deadlocked
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Posts posted by deadlocked
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Secret: Helix's UI was more inspired by german supercars than other music gear.
So... does that mean that the Helix emits 40x the legal emissions limit? :rolleyes: Maybe I should not play it in an enclosed space?
Did you have one DSP chip turned off during lab tests and then let both DSP chips loose right before shipping? :lol:
For those who care about the math:
Legal fuel-related pollutants emissions limit for purely electronic devices = 0
Fuel combustion emissions from Helix = 0
40 times the legal limit: 40 x 0 = 0
zOMG!!!1!!1 Helix is 40x over the legal limit! :P
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I find the important part of the quoted text above to be the final sentence.... "I guess I'll have to either give up AT LEAST half my pedalboard or just not have spillover at all. The latter is not really an option."
There is always the possibility to have spillover within the current capabilities of the Helix, it is just that it needs to be done within the constraints of the preset itself. With tons of DSP, there are far more options to get multiple sounds with spillover within the patch than there are cases where you are not able to do what you want to do, or at least get reasonably close.
You can setup two chains on the first parth, for instance, feeding into the same cab/delay/reverb into the second path and then switch between the two chains using gain blocks or turning on/off multiple blocks on each chain. You can also get more than two sounds by manipulating the on/off state of multiple blocks on the first path, or manipulating parameters in those blocks. This is just one way of preserving spillover between sounds, there are multiple other ways of achieving a similar result.
The end result is that, as long as you are willing to work within one preset, you can have spillover without sacrificing half of your DSP.
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It's not ideal, but of course it's acceptable. If it wasn't acceptable to the vast, vast majority of guitar players, more than two boxes ever made in the history of guitar processors would have full preset spillover. The $3200 AxeFX II XL+ and MFC-101 doesn't do it. The $2400 KPA and remote doesn't do it either.
If you ask 100 people if they're willing to give up half their blocks or half their sound quality for spillover, all 100 will tell you no. We know, because we actually asked.
It is funny how much this is true, DI.
I just went to the fractalaudio forum and I was searching for "preset spillover" (just to see how they handled it) and guess what? FIRST post in, Wham! complaining about giving up half their DSP just to get preset spillover... and I quote (bold text on the relevant portion of the quote from FX8 forum):
"Okay, we still have to use Fractal's tried-and-true, cobbled-together, "sorta gets the job done, usually", method for FX spillover, i.e. daisy-chaining spillover blocks between presets. Fine. But hold on a second. I'm already running into CPU bottlenecks with just a single delay and reverb block. That's the very reason I'm having to spread my board over multiple presets in the first place. Forget having to add the other two! Not to mention that you're already going to have to use up half your pedalboard just to get spillover! I guess I'll have to either give up AT LEAST half my pedalboard or just not have spillover at all. The latter is not really an option."
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/serious-cpu-bottleneck-spillover-again.102285/
Damned if you do, damned if you don't; DI.
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Coming in 28 pages late here. Does DI's response above mean spillover between presets, or within presets?
Within. You can easily retain spillover between two tones within the same patch by using one of the two templates that DI mentioned on his post above. In practice, as long as you manage to stay within the Helix DSP capacity, you can have as many "tones" within the preset as you have foot switches available.
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Same here :)
I sorted through my parts drawer and found a smaller diameter knob... works for me!I hope this helps
seeya
Joe
I happened to have a knob laying around from an old device I hardly use anymore, so I commandeered it. I was actually looking into it online and saw a number of knobs that could also work on Amazon. You basically need to search for "knob 6mm" and make sure that you get a tall skinny knob with a "D" shaped hole (or an insert that makes it into a D-shaped hole). Do not choose the ones that have round holes or star-shaped holes (ribbed), it must be D-shaped.
Also, make sure that it is a right fit: When pulling out the existing knob (no tools needed), just grasp it firmly, try to get the tip of your fingers under it and pull straight up. If you notice that, when pushing the new knob in, it takes more force than what it took to pull it out (it should take a bit more force than it takes to click the knob down, but not much more) then STOP!, do not risk damaging the joystick.
If your knob pushes in all the way and it won't click down, it means the hole is too long: take small bits out of a paper towel (less than 1/4" square each) and stick them in the knob's hole until the go as far as they will go, then try again. If the knob still goes too far in, pull the knob out, insert another bit of paper towel as far as it will go and try again and again until the knob hovers just above the body of the Helix, rotates freely, you can easily push it and move it up/down/left/right with ease. The knob should not touch or rub against the body of the Helix in any way, no matter how you move it: At this point, it is just right.
A quick Amazon search returns many options: Remember, tall and skinny is better to use as a joystick. Not all of these have D-shaped holes, but the ones that say "shaft insert" tend to be your safer bets:
The following look like they are the right kind, but I do not have them with me to test, so I cannot guarantee they will work:
After looking at the knob and shaft again, I would recommend to go with the second (middle) choice above. The joystick shaft is too short and stubby and it will probably not get a good grip if you go with the first or third choice; but they could still work, provided that you are prepared to "dremel" or file down the bottom until you get a good fit.
Please note: Make any and all modifications to the replacement knob, not to the Helix joystick shaft. This will allow you to easily put it back the way it was before, in case you want to or need to *coughWARRANTYcough*. Note that I did not mention "in case you want to sell it later"... if you are like me, you will be buried with with your Helix :) ...
... or maybe you will sell it when Line 6 releases the Uber-Helix in a few years, with the upgraded "Guitar Awesomizer" model, that makes you sound like a guitar god no matter how sloppy you play. DI, Can I IdeaScale this? :ph34r:
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Is this tool can open Setlist (*.hls) and Bundle (*.hlb) which are compressed base64 encoded files, or just the Preset file (*.hlx) which is already in text format and readable?
Well... yes and no.
Notepad++ can still open setlist and bundle files, as they seem to also be in JSON format, but it is unable to uncompress the data in them, so they are not really usable. I tried 7-zip, but it is also unable to open them, so far, I have only been able to open/format preset files.
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Notepad++ can read JSON files and format them in "human-readable" form :)
I just right-clicked on the file, selected "Edit with Notepad++" and then clicked on the left of the "1" (line number) to highlight the whole string. Click on "Plugins>JSON Viewer>Format JSON" and it reformatted.
It goes without saying that you have to have Notepad++ installed for this to work.
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The thing with the tone/volume controls for the Variax is a bug, as far as I can tell. The Global/Preset setting isn't a bug. Setting the Variax Settings parameter to Global means the settings are applied globally. Setting it to preset means they're applied per preset. If you have a preset where you don't want the Variax model saved with the preset, set the Variax Model to "Don't Force".
phil_m, agreed. This does not look like a bug to me, it looks like it works as designed. The Global/Preset setting is actually a "Global" setting that affects all patches (either keep current Variax settings per patch or for all patches). I think it is the "position" of the setting that is confusing users. Since it is a setting that affects all patches, it should go into the "Global Settings" menu, not within the Input settings of each patch. Putting the setting within the Input block of the patch might make users believe that it is a patch setting that should be saved along with the patch, which is not the case;it might be good for convenience's sake (and I think this might have been Line 6's reasoning for its current placement) but it does seem to be confusing some users.
phil_m's solution is also correct (I have confirmed it myself). If you do not want the Variax settings to be forced (and thus, use the current Variax settings), then just set everything to "Don't Force" (model, tunings, etc). Please note that, in this case, you will get the "current" Variax settings, whether that is what you set on the knobs or what was set by the last patch change where you forced Variax settings.
i.e. if you have the knobs set to "Spank 1" and the Tuning set to "Standard" and then switch to a patch where you force "Lester 1" and "Drop D", then return to a patch where everything is set to "Don't Force", the Variax will stay on "Lester/Drop D" (because it was the last Model/Tuning change made on the Variax) regardless of where you had set the knobs earlier (which may or may not be what you wanted), until the next time you change model/tuning using the knobs or switch to a patch with a forced Variax change.
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I am with ozbadman and jaeger28 here. Unless we find out exactly what is the driver circuitry of the CV port on the Helix and the circuitry on the control jack of the amp are, there is just too much risk that something might go wrong and you might end up with one of the following:
a) It works (best case scenario) but this is highly unlikely, since the CV port on the Helix was not designed for this purpose.
b) It does not work, but no smoke comes out of the Helix or the amp ( the "dodged a bullet" scenario).
c) You're $1500 in the hole (Helix replacement or maybe less, depending on how much Line 6 will charge for fixing a fried Helix I/O board).
d) You're $1000 - $3000 in the hole (or however much the amp costs or its repair).
e) You're $1500 + $1000-$3000 in the hole, if you fry both.
I would go with jaeger28's option of getting a 80€ Midi switcher box or, as ozbadman suggested, look for a box that will convert CV to a switched output. Either option is much cheaper than a Helix and/or Amp repair.
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... I also used a couple of variaxes with some success especially the 69 jtv which I like a lot apart from the fact that my main usage is for the acoustic guitar which cant be combined with electric patches...
kemperman, if you like the sound of the JTV's mag pickups, you can always "separate" the mags from the Variax acoustic models and send each to a different path on the Helix (i.e. you can send Variax only (set to acoustic) and send it to Path "1A" and build your acoustic chain there, then, at the same time, you can send "Variax Magnetics" to path "1B" and build your electric patch there. With a bit of clever use of merge mixer block, you can even set the volume pedal to control the mix between the two.
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I have been playing around with my helix for about a week now. I use a Matrix Gt800FX into a Genz Benz G-Flex 2x12 for my live rig and would like to preserve some of the presets. This means being able to turn off the Cab in the Amp+Cab block as a good 80% - 90% of the presets have that block instead of seperate Amp and Cab blocks. (yes I know I can go just direct but for jamming and such it's just easier to be able to shut off the cab sims)
So far, the only way I would be able to do what I have just said is to write down the settings and then change to an amp block and put in all the settings manually. Can someone tell me if this is possible? If it isn't, perhaps Line 6 could simply add a "DI" cab impulse as a simple workaround without having to do any intense programming.
-Travis
in the current firmware, it is not possible to globally disable the cabs on "Amp+Cab" models, but they are easy to bypass when you have separate "Amp" and "Cab" models. I know it is more work than you'd like to do, as mentioned on your post, but if you just write down the settings manually for the "Amp+Cab" models and then separate them into "Amp" and "Cab" models, you can always send them to separate outputs and plug into whatever you would like to use (i.e. you could send the output "before the cab" to the 1/4" outs and the output "after the cab" to XLR, that way you can plug into XLR live and have the cabs in the chain or just plug into the 1/4" outs and go into the Matrix, bypassing the cabs... Or you can even plug into both at a time. Don't even need a separate foot switch or menu setting to do this.
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Great ! Thanks a lot deadlocked for your feedback. I have also a L2T and it is exactly the way of working I was expecting too. And you confirm that the Volume control Knob does not affect the XLR output, right ?
I went back after playing with the Helix some more and found a setting under "Global Settings > Ins/outs" called "Volume Knob Controls". If you set it to "Multi" it does just what the name says: It affects multiple outs. Or you can set it to "1/4+XLR", "1/4", "XLR" or "Digital" and then the Volume knob will only control the output(s) that you specify.
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Helix Live
in Helix
Hi Folks...This is my first post,i was wondering if anybody has any feedback on using the Helix in a live situation but using it more as a preamp through a poweramp(something like the Matrix) into a guitar cab?Im still waiting to purchase mine due to a long back log of orders,but when i do i think this is the way id like to use it live...Many Thanks Barry.
bazilica, If you are using a real cab, you might want to try the "Preamp" models of the amps you want, then make sure you do not use modeled cabs (or disable them in the patch if already used) then go into the Matrix and then into the actual cab, for best results. The Helix offers both "Preamp" (no cab) and "Amp" (with cab) models.
Basically, the guideline is: If going into the board or FRFR speakers, make sure the patch has a cab in it (or it is using the full "amp + cab" model), if going through power amp and then into a guitar cab, then do not use a cab model (or disable if the patch already has one) because you have a real cab in the chain already.
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Yes - the VDI connection powers the Variax.
Yes, as silverhead said, VDI is the key, johoffry.
If you connect via VDI, you can run for weeks without depleting the battery (the battery will naturally deplete over weeks even if you do not use it, but that is just the nature of any electronic device). If you use VDI, you can also control the guitar model from the Helix itself, so that it switches to whatever guitar model you select when you switch patches. Even alternate tunings are saved, so if you want a Les Paul model tuned to drop-D with a high gain amp, it can switch the Variax settings for you when you load the patch.
Please note that it is important to use the VDI cable only: Do not plug into the 1/4 jack while using the Helix, as this *will* deplete your battery within 12 hrs. Basically, anything plugged into the 1/4" jack means "use the battery" and using VDI only means "Helix powers the Variax"
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I have a Moog expression pedal with some funky wiring to add a calibration pot (basically to set it to zero) and a mode switch (not a polarity switch). With the switch set to "Other", the pedal behaves exactly as Nos402 described (basically backwards). I went in and modded the pedal to make it work as desired:
(Disclaimer: Unless you know your way with a soldering gun, DO NOT ATTEMPT).
I disassembled the pedal and removed the pot, which had three wires soldered to it: CW (clock-wise), Wiper and CCW (counter-clock-wise), in that order. I took my soldering gun and de-soldered both the CW and CCW leads and swapped them (leave the wiper lead alone). So now my pot has the CW cable soldered into the CCW lead of the pot and vice-versa. Then, I re-melted the clear plastic that was holding the leads in place to firm them down (or you can use a heat gun and put fresh plastic to secure the leads down again). Re-assemble the pedal, set the switch on the bottom of the pedal to "other" and test.
My only issue now is that the pedal, due to its much higher resistance, goes to "100" at about 90% of travel, but it stays there once I go past 100. If I really want to, I can cut down a foam block to size, place it between the pedal and the case and make it so that the pedal hits the foam at 100% exactly, but I don't care, as long as it works well as a volume pedal.
Why did I do this, rather than just wire a TRS cable backwards? Basically because the leads that I needed to change were the Shield (also called "sleeve" - i.e. the "ground" lead) and the tip. Never, ever, ever, ever (Did I mentioned "ever") mess with the ground lead. I know the pedal is cheap plastic, but you can always get noise that way (if you are lucky) or, worst-case scenario, if metal parts of the pedal touch metal parts on the amp or Helix, you just short-circuited something. I never bothered to check but, there is another way to wire an expression pedal so that it has a +V lead, rather than a ground one. It does not matter which one it has, it is still a bad idea to wire it backwards. When your pedal works backwards, the only safe mods you can do are either to flip the pot 180 degrees so that it rotates in the "correct" direction, which is not always feasible if there is no place ot mount it facing the opposite direction within the case, or re-wire the pot so that the (pot) signals are reversed, but not the circuit ground.
One last note about 3rd party pedals: some of the (like the Moog), change very quickly at the beginning of travel and then slow down towards the end of travel. This is an indication that an audio pot is being used, rather than a linear one. If this happens to you with any 3rd party pedal, change the pedal curve over to "Logarithmic" (it defaults to "Linear"). This will make the pedal more consistent over the travel distance. You will probably have to make the change on each patch that uses the external pedal, as the setting does not seem to global, but rather per patch.
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Good point. I did that exact thing and for a a minute or two I was totally confused.
I got to my copy of the manual, I think the effects that can change the pitch of your guitar (even if it is a regular guitar and not a Variax) are the "Harmony Delay", "Pitch Wham" (the Digitech Whammy) and "Twin Harmony"
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Great tip but I would still love to see Line6 either make it so the joystick had to be turned further before it starts to scroll the amps and effects. Or, alternatively if that is not possible, would love to see a delay of a second before the joystick starts scrolling.
How about making the Joystick detection give "priority" to the Joystick side motion over the down press or the turning motion? The firmware could check whenever the joystick is rotated, whether there is side motion or downward press within 1/4 - 1 sec before or after (maybe configurable in 1/4 sec intervals to adapt to each user?). If so, then it ignores everything other than side motion. The reason I said "configurable" vs 1-sec fixed is because 1 sec is on the "probably too long" side... Whenever I have turned the joystick by mistake while trying to cursor up/down/left/right, the turning occurs within a +/- 1/4 sec of me pushing towards the side.
If Line 6 sets the delay too long and it is not configurable, then there will likely be a whole set of users complaining that turning the joystick is not responsive anymore and also there will be the usual trolls demanding that the change be rolled back on the next release of the firmware under pain of getting DI tarred and feathered... and I don't think anyone here wants to see that :) or I'm sure "eye bleach" prices will go up due to the spike in demand.
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I go to edit the Rhythm Sandman patch and when I change the volume of the second amp it changes the pitch of the guitar up? There's no indication of any tuning change within the Guitar input screens and it then keeps that tuning for any other patch I switch to. Upon reboot the guitar is tuned correctly but I can't edit the patch without the tuning issue happening again. I was hoping this was just going to happen on that patch, but when I create a new one from scratch with a two-amp set up it does the same thing.
Any fix?
It's about to get returned. These things that are happening should have been figured before shipping.
Also, it will sound silly, but Have you checked whether there is a whammy or the delay pitch shifter model enabled on the patch? somethimes, when editing a patch to customize, it is easy to rotate the joystick while moving around and, as a result, one of the blocks might have changed to one of the pitch shifters. This would explain why you are having a pitch shifting effect when moving the volume pedal, as this is the standard behavior of the whammy, if I recall correctly. (I don't remember the name of the whammy effect off the top of my head and I am far away from my "precious" right now to check).
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I have a Helix and an L2T.
I go through L6 link between the Helix and the L2T, No Global EQ on the Helix and then let the L2T auto-select the best mode depending on speaker orientation (I have mine on its side, angled towards me). If you use the L6 Link cable, the Helix and L2T should auto-negotiate the best mode to set the speaker to.
If you do go down this route, make sure all patches that have an amp actually have the Amp+Cab block or separate Amp and Cab blocks; if you use the pre-amp blocks and no Cab, the sound will be unbearably harsh and buzzy.
Also, I noticed that the high frequency driver is under the power LED (if the L2T is standing upright), so you could always place a sheet of paper or other dampening cloth over it (cover areas on the front of the L2T until you find the sport where the harshness stops), but this is bound to make you lose high end on acoustic models as well, so YMMV.
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Maybe it's me - but I've been using it live for the past three nights. Tonight, when I clicked the wah, I lost all volume on all my patches. Only way to get sound back is to restart...
I have seen a handful of people reporting here and in other threads that they sometimes lose volume when clicking the wah in/out. I am going to venture a gues here that maybe there is something in the firmware that sets the volume to zero occasionally when clicking the wah in/out and then fails to re-engage the volume pedal or output? I do not know of any outputs that are not controlled by the master volume but... Doesn't the headphone have its independent volume knob? Maybe the next time it happens, can someone check if theere is still output from the headphones jack?
It has not happened to me yet (I am on 1.02.2), but if it does, I will check this and test whatever else I can think of and post my findings here.
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Thanks for the feedback DL... but still having the problem no matter where I press. I will say that pressing from the top made a little difference, but every third or fourth time... bam! it flips a block and if I forgot to save, I have to start all over again... For me this has become extremely frustrating.
If you haven't already, try resting your fingers on the back edge of the Helix (close to where all the I/O connectors are) for stability. Then, using your thumb only, place it at the very edge of the joysick and push it outwards in the direction that you want to move. With my hand braced like that, the joystick hardly ever rotates and, after a few times that you do that, it will be like second nature. In the week and a half that I have been doing that, the joystick has not rotated on me even once. Also, if you wrap your fingers so that the fingertips are resting on the back of the Helix, you will not leave fingerprints on the top :)
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BUG: I found while holding the "MODE" hold to edit button the helix froze and wouldn't respond. I haven't had a chance to update yet so hopefully its been fixed in this patch.
But I thought id share it here anyway. Im new to these forums so im not sure where is best to post bugs :P
I have not seen this on 1.02.2.
I tried several different patches that had a number of different effects to see if it was effect-related. DId you notice this on just one patch or on several? if so, Is there anything that is unique to those patches (i.e. they all have an effect in common, or other shared feature)? If you manage to isolate it to a certain patch or group of patches, Have you tried re-creating said patches (just to make sure they are not corrupted somehow)?
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It's not really a bug. It's something I brought up during the beta period, and I still kind of think they might want to look at the behavior. But I've got to say that after using the unit for a few months, it has really become a non-issue. I think you get used to it after using it awhile.
I had the same issue as HonestOpinion and I agree with phil_m: It gets easier the more you use the unit.
I found out that, in the beginning, I was pushing on the opposite *side* of the knob in the direction that I wanted to move (i.e. I would press on the left side of the knob and push the knob towards the right to make it go right), but that was the reason the joystick turned on me while trying to move the cursor around.
I found that if I treated the joystick as the "4-way directional pad" of a video game and pressed gently down and out from the "upper edge" of the knob, at the very edge in the direction that I want to move (i.e. press down and left at the left edge to move left, press down and right at the right edge to move right, etc) then the joystick rarely turns (if ever, I have not had the joystick turn on me since I swich to this outwards pulling motion). Just make sure that the motion is gentle enough that the joystick does not register a down press as well.
The principle is similar to this:
Try pushing an empty food cart with one hand on the center of the handlebar and try to get it to go in a straight line. This is what you you experience while pushing the joystick and you will see that it is hard to get the cart to go straight, as the cart will try to pull left or right as you push.
Now try moving to the front of the cart and grab the frornt of the cart with one hand and pull it behind you. You will see that it is easier to keep it in a straight line. This is what you would be doing if you press gently down and pull outward at the joystick's edge.
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form dt25 to the l2m
in Helix
Posted
pol2711,
Are you on fw v1.03? There was a bug in an earlier version where all the mics were set to 57 1" and that sounds really harsh. DId you try changing the mic and the mic distance in the patches to see if it tames down the harshness? I know I had to do it for some of the factory patches, but it made them sound much better through my l2t.
I have my Variax Std - Helix (fw v1.03) - L2T setup through L6 Link and my speaker mode set to PA and it doesn't sound harsh at all to me.