I use the Helix primarily for church, and in that context, a lot of your audio personnel are going to be volunteers with marginal experience.
With this in mind, I assume it is my responsibility to make sure phantom power is not being sent to the Helix. Whether that be by confirming with the audio team that the phantom power for my channel is off, or in the event that it is a global phantom switch across multiple channels, I use DI boxes or a phantom blocker.
i believe Line 6 designed the Helix with the semi-professional to professional musician in mind, in most of those cases, the audio consoles used are going to have phantom assignable on a per channel strip basis. And in the event that the console being used doesn’t have that functionality, Line 6 provided ample output options for you.
With that in mind, I see the XLR phantom problem as a non-issue. The XLR outs are still not useless, and serve their function.
Would you have the same complaint about a vintage ribbon mic that cannot interact with phantom power?
