njglover

My experience is that the built in cab blocks generally require EQing to even be usable (to me), particularly with distorted tones. However, the IRs I have sound just fine without any cuts, though I generally find that adding a high cut gets rid of some of the fizziness when playing through a PA speaker. That doesn't surprise me a lot. If you've ever stuck your ear right up against a real cab (not recommended), the sound is way different than what you hear in the room. For my own comparisons, I compared what I was getting from the Helix to what I recorded of the same amp through a similar cab and messed with IRs until I got very close. What I have now is actually a little better overall than the real thing, but that could just be down to mic placement. At any rate, I'd normally EQ that recorded tone similar to what I do with the IRs now anyway. The high cut doesn't make a huge difference until it gets fairly aggressive, generally down around 10 kHz or lower is where I can start to actually hear any real difference. For the built-in cab blocks, I notice it before that, which says to me that there is a lot more unnecessary frequency information in those blocks.

Thank you for resurrecting this dead thread to share the answer! That is actually very useful since most of my rhythm patches are still based around that model. Awesome!

You can technically use the pitch shifters to lower your tuning, but I wouldn't recommend it. As others have suggested, you are much better off changing your string gauges and setup, especially if you are always playing in that tuning. The Helix is super, super easy to use. Granted that I am a very computer savvy person, but I make changes on the fly all the time. Not so much on stage (I try to have everything set up so I don't have to), but at practice I can rearrange my set lists, duplicate patches and make modifications, switch around snapshots (which are some of the easiest things to do, actually), etc. The most annoying thing to do is when I want to make a change to one particular sound that I use on a lot of different patches, then I have to go through and make that change to all the patches. This is not really a problem, it just takes a little time. And it may not even matter to you if you just use one patch most of the time. I like to have different patches for every song. Works as a convenient set list on stage, for one, but it also allows me to really dial in the specific tones and options I want for any particular song. Some of them are probably duplicates of one another, but who cares?

I have this same problem and I do have to unscrew the thing every time. Odd because the cable that came with the guitar (that only has the XLR-style plug on one end) does not have that problem and, in fact, swapping out the metal jacket from that cable fixes the problem. Might just put in a support ticket and see if they can send me another one.

Mine has also taken a tumble down the stairs and not only is the Helix not beat up and it still works fine but the case is also still good to go. Granted these were carpeted stairs, but still. Watching it roll down the stairs is not fun... The only issue I have had is that a small hole opened in one of the corners. the Line 6 warranty is over on mine, so I couldn't get it replaced, but it hasn't caused any issues. Could always just put a patch over it anyway... Also, sometimes the zipper pulls pull off, but they are easy to put back on, so... meh.

Some amps (like the Archon) also use more DSP than others. So there really is no good "this many blocks" number. Suffice it to say that I only run out of power when trying to run multiple amps on a single path (well, path 1 or path 2, not the sub-paths) and also using IRs. On the other hand, I have an amp and an IR and a combo amp/cab all on one path in another preset, so... yeah. Generally, I get around it by using 1 IR (cab) with two amps in front of it for when I need to switch between clean and dirty. For more complicated things, I may add in path 2, but usually I just stick the IR, reverbs, and delays down there so I can use path 1 to run everything else.

I use IEM on stage whenever possible. Mostly it's just for hearing myself. Doesn't really matter that what I hear may not sound like what the audience hears - it's for me, not them. As long as it sounds good out front then all good. That's why I check my tones on a PA speaker before committing to them.

Same here. I transport it to and from practice twice a weekend and have been to many, many gigs with it, even an outdoor festival. I have also (accidentally) dropped it down the stairs while in the bag - and not like a slide down the stairs, it rolled on its sides down the stairs. That was painful to watch. Still, no issues with the joystick. Had to have a footswitch replaced, but that's been kinda on the fritz for a while.

I don't use any pedal models in front of the dual rec model for any of my patches. I've always thought pedals ruin the tone, so I don't use them on the real dual rec or the model. Works fine for me...

I filter them pretty aggressively as is, not just in that they are turned down quite a bit on the amp model but also with the IR block filter. That's not the issue. It's just a bit of fizziness that isn't there on the real amp. I've noticed this on some of the clean settings of other amps, too. It's almost like a bit of "digital clipping." The Archon models are one of the few that don't exhibit that, likely due to the fact that they are higher DSP models. However, in a mix and especially live no one else would notice anyway. I only notice because I mostly practice with headphones.

This. I own a Dual Rec Roadster and have played it through a few different cabs and the dual rec model, particularly through an IR, is just about bang on. It's a bit fizzier in the high end, noticeable in certain types of playing (and probably a result of digital artifacts), but otherwise I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and my actual dual rec, at least when recorded. In the room will obviously be different and depend highly on your gear. If you are using just the preamp models, keep in mind that sag is generally a factor of power tubes, so you will be completely missing that portion. You'll want to use the full amp model (without the cab) to really get the full effect.

I use the Helix for bass (and guitar, actually). In both cases, I do not bring an amp unless I have to, just run XLR to FOH. I have in-ears, so that is all I need for monitoring. Only problems I have had so far are in monitoring when either the wedges are too low power or when the engineer can't figure out gain staging and I have to crank the crap out of the in-ears (still works fine, just more RF-type noise). You can set it up to run separate amp and cab blocks and run the cab output to FOH and the amp only output to your real amp if you want. I've just gotten lazy and don't bother doing that. For practice, or when necessary for live, I run it into the FX return of a solid state bass amp and then into a cab and it still sounds fine even going through the cab models first. In regards to setup, I generally have one preset per song since I tend to use a lot of different effects. But you could just use one if you are always going to be doing the same thing. Having access to so much more will probably tempt you, though :)

In my experience with a Surface Pro 3, it seems that I often have to plug/unplug things several times before they are recognized. At least that was the case with a USB capture card. Have even had to do that with the dock. Not sure if it was just the capture card or USB in general, though, as I don't generally connect things to the USB. But yeah. Great device otherwise, though.

I play both bass and guitar through my Helix for different bands. At home, for practice, guitar just goes direct to our QSC K10 that we use for vocals. For bass, I run into the FX return of a MarkBass SD800 into their 1x15 RJ cab. Live, I generally just run into FOH with no amps on stage. Figure it's better to let the PA system do its job. Haven't really had any problems with this approach yet, at least in turns of FOH sound. Monitoring is a different animal, but I gave in and bought some in-ears, so that problem is solved now. For gigs where I can't rely on the venue's PA, or where they just don't have a suitable PA (it's only for vocals, for example), I will just bring the practice rig. Last night we played a house show (I was playing guitar) and one of the other bands offered to share a cab, so I just brought one of my tube heads to run the Helix into. I think that's probably the best solution, but it's a lot heavier than just bringing the K10, so I dunno. I may look into building a lightweight solid state combo setup for these sorts of situations.

Deoxit is not conductive, so it shouldn't cause any shorts. I'll see if they have some ideas.

Perhaps, but Deoxit is a very common electronics cleaner, don't think they would hold that against me. Maybe for taking it apart they will, though I didn't do anything to it other than clean it. We shall see what they say. Maybe I just need to do a factory reset.

Since I have owned the Helix, I have had occasional problems with the second footswitch from the left on the bottom row. I think that is footswitch 7. I generally use that as my first switch, so it gets the most use. Sometimes it double triggers - activates then quickly activates again. Last time that started happening was several months ago and it just kinda went away, so I ignored it. It started happening again recently and I had a gig coming up, so I opened up the Helix and sprayed a little Deoxit on the switch. Well, now the switch works great, but the LED around it is acting up. The left half of the LED ring is one color while the right half is a different color. Except for red, it seems, which produces a full ring of one color. Some of the colors result in only half the ring being lit. Everything still works, so it's certainly usable, but I would (obviously) like to have it working correctly. I'm still within 1 year, so I'm sure I could send it out for warranty repair, but I have another gig in like 2 weeks and I suspect I don't want to chance it, so if there is something else I should try first, I am all ears.

I have a JTV89 and I use the Gibson model with the tone knob rolled back just a bit. From there, I go into a studio preamp model (with some EQ adjustments) and a touch of reverb. I wouldn't record with it, but for live it is absolutely fantastic. Will never compare to my actual Gibson Hummingbird, but it still captures the general tone and "feel" of it. Love it. Also I still just play it with a pick. I don't strum super hard, but also not super lightly, so I'm not sure why everyone else is saying you need to. Sounds great to me.

I've run into it mostly when I want to switch between amps. For example, I can have a dual rec into an IR on the left and an AC30 with it's stock cab on the right but I can't have both into separate IRs. Or maybe I could if they used different paths, but the way I currently have it setup I cannot. Becomes a bigger problem when using reverbs and delays as those tend to use up more DSP than, say, distortions.

Mess with the low and high cuts on the cab blocks, too. I find that, for most stock cabs, I need to be pretty aggressive with the high cut, usually bringing it to 13 kHz or lower before that fizz goes away. IRs will get you a lot closer to where you want to be, generally, but it's not impossible to get good sounds with stock cabs. I generally use one Mesa 412 IR I got from Ownhammer and sometimes stick in a stock cab depending on the tone I want. Kind of a shame - the stock cabs use way less DSP, so it would be nice to use those more.

The DT770s are closed, so if you want a less boxy sound, you might look at open headphones like the DT880s. Not quite as much bass from those, though, so not perfect for all cases.

They did say they that, but my own experience is that you can send the guitar to them and get it fixed under warranty. My guitar sounds great now. The Helix is an incredibly simple to use piece of gear despite what was said above. You can do a lot of fiddling, but you can also get a lot of great sounds with very little fiddling.

I highly recommend the combo. I did have the plink, but sent it off to L6 for repair and it has been fixed. I think there's still a little excess high end that could probably be fixed by using a coated string, but it no longer bothers me. I don't use the models all that much, though - the magnetic pickups are actually really good and the guitar plays great. The main thing I like is that I can use the Helix to do things like switch between a clean setting on the neck pickup to a heavily distorted setting on the bridge pickup just by tapping a footswitch. It was really irritating trying to do this before the Helix/Variax, but it now requires no fiddling on my part. I can also do things like lower the tone control for certain sections or add an acoustic model on top of the magnetics (or switch back and forth between them). There are just so many things I can do now that are super handy for live playing. Totally unnecessary in the studio (but I will probably still record with the Helix, at least), but incredibly useful for making my live rig "drunk proof" - "Durr, this button says 'verse,' I guess I'm doing that now!"

Just did a little Googling to confirm - I think we all agree that the cable speed was wrong, but it looks like sound does indeed move... well, 1.12533 feet every millisecond. So yeah, about 1ms of delay every foot away from the source. That's conveniently easy to remember and definitely explains why some wireless users complain about wireless systems "adding delay" when they move farther away from the amp. No, it's just that 50 feet from the amp is 50ms of delay, which is definitely noticeable.

I believe this is correct. It could technically be due to the system, but I suspect that you will encounter this with any wireless system unless you use in-ears.