brainbug

Well Matthew, I wouldn't bother to connect the bass through the Helix, Just connect the 2 guitars. Connect the bass straight to the mixing desk through a DI box. Many many pro bass players do that Live all the time. So Helix can handle 2 guitars quite easily. ;)

Well, now I ordered two of these, as with the band there are no problems as the mixer has individual phantom power switching, but when I play with the duo, the mixer has 6 channels and it's very hard to find a small mixer tha has that feature, so I'm gonna need these blockers. I thought to share this as they are good and not too expensive. By the way, I mentioned earlier I had the same problem with a well known japanese brand Keyboard.. I didn't realize at that moment, but when someone asked Line6/Yamaha what they are gonna do, I realized that as the keyboard was a Yamaha, it might not be a coincidance.....

Philosophy Phantom blocker blocks Phantom power while leaving the audio signal intact. Phantom power can be applied to either the male or the female side of Phantom Blocker's XLR connector and will not reach the opposing xlr connector, the audio signal travels without restriction in both directions. Applications: Microphone preamps Some (older) preamps are sensitive for Phantom power at the input. The preamp's input transformer cannot handle Phantom power from another source. The transformer's thin silk isolations can burn out because a burst of Phantom power switching on creates a high voltage in the input transformer ,to prevent this a complete blocking is needed. Unbalanced TRS to XLR cables When connecting an unbalanced TRS to XLR cable pin 3 of the XLR connector is directly connected to ground, creating a short, this can damage input transformers and under-dimensioned phantom power circuits. Balanced device outputs Phantom blocker is a great solution to protect the output of any device connected to the XLR input of a mixing desk or preamp which has Phantom power switched on, e.g. your computers audio interface. Microphones There are microphones (mainly Ribbon microphones) which do not tolerate Phantom power, to protect your Ribbon microphone against Phantom power we advise FetHead. Connecting a ribbon microphone to a cable which has Phantom power applied sends a rush of current through the microphones transformer, this current gets amplified by the transformer into the primary circuit of the microphone and forces the ribbon out of the magnetic field it is suspended in, this can permanently stretch the ribbon. Important ! Before connecting the device you wish to shield from Phantom power make sure Phantom blocker is attached, have Phantom power switched on and wait 5 seconds during which Phantom blockers internal bleeder resistors will cancel out voltage differences. Connecting in this order prevents the transfer of an initial AC voltage burst created by the Phantom power switching on.

But still................................. <_<

Sescom SES-IL-PPB XLR Inline Phantom Power Blocker The SES-IL-PPB removes harmful phantom power from energized microphone inputs when phantom power isn't required. The SES-IL-PPB protects expensive and sensitive ribbon mics, dynamic mics, direct boxes, splitters and other devices not compatible with phantom power. It features complete passive circuitry to keep your audio signals distortion & noise free. A perfect addition to any audio run bag.

In other words this is a mistake in the electronics project. The use of 1/4" is not a workaround, is a second-best expedient. 1) The use of 1/4" means you need a DI. 2) The use of 1/4" means you can't use XLR for foh AND 1/4" for monitoring. 3) One of the strong points of Helix was the possibility of having 2 separate outputs for 2 different paths (another guitar? another instrument? whatever) now you tell me we can't. I think this oversight (and your answers) makes Helix less professional than I thought it was

As already said, some input from L6 would be appreciated... What's the problem here? We would like to know. None of previous L6 products had this problem, so what are we going to do now? Last night the sound tech had to disconnect pin 1 of the xlr cable just to be able to use Helix.. Is it solvable or do we have to get a line isolator for gigs where mixers with individual channel phantom switching is not available? :(

Sorry Peter, I can't find where the manual says it. Can you tell where in the manual it's mentioned?

And there was no hum with ground lift on? If so that's good news as the problem is solved.. :) :)

IF it is like davidb said, it would be a serious problem; most of the 16 or 24 ch mixers don't feature individual phantom power switching. So if you are in a gig with such mixer and you need phantom power for microphones (just think of the drum kit) you cannot use your XLR outputs on Helix. Or you would have to buy a line isolation box, and that would be expensive and a bit silly as none of the previous line 6 products had this problem.

I completely agree with this Phil. When you record a singer do you equalize the voice before recording? Or afterwords to make it sit in the mix? I don't see the point in having global eq on USB.

I had this impression too, and now after reading your post I'm happy to know it was not just an impression.

Many of us are really hopeful about it

It would be a problem expecially if you don't have a mixer with separate phantom switch per channel.. I once had a problem, never solved, with a keyboard of a well known japanese brand.. if phantom power was on the xlr channels of the keyboard you could hear horrifying rhythmic bangs on the speakers that could have easily damaged them .. the assistance said that it was a professional keyboard so it's expected separate phantom power switches on the mixer :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .. pity that the top of the line keyboard of the same brand did not have the problem.. and the problem is still there. :angry: :angry: I am sure Line 6 has a totally different approach with customers

It happened to me while updating from 1.02 to 1.04.. It wouldn't update like you said. I tried to update it to 1.03 first and it did it. Then to 1.04 and this time it was successful. I don't know if it was just a coincidance but it worked. Hope this will help you.

You're right, the point of Silver is that when you go back to control the volume, your pedal is not in the correct fisical position so you could have volume drops or jumps. In my opinion this could be solved the way keyboards do.. the volume level stays where it is until moving the pedal you engage it and then it moves with it.

Let's ask for a motor pedal :lol: Yes, you're right, it would be an issue in some circumstances, not in other. But I think it would be a minor issue compared to leave feedback to max or volume to max. Let's say that footswitch to toggle exp 1 and 2 (not turning on and off the related fx) would be another useful tool, then everybody would choose what to do.

I get your point Silver.. But still I could put in the same footswitch wha on and wha off, so I would have the switch that toggles exp1 and exp2 (as you said that just toggles the operation of the pedal 1 and 2), Pressing exp 1 it would turn the wha on and set me to operate exp1 with the pedal, pressing it again it woul turn wha off and set me on exp pedal 2 and the volume. Or did I get something wrong? PS I'm just disussing it, I'm not complaining or being obnoxious :)

Yes Duncann, and that's really a good and usefull feature. All the same would be usefull to be able to decide where to leave the feedback before switching back to volume pedal or whatever else I got in exp 2

P.S. That would be useful in many other applications, not just volume and wha.. Think of reverb decay or delay feedback, using it like it is now it would be impossible, because before switching back to volume or whatever, it would set decay or feedback to max, and that we definately don't want.. :wacko:

In my opinion the idea would be quite an easy one, just the possibility to assign to a footswitch exp1 or exp 2, like toggle between them. That is exactly what the toe switch does, but if you can do it with a normal footswitch you wouldn't have the problem of going to max with exp2 before switching. Or vice versa.

Hi bmdenton how do you enable a footswitch to turn off control over the volume pedal in Helix? I had a look but I can't figure it out.. Thanks for your replay anyway...

:( Thanks Phil, ok, it would be useful though. Hopefully one day ..........

Thanks Silver, I had a look at the thread, and yes, that would be perfect IF it would leave the value of the other pedal alone, not setting it to max. And by the way, how do you assign a footswitch to change exp pedal? Thanks a lot

I mean, if it's not already possible, it would be nice to have the option, when a wha (or Whammy for example) is assigned to a footswitch, when you switch it on to select the exp1 too.. and when you switch the wha off, the pedal goes back where it was, exp2.. As i said if it's not already possible, this could be a suggestion .. ;)