FlyingsCool

Geez... leave the poor guy alone. 

I totally get what you're saying @Hideout... Helix already does what you need.  Adding more stuff doesn't make it necessarily better, until you need a change.  Until then, it's better just to keep on playing on and why bother wasting time tweaking and learning new stuff you don't need.  It's not like we don't all have enough going on in our lives already.

Do not sell this update short... It is not just more of the same... Victoria, Trainwreck, Cartographer are definitely very different amps than what has come before, and really round out the tonal palette for me, anyway, adding what I'd had difficulty producing previously.

It could also be interference from the hard drive and other components in the laptop.  Try putting a single coil guitar near the laptop, see if you hear the noise increase.

So for all the disappointed hi gain players on here.  Here are some quotes/info from TheGearpage.net thread from Ben Adrian, who created the Cartographer based on his own modifications he's made to a Traynor YBA-1...

"

Yes, I took it WELL out of Traynor land. It's mostly a modded 2204 Marshall, but with a pinch of Soldano, a pinch of Bogner, a pinch of Fryette*, and a scoop of Ben Adrian experiments.

*I have a HUGE amount of respect for Steven Fryette. I see him once or twice a year at the trade shows, and every time I go I want to buy a Deliverance or a Power Station. I'm a big fan of his work."

"

I knew people would ask this, so I made a brochure.

Cartographer Amp Information and Instructions

The Cartographer amp in Helix is a model of an amp that I built for myself to use in my band "Cartographer." The amp started its life as a 1977 Traynor YBA-1. When it came into my possession, it had been poorly modded as was not working very well. I decided to take the amp and mod it myself into the amp that would work best for my band's sound, and my unique guitar (an Electrical Guitar Company C500).

The first step was to get it working. I took out all the old modifications. I cascaded the bright and normal channels, making it a single channel amp. I began with a circuit very close to the JMP MkII amp. This included adding a master volume. The output transformer (OT) was not performing well, and was on the small side for a 50 watt amp. I replaced it with a larger OT. The amp was a bit bright for me (my guitar has a lot of highs), so I nudged the tone stack component values a bit, and I removed the two high-shelf circuits in the preamp.

Of course, I couldn't leave the amp alone. As time went on I changed some resistor values to add more gain. I added the second gain knob, which adjusts the volume between the second and the third gain stages. This allows the preamp's distortion voicing to be varied by adjusting where the most distortion is being generated in the preamp. Around this time I began my job at Line 6. Every month I had a different amplifier on my bench. Any time I discovered a clever or particularly good sounding bit of circuit, I would try it out in my personal amp to see if it pushed it into a more pleasing direction. I also began using other guitars and realized that I needed those high shelf circuits for darker pickups. I added presence and depth controls. People around the office played the amp and lobbied to get it put into Helix. I was happy to oblige.

Since the amp model is unique and slightly complicated, I wanted to give a rundown of the amp parameters.

Drive 1, Drive 2

Drive 1 is the traditional gain knob in a high gain, master volume amp. This is located between the first tube gain stage and the second tube gain stage. Drive 2 controls the amount of gain between the second tube gain stage and the third tube gain stage. The character of the amp can change drastically based on where these knobs are in relation to one another.

Drive 2 at max is the default position for high gain tones. then Drive 1 is the traditional gain knob. Of course, watch out for the Master knob being too high or things can get mushy.

If Drive 1 is set low (say about 3) and the Master is set high, then the amp will get a plexi normal channel vibe with Drive 2 acting as the gain knob.

With Drive 2 set low (2-3), and the Master volume at full, the amp can get big and clean, with Drive 1 bringing in just a bit of grit as it is turned up.

There are lots of textures available. Please experiment with the interactivity between Drive 1, Drive 2, and the Master volume.


Bass, Middle, Treble
These behave line a regular amp tone stack; located between the preamp and the power amp. Of course the values are slightly different than the big name amps. Use your ears and turn until it sounds good.

Channel Volume
Like on every other amp in Helix, this is a volume control at the end of the model used to adjust the overall level of the preset without changing the tone or distortion amount.

Master
This knob behaves like the Master Volume on the actual amp. It's located after the preamp, but before the power amp. When it's turned up high it will cause power amp distortion and saturation. At lower levels it will add less of its non-linearity and the tone and distortion of the preamp will come through more clearly.

Presence, Depth
These are similar to other amp models that have these controls. Presence and Depth are treble and bass boosts respectively. They occur after the preamp but before the power amp. They can affect overall tone of the amp model, or help define the character of the power amp clipping. They can also be said to affect the damping in the power amp.

Bright 1, Bright 2
The Cartographer amp has two bright switches. Both of these switches are high shelf boosts. Bright 1 adds a high boost after the first tube preamp stage. Bright 2 adds a high boost after the second tube preamp stage. They can be subtle, especially at higher gain setting. The usually affect the character and the harmonics of the preamp gain rather than provide a distinctive level boost in the high frequencies. Try turning them on for darker guitars. try experimenting by turning on each one individually and then both at the same time to discover how each one modifies the sound.

Sag, Hum, Ripple, Bias, Bias eXcursion
These behave the same as on other amp models."

A lot of hi gain players have been pretty happy with this amp... try it out.

Have fun, experiment with knobs, and enjoy.

It would be great if Line6 could set up a function that allows a subscribers, for any single product he wants, to receive an alert as soon was a new software update is released. We could thus avoid checking each and every day on the site, to know if a new software update is on.

Where's the fun in that????

Do it Do it Do it Do it

(I can't give advice, I'm updating now.... well, other than the above... well, I suppose that's just poking you ;)  )

appreciate your interest flying. Well.… As I’m sure you are aware anything below 12% mix, on any and every model Is much closer to “off†than it is 11% or 9% whatever. I often find my self wanting those values when working subtly.

 

With the verb a bit of a different situation but at a decay time of 0 I’d expect to hear almost no decay as where a few of the verbs will still have a quite noticeable decay sometimes lasting for seconds.

 

Sure that’s the nature of some of those verbs but no decay at a zero setting makes more sense imo.

Yeah, I really wish you could control the curve of the expression pedals.  It just doesn't seem as natural to me as I'm used to with my amp and Volume pedal

For me, if there's an IR, I'll just change it to a similar cab

more of a lonngggg open conversation among many players... :)

win7/64

 

Most of the issues I've had are when audio was actively playing and I switched the playback device to the helix. With or without editor open. If I don't do that then everything works. I usually work with helix as the audio device, helix editor and protools open with no issues. 

What is really weird is every time I hang up a skype call my usb hub resets :/.

 

 

I have all power management off. ( don't forget to open advanced options and ensure harddrive power option is off ( set to zero )

Every time I add a new usb device windows auto sets it to go to sleep and I have to go back through the device manager and all USB

devices to disable power management.

 

My startup process:

Helix editor is pretty much always running. ( I do computer stuff from home )

1. Ensure no youtube videos are open in any browser.

2. Ensure helix editor is connected ( if not then I unplug the usb from the back of the helix and plug it back in )

3. Switch playback device to helix

4. Startup protools ( which is set to use the helix )

1.  Skype sucks.  I'm sure they are grabbing interrupts and expect you not to be doing anything else but Skype.

2. Yeah, not a good idea to switch sound device in the middle of it processing a stream.  Sure way to confuse the system.

I have Win7 and play along to audio through the Helix while my editor is open and I make changes to my patches at the same time. No problem, except a fairly loud noise floor from the computer.

Yep, same here.  I use both a 2015 HP Zbook and a 2010 Gigabyte Desktop and never have had an issue with connection; in my typical session I'll be running Windows Media Player, my DAW (Mixcraft), and Helix Edit all at the same time and in concert with each other on Win 7 Pro.  Sorry you're having issues.

Any word on when this is supposed to drop? I havent been paying the closest attention.

 

 

Also, with the new update can we expect, all parameters to be correctly reported? Meaning mix settings, some reverb decay times, ect....

Soon.... ish.... maybe

Word from DI.... Hopefully November.  No other info at the moment, depends on if any of the people testing find any bugs.

Is there an issue with parameters being correctly reported?  Any examples?

Are you playing in bare feet? The snapshot swap is activated when you touch-hold two footswitches at once. If you want to defeat that behavior you could always turn the touch capatitance in the Global Settings menu, at least when you're playing live. If your playing in typical rubber soled shoes, though, it really shouldn't be an issue.

I think he means he presses both the preset change buttons simultaneously and puts it in snapshot change mode.

Thank you very much for the replies!

 

In fact I have researched a bit about 4CM and FRFR. 4CM seems too complicated when I just want to plug in and play without too much setting up on gigs. Same goes for 4CM with both amps and speakers. On the other hand, if I have understood correctly, FRFR means going directly to powered speakers. When I tried that, I sounded kind of 'muddy', probably because I have used presets designed for headphones. I guess I will have to have a copy of all presets and modify it for playing loud?

The main key is going to be, to set up your presets, do it at gig volume.  One of the things I ran into is, playing in the context of a band is one thing when playing loud.  But when I play that loud myself at home by myself out of context, eek, it scares me! haha :)

Regarding volume, I recently did a gig where I used my 2 L2 stage source speakers as the PA for vocals and my Helix.  They had no problem keeping up with a guitarist with a Marshall and a double stack of 4x12's.  Volume on the L2's was only a little over half.  In another band, My Alto TS210 had no problem keeping up with another cranked Marshall punk band and drums in a garage.

??? Helix sounds great through the mixer. My unpleasant tones were occurring when I tried to run directly into a powered speaker via xlr.

I'm imagining you were going through a mic pre on the board, which likely softened/affected the tone a little.  How were the EQ's on the channel set?  What is the board?  Did you try 1/4 into the powered speaker?  What was the powered speaker? 

So many variables, it's really hard to make any judgement on what is different for you.  When you say it "lacked clarity", can you describe it better?

I think my first question(s) before trying to answer your question would be....

Why are you asking the question?  Is there a problem with the cables you are using today?

Continuing the thought... select the effect in question, go to the global settings/controller menu, find the parameter, and remove the controller from the parameter

I have definitely been having this problem with my Helix Rack. I've had the Helix go dead a couple of times - luckily at rehearsal only. I traced it to the power cord. At first I thought it was the end that attaches to the Helix, but I think it's the 3 prong end that inserts into the power outlet. In my case, I use a Furman SS-6B power strip/surge block for convenience since I no longer have room in my rack for a power conditioner, so that may be part of the problem too. I haven't fully sorted out my problem, but it definitely related to the power cord/source.

Something worth checking out.

--jack

But wouldn't that cause the Helix to go black or show it's boot screen?

It sounds like Helix is locking up for the OP.  I do know that setting the bass knob on a Mk IV amp and I think some others to zero does cause a bug in which the volume diminishes to zero over time.  I believe they found the bug and are fixing it in 2.3.  There's a thread on here about it.

3 expression pedals.  2 is always Volume pedal, usually after the amp and I use my knob fro before the amp.

3 is usually either mix and/or feedback on delays, but sometimes other things

1 is often wah if I have one, which isn't often, otherwise I often set it up to control mix and decay on reverbs.

Or I might use it to control drive on an amp or dirt pedal

Or I might use it for depth of tremelo

Or lots of other things.  And I'm only just getting into using multiple expression pedals.

Is there any way to change all presets so that the input is a Return? Or do I have to do each one separately?

I also want to plug my G90's output into the back of the Helix as a neater option?

Interestingly enough... There's another thread that floated to the top today from long ago thanking the development team for making .hlx files JSON text files.  Somebody wrote a python script for uncompressing bundles and setlists.  If DI doesn't have a special keystroke for changing it globally, theoretically, you could use these tools to help you edit a group of presets using search and replace.

Another person recently had a similar issue.  It turned out he liked to run a cleanish amp and stack a whole bunch of drive pedals in front of the amp.  It turned out all that gain staging and compression at each stage raised the noise floor quite a bit.  He realized after talking with folks that if he instead relied more on the amp for distortion and used only 1 or two drive pedals instead, his noise floor went wayyy down.

You said that you are plugged into the same circuit as the Kemper you are running through?  Seems like you addressed the ground loop issue.

Unless the Kemper shuts off signal out when a cable is not plugged into it.  Did you connect your guitar directly into the Kemper and get no noise?

Is the Kemper connected to something that's not plugged into the same circuit as the Kemper?

Are you in the US?

You stated your problem was "hum" which usually, in the US, is I think a 60Hz hum from the electrical supply.  Is it possibly gain staging noise?  Are your cables picking up electrical noise from the venue (as opposed to a ground loop issue).  XLR outs would address this, but you are using the unbalanced 1/4 out it appears.  I always use XLR if I can to avoid electrical interference.

Is the Kemper input balanced?  Can you use an XLR to TRS 1/4 cable to go into the Kemper?

Turns out it looks like the Kemper input is balanced.  You may want to consider the above.  In fact I think you can even connect to the Kemper with an XLR cable.  I found this thread regarding connecting unbalanced to balanced inputs

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/30627-plugging-unbalanced-jacks-into-balanced-jack-inputs.html

Anyway, a couple ideas to consider.

What rev Firmware are you using?

back up your presets (and IR's if necessary) and Upgrade to 2.21 if that is not what you are using, and make sure to do the FS9-10 reset in the directions.

There was a volume pedal issue that happened in versions prior to that under certain circumstances that the latest firmware fixed.

Link isn't working for me.

It may be because there is a nationwide outage today.... Comcast is having some issues.  Seems better for me now, was really slow earlier today.

Using the Mark IV amp and setting the Bass knob  to Zero has been known to do this, IOW, to slowly fade the volume to zero over some amount of time.  I think somebody else found a similar reaction in another amp but I don't remember which.  Try setting your Bass knob to a non-zero value if it is at zero.

Other than that, we'll need a whole lot more info to figure out why you are losing sound. 

L3 series is awesome and super loud.  L2 series is awesome and super loud, too. 

I recently used a pair of L2's on poles for vocals for a band, and they easily kept up (1/2 volume on the masters) with the band (double stack 4x12 Marshall guitar amp, 4x12 Bass amp and full drum kit original heavy blues rock and roll) in a smallish Parish Hall (20 m by 15 m with 10 m ceiling).

Unlike the recent show they did with a pair of 250 watt amps with mic pres into a few 15" Peavey speakers in a much smaller bar (1/4 the size).  Couldn't hear the vocals at all there.

Umm... I didn't see anyone answer this question.  Yes, unless somebody says I'm wrong... install ver 2.20 to match your Helix.

Yep, me too, I'd never want that pedal sticking me in the back when I'm carrying it.  It just seemed natural to put it in like that.

Only think I wish for is a handle on the bottom to help pull it out.  Great pack though. I love it.