it a little more transparent.

Haven't actually listened to it (sorry!) but based on what you are describing, you probably want to look at a hi-cut (alternatively called a low pass filter). I usually set mine on the Helix cab blocks and generally I have it cut starting at about 7.5k. At first you will probably think this sounds dull and lacking in presence, but it gets rid of a lot of the nastiness of distorted tones and you will find that you don't miss the treble once you hear it in the mix. If you want to bring back a little of the presence, you could try boosting via EQ at around 3k. You can do all of this in Reaper or on the Helix, mind you. I just happen to like to get it right at the source so that live engineers aren't mucking up my tone at shows (based on the principle that if it sounds good to start with then they will leave it alone).

I've not had any issues or complaints using it for bass. With a minimum of tweaking I got the Mesa 400+ model to sound virtually identical to the real thing. I no longer own that amp because I saw no reason to keep it when the Helix nearly perfectly replicates it. Traded to a friend for a smaller, lighter Markbass amp (the SD800 I believe). For practice, I'm not super picky. If we are using in ears, I won't even set up an amp. If there happens to be an amp already set up, I will plug into that if we're being lazy. I've also just gone direct into our PA speaker when there isn't an amp handy and we're being lazy. For small venues or places where I'm not confident in the PA, I will bring the SD800 and a Markbass 1x15 cab. I run the Helix into the effects return and use it strictly as a power amp. I've never had any issues with this setup. Don't think I've even had to run the volume more than halfway up, honestly. For larger venues or venues where I know the PA system is adequate, I just go direct to FOH. In these cases, I generally use my in ears (sometimes we run these ourselves), so I don't have to think about monitors. The only issue I've ever had with this setup is that the sound person isn't always the best at listening to me when I say what I want in my ears, but in terms of FOH sound, never any issues with this. Had a few compliments and baffled looks when I tell people I don't even have an amp on stage, actually. I've been using the Helix as my exclusive piece of gear for the past two years now for both guitar and bass. It's made my life so much easier. In terms of bass tones, since that is more the topic of this post, I honestly don't see how people can't get good sounds out of it. I suspect it's the same thing the Helix guitar players think when yet another post of someone complaining pops up. Just spend a little time with it tweaking and there's no one to not get at least one good tone out of it. The only thing that is a bit of a struggle right now is good fuzz tones, but that's true for guitar and bass IMO. Since they added the Obsidian, I am beyond happy with the bass distortion tones I can get. I've got everything from clean to super heavy metal now (which is important in my band). Recently took advantage of the legacy synth effects to add a sub bass and synth strings to a patch, actually. It's quite awesome.

I use the amp and cab blocks separately, I think, though I probably don't need to. I'm actually using the Mesa 15" cab, I think, cuz I like the way it sounds. I don't find it to be muddy at all, but YMMV depending on the bass. I like Stingrays because of how they sound, and being active probably helps with clarity (but I leave the tone controls at the neutral/middle setting). IMO, it sounds so close to identical to the tone I was getting with an actual 400+ with a 1x15 Markbass cab that I sold the 400+. There was just absolutely no point in having the real thing. For most live gigs, I just plug straight into FOH, though for practice (or crappier venues) I still use a Markbass amp (just the power section) and the 1x15 cab.

If "pretty much everybody knows" it sounds bad, then why are there people saying it sounds good? Pipeline audio literally wrote the book on using Reaper, IIRC, so I don't think your engineer skills mean much to him, either. Different people have different tastes, just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean it is bad or that "everyone" thinks the same way you do. Believe it or not, you are not the be all end all of what is and isn't good in music. Personally, I love the smart harmonizer. Does it sound a little fake? Maybe. But it nails the 80s vibe I want it for - you know, back when harmonizers sounded super fake. I use it specifically for leads, as I don't think it would work terribly well for rhythm where I am more likely to be playing chords (which is definitely not a strong suit of the harmonizer). Think Yes's Owner of a Lonely Heart. If that lead tone is what you want, you'll get there with the harmonizer. And for me, I love that.

Speaking as someone who worked for Guitar Center once upon a time, I can tell you that the return policy is a huge selling point. The goal is to get people to buy the gear and take it home and for a lot of people, feeling like they will be stuck with it if they don't like it means they don't want to buy it at all. If I tell them, "You know, I think you will absolutely love this, but if you don't, you can just bring it back," people are way more likely to take what I am selling. So yes, there are some people that absolutely abuse the policy, but on the whole it's actually great for retailers. Shoot, I probably wouldn't buy anything online if there wasn't a chance to return it. Especially guitars. Companies like Sweetwater couldn't stay in business if they didn't allow returns. We all know how picky guitarists are about their instruments. It also means that the Guitar Centers of the world with many locations can bring in a guitar from another store and the customer isn't stuck with it if it comes in scratched or otherwise not to their liking. I should also point out that I'm not aware of any specific laws requiring retailers to take returns. It's set by the individual retailer. Some places have really long policies (like a year or more), some have really short ones or no return policy at all. A lot of the small shops don't allow returns and that's a big part of the reason why big stores like Guitar Center could thrive. Customers feel better knowing they aren't stuck. Basically, retailers wouldn't do it if they didn't think it helps them, and, speaking from experience, it absolutely helps them.

The one exception I would say for going stereo is dual amp setups, but even then the uses are limited. For example, in one song, the other guitarist and I are playing the same thing, then we switch to him taking a lead while I continue the rhythm. What I would like to do there (and what I have set up in Helix) is I split my guitar to two different amps, panned hard left and right, to give the impression that there are still two rhythm guitars playing so no fullness is lost. However, in practice it's generally too much hassle to get sound guys to agree to that and I don't have enough inputs on my splitter I use so I can run my own IEM to make it happen anyway, so I've pretty much just given up on that idea. I'm sure no one notices anyway.

In the OP's situation, (s)he is only panning 24% any direction, so it's still mostly mono. If you are going to run stereo live, then the outputs you are giving them are left and right, meaning one has to be panned 100% left and the other 100% right. The Helix will take care of where each sound actually is in the spectrum. If you pan both center, you will not get any stereo spread.

You don't even have to save it. You can just watch the switch state change as you toggle through the effects in it. But you do want to make sure to save it if you want the state to be correct the next time you open it. I wouldn't really call it a bug since it is working as designed. The issue is that something has to be used to determine the state of the switch. That is, what should the switch look at to determine when the state is changed? So it has to tie itself to something that it controls so that it knows whether it is on or off. By toggling the effects, you can tell it which thing to tie itself to. In your case, you have named the switch "Clean" so you want it to tell you whether your in clean (on) or not (off). So you tie it to the state of your clean amp, which makes perfect sense. Now, where it could be improved would be if they would allow you to LOCK it to the state of that effect/block/parameter so that it can't change when you update other things. In which case, I'd suggest putting in a feature request for just that :)

The order you assign effects to the switch doesn't matter. It's not about which one was the last assigned, it's about which was the last edited. That is, I put whatever I want on the switch in any order, then I select an effect (controlled by the switch) in the effect chain on the display. The state of that effect is now what is reflected by the switch. If I select a different effect, now that effect controls the state of the switch. Hence why I said make sure the effect you want is selected in the display. So, in your case, you specifically said that you mess with amp levels and other effect parameters. That is exactly the sort of thing that will change the state of the switch. You need to make sure that the last thing edited is the one you want the switch to reflect.

Just to be clear, it's not about toggling the switches. It's about which is the last effect to be visible on the screen. So if you want, say, the distortion's state to match the state of the switch, have the distortion open on the screen.

It's always worked fine for me. How are you selecting the effect? The only times I've had issues are after firmware updates. After an update, I have to toggle which is the active effect again. This works as long as that preset is open, but I have to save it if I want it to stay that way. If I don't save, it won't save which was the active effect. Just keep in mind that that is one of the things saved whenever you save a preset. You should notice that as you rotate between effects the state of the switch will change. Just make sure you don't switch to a different effect after and you should be good. Basically, save it and then don't touch anything except the switches :)